When we arrived, only one gondola was on duty, the gondolier
muffled to his eyes in glistening oilskins, his sou'wester hat tied
under his chin.
"Once on the other side of the Canal it started in to rain again, and so
Diffendorfer held his own umbrella over me until we reached my gate on
the Fondamenta San Zorzi, in the rear of my quarters. He stood beside me
under the flare of the gas-jets while I fumbled in my pocket for my
night-key--I had about decided to invite him in and pump him dry--and
then said:
"'I live a little way from here; don't go in; come home with me.'
"A strange feeling now took possession of me, which I could not account
for. The whole plot rushed over me with a force which I must confess
sent a cold chill down my back. I began to think: This man had forced
himself upon me not once, but twice; had set up the best bottle of wine
he could buy, and was now about to steer me into a den. Then the thought
rose in my mind--I could handle any two of him, and if I give way now
and he finds I am over-cautious or suspicious, it will only make it
worse for me when I see him again.
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