thus no material proof of the murder remained. The assassin, who had taken refuge at the house of the Maltese, was enabled to return to Italy; and the event, strange to say, was kept secret, though so many persons were privy to it.
When this danger was over, and the beautiful Maani irrevocably his, Pietro began once more to feel the passion of the traveller revive, and commenced those little excursions through Mesopotamia which afterward enabled Gibbon to pronounce him the person who had best observed that province. His first visit, as might be expected, was to the ruins of Babylon. The party with which he left Bagdad consisted of Maani, a Venetian, a Dutch painter, Ibrahim a native of Aleppo, and two Turkish soldiers. For the first time since the commencement of his travels, Pietro now selected the longest and least dangerous road, taking care, moreover, to keep as near as possible to the farms and villages, in order, in case of necessity, to derive provisions and succour from their inhabitants. Maani, who appears to have had a dash of Kurdish blood in her, rode astride like a man, and kept her saddle as firmly as any son of the desert could have done; and Pietro constantly moved along by her side. When they had performed a considerable portion of their journey, and, rejoicing in their good fortune, were already drawing near Babylon, eight or ten horsemen armed with muskets and bows and arrows suddenly appeared in the distance, making towards them with all speed. Pietro imagined that the day for trying his courage was now come; and he and his companions, having cocked their pieces and prepared to offer a desperate resistance, pushed on towards the enemy. However, their chivalric spirit was not doomed to be here put to the test; for, upon drawing near, the horsemen were found to belong to Bagdad, and the adventure concluded in civility and mutual congratulations.
