informed of the arts by which Monaldeschi procured my banishment, and of the many plots which he laid for my destruction; plots, which made it necessary for me to drop my own character, and never to appear but in disguise. After various wanderings, chance led me to Venice: my appearance was so much altered, that I dreaded not discovery, but I dreaded (and with reason) perishing in your streets with hunger. In this situation accident brought me acquainted with the banditti, by whom Venice was then infested; I willingly united myself to their society, partly with the view of purifying the republic from the presence of these wretches, and partly in the hope of discovering through them the more illustrious villains, by whom their daggers were employed. I was successful; I delivered the banditti up to justice, and stabbed their captain in Rosabella's sight. I was now the only bravo in Venice; every scoundrel was obliged to have recourse to me; I discovered the plans of the conspirators, and now you know them also. I found that the deaths of the doge's three friends had been determined on; and in order to obtain full confidence with the confederates, it was necessary to persuade them that these men had fallen beneath my dagger. No sooner had my plan been formed, than I imparted it to Lomellino; he, and he only, was my confidant in this business. He presented me to the doge as the son of a deceased friend; he assisted me with his advice; he furnished me with keys to those doors to the public gardens which none were permitted to pass through except Andreas and his particular friends, and which frequently enabled me to elude pursuit; he showed me several private passages in the palace, by which I could penetrate unobserved even into the doge's very bedchamber; when the time for his disappearance arrived, he not only readily consented to lie concealed in a retreat known only to ourselves, but was also the means of inducing Manfrone and Conari to join him in his retirement, till the fortunate issue of this day's adventure permitted me to set them once more at liberty. The banditti exist no longer; the conspirators are in chains; my plans are accomplished; and now, Venetians, if you still think him deserving of it, here

stands the Bravo Abellino, and you may lead him to the scaffold when you will!"

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"To the scaffold?" exclaimed at once the doge, the senators, and the whole crowd of nobili; and every one burst into enthusiastic praises of the dauntless Neapolitan. Oh, Abellino," exclaimed Andreas while he wiped away a tear; I would gladly give my ducal bonnet to be such a bravo as thou hast been! Doge,' didst thou once say to me, thou and I are the two greatest men in Venice;' but oh, how much greater is the Bravo than the Doge! Rosabella is that jewel, than which I have nothing in the world more precious; Rosabella is dearer to me than an emperor's crown; Rosabella is thine."

"Abellino!" said Rosabella, and extended her hand to the handsome Bravo.

"Triumph!" cried he; "Rosabella is the Bravo's bride!" and he clasped the blushing maid to his bosom.

CHAPTER VII.

CONCLUSION.

AND now it would be not at all amiss to make Count Rosalvo sit down quietly between the good old doge and his lovely niece; and then cause him to relate the motive of Monaldeschi's hatred, in what manner he lost Valeria, what crimes were imputed to him, and how he escaped from the assassins sent in pursuit of him by his enemy; how he had long wandered from place to place, and how he had at length learnt (during his abode in Bohemia with a gang of gipsies) such means of disguising his features as enabled him to defy the keenest penetration to discover in the beggar Abellino the once admired Count Rosalvo; how in this disguise he had returned to Italy; and how Lomellino, having ascertained that he was universally believed at Naples to have long since perished by shipwreck (and therefore that neither the officers of the Inquisition nor the

assassins of his enemy were likely to trouble themselves any more about him), he had ventured to resume with some slight alterations his own appearance at Venice; how the arrival of Monaldeschi had obliged him to conceal himself, till an opportunity offered of presenting himself to the prince when unattended, and of demanding satisfaction for his injuries; how he had been himself wounded in several places by his antagonist, though the combat finally terminated in his favour; how he had resolved to make use of Monaldeschi's death to terrify Andreas still further, and of Parozzi's conspiracy to obtain Rosabella's hand of the doge; how he had trembled lest the heart of his mistress should have been only captivated by the romantic appearance of the adventurer Flodoardo, and have rejected him when known to be the Bravo Abellino; how he had resolved to make use of the terror inspired by the assassin to put her love to the severest trial; and how, had she failed in that trial, he had determined to renounce the inconstant maid for ever; with many other hows, whys, and wherefores, which not being explained will, I doubt, leave much of this tale still involved in mystery: but before I begin Rosalvo's history I must ask two questions. First, Do my readers like the manner in which I relate adventures?

Secondly, If my readers do like my manner of relating adventures, can't I employ my time better than in relating them?

When these questions are answered, I may possibly resume my pen. In the mean while, gentlemen and ladies, good night, and pleasant dreams attend you!

THE END.

LONDON:

Printed by A. SPOTTISWOODE,

New-Street-Square.