"What countryman, I pray?""Of Mantua.""Of Mantua, Sir?--marry, God forbidAnd come to Papua, careless of your life?"Taming of the Shrew.
"What countryman, I pray?""Of Mantua.""Of Mantua, Sir?--marry, God forbidAnd come to Papua, careless of your life?"Taming of the Shrew.
During the momentous five minutes occupied in these private movements, Raoul affected to be gaping about in vulgar astonishment, examining the guns, rigging, ornaments of the quarter-deck, etc.; though, in truth, nothing that passed among those near him escaped his vigilant attention. He was uneasy at the signs of the times, and now regretted his own temerity; but still he thought his incognito must be impenetrable. Like most persons who fancy they speak a foreign language well, he was ignorant, too, in how many little things he betrayed himself; the Englishman,cateris paribus,usually pronouncing the Italian better than the Frenchman, on account of the greater affinity between his native language and that of Italy, in what relates to emphasis and sounds. Such was the state of mind of our hero then, as he got an intimation that the captain of the ship wished to see him below. Raoul observed as he descended the ladder, to comply with what sounded very much like an order, that he was followed by the two Elban functionaries.
The cabin-lamp was trimmed, and the privateersman found himself under a strong light as soon as he had crossed the threshold of the apartment. Cuffe and Griffin were standing near the table, where the vice-governatore and the podestà took their stations also; giving the whole arrangement a most uncomfortable air of investigation and justice. For an instant Raoul wished that it was a portion of the Holy Inquisition, rather than the tribunal before which he now found himself so unexpectedly arraigned.
"You must be cool," said Griffin, as the other moved slowly up to the table, maintaining the outward signs of steadiness, but cursing in his heart the severe ordeal which he felt he was undergoing; "do me the favor to put this silk handkerchief about your neck."
"S'nore, your eccellenza is pleased to joke; we men of Capri think little of the nights at this season of the year--still, as it seems to be your wish, I will honor myself so much."
In that age a black silk kerchief was the certain mark of a military man. The old-fashioned stock had gone out with all but old-fashioned people, and the new-fashioned substitute did not make its appearance until many years later; the present usage, indeed, having come in from an imitation of the military mania which pervaded Christendom at the close of the last general war. Black around the neck, properly relieved by the white of the linen, was then deemed particularly military; and even in the ordinary dress, such a peculiarity was as certain a sign as the cockade that the wearer bore arms. Raoul knew this, and he felt he was aiding in unmasking himself by complying; but he thought there might be greater danger should he refuse to assume the kerchief.
"Your eccellenza is making a prince of a very humble boatman," he said, when his neck was fairly enveloped; "and my wife will think some great general is coming, when I enter the door."
"To help the delusion, friend, wear this also," continued Griffin, throwing the other one of his own undress uniform coats, his stature and that of Raoul being very nearly the same.
The true state of the case was now getting to be somewhat unequivocal; nevertheless, as steadiness and compliance were his only hopes, Raoul did as desired and stood with all his upper man decorated in an English naval undress uniform, while the nether remained à la lazzarone.
"What say you now, vice-governatore," resumed Griffin, "here are lights and the dress!"
"I say that this gentleman has done me the honor of several visits in my poor residence at Porto Ferrajo," returned Andrea; "and that never has he been more welcome than he is at this moment. Signor Smees, you are a great lover of masquerades and make a carnival of the whole year. I trust your distinguished countryman, Sir Cicero, will have it in his power to convince these brave Inglese that all is done in pure pleasantry and without a crime."
"Messieurs," said Raoul, stripping himself of his borrowed plumes, "it is too late to feign any longer.IfI am Raoul Yvard, as you say, I am certainlynotle Feu-Follet."
"Of course you are aware, Monsieur," observed Griffin, in French, "that you are a prisoner to His Britannic Majesty?"
"Sa Majesté Britannique has not made a conquest equal to his success at the Nile," returned Raoul, ironically; "but he has me in his hands. It is not the first time that I have had the honor to be a prisoner of war, and that, too, in one of his own ships."
"You are not to suppose that such will be your situation now, Monsieur Yvard. We arrest you in a totally different character."
"Not as a friend, I trust, Monsieur; for, I protest, I have not the smallest claim to the character; as witness a short interview off Porto Ferrajo and an interesting incident at the mouth of the Golo."
"Your taunts maybe spared, sir; fortune favored you then, we allow; but now we arrest you as a spy."
"Espion!" repeated Raoul, starting; "that is an office I never contemplated, Monsieur, on coming on board your ship. You will do me the justice to acknowledge that it was only at your own invitation that I came on deck. 'Twould be an infamy to pretend differently."
"We will endure the infamy of our acts, Monsieur Yvard. No one accuses you of having come on board the Proserpine as a spy; but, when an enemy is found rowing about our fleet, which is anchored in a hostile bay, and this in a disguise like yours, it most be a very scrupulous conscience that hesitates to pronounce him a spy and liable to the punishment of one."
This was so true that the unfortunate young man now felt the exceeding delicacy of his situation. In coming into the bay he had certainly been led by no other intention than to find Ghita; and yet he could not but confess to himself that he should not have hesitated about profiting, in his public character, by any information incidentally obtained. He had subjected himself to the severest penalties of military law by yielding to his passion for Ghita; and he could not discover a single available excuse to plead in mitigation.
"What does the poor devil say, Griffin?" asked Cuffe, who felt regret that so brave an enemy should be reduced to so desperate a strait, notwithstanding his determined hostility to all Frenchmen; "do not bear too hard upon him, at the first go off. Has he any excuse for his disguise?"
"The usual apology, no doubt, sir--a desire to serve his one and undivided republic! If we should believe all such chaps tell us, Captain Cuffe, we might go home and send deputies to the National Convention; if, indeed, they would do us the favor to admit them to seats."
"Gentlemen," said Raoul, in English, "there is no longer any occasion for an interpreter between us; I speak your language sufficiently well to make myself understood."
"I am sorry for your situation, Mr. Yvard," said Cuffe, "and wish with all my heart you had fallen into our hands in open battle instead of in this irregular way."
"In which case, Monsieur le Capitaine, le Feu-Follet would have been in your power also!" returned Raoul, smiling ironically; "but, messieurs, words are idle now; I am your prisoner and must take my chance with you. There is no necessity, however, for causing others to suffer for my indiscretion. I shall esteem it a favor, messieurs, if you will let the good people in the boat alongside pull ashore, without molestation. It is getting late, and we must now be nearly or quite abeam of the place where they wish to land, which is the marina grande of Sorrento."
"Do you wish us to understand that your companions are not French, Monsieur Yvard?"
"Oui, Monsieur le Captaine; there is not a Frenchman among them, I give youmy parole d'honneur"
"Of that fact it may be well to satisfy ourselves by an examination, Captain Cuffe," put in Griffin, dryly.
"I have sent up to beg Mr. Winchester would get these people on board--"
"There is a young woman in the boat who is unaccustomed to entering ships," interrupted Raoul, hastily, "and I implore your tenderness in her behalf. Let the men come on board, if you think it necessary; but the signorina can never climb this frigate's sides!"
"We will see to that, more especially, Monsieur Yvard, as you appear to be so much interested in the lady's comfort. At present it will be my duty to put you under a sentry's charge; and that it may be done in a way the least offensive to yourself, your prison, for the night at least, shall be this cabin. Mr. Griffin, give orders to the marine officer accordingly."
In a few minutes a soldier was introduced into the forward cabin, and Raoul was regularly placed under his charge. Not till then did the officers return to the quarter-deck. All this time Ithuel and his companions in the yawl were left to their own reflections, which were anything but agreeable. Matters had been conducted so quietly inboard, however, that they possessed no clew to what had actually occurred; though Ghita, in particular, was full of forebodings and apprehensions. The frigate towed them along at a rate which, as Raoul said, had brought them quite abreast of their landing and within a league of it; and yet she showed no signs of an intention to abate her speed, nor did any one appear at the gangway to speak to them. At length a hoarse call was heard on deck, and the ship began to shorten sail. Her fore-course was hauled up, and the spanker was brailed; then the royals were clewed up and furled; the topgallant-sails followed; and presently the Proserpine was reduced to her three topsails and jib. All this, finished just as Cuffe reappeared on deck, was done by the watch and in about five minutes. As soon as sail was thus taken in the helm was put to port, the ship came up to the wind on the starboard tack, and the main-topsail was laid to the mast, bringing the yawl under her lee and close alongside of the ship. This manoeuvre was no sooner executed than a seaman ran lightly down the vessel's side and entered the yawl. After examining forward and aft he called out, "All right, sir," and shoved the boat off to a little distance from the frigate. The yard and stay-tackles fell, at the next instant were overhauled down and hooked by the man in the boat. The boatswain's mate, in the gangway, piped "haul-taut," and the slack of the tackle was pulled in; then followed a long, steady blow of the call, piping "sway-away," and the boat, with all in her, rose from the water, and ascended as high as the hammock-cloths in the waist, when the stay-tackles took the strain, the yard-tackles "eased-off," and the boat was landed in the waist of the ship as gingerly as if it were made of glass, and as steadily as if it had no more weight than a seaman's hammock. Ghita uttered a faint scream when she found herself rising into the air, and then she hid her face, awaiting the result with dread. As for Carlo Giuntotardi, the movement aroused him a little from his customary apathy, and that was all; whereas Ithuel bethought him seriously of leaping into the water and striking out for the land. He could swim a league, he thought; but there was the certainty of being followed by boats and overtaken; a consideration that effectually curbed his impatience. It is not easy to describe the sensation with which this man found himself once more standing on the deck of his old prison, with the additional danger of being detected and treated as a deserter. It may sound revolting at the present day to suppose a case in which a foreigner was thrown by violence into the military service of a nation, and then was put in jeopardy of his life because he used a privilege of nature to fly from such persecution as soon as circumstances placed the means in his power. The last age, however, witnessed many scenes of similar wrongs; and, it is to be feared, in despite of all the mawkish philanthropy and unmeaning professions of eternal peace that it is now the fashion to array against the experience of mankind, that the next age will present their parallels, unless the good sense of this nation infuse into the federal legislative bodies juster notions of policy, more extended views of their own duties, and more accurate opinions of the conditions of the several communities of Christendom than has marked their laws and reasoning for the few past months[8]. In a word, the subject of all these tribulations felt an intimate conviction that his rights, legal and moral, would avail him but little on the present occasion. Then a man never does wrong, even in defence of that which is inherently his due, without the secret consciousness that "evil may not be done, that good may come of it"; and Ithuel had a certain inward monitor to remind him that, much as he had in the way of justifiable complaint, he had carried the war into the enemy's country.
[8]The question of impressment is now settled forever. The United States have now a mortgage on the Canadas to secure the good behavior of Great Britain.
The boat had no sooner touched the deck, than its cargo was handed out by the boatswain, who, keeping no watch, had not yet turned in; and who was almost as important a functionary on board the Proserpine, as was Vito Viti in the town of Porto Ferrajo. He examined each individual, as he or she landed, as he called it; Ghita attracting so much of his attention as completely to eclipse her companions. The soft air and manner of the girl appeared so winning, indeed, by the light of the moon, which now fell clear upon the decks, that all near her, including the officers, submitted to very much the same influence.
"So, so, Master Yvard," said Cuffe, in English, "if you do come into an enemy's camp incog., it is in reasonably good company. That girl is Italian, Winchester; and she even seems modest!"
"Little Ghita!" exclaimed Vito Viti, "as I hope one day to lie in the bosom of Father Abraham! Bellissima Ghita, what has brought thee here, and in such evil company?"
Ghita was in tears; but, uncertain how far Raoul was committed, she struggled for self-command, and did succeed in suppressing emotions that might otherwise have rendered his situation more dangerous. Drying her eyes, she curtsied to the vice-governatore and the podestà and then answered the question.
"Signori," she said, "it is a relief to meet countrymen and old acquaintances on board this strange ship; and I look to you for protection. I do not call it strange or evil company for an orphan niece to be on the water with her uncle and one that has ever been a father to her."
"Ah--sure enough, vice-governatore, this is Carlo Giuntotardi, the uncle; and the man who dwells so much with the saints, even on earth, that he seldom speaks to a sinner. But thou knowest, little Ghita, that one of thy watermen is no less a person that Raoul Yvard, the wickedest corsair that sails out of France, and the pest and persecution of the whole Italian coast? Did the church condescend to notice such an unbelieving republican, it would be to command all its faithful to unite in their prayers for his destruction."
"Raoul Yvard!" repeated Ghita, with sufficient astonishment in her manner to satisfy any reasonable amount of wonder on the part of the other. "Are you certain, Signor Podestà, of the truth of what you say?"
"As certain as the confession of the party himself can make us."
"Confession, Signore!"
"Si, bella Ghita; confession--your boatman--your man of Capri--your lazzarone confesses himself to be neither more nor less than the commander of that worker of iniquity, le Feu-Follet."
"Does le Feu-Follet do more than other cruisers of the enemy?"--but Ghita felt she was getting to be indiscreet, and she ceased.
"I do believe, Winchester," said Cuffe, "that this is the very girl, and yonder is the very old man who came into Nelson's cabin to-day with something to say about the poor prince who was executed this afternoon!"
"What could such people have in common with the unfortunate Caraccioli?"
"Sure enough--yet these are the people. The Queen of the Fleet--our Lady Admiraless--had it all to herself; and what passed between them, in Italian, I know no more than if it had been in Greek. She never toldme, you may rest assured; and, from the look of her eye, I question a good deal if she ever told Nelson."
"I wish to heaven his lordship would cut adrift from his moorings alongside that craft, Captain Cuffe. I do assure you, sir, the fleet begins to talk loudly on the subject;--was it any other man, there'd be the devil to pay about it--but we can all stand a good deal from Nelson and Bronté."
"Well--well--let every man father his own children: you ought to be quiet, Winchester, for he asked very kindly about your hurt to-day, and would have sent you aboard some knick-knack or other for the stomach, but I told him you were all a-tanto again and at duty. What between his head and his arm and his eye, he's got to be such a hulk himself that he thinks every wounded man a sort of a relation. I should not complain, however, if the small-pox could lay hold of that beauty."
"This has been a bad day's work for England, depend on it, Captain Cuffe!"
"Well, if it has, St. Vincent and the Nile weregooddays' works; and we'll let one balance the other. Inquire of this young woman, Mr. Griffin, if I had not the pleasure of seeing her to-day on board the Foudroyant?"
The question was put as desired, and Ghita quietly but unhesitatingly answered in the affirmative.
"Then ask her to explain how she happened to fall into the company of Raoul Yvard?"
"Signori," said Ghita, naturally, for she had nothing to conceal on this point, "we live on Monte Argentaro, where my uncle is the keeper of the Prince's towers. You know, we have much to fear from the barbarians along all that coast; and last season, when the peace with France kept the Inglesi at a distance--I know not how it is, signore, but they say the barbarians are always hardest on the enemies of Inghilterra--but, the past season a boat, from a rover had seized upon my uncle and myself and were carrying us off into captivity, when a Frenchman and his lugger rescued us. From that time we became friends; and our friend has often stopped near our towers to visit us. To-day we found him in a boat by the side of the English admiral's ship; and, as an old acquaintance, he undertook to bring us to the Sorrentine shore, where we are at present staying with my mother's sister."
This was told so naturally as to carry with it the conviction of its truth; and when Griffin had translated it, he did not fail to assure his superior that he would pledge himself for the accuracy of the statement.
"Aye, you young luffs, Griffin, are never backward with your vowsforortopretty girls," answered Cuffe. "The girl does seem honest, however; and, what is more extraordinary, for the company she is in, she seems modest too. Tell her she shall not be harmed, though we cannot deprive ourselves of the pleasure of her company immediately. She shall have the larboard stateroom in my cabin until morning, where she and her uncle may live a great deal more comfortably than in one of their out-of-door Neapolitan rookeries. Monte Argentaro, ha!--That's a bluff just beyond the Roman coast, and it is famously besprinkled with towers--half a dozen of them at least within as many miles, and who knows but this Jack-o'-Lantern may be extinguished some fine morning, should we fail of laying our hands on it now?"
"We can hardly fail of the last, Captain Cuffe, having her commander in our possession."
Orders were then given to dispose of the prisoners, leaving the boat on deck. Raoul was sent below and put in a canvas stateroom, the arms having been removed, even to the razors, and a sentinel placed at the door. Escape from such a situation was impossible; and as for self-violence, whenthatpoint was considered, Cuffe had coolly remarked: "Poor devil; hanged he must be, and if he should be his own executioner, it will save us the discomfort of having a scene on board. I suppose Nelson will order him to our fore-yard-arm as a jewel-block. I don't see why he cannot use a Neapolitan frigate for this job, too; they are good for nothing else."
"I rather think, Captain Cuffe, he will swing on board his own lugger, should we succeed in catching her," answered the lieutenant.
"By George, you're right, Griffin; and that's another inducement for looking out sharp for the Few-Folly. How much better it would have been had we burnt them all in a bunch off the Golo!"
Then followed the arrangement by which the prisoner was put into the gun-room, as mentioned. Ghita and her uncle were shown into the empty cabin state-room, and mattresses were provided on which they might repose. Then the captain and his two guests retired to the after-cabin, whither Griffin was invited to accompany them. Here the captain recollected that there had been a fourth individual in the boat, and he sent an order on deck for him to come down for examination. Ithuel, observing the attention of the officers occupied by Ghita and her uncle, had stolen back toward his own yawl, of which he had taken possession, stretching himself out at length, with the apparent design to sleep, but in reality to keep himself "out of mind," by remaining "out of sight"; reserving, in petto, an intention to jump overboard, should the ship go near enough to the land to give him a chance for his life, after the moon set. In this situation he was found, aroused from his lair, and led into the cabin.
It has been mentioned that Ithuel would not consent to trust himself near the Proserpine without disguising his person. Raoul being well provided with all the materials for a masquerade, this had been effected by putting a black curling wig over his own lank, sandy hair, coloring his whiskers and eyebrows, and trusting the remainder to the transformation which might be produced by the dress, or rather undress, of a Neapolitan waterman. The greatest obstacle to this arrangement had been a certain queue, which Ithuel habitually wore in a cured eel-skin that he had brought with him from America, eight years before, and both of which, "queue and eel-skin," he cherished as relics of better days. Once a week this queue was unbound and combed, but all the remainder of the time it continued in a solid mass quite a foot in length, being as hard and about as thick as a rope an inch in diameter. Now, the queue had undergone its hebdomadal combing just an hour before Raoul announced his intention to proceed to Naples in the yawl, and it would have been innovating on the only thing that Ithuel treated with reverence to undo the work until another week had completed its round. The queue, therefore, was disposed of under the wig in the best manner that its shape and solidity would allow.
Ithuel was left in the fore-cabin, and his presence was announced to Cuffe.
"It's no doubt some poor devil belonging to the Few-Folly's crew," observed the English Captain, in a rather compassionate manner, "and we can hardly think of stringinghimup, most probably for obeying an order. That would never do, Griffin: so we'll just step out and overhaul his log in French, and send him off to England to a prison-ship, by the first return vessel."
As this was said, the four in the after-cabin left it together and stood before this new prisoner. Of course Ithuel understood all that was said in English, while the very idea of being catechized in French threw him into a cold sweat. In this strait the idea suddenly crossed his mind that his greatest security would be in feigning dumbness.
"Écoutez, mon ami" commenced Griffin, in very respectable English-French, "you are to tell me nothing but the truth, and it may be all the better for you. You belong to the Feu-Follet, of course?"
Ithuel shook his head in strong disgust and endeavored to make a sound that he intended to represent a dumb man struggling to utter the word "Napoli."
"What is the fellow after, Griffin?" said Cuffe. "Can it be he doesn't understand French? Try him a touch in Italian, and let us see what he will say to that."
Griffin repeated very much what he had said before, merely changing the language, and received the same gagging sounds for an answer. The gentlemen looked at each other, as much as to express their surprise. But, unluckily for Ithuel's plan, he had brought with him from the Granite State a certain propensity to pass all the modulations of his voice through his nose; and the effort to make a suppressed sound brought that member more than usually into requisition, thereby producing a certain disagreeable combination that destroyed everything like music that commonly characterizes the Italian words. Now, Andrea had been struck with this peculiarity about the tones of the American's voice, in the interview at Benedetta's wine-house; and the whole connection between Raoul and this singular person being associated in his mind, the truth flashed on him, as it might be, at a glance. His previous success that night emboldened the worthy vice-governatore, and, without any remark, he walked steadily up to Ithuel, removed the wig, and permitted the eel-skin queue to resume its natural position on the back of its owner.
"Ha!--What, veechy," exclaimed Cuffe, laughing--"you unearth them like so many foxes to-night. Now, Griffin, hang me if I do not think I've seen that chap before! Isn't he the very man we found at the wheel of la Voltigeuse, when we boarded her?"
"Lord bless me, Captain Cuffe--no, sir. This fellow is as long as two of that chap--and yet I know the face too. I wish you'd let me send for one of the young gentlemen, sir; they're worth all the rest of the ship at remembering faces."
The permission was given, and the cabin-steward was sent on deck to desire Mr. Roller, one of the oldest midshipmen, and who was known to have the watch, to come below.
"Look at this fellow, Mr. Roller," said Griffin, as soon as the youngster had taken his place in the group, "and tell us if you can make anything of him."
"It's the lazy-rony, sir, we hoisted in a bit ago when we struck the boat on deck."
"Aye, no doubt of that--but we think we have seen his face before;--canyoumake that out?"
Roller now walked round the immovable subject of all these remarks; and he, too, began to think the singular-looking object was no stranger to him. As soon, however, as he got a sight of the queue, he struck Ithuel a smart slap on the shoulder and exclaimed:
"You're welcome back, my lad! I hope you'll find your berth aloft as much to your mind as it used to be. This is Bolt, Captain Cuffe, the foretop-man, who ran from us when last in England, was caught and put in a guard-ship, from which they sent us word he stole a boat and got off with two or three French prisoners, who happened to be there at the moment on some inquiry or other. Don't you remember it all, Mr. Griffin--you may remember the fellow pretended to be an American."
Ithuel was now completely exposed, and he at once perceived that his wisest way was to submit. Cuffe's countenance darkened, for he regarded a deserter with a species of professional horror, and the impressed deserter, to whose services England had no other right than that of might, with an additional degree of resentment, that was very fairly proportioned to the inward consciousness he felt that a great wrong was done in detaining the man at all. There is nothing extraordinary in these feelings; a very common resource, under such circumstances, being to imagine delinquencies that justify us to ourselves, by endeavoring to believe that the subject of any act of our oppression at least merits the infliction.
"Do you dare to deny what this young gentleman has just said, sirrah?" demanded the captain. "I now remember you myself; you are Bolt, the foretop-man, that ran at Plymouth."
"You'd a-run, too, Captain Cuffe, had you been in my place, had the ship been at Jericho."
"Enough--no impudence, sir. Send for the master-at-arms, Mr. Griffin, and have the fellow ironed: to-morrow we'll look into the affair."
These orders were obeyed, and Ithuel was removed to the place where the master-at-arms usually reigns on board ship. Cuffe now gave the lieutenant his congé, and then withdrew to the inner-cabin, to prepare a despatch for the rear-admiral. He was near an hour writing a letter to his mind, but finally succeeded. Its purport was as follows: He reported the capture of Raoul, explaining the mode and the circumstances under which that celebrated privateersman had fallen into his hands. He then asked for instructions as to the manner in which he was to dispose of his prisoner. Having communicated this important fact, he ventured some suggestions as to the probable vicinity of the lugger, and the hopes he entertained of being able to find out her precise situation, through the agency of Bolt, whose condition he also explained, hinting at the same time the expediency of bringing both delinquents to as speedy trials as possible, as the most certain manner of using their apprehensions in seizing le Feu-Follet. The letter concluded with an earnest request that another frigate, which was mentioned, her captain being junior to Cuffe, and a fast-sailing sloop that was lying off Naples might be sent down to assist him in "heading off" the lugger, as he feared the latter was too swift to be overtaken by the Proserpine alone, more especially in the light winds which prevailed.
When this letter was written, addressed, and sealed, Cuffe went on deck again. It was now nine o'clock, or two bells, and Winchester had the quarter-deck nearly to himself. All was as tranquil and calm on the deck of that fine frigate as a moonlight night, a drowsy watch, a light wind, and smooth water could render things in a bay like that of Naples. Gleamings of fire were occasionally seen over Vesuvius, but things in that direction looked misty and mysterious, though Capri loomed up, dark and grand, a few miles to leeward, and Ischia was visible, a confused but distant pile on the lee-bow. An order from Cuffe, however, set everybody in motion. Yard and stay-tackles were overhauled and hooked on, the boatswain's-mate piped the orders, and the first cutter was hoisted over the waist cloths, and lowered into the water. "Away, there, you first cutters," had been hoarsely called on the berth-deck, and the crew were ready to enter the boat by the time the latter was lowered. The masts were stepped, Roller appeared, in a pea-jacket, to guard against the night air, and Cuffe gave him his instructions.
"Set your sails and stretch over under the north shore, Mr. Roller," said the captain, who stood in the lee-gangway, to give a last word. "You will fetch in about Queen Joan's Palace. There, you had better take to your oars and pull up along the land. Remember, sir, to join us by the first ship that comes out; and, if none is sent, to come down with the morning breeze in the boat."
Roller gave the customary "Aye, aye, sir"; the boat shoved off; as soon as from under the lee of the ship the lugs were set, and half an hour later the night had swallowed up her form. Cuffe remained an hour longer, walking the deck with his first-lieutenant; and then, satisfied that the night would prove propitious, he went below, leaving orders to keep the ship lying-to until morning.
As for Roller, he pulled alongside of the Foudroyant just as the bells of the fleet were striking eight, or midnight. Nelson was still up, writing in his cabin. The despatch was delivered, and then the secretary of the admiral and a clerk or two were called from their berths, for nothing lagged that this active-minded man had in charge. Orders were written, copied, signed, and sent to different ships by two o'clock, that the morning breeze might not be lost; and not till then did the employés think of rest.
Roller left the flag-ship at two, having eaten a hearty supper in Nelson's own cabin, and repaired on board the Terpsichore, a smart little frigate of thirty-two guns, twelve pounders, with instructions to her captain to receive him. Two hours later this ship, in company with another still smaller, the Ringdove, 18, left her anchorage, under a cloud of canvas, and stood down the bay, carrying studding-sails on both sides, with a light wind at northwest, heading toward Capri.
"Speak to the business, Master Secretary:Why are we met in council?"King Henry VIII.
"Speak to the business, Master Secretary:Why are we met in council?"King Henry VIII.
When the idlers of the Proserpine appeared on deck the following morning, the ship was about a league to windward of Capri, having forged well over toward the north side of the bay during the night, wore round and got thus far back on the other tack. From the moment light returned lookouts had been aloft with glasses, examining every nook and corner of the bay, in order to ascertain whether any signs of the lugger were to be seen under its bold and picturesque shore. So great is the extent of this beautiful basin, so grand the natural objects which surround it, and so clear the atmosphere, that even the largest ships loom less than usual on its waters; and it would have been a very possible thing for le Feu-Follet to anchor near some of the landings, and lie there unnoticed for a week by the fleet above, unless tidings were carried to the latter by observers on the shore.
Cuffe was the last to come on deck, six bells, or seven o'clock, striking as the group on the quarter-deck first lifted their hats to him. He glanced around him, and then turned toward Griffin, who was now officer of the watch.
"I see two ships coming down the bay, Mr. Griffin," he said--"no signals yet, I suppose, sir?"
"Certainly not, sir, or they would have been reported. We make out the frigate to be the Terpsichore, and the sloop, I know by her new royals, is the Ringdove. The first ship, Captain Cuffe, brags of being able to travel faster than anything within the Straits!"
"I'll bet a month's pay the Few-Folly walks away from her on a bowline, ten knots to her nine. If she can do that with the Proserpine, she'll at least do that with Mistress Terpsichore. There goes a signal from the frigate now, Mr. Griffin, though a conjuror could hardly read it, tailing directly on as it does. Well, quartermaster, what do you make it out to be?"
"It's the Terpsichore's number, sir; and the other ship has just made the Ringdove's."
"Show ours, and keep a sharp lookout; there'll be something else to tell us presently."
In a few minutes the Terpsichore expressed a wish to speak the Proserpine, when Cuffe filled his main-topsail and hauled close upon a wind. An hour later the three ships passed within hail of each other, when both the junior commanders lowered their gigs and came on board the Proserpine to report.
Roller followed in the first cutter, which had been towed down by the Terpsichore.
The Terpsichore was commanded by Captain Sir Frederick Dashwood, a lively young baronet, who preferred the active life of a sailor to indolence and six thousand a year on shore; and who had been rewarded for his enterprise by promotion and a fast frigate at the early age of two and twenty. The Ringdove was under a master-commandant of the name of Lyon, who was just sixty years old, having worked his way up to his present rank by dint of long and arduous services, owing his last commission and his command to the accident of having been a first lieutenant at the battle of Cape St. Vincent. Both these gentlemen appeared simultaneously on the quarter-deck of the Proserpine, where they were duly received by the captain and all the assembled officers.
"Good morrow to you, Cuffe," said Dashwood, giving the other the tip of his fingers, as soon as the ceremonious part of the reception was over; and casting a glance, half admiring, half critical, at the appearance of things on deck--"What has Nelson sent us down here about this fine morning, and--ha!--how long have you had those brass ornaments on your capstan?"
"They were only put there yesterday, Sir Frederick; a little slush money did it all."
"Has Nelson seen them? I rather fancy not--they tell me he's as savage as an Arab about knick-knackery nowadays. What an awkward job that was yesterday afternoon, by the way, Cuffe!"
"It has been a bad business, and, as an old Agamemnon, I would give a year's rank that it never had taken place."
"A year's rank!--that's a great deal; a year would set me back, hard aground alongside of old Lyon, here. I was a lieutenant less than three years since and couldn't afford half a year. But all you old Agamemnons think as much of your little Nel. as if he were a pretty girl; isn't it true, Lyon?"
"I dare say it may be, Sir Frederick," answered Lyon; "and if you had been the first lieutenant of a two-decker, off Cape St. Vincent, on the 14th February, 1797, you would have thought as much of him too. Here we were, only fifteen sail in all--that is, of vessels of the line--with the wind at--"
"Oh, hang your battle, Lyon, I've heard all that at least seventeen times!"
"Well, if ye haave, Sir Frederick," returned Lyon, who was a Scotchman, "it'll be just once a year since ye war' born, leaving out the time ye war' in the nursery. But we've not come here to enlighten Captain Cuffe in these particulars, so much as in obedience to an order of the rear-admiral's--little Nel., as ye'll be calling him, I suppose, Sir Frederick Dashwood?"
"Nay, it's you old Agamemnons, or old fellows, who gave him that name--"
"Ye'll please to excuse me, sir," interrupted Lyon, a little dogmatically--"ye've never heard me call him anything but my lord, since His Majesty, God bless him! was graciously pleased to elevate him to the peerage--nothing but 'my lord,' and the 'rear-admiral'; naval rank being entitled to its privileges even on the throne. Many a king has been a colonel, and I see no disparagement in one's being an admiral. Won't ye be thinking, Captain Cuffe, that since my lord is made Duke of Bronté, he is entitled to be called 'Your Grace'--all the Scottish dukes are so designated, and I see no reason why the rear-admiral should not have his just dues as well as the best of them."
"Let him alone for that," said Cuffe, laughing; "Nel. will look out for himself, as well as for the king. But, gentlemen, I suppose you have not come down here merely for a morning walk--have I any reports to hear?"
"I beg your pardon, Captain Cuffe, but I was really forgetting my errand," answered Dashwood. "Here are your orders, and we are both directed to report to you. The lieutenant who brought the package aboardmesaid there would be a spy to try, and a lugger to catch. Did they tell you anything of this matter, Lyon?"
"No, Sir Frederick; not being inquisitive, I hear but little of what is going on in the fleet. My orders are to report myself and ship to Captain Cuffe, for service, which I have the honor now to do."
"Well, gentlemen, here are further instructions for you. This is an order to hold a court, composed of Captain Richard Cuffe, of the Proserpine, president; Captain Sir Frederick Dashwood, Bart., of the Terpsichore, etc., etc.; and Lyon, Winchester, and Spriggs, your first-lieutenant, Sir Frederick, for the trials of Raoul Yvard, a French citizen, on the charge of being a spy, and Ithuel Bolt, seaman, etc., on the charge of being a deserter. Here is everything in rule, and there are your respective orders, gentlemen."
"Bless me, I'd no notion of this!" exclaimed Lyon, who was greatly averse to this part of an officer's duty. "I'd thought it altogether a trial of speed after a Frenchman, for which purpose the rear-admiral, or my lord, or his grace, whichever it may be right to call him, had seen fit to bring three of his fastest ships together."
"I wish it was nothing but the last, Captain Lyon; but we have the disagreeable duty of trying a spy and a deserter before us. You will return to your ships, gentlemen, and follow us in to an anchorage. I intend to bring up at a single anchor under the shore at Capri, where we can lie during the calm and get through with our courts. The cases will be clear and not detain us long, and we can send lookouts up on the heights to examine the sea and the coast outside. In the mean time, we must be busy lest we lose the breeze. You will attend to the signal for the court."
At this order the two visitors got into their boats, and the Proserpine again filled. The three vessels now made the best of their way toward the point of destination, anchoring off the town or village in the island of Capri, just as two bells struck. Ten minutes later, the Proserpine fired a gun, and ran up the flag which denotes the sitting of a court-martial.
Although it has not been deemed necessary to relate them, the reader will understand that all the details required by the law had been observed as regards these trials; the promptitude of the proceedings being partly characteristic of the decision of the admiral, but more in consequence of a wish to use the charges against the delinquents as a means of seizing the true hero of our tale, the little Feu-Follet. While a mistaken, not to say a mawkish, philanthropy is unsettling so many of the ancient land-marks of society, and, among other heresies, is preaching the doctrine that "the object of punishment is the reformation of the criminal," it is a truth which all experience confirms that nothing renders justice so terrible, and consequently so efficient, as its promptitude and certainty. When all its requirements are observed, the speediest exercise of its functions is the most conducive to the protection of society, the real motive for the existence of all human regulations of this nature; and it is a great merit of the much-abused English ordinances, that the laws are rarely made stalking-horses for the benefit of the murderer or the forger; but that once fairly tried and convicted, the expiation of their crimes awaits the offenders with a certainty and energy that leave the impression on the community that punishments were intended to produce. That this people has done well in liberating itself from many of their inherited usages and laws, is as certain as that one age has interests different from another; one set of circumstances governing principles at variance with those which preceded them; but it would be well also to remember that, while moral changes are as necessary as physical exercise, there are truths that are eternal, and rules of right and prudence which can never be departed from with impunity.
When the members of the court mentioned assembled in the cabin of the Proserpine, it was with all the forms and exterior observances that were necessary to command respect. The officers were in full dress, the oaths were administered with solemnity, the table was arranged with taste, and an air of decent gravity reigned over all. Little time, however, was lost unnecessarily, and the officer to whom had been assigned the duty of prévôt-marshal was directed to produce his prisoners.
Raoul Yvard and Ithuel Bolt were brought into the cabin at the same moment, though they came from different parts of the ship, and were allowed to hold no communication with each other. When both were present, they were arraigned, and the accusations were read to them. Raoul having admitted his knowledge of English, no interpreter was sworn, but the proceedings were had in the usual manner. As it was intended to try the Frenchman first, and Ithuel might be wanted as a witness, the latter was taken out of the cabin again, courts-martial never permitting one witness to hear what another has testified, although an ingenious substitute for ears has been adopted of late, by publishing in the journals, from day to day, whatever passes, when the length of the proceedings will admit of such a device.
"We will now swear the Signor Andrea Barrofaldi," commenced the Judge Advocate, as soon as the preliminaries were observed. "This is a Catholic bible, sir, and I will put the oaths in Italian if you will have the goodness first to swear me in as an interpreter."
This was done, when the oath was duly administered to the vice-governatore. Then came a few questions as to the station, country, etc., of the witness, after which more material matter was inquired into.
"Signor Vice-Governatore, do you know the prisoner by sight?" demanded the Judge Advocate.
"Sir, I have had the honor to receive him in my residence in the island of Elba."
"Under what name and circumstances was he known to you, Signore?"
"Eh--he called himself Sir Smees, a capitano in the service of the English king."
"What vessel did he pretend to command?"
"Ze Ving-y-Ving--a lugger, which I have since had reason to think is le Feu-Follet, a corsair under the French flag. Monsieur did me the favor to make two visits to Porto Ferrajo in the character of Sir Smees."
"And you know now that this is Raoul Yvard, the French privateersman you have mentioned?"
"Eh--know?--I know theysaythis is the Signor Yvard, and that ze Ving-y-Ving is le Feu-Follet."
"Theysaywill not do, Signor Barrofaldi. Can you notsay this much of your own knowledge?"
"Non, Signore."
The court was now cleared; when it re-opened Vito Viti was sent for and properly sworn, his attention being particularly directed to the cross on the back of the book.
"Did you ever see the prisoner before this occasion, Signor Viti?" demanded the Judge Advocate, after the preliminary questions had been put.
"Signore, oftener than it is agreeable to remember. I do not think that two grave magistrates were ever more mystified than were the vice-governatore and myself! Eh-h-h--Signori, the wisest sometimes become like sucking children, when there passes a mist before the understanding."
"Relate the circumstances under which this occurred, to the court, Signor Podestà."
"Why, Signori, the facts were just these. Andrea Barrofaldi, as you know, is the vice-governatore of Porto Ferrajo, and I am its unworthy podestà. Of course it is our duty to look into all matters affecting the public weal, and more especially into the business and occupations of strangers who come into our island. Well, it is now three weeks or more since the lugger or felucca was seen--"
"Which was it, a felucca or a lugger?" demanded the Judge Advocate, holding his pen ready to write the answer.
"Both, Signore; a felucca and a lugger."
"Ah--there were two; a felucca and a lugger."
"No, Signore; but this felucca was a lugger. Tommaso Tonti wished to mystify me about that, too; but I have not been podestà in a seaport so many years for nothing. No, Signori, there are all sorts of feluccas--ship-feluccas, brig-feluccas, and lugger-feluccas."
When this answer was translated, the members of the court smiled, while Raoul Yvard laughed out honestly.
"Well, Signor Podestà," resumed the Judge Advocate--"the prisoner came into Porto Ferrajo in a lugger?"
"So it was said, Signore. I did not see him actually on board of her, but he professed to be the commander of a certain vessel, in the service of the King of Inghilterra, called ze Ving-y-Ving, and said that his own name was Smees--si--il capitano, or Sir Smees."
"Professed? Do you not know that this lugger was the notorious French privateer, le Feu-Follet?"
"I know they say so now, Signori; but the vice-governatore and I supposed her to be ze Ving-y-Ving."
"And do you not know that the prisoner is actually Raoul Yvard; of your own knowledge, I mean?"
"Corpo di Bacco!--How should I know any such thing, Signor Guideca-Avvocato," exclaimed Vito Viti, who literally translated what he understood to be the title of his interrogator, thereby converting him into a sort of ship-felucca--"how should I know any such thing? I do not keep company with corsairs, except when they come upon, our island and call themselves 'Sir Smees.'"
The Judge Advocate and the members of the court looked gravely at each other. No one in the least doubted that the prisoner was Raoul Yvard, but it was necessary legally to prove it before he could be condemned. Cuffe was now asked if the prisoner had not confessed his own identity, but no one could say he had done so in terms, although his conversation would seem to imply as much. In a word, justice was like to be in what is by no means an unusual dilemma for that upright functionary, viz., unable to show a fact that no one doubted. At length Cuffe recollected Ghita and Ithuel, and he wrote their names on a piece of paper, and passed them down the table to the Judge Advocate. The latter nodded his head, as much as to say he understood the president's meaning; and then he told the prisoner he might cross-examine the witness if he saw fit.
Raoul fully understood his situation. Although he certainly had not entered the Bay of Naples with any of the ordinary views of a spy, he was aware how far he had committed himself, and foresaw the readiness with which his enemies would destroy him, could they find the legal means of so doing. He also comprehended the dilemma in which his accusers were placed for the want of testimony, and at once resolved to turn the circumstance as much as possible to his advantage. Until that moment the idea of denying his own identity had never crossed his mind; but perceiving what he fancied an opening for escape, it was but natural to avail himself of its protection. Turning, then, to the podestà, he put his questions in English, that they might go fairly through the same process of interpretation as the rest of the examination.
"You say, Signor Podestà," he commenced, "that you saw me in the town of Porto Ferrajo and in the island of Elba?"
"Si--in which town I have the honor to be one of the authorities."
"You say I professed to command a vessel in the service of the King of England; a felucca, called ze Ving-and-Ving?"
"Si--ze Ving-y-Ving--the commander of that felucca."
"I understood you to say, Mr. Podestà," put in Lyon, "that the craft was a lugger?"
"A felucca-lugger, Signor Capitano--nothing more nor less than that, on my honor."
"And all these honorable officers well know," observed Raoul, ironically, "that a felucca-lugger and a lugger such as le Feu-Follet is understood to be are very different things. Now, Signore, you have never heard me say that I am a Frenchman?"
"Non--you have not been so weak as to confess that to one who hates the name of the Françese. Cospetto! If all the Grand Duke's subjects detested his enemies as I do, he would be the most powerful prince in Italy!"
"No doubt, Signore; and now suffer me to inquire if you heard any other name for that felucca than ze Ving-and-Ving. Did I ever call her le Feu-Follet?"
"Non--always ze Ving-y-Ving; never anything else; but--"
"Your pardon, Signore; have the goodness to answer my questions. I called the felucca ze Ving-and-Ving; and I called myself le Capitaine Smeet; is it not true?"
"Si--Ving-y-Ving and il Capitano Smees--Sir Smees, a signore of an illustrious English family of that name, if I remember right."
Raoul smiled, for he was confident this notion proceeded principally from the self-illusion of the two Italians themselves; the little he had said on the subject having been drawn out more by their suggestions than by any design on his part. Still he did not deem it prudent to contradict the podestà, who, as yet, had testified to nothing that could possibly criminate him.
"If a young man has the vanity to wish to be thought noble," answered Raoul, calmly, "it may prove his folly, but it does not prove him a spy. You did not hear me confess myself a Frenchman, you say: now did you not hear me say I was born in Guernsey?"
"Si--the Signore did say that the family of Smees came from that island--as the vice-governatore calls it, though I acknowledge I never heard of such an island. There are Sicilia, Sardegna, Elba, Caprea, Ischia, Irlanda, Inghilterra, Scozia, Malta, Capraya, Pianosa, Gorgona, and America, with several more in the east; but I never heard of such an island as Guernsey. Si, Signore; we are humble people, and I hope modest people in the island of Elba, but we do know something of the rest of the world, notwithstanding. If you wish to hear these matters touched on ingeniously, however, you will do well to call in the vice-governatore for half an hour and invite him to open his stores of knowledge. San Antonio!--I doubt if Italy has his equal--at islands, in particular."
"Good," continued Raoul; "and now tell these officers, Signore Podestà, if you can say on your oath, that I had anything to do with that felucca, ze Ving-and-Ving, at all."
"I cannot, Signore, except from your own words. You were dressed like one of these officers, here, in an English uniform, and said you commanded ze Ving-y-Ving. While speaking of islands, Signori, I forgot Palmavola and Ponza, both of which we passed in this ship on our voyage from Elba."
"Good--it is always well to be particular under oath. Now, Signor Podestà, the result of all your evidence is, that you do not know that the felucca you mention was le Feu-Follet, that I am a Frenchman even, much less that I am Raoul Yvard, and that I told you that I was from Guernsey, and that my name was Jacques Smeet--is it not so?"
"Si--you did say your name was Giac Smees, and you did not say you were Raoul Yvard. But, Signore, I saw you firing your cannon at the boats of this frigate, with French colors flying, and that is some signs of an enemy, as we understand these matters in Porto Ferrajo."
Raoul felt that this was a direct blow; still, it wanted the connecting link to make it testimony.
"But you did not seemedoing this?--You mean you saw ze Ving-and-Ving in a combat with the frigate's boats."
"Si--that was it--but you told me you were commander of ze Ving-y-Ving."
"Let us understand you," put in the Judge Advocate--"is it the intention of the prisoner to deny his being a Frenchman and an enemy?"
"It is my intention, sir, to deny everything that is not proved."
"But your accent--your English--nay, your appearance show that you are a Frenchman?"
"Your pardon, sir. There are many nations that speak French which are not French to-day. All along the north frontier of France is French spoken by foreigners--Savoy, and Geneva, and Vaud--also the English have French subjects in the Canadas, besides Guernsey and Jersey. You will not hang a man because his accent is not from London?"
"We shall do you justice, prisoner," observed Cuffe, "and you shall have the benefit of every doubt that makes in your favor. Still, it may be well to inform you that the impression of your being a Frenchman and Raoul Yvard is very strong; and if you can show to the contrary, you would do well to prove it by direct testimony."
"How will this honorable court expect that to be done? I was taken in a boat last night and am tried this morning at a notice as short as that which was given to Caraccioli. Give me time to send for witnesses, and I will prove who and what I am."
This was said coolly and with the air of a man assured of his own innocence, and it produced a slight effect on his judges; for an appeal to the unvarying principles of right seldom falls unheeded on the ear. Nevertheless, there could be no doubt in the minds of the officers of the Proserpine, in particular, either as to the character of the lugger or as to that of the prisoner; and men, under such circumstances, were not likely to allow an enemy who had done them so much injury to escape. The appeal only rendered them more cautious, and more determined to protect themselves against charges of unfair proceedings.
"Have you any further questions to put to the witness, prisoner?" inquired the president of the court.
"None at present, sir--we will go on, if you please, gentlemen."
"Call Ithuel Bolt," said the Judge Advocate, reading the new witness's name from a list before him.
Raoul started, for the idea of the American's being brought forward in this capacity had never occurred to him. In a minute Ithuel appeared, was sworn, and took his place at the foot of the table.
"Your name is Ithuel Bolt?" observed the Judge Advocate, holding his pen in readiness to record the answer.
"So they say aboard here," answered the witness, coolly--"though, for my part, I've no answer to give to such a question."
"Do you deny your name, sir?"
"I deny nothing--want to say nothing, or to have anything to do with this trial or this ship."
Raoul breathed easier; for, to own the truth, he had not much confidence in Ithuel's constancy or disinterestedness; and he apprehended that he had been purchased with the promise of a pardon for himself.
"You will remember that you are under oath, and may be punished for contumacy on refusing to answer."
"I've some gineral idees of law," answered Ithuel, passing his hand over his queue to make sure it was right, "for we all do a little at that in Ameriky. I practised some myself, when a young man, though it was only afore a justice-peace.Weused to hold that a witness needn't answer ag'in himself."
"Is it, then, on account of criminating yourself that you answer thus vaguely?"
"I decline answering that question," answered Ithuel, with an air of dignity.
"Witness, have you any personal knowledge of the prisoner?"
"I decline answering that question, too."
"Do you know anything of such a person as Raoul Yvard?"
"What if I do?--I'm a native American, and have a right to form acquaintances in foreign lands if I see it's to my interest, or it's agreeable to my feelin's."
"Have you never served on board His Majesty's ships?"
"What majesty?--There's no majesty in Ameriky, as I know, but the majesty of heaven."
"Remember that your answers are all recorded, and may tell against you on some other occasion."
"Not lawfully; a witness can't be made to give answers that tell ag'in himself."
"Certainly notmadeto do it; still he maydoit of his own accord."
"Then it's the duty of the court to put him on his guard. I've heerd that ag'in and ag'in in Ameriky."
"Did you ever see a vessel called le Feu-Follet?"
"How in natur' is a mariner to tell all the vessels he may happen to see on the wide ocean!"
"Did you ever serve under the French flag?"
"I decline entering at all into my private affairs. Being free, I'm free to sarve where I please."
"It is useless to ask this witness any further questions," Cuffe quietly observed. "The man is well known in this ship, and his own trial will most probably take place as soon as this is ended."
The Judge Advocate assented, and Ithuel was permitted to withdraw, his contumacy being treated with the indifference that power is apt to exhibit toward weakness. Still there was no legal proof on which to convict the prisoner. No one doubted his guilt, and there were the strongest reasons, short of a downright certainty, for supposing that he commanded the lugger which had so recently fought the boats of the very ship in which the court was sitting; but notwithstanding, supposition was not the evidence the laws required; and the recent execution of Caraccioli had made so much conversation that few would condemn without seeing their justification before them. Things were really getting to be seriously awkward, and the court was again cleared for the purpose of consultation. In the private discourse that followed, Cuffe stated all that had occurred, the manner in which Raoul had been identified, and the probabilities--nay, moral certainties--of the case. At the same time, he was forced to allow that he possessed no direct evidence that the lugger he had chased was a Frenchman at all, and least of all le Feu-Follet. It is true, she had worn the French flag, but she had also worn the English, and the Proserpine had done the same thing. To be sure, the lugger hadfoughtunder thedrapeau tricolor, which might be taken as a strong circumstance against her; but it was not absolutely conclusive, for the circumstances might possibly justify deception to the last moment; and he admitted that the frigate herself hadappearedto fire at the batteries under the same ensign. The case was allowed to be embarrassing; and, while no one really doubted the identity of Raoul, those who were behind the curtains greatly feared they might be compelled to adjourn the trial for want of evidence, instead of making an immediate sentence the means of getting possession of the lugger, as had been hoped. When all these points had been sufficiently discussed, and Cuffe had let his brethren into his view of the real state of the case, he pointed out a course that he still trusted would prove effectual. After a few minutes of further deliberation on this information, the doors were opened and the court resumed its public sitting, as before.
"Let a young woman who is known by the name of Ghita be brought in next," said the Judge Advocate, consulting his notes.
Raoul started, and a shade of manly concern passed over his face; but he soon recovered and seemed unmoved. Ghita and her uncle had been taken from the cabin stateroom, and placed below, in order that the private consultation might be perfectly secret, and it was necessary to wait a few minutes until she could be summoned. These past, the door opened, and the girl entered the room. She cast a glance of tender concern at Raoul; but the novelty of her situation, and the awful character of an oath to one of her sensitive conscience and utter inexperience, soon drew her attention entirely to the scene more immediately before her. The Judge Advocate explained the nature of the oath she was required to take, and then he administered it. Had Ghita been taken less by surprise, or had she in the least foreseen the consequences, no human power could have induced her to submit to be sworn; but, ignorant of all this, she submitted passively, kissing the cross with reverence, and even offering to kneel as she made the solemn protestation. All this was painful to the prisoner, who distinctly foresaw the consequences. Still, so profound was his reverence for Ghita's singleness of heart and mind, that he would not, by look or gesture, in any manner endeavor to undermine that sacred love of truth which he knew formed the very foundations of her character. She was accordingly sworn, without anything occurring to alarm her affectations, or to apprise her of what might be the sad result of the act.