“Thou art a Genoese of the name of Thomaso Santi?” he asked, consulting his notes.

“By this name, Signore, am I generally known.”

“Thou art a mariner, and it is said one of courage and skill.  Why hast thou given thyself the ungracious appellation of Il Maledetto?”

“Men call me thus.  It is a misfortune, but not a crime, to be accursed.”

“He that is so ready to abuse his own fortunes should not be surprised if others are led to think he merits his fate.  We have some accounts of thee in Valais; ’tis said thou art a free-trader?”

“The fact can little concern Valais or her government, since all come and go unquestioned in this free land.”

“It is true, we do not imitate our neighbors in all their policy; neither do we like to see so often those who set at naught the laws of friendly states.  Why art thou journeying on this road?”

“Signore, if I am what you say, the reason of my being here is sufficiently plain.  It is probably because the Lombard and Piedmontese are more exacting of the stranger than you of the mountains.”

“Your effects have been examined, and they offer nothing to support the suspicion.  By all appearances, Maso, thou hast not much of the goods of life to boast of; but, in spite of this, thy reputation clings to thee.”

“Ay, Signore, this is much after the world’s humor.  Let it fancy any quality in a man, and he is sure to get more than his share of the same, whether it be for or against his interest.  The rich man’s florin is quickly coined into a sequin by vulgar tongues, while the poor man is lucky if he can get the change of a silver mark for an ounce of the better metal.  Even poor Nettuno finds it difficult to get a living here at the convent, because some difference in coat and instinct has given him a bad name among the dogs of St. Bernard!”

“Thy answer agrees with thy character; thou art said to have more wit than honesty, Maso, and thou art described as one that can form a desperate resolution and act up to its decision at need?”

“I am as Heaven willed at the birth, Signor Castellano, and as the chances of a pretty busy life have served to give the work its finish.  That I am not wanting in manly qualities on occasion, perhaps these noble travellers will be willing to testify, in consideration of some activity that I may have shown on the Leman, during their late passage of that treacherous water.”

Though this was said carelessly, the appeal to the recollection and gratitude of those he had served was too direct to be overlooked.  Melchior de Willading, the pious clavier, and the Signor Grimaldi all testified in behalf of the prisoner, freely admitting that, without his coolness and skill, the Winkelried and all she held would irretrievably have been lost.  Sigismund was not content with so cold a demonstration of his feelings.  He owed not only the lives of his father and him self to the courage of Maso, but that of one dearer than all; one whose preservation, to his youthful imagination, seemed a service that might nearly atone for any crime, and his gratitude was in proportion.