The Amulet | Page 9

of his favor. I foresee
many future evils."
"Why were you so imprudent, Geronimo? You ought to have refused so
large a loan."
"I could not possibly refuse, Mary."
"But you hold an acknowledgment of the debt and a promise of
payment. Summon this merchant before the magistrates; at Antwerp
justice is promptly and impartially dealt to all."
"Impossible!" replied the young man, in a plaintive voice; "my debtor
is a man to whom I owe many obligations; a complaint from me would
be the cause of irreparable ruin to him. Let us hope that he will succeed
in procuring the ten thousand crowns. He told me even this morning
that he would endeavor to give me bills of exchange on Spain."
"But of whom are you speaking?" said Mary; "your language is so
mysterious."
"I will not tell his name. Be not offended by my reserve; there is
between merchants a law of secrecy which honor forbids us to violate."
Mary appeared to respect this law; but she was evidently absorbed in
bitter reflections.
Either the communication of his difficulties to his beloved had given
him new strength, or the sight of her sorrow made him affect a
confidence he did not feel, for he said to her in a cheerful manner:

"Come, Mary, you must not yield to discouragement. Perhaps I
exaggerate the danger. My debtor is a member of a house which equals
any other in consideration and wealth. In a few days, to-day even, or
to-morrow, he may acquit himself of the debt, and should my uncle
arrive before the restitution, I will endeavor to delay his examination of
the books."
He took the young girl's hand, and exclaimed, with joyous enthusiasm:
"O Mary, my beloved, may Heaven be propitious to our vows! May the
benediction of the priest descend upon our union! We will pass in Italy
the first months of our happy life; Italy--that earthly paradise where
God has lavished all the treasures of nature, and man all the treasures of
art."
They heard Mr. Van de Werve's voice in the hall giving urgent orders
to the servants.
"Mary," said Geronimo, "your father is coming. I implore you not to
divulge, in any manner, what I have told you. Keep my secret even
from your father; remember that the least indiscretion might cause the
ruin of an honorable merchant."
"Make haste, Geronimo; Mary, prepare for a drive," exclaimed Mr.
Van de Werve, as he entered the hall. "Signor Deodati has arrived; the
Il Salvatore is in sight. Don Pezoa has just sent me information to that
effect, and he has placed his gondola and boatmen at our service. The
weather is beautiful and calm; we will go to meet the Il Salvatore."
Mary, as though forgetting in this unexpected news all that Geronimo
had told her, ran joyfully and put on her hood before her duenna had
time to approach her. Geronimo also looked happy, and prepared to
meet his uncle without loss of time.
In a few minutes all was ready; the horses were harnessed to the
carriage, the great gate was flung open, and the equipage was driven
rapidly through the street.

CHAPTER II.
SIGNOR DEODATI.
On that day the Scheldt presented at Antwerp a striking spectacle.
Many ships which had been detained in the North Sea by the east wind
were approaching the city, with their various colored flags floating on
the breeze, while, far as the eye could reach, the broad expanse of water
was covered with sails, and still, in the dim horizon, mast after mast
seemed to arise from the waves as harbingers of an immense flotilla.
The sailors displayed gigantic strength in casting anchor and
manoeuvring their vessels so as to obtain an advantageous position.
The crews of the different ships vied with each other, and exerted
themselves so energetically that the heavily laden crafts trembled under
the strained cables. From each arose a song wild and harsh as the sharp
creaking of the capstan, but joyous as the triumphant shout of a
victorious army. These chants, sung in every tongue of the commercial
world by robust sailors, seemed, as they were wafted over the river to
the city, like the long, loud acclamations of a vast multitude.
The only sounds which could be heard in the midst of these confused
cries were the voices of the captains speaking through the trumpets; and
when a Portuguese gallion, coming from the West Indies, appeared
before the city, a salvo of cannon rose like the rolling of thunder above
all other sounds.
The sun shone brightly upon this animated scene of human activity, and
broke and sparkled in colored light up in the rippling waves of the
broad river.
Hundreds of flags floated in the air; gondolas and longboats furrowed
the