will rush into it, and we shall catch them. For a rising in Venice
will be called nowadays a rebellion against France, and France will
hasten to punish so terrible a crime. The Venetian Republic will he
destroyed by the French Republic, and then we shall ask France to
cede us Venice as a compensation for the loss of Belgium."

"By the Eternal! it is a splendid--a grand scheme!" exclaimed Count
Saurau--"a scheme worthy of being planned by some great statesman.
In this manner we shall conquer a new province without firing a gun,
or spilling a drop of blood."

"No. Some blood will be shed," said Thugut, quietly. "But it will
not be Austrian blood--it will be the blood of the Venetian
insurgents whom we instigate to rise in arms. This bloodshed will
glue them firmly to us, for no cement is more tenacious than blood.
And now, my dear count, as you know and approve of my plans, I pray
you to carry them out as rapidly as possible. Dispatch your agents
without delay to Venice and to the Tyrol. We have no time to lose,
for the preliminaries of Leoben only extend to the eighteenth of
April, and until then Venice must have become a ripe fruit, which,
in the absence of hands to pluck it, will spontaneously fall to the
ground."

"In the course of an hour, your excellency, I shall have executed
your orders, and my most skilful spies and agents will be on their
road."

"Whom are you going to send to the Venetian signoria? "

"The best confidential agent I have--Anthony Schulmeister."