_Sig_. 'Tis not my office to reply, but act-- I am placed here as guard upon thy person, And not as judge to hear or to decide. 220 _Doge_ (_aside_). I must gain time. So that the storm-bell sound,[ex][447] All may be well yet. Kinsman, speed--speed--speed!-- Our fate is trembling in the balance, and Woe to the vanquished! be they Prince and people, Or slaves and Senate-- [_The great bell of St. Mark's tolls._ Lo! it sounds--it tolls! _Doge_ (_aloud_). Hark, Signor of the Night! and you, ye hirelings, Who wield your mercenary staves in fear, It is your knell.--Swell on, thou lusty peal! Now, knaves, what ransom for your lives? _Sig_. Confusion! Stand to your arms, and guard the door--all's lost 230 Unless that fearful bell be silenced soon. The officer hath missed his path or purpose, Or met some unforeseen and hideous obstacle,[ey] Anselmo, with thy company proceed Straight to the tower; the rest remain with me. [_Exit part of the Guard._ _Doge_. Wretch! if thou wouldst have thy vile life, implore it; It is not now a lease of sixty seconds. Aye, send thy miserable ruffians forth; They never shall return. _Sig_. So let it be! They die then in their duty, as will I. 240 _Doge_. Fool! the high eagle flies at nobler game Than thou and thy base myrmidons,--live on, So thou provok'st not peril by resistance, And learn (if souls so much obscured can bear To gaze upon the sunbeams) to be free. _Sig_. And learn thou to be captive. It hath ceased, [_The bell ceases to toll_. The traitorous signal, which was to have set The bloodhound mob on their patrician prey-- The knell hath rung, but it is not the Senate's! _Doge_ (_after a pause_). All's silent, and all's lost! _Sig_. Now, Doge, denounce me 250 As rebel slave of a revolted Council! Have I not done my duty? _Doge_. Peace, thou thing! Thou hast done a worthy deed, and earned the price Of blood, and they who use thee will reward thee. But thou wert sent to watch, and not to prate, As thou said'st even now--then do thine office, But let it be in silence, as behoves thee, Since, though thy prisoner, I am thy Prince. _Sig_. I did not mean to fail in the respect Due to your rank: in this I shall obey you. 260 _Doge_ (_aside_). There now is nothing left me save to die; And yet how near success! I would have fallen, And proudly, in the hour of triumph, but To miss it thus!----