[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

southern cape, and proceeding with the steady, swift movement of men
accustomed to the toil.
There are few portions of the sea in which a single ship or boat is an
object of so little notice as the Bay of Naples. This is true of all
times and seasons; the magnificent scale on which nature has created her
panorama rendering ordinary objects of comparative insignificance; while
the constant movement, the fruit of a million of souls thronging around
its teeming shores, covers it in all directions with boats, almost as
the streets of a town are crowded with pedestrians. The present
occasion, too, was one likely to set everything in motion; and Raoul
judged rightly when he thought himself less likely to be observed in
such a scene than on a smaller and less frequented water. As a matter of
course, while near the mole, or the common anchorage, it was necessary
to pass amid a floating throng; but, once beyond the limits of this
crowd, the size of the bay rendered it quite easy to avoid unpleasant
collisions without any apparent effort; while the passage of a boat in
Page 144
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
any direction was an occurrence too common to awaken distrust. One would
think no more of questioning a craft that was encountered, even in the
centre of that spacious bay, than he would think of inquiring about the
stranger met in the market-place. All this both Raoul and Ithuel knew
and felt; and once in motion, in their yawl, they experienced a sense of
security that for the four or five previous hours had not
always existed.
By this time the sun was low, though it was possible, as Raoul
perceived, to detect the speck that was still swinging at the Minerva's
fore-yard-arm; a circumstance to which the young man, with considerate
feeling, refrained from adverting. The Proserpine had been some time in
motion, standing out of the fleet under a cloud of canvas, but with an
air so light as to permit the yawl to gain on her, though the heads of
both were turned in the same direction. In this manner mile after mile
was passed, until darkness came. Then the moon arose, rendering the bay
less distinct, it is true, but scarcely more mysterious or more lovely,
than in the hours of stronger light. The gulf, indeed, forms an
exception in this particular to the general rule, by the extent of its
shores, the elevation of its mountains, the beauty of its water--which
has the deep tint of the ocean off soundings--and the softness of the
atmosphere; lending to it by day all the mellowed and dreamy charms that
other scenes borrow from the illusions of night and the milder
brilliance of the secondary planets. Raoul did not exert himself at the
oar; and, as he sat aft, his companion was obliged to take the stroke
from his movement. It was so pleasant to have Ghita with him, on his own
element, that he never hurried himself while in the enjoyment of her
society. The conversation, it will readily be imagined, was not lively;
but the saddened melancholy of Ghita's voice, as she occasionally
hazarded a remark of her own, or answered one of his questions, sounded
sweeter in his ears than the music of the ship's bands that was now
wafted to them across the water.
As the evening advanced the land-breeze increased, and the Proserpine
gradually gained upon the boat. When the latter was about two-thirds of
the distance across the bay, the frigate caught the stronger current
that came down athwart the campagna, between Vesuvius and the mountains
behind Castel-a-Mare, when she drove ahead fast. Her sails, as seamen
express it, were all asleep; or swelled outward without collapsing; and
her rate of sailing was between five and six miles in the hour. This
brought them up with the boat hand-over-hand, as it is called; and
Ghita, at Raoul's request, put the helm aside, in order that they might
get out of the way of the huge body that was approaching. It would seem
that there was some design on the part of the ship in coming so near,
for she made a sheer toward the yawl in a way to frighten the timid
helmswoman and to induce her to relinquish her hold of the tiller.
"Fear nothing," called out Griffin, in Italian--"we intend to offer you
a tow. Stand by and catch the line--Heave!"
A small rope was thrown; and, falling directly across Ithuel's head,
that person could do no less than seize it. With all his detestation of
the English in general, and of this vessel in particular, the
man-of-all-work had the labor-saving propensity of his countrymen; and
it struck him as a good thing to make a "king's ship" aid an enemy's
privateer by accepting the offer. As he used the line with proper
dexterity, the yawl was soon towing on the quarter of the frigate; Raoul
taking the helm and giving the boat the sheer necessary to prevent her
dragging in alongside. This was a change so sudden and so totally
unexpected that Ghita murmured her disapprobation, lest it should lead
Page 145
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
to a discovery of the true character of her companions.
"Fear nothing, dearest," answered Raoul, "they cannot suspect us; and we
may learn something useful by being here. At all events, le Feu-Follet
is safe from their designs, just at this moment."
"Are you boatmen of Capri?" called out Griffin, who stood on the
taffrail of the ship, with Cuffe and the two Italians near by; the first
dictating the questions his lieutenant put.
"S'nore, si," answered Raoul, adopting the patois of the country as well
as he could and disguising his deep mellow voice by speaking on a high
shrill key. "Boatmen of Capri, that have been to Napoli with wine, and
have been kept out later than we intended by the spectacle at the
yard-arm of the Minerva. Cospetto! them signori make no more of a prince
than we do of a quail in the season, on our little island. Pardon me,
dearest Ghita; but we _must_ throw dust into their eyes."
"Has any strange sail been seen about your island within the last
twenty-four hours?"
"The bay is full of strange sail, S'nore; even the Turks coming to see
us, since the last trouble with the French." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • supermarket.pev.pl

    •