"As the devil loves holy water, signora." "Have you ever made any opposition to their being here?" "Undoubtedly, signora. When first they began to run between the station and the public gardens, we made a strike." "A strike of gondoliers in Venice? How dreadful! How did it end? Tell me all about it, Giacomo." "_Con piacere_, signora. It was on the Monday before All Soul's Day that we determined on the strike; and some loose-tongued fellows told our plans, so that the Syndic heard the tale and sent for some leading gondoliers and tried to have them give it up. But we held fast, and on Tuesday morning not a man nor a gondola was found at the _traghetti_. But at each one the image of Our Lady was decked as for a festival, and the Italian flag was flying to show that we were true to Italy. "The Grand Canal was deserted and quiet as the grave, except when a steamer passed loaded with passengers. There were no gondolas at the ferries; and when the Syndic had done his best, there was but one boat to each one of them. Crowds of women waited angrily to go to market, and all who wished to pass for any reason were scolding and cursing the _vaporetti_ on every side. "The gondoliers were walking about in slouched hats, and gathering in knots on the bridges and at the street-corners. The wine-shops were full, for the air was keen, and a warm corner was needed when one had no exercise to stir the blood. But there were no riots." "But the gondolas, Giacomo, where were they?" "In the little canals, madama, and so closely packed that one could walk a long way on them in some places {21} and never see the water. It was a sad, sad sight,--so many good Venetian boats idle, and those foreign 'puffers' full of people! And so Tuesday passed; and that evening no songs were heard, no stories told, and every gondolier in Venice was as sad as if his mother lay dead." "Were there no quarrels, Giacomo? Did not the women tell the gondoliers that they were wrong?" "The women, signora, were firmer than the men. They hated the _vaporetti_ and cursed them. But on Wednesday, as had been thought, the trouble increased. At every _traghetto_ the Syndic posted a mild appeal to the boatmen, and bade them remember what pride Venice had in her gondoliers. It persuaded them and flattered them as if they were naughty children, and invited them to meet the town council. They went; but only talk came of it. The gondoliers demanded the dismissal of the steamers; the council refused, and the meeting dissolved quietly. "But what a confusion there was! You know, madama, that everybody goes on All Soul's Day to San Michele to lay a wreath on the family graves. Not to do this would make them unhappy all the year. And how to do it on this day was the question; for not one gondolier in all Venice was tempted, not even by the offer of twenty times his usual fare.