Edging around this loathsome pool, the two poets finally arrive at the door of a tall tower.
_Canto VIII._ From the lofty turret flash flaming signals, evidently designed to summon some bark or ferry, since a vessel soon appears.
Once more Virgil has to silence a snarling boatman (Phlegyas) ere he can enter his skiff, where he invites Dante to follow him.

Then they row across the mire, whence heads keep emerging from time to time.

One of the sufferers confined here suddenly asks Dante, "Who art thou that earnest ere thine hour ?" only to be hastily assured the poet does not intend to stay.

Just as Dante expresses the wish to know whom he is addressing, he recognizes this sinner (Argenti) and turns from him in loathing, an act which wins Virgil's approval.

When Dante further mutters he wishes this monster were stifled in the mud, Virgil suddenly points to a squad of avenging spirits who, sweeping downward, are about to fulfil this cruel wish, when the culprit rends himself to pieces with his own teeth and plunges back into the Styx.
Sailing along, Virgil tries to prepare Dante for their arrival at the city of Dis, whose minarets, colored by a fiery glow from within, now shine in the distance.