 | CHAPTER VIII. The wing-and-wing, or, Le Feu-follet |  |
8. CHAPTER VIII.
The isle's men saw boats make for shore,
With here and there a dancing light
That flash'd on man and oar.
When hailed, the rowing stopp'd, and all was dark.
Ha! lantern work! — We 'll home! They 're playing shark!”
Dana.
It was dark when Raoul quitted the government-house,
leaving Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti, in the library of
the former. No sooner was the young seaman's back
turned, than the vice-governatore, who was in a humour to
display his acquirements, resumed a discussion that he had
found so agreeable to his self-esteem.
“It is easy to see, good Vito Viti, that this young Inglese
is a gentleman of noble birth, though not of a liberal education,”
he said; “doubtless, his father, Milordo Smees, has
a large family, and the usages of England are different from
those of Italy, in respect to birth-right. There, the eldest
son, alone, inherits the honours of the family, while the
cadets are put into the army and navy, to earn new distinctions.
Nelsoni is the son of a priest, I hear—”
“Cospetto! of a padre! Signor Vice-governatore,” interrupted
the podestâ—“it is most indecent to own it. A priest
must be possessed of the devil, himself, to own his issue;
though issue he may certainly have.”
“There, again, good Vito, it is different with the Luterani
and us Catholics. The priests of England, you will please
to remember, marry, while ours do not.”
“I should not like to be shrived by such a padre! — The
man would be certain to tell his wife all I confessed; and
the saints could only say what would be the end on 't.
Porto Ferrajo would soon be too hot to hold an honest man—
ay, or even an honest woman, in the bargain.”
“But the Luterani do not confess, and are never shrived
at all, you will remember.”
“San Stefano! — How do they expect, then, ever to get
to heaven?”
“I will not answer that they do, friend Vito—and we are
certain, that if they have such expectations, they must be
most treacherous to them. But, talking of this Sir Smees,
you perceive in his air and manner, the finesse of the Anglo-Saxon
race; which is a people altogether distinct from the
ancient Gauls, both in history and characters. Pietro
Giannone, in his Storia Civile del Regno di Napoli, speaks
of the Normans, who were a branch of these adventurers,
with great interest and particularity; and I think I can trace,
in this youth, some of the very peculiarities that are so admirably
delineated in his well-told, but too free, writings.—
Well, Pietro; I was not speaking of thee, but of a namesake
of thine, of the family of Giannona, an historian of Naples,
of note and merit—what is thy will?”
This question was put to a servant, who entered at that
moment, holding in his hand a piece of paper, which he
desired to lay before his master.
“A cavaliere is without, Signor Andrea, who asks the
honour of an audience, and who sends in his name, as your
eccellenza will find it on this paper.”
The vice-governatore took the slip of paper, and read
aloud; “Edward Griffin, tenente della marina Inglesa.”
“Ah! here is an officer sent from `ze Ving-y-Ving', with
some communication, friend Vito; it is fortunate you are
still here, to hear what he has to say. Show the lieutenant
in, Pietro.”
One who understood Englishmen better than Andrea
Barrofaldi, would have been satisfied, at a glance, that he
who now entered was really a native of that country. He
was a young man of some two or three and twenty, of a
ruddy, round, good-natured face, wearing an undress coat
of the service to which he professed to belong, and whose
whole air and manner betrayed his profession, quite as much
as his country. The salutations he uttered were in very
respectable Italian, familiarity with the language being the
precise reason why he had been selected for the errand on
which he had come. After these salutations, he put a piece
of parchment into Andrea's hand, remarking—
“If you read English, Signore, you will perceive by that
commission I am the person I represent myself to be.”
“Doubtless, Signor Tenente, you belong to ze Ving-y-Ving,
and are a subordinate of Sir Smees?”
The young man looked surprised, and, at the same time,
half disposed to laugh; though a sense of decorum suppressed
the latter inclination.
“I belong to His Britannic Majesty's ship Proserpine,
Signore,” he drily answered, “and know not what you
mean by the Ving-y-Ving. Captain Cuffe, of that ship,
the frigate you saw off your harbour this morning, has sent
me down in the felucca that got in this evening, to communicate
intelligence concerning the lugger, which we chased to
the southward about nine o'clock, but which, I see, is again
snug at her anchor in this bay. Our ship was lying behind
Capraya, when I left her, but will be here to take me off,
and to hear the news, before daylight, should the wind ever
blow again.”
Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti stared, and that, too, as
if a messenger had come from the lower regions to summon
them away for their misdeeds. Lieutenant Griffin spoke
unusually good Italian, for a foreigner; and his manner of
proceeding was so straight-forward and direct, as to carry
with it every appearance of truth.
“You do not know what I mean by ze Ving-y-Ving?”
demanded the vice-governatore, with emphasis.
“To be frank with you, I do not, Signore. Ving-y-Ving
is not English; nor do I know that it is Italian.”
Mr. Griffin lost a good deal of ground by this assertion,
which implied a doubt of Andrea's knowledge of foreign
tongues.
“You say, Signor Tenente, if I comprehend your meaning,
that Ving-y-Ving is not English?”
“Indeed I do, sir; at least, no English that I have ever
heard spoken, at sea or ashore; and we seamen have a language
of our own.”
“Will you, then, permit me to ask you what is the translation
of ala e ala; word for word.”
The lieutenant paused a moment, and pondered. Then he
laughed involuntarily, checking himself almost immediately,
with an air of respect and gravity.
“I believe I now understand you, Signor Vice-governatore,”
he said; “we have a sea-phrase something like this,
to describe a fore-and-aft vessel with her sails swinging off
on both sides; but we call it wing-and-wing.”
“Si, Signore — ving-y-ving. Such is the name of the
lugger of your king, that now lies in our bay.”
“Ah! we thought as much, Signori; the scoundrel has
deceived you, as he has done a hundred before you, and
will do to a hundred, again, unless we catch him to-night.
The lugger is a celebrated French privateer, that we have
six cruisers in chase of at this moment, our own ship included.
She is called le Feu-Follet, which is not Wing-And-Wing,
but Will-o'-the-Wisp, or Jack-o'-Lantern, in English;
and which you, in Italian, would call il Fuoco Fatuo. Her
commander is Raoul Yvard, than whom, there is not a
greater desperado sailing out of France; though it is admitted
that the fellow has some good — nay, some noble
qualities.”
At every word uttered by the lieutenant, a page of history
was blotted out from the memory of his listener. The vice-governatore
had heard the name of Raoul Yvard, and even
that of le Feu-Follet, which the malignancy of a bitter war
had blackened nearly to the hues of piracy. The thought
that he had been the dupe of this corsair — nay, that he had
actually been entertaining him with honours and hospitality,
within an hour, was nearly too much for his philosophy.
Men do not often submit to such humiliating sensations with
out a struggle; and before he would, or could, accord full
credence to what was now told him, it was natural to oppose
the objections that first offered.
“All this must be a mistake,” observed the vice-governatore;
“there are English, as well as French luggers; and
this is one of the former. Her commander is a noble
English gentleman, a son of Milordo Smees; and though
his education has been, in a trifling degree, neglected, he
shows his origin and national character in all he says and
does. Ze Ving-y-Ving is commanded by Sir Smees, a young
officer of merit, as you must have seen, yourself, Signore, by
his evolutions this very morning. Surely, you have heard
of Il Capitano Sir Smees, the son of Milordo Smees!”
“We do not deny that his escape, this morning, was a
every inch of him; and he is as brave as a lion; but, then,
he is as impudent as a beggar's dog. There is no Sir Smees,
nor any Sir Any-Body else, in command of any of our luggers,
anywhere. In the Mediterranean, we have no cruiser
of this rig at all; and the two or three we have elsewhere,
are commanded by old sea-dogs, who have been brought up
in that sort of craft. As for Sirs, they are scarce out here,
though the battle of the Nile has made a few of them, for
the navy. Then you 'll not often meet with a nobleman's
son in a clipper like this, for that sort of gentry generally go
from a frigate's quarter-deck into a good sloop, as commander,
and after a twelvemonth's work, or so, in the small
one, into a fast frigate again, as a post-captain.”
Much of this was gibberish to Andrea Barrofaldi, but
Griffin being exclusively naval, he fancied every one ought
to take the same interest as he did himself, in all these matters.
But, while the vice-governatore did not understand
more than half of the other's meaning, that half sufficed to
render him exceedingly uneasy. The natural manner of
the lieutenant, too, carried conviction with it, while all the
original impressions against the lugger were revived by his
statements.
“What say you, Signor Vito Viti?” demanded Andrea;
“you have been present at the interviews with Sir Smees.”
“That we have been deceived by one of the most oily-tongued
rogues that ever took in honest men, if we have
been deceived at all, vice-governatore. Last evening, I would
have believed this; but since the escape and return of the
lugger, I could have sworn that we had an excellent friend
and ally in our bay.”
“You had your signals, Signor Tenente; and that is proof
of amity and understanding.”
“We made our number, when we saw the lugger with
an English ensign set, for we did not suppose a Frenchman
would be quietly lying in a Tuscan port; but the answer we
got was nonsense; and then we remembered to have heard
that this Raoul Yvard was in the habit of playing such
tricks, all along the Italian coast. Once on the scent, we
were not the men to be easily thrown off it. You saw the
chase, and know the result.”
“There must be some error in all this! Would it not be
well, Signore, to see the commander of the lugger — or to go
on board of her, and satisfy yourself, with your own eyes,
of the truth or falsehood of your surmises? Ten minutes
might clear up everything.”
“Your pardon, Signor Vice-governatore; were I to trust
myself on board le Feu-Follet, I might remain a prisoner
until a peace was made; and I have yet two steps to gain,
before I can afford that risk. Then, as to letting Yvard
know of my presence here, it would just give him the alarm,
and cause us to lose the bird, before we can spring the net.
My orders are positive, not to let any one but the authorities
of the island, know of my visit, or its object. All we ask
of you is to detain the lugger until morning; then we will
see to it, that she will never trouble the Italian coast again.”
“Nay, Signore, we have guns of our own, and could
easily dispose of so small a vessel, once assured of her being
an enemy,” returned the vice-governatore, with a little pride
and loftiness of manner; “convince us of that fact, and
we 'll sink the lugger at her anchors.”
“That is just what we do not wish you to do, Signore,”
answered the lieutenant, with interest. “From what passed
this morning, Captain Cuffe has thought it probable that
Monsieur Yvard, for some reason best known to himself,
would come back here, as soon as he was rid of us; or that,
finding himself on the south side of the island, he might put
into Porto Longone; and, had I not met him here, I was to
get a horse, and ride across to the latter place, and make
my arrangements there. We wish, by all means, to get
possession of the lugger, which, in smooth water, is the
fastest craft in the Mediterranean, and would be of infinite
service to us. We think the Proserpine would prove too
much for her, blowing fresh; but, in moderate weather, she
will go six feet to our five. Now, if you open on her, she
will either escape or be sunk; for Raoul Yvard is not a man
to strike to a town. All I ask is to be permitted to make
night-signals, for which I am prepared, as soon as the frigate
approaches, and that you will throw all the delays, by means
of forms and permits, in the way of the Frenchman's sailing,
until to-morrow morning. We will answer for the rest.”
“I should think there would be but little danger of the
rather expressing an intention of passing several
days with us; and it is this ease and confidence of his,
which causes me to think he cannot be the person you take
him for. Why should Raoul Yvard and le Feu-Follet come
into Porto Ferrajo at all?”
“No one knows: it is the man's habit; and doubtless he
has reasons for it. 'T is said, he has even been in at
Gibraltar; and it is certain, he has cut several valuable
store-ships out of our convoys. There is an Austrian loading
with iron, I perceive, in the harbour; probably he is
waiting for her to fill up, and finds it easier to watch her at
an anchor, than by lying outside.”
“You naval gentlemen have ways known only to yourselves;
and all this may be so; but it seems an enigma to
me. Have you any other proofs of your own character,
Signor Tenente, than the commission you have shown me?
for Sir Smees, as I have been taught to call the commander
of the lugger, has one too, that has an air of as much authenticity
as this you have shown; and he wears quite as
English-looking a uniform: how am I to judge between
you?”
“That difficulty has been foreseen, Signor Vice-governatore,
and I come well provided with the necessary proofs. I
handed you my commission, as that is a document, which,
if wanting, might throw a distrust on all other proofs. But,
here is a communication from your superior, at Florence,
recommending us to the kindness of the authorities of all the
Tuscan ports; which you will readily understand. Captain
Cuffe has furnished me with other proofs; which you can
look over at your leisure.”
Andrea Barrofaldi now set about a cautious and deliberate
examination of all the papers shown him. They proved
to be of a nature to remove every doubt; and it was not
possible to distrust the party that presented them. This
was a great deal towards convicting the Signor Smees of
imposition, though both the vice-governatore and the podestâ
were of opinion that Captain Cuffe might yet be mistaken,
as to the identity of the lugger.
“It is impossible, Signori,” answered the lieutenant;
“We know every English cruiser in these seas, by name
is none; and everything about her, particularly her sailing,
betrays her real name. We hear there is a man in her who
once belonged to our own ship, a certain Ithuel Bolt—”
“Cospetto!” exclaimed the podesta—“Then we must set
down this Sir Smees, after all, for an arrant rogue; for this
is the very man we met at Benedetta's, the past night. An
Americano, Signor Tenente, is he not?”
“Why, the fellow pretends to be some such thing,”
answered the young man, colouring, for he was loth to confess
the wrong that had been done the deserter; “but half
the British seamen one falls in with, now-a-days, call themselves
Americans, in order to escape serving His Majesty.
I rather think this rascal is a Cornish, or a Devonshire-man;
he has the twang and the nasal sing-song of that part of the
island. If an American, however, we have a better right to
him than the French; speaking our language, and being
descended from a common ancestry, and having a common
character, it is quite unnatural for an American to serve any
but the English.”
“I did not know that, Vice-governatore! — I thought the
Americani a very inferior sort of people to us Europeans,
generally; and that they could scarcely claim to be our
equals, in any sense.”
“You are quite right, Signor Podestâ,” said the lieutenant,
briskly; “they are all you think them; and any one can
see that at a glance. Degenerate Englishmen, we call them,
in the service.”
“And yet you take them, occasionally, Signor Tenente;
and, as I understand from this Ithuello, frequently contrary
to their wishes, and by force,” drily observed Andrea Barrofaldi.
“How can we help it, Signore; the king has a right to;
and he has need of the services of all his own seamen; and,
in the hurry of impressing, we sometimes make a mistake.
Then, these Yankees are so like our own people, that I would
defy the devil himself to tell them apart.”
The Vice-governatore thought there was something contradictory
in all this; and he subsequently said as much to
his friend, the podestâ; but the matter went no farther, at
the moment, most probably because he ascertained that the
national argument; the English government constantly protesting
that it was impossible to distinguish one people from
the other, quoad this particular practice; while nothing was
more offensive, to their eyes, in the abstract, than to maintain
any affinity in appearance or characteristics.
The result of the discussion, notwithstanding, was to make
the two Italians reluctant converts to the opinion of the Englishman,
that the lugger was the dreaded and obnoxious
Feu-Follet. Once convinced, however, shame, revenge and
mortification, united with duty to quicken their exertions,
and to render them willing assistants in executing the schemes
of Captain Cuffe. It was, perhaps, fortunate for Raoul and
his associates, that the English officers had so strong a desire,
as Griffin expressed it, “to take the lugger alive;” else
might she have been destroyed where she lay, by removing
a gun or two from its proper embrasure, and planting them
behind some natural ramparts among the rocks. The night
was dark, it is true, but not so much so as to render a vessel
sufficiently distinct, at the short distance at which le Feu-Follet
lay; and a cannonade would have been abundantly
certain.
When all parties were of a mind, as to the true character
of the little craft in the bay, a consultation was had on the
details of the course proper to be pursued. A window of
the government-house, that looked towards the direction of
Capraya, or that in which the Proserpine was expected to
arrive, was assigned to Griffin. The young man took his
station at it about midnight, in readiness to burn the blue-lights
with which he was provided, the instant he should
discern the signals of his ship. The position of this window
was well adapted to the desired object, inasmuch as the
lights could not be seen from the town, while they were
plainly open to the sea. The same was essentially true as
to the signals of the frigate, the heights interposing between
her and the houses; and there being a still greater physical
impossibility that anything lying in the bay, should discover
an object at sea, on the northern side of the promontory.
In this manner, then, did hour after hour pass away, a
light land-breeze blowing, but coming so directly into the
bay, as to induce Raoul not to lift his kedge. Ghita, and
there were still no signs of movement on board the lugger.
To own the truth, Raoul was in no hurry to sail, for the
longer his departure was protracted, the longer would he
have the happiness of retaining the lovely girl on board; and
the zephyr of the succeeding day would be almost certain to
carry le Feu-Follet up to the island-like promontory of Monte
Argentaro, the point where stood the watch-towers of which
Carlo was the keeper, and in one of which he resided.
Under the circumstances, therefore, it is not surprising that
the rising of the land-breeze was overlooked, or at least
disregarded; and that Raoul sat conversing with Ghita on
deck, until long past midnight, ere he allowed her to seek
her little cabin, where everything had been properly arranged
for her reception. To own the truth, Raoul was so confident
of having completely mystified all on shore, that he
felt no apprehensions from that quarter; and, desirous of
prolonging his present happiness as much as possible, he had
very coolly determined not to sail until the southerly air of
the morning should come; which, as usual, would just suffice
to carry him well into the canal, when the zephyr would do
the rest. Little did this hardy adventurer suspect what had
occurred on shore, since he quitted it; nor was he at all
aware that Tommaso Tonti was at watch in the harbour,
ready to report the slightest indication, on the part of the
lugger, of a wish to quit the bay.
But, while Raoul was so indifferent to the danger he ran,
the feeling was quite the reverse with Ithuel Bolt. The
Proserpine was the bane of this man's life; and he not only
hated every stick, and every timber in her, but every officer
and man who was attached to her—the king, whose colours
she wore, and the nation whose interests she served. An
active hatred is the most restless of all passions; and this
feeling rendered Ithuel keenly alive to every chance which
might still render the frigate dangerous to the lugger. He
thought it probable the former would return in quest of her
enemy; and, expressly with a view to this object, when he
turned in, at nine, he left orders to be called at two, that he
might be on the alert in season.
Ithuel was no sooner awoke, than he called two trusty
men, whom he had prepared for the purpose, entered a light
and pulled with muffled oars towards the eastern part of the
bay. When sufficiently distant from the town to escape
observation, he changed his course, and proceeded directly
out to sea. Half an hour sufficed to carry the boat as far
as Ithuel deemed necessary, leaving him about a mile from
the promontory, and so far to the westward, as to give him
a fair view of the window at which Griffin had taken post.
The first occurrence out of the ordinary course of things,
that struck the American, was the strong light of a lamp
shining through an upper window of the government-house—
not that at which the lieutenant was posted, but one above
it—and which had been placed there expressly as an indication
to the frigate, that Griffin had arrived, and was actively
on duty. It was now two o'clock, or an hour or two
before the appearance of light, and the breeze off the adjoining
continent was sufficiently strong to force a good sailing
vessel, whose canvass had been thickened by the damps of
night, some four knots through the water; and as Capraya
was less than thirty miles from Porto Ferrajo, abundant
time had been given to the Proserpine to gain her offing;
that ship having come from behind her cover, as soon as the
sun had set, and the haze of evening settled upon the sea.
Ithuel, usually so loquacious and gossiping, in his moments
of leisure, was silent and observant when he had anything
serious on hand. His eye was still on the window in which
the lamp was visible, the pure olive oil that was burning in
it throwing out a clear, strong flame; when suddenly a blue
light flashed beneath the place; and he got a momentary
glimpse of the body of the man who held it, as he leaned
forward from another window. The motion which now
turned his head sea-ward, was instinctive; it was just in
time to let him detect a light descending apparently into the
water, like a falling star; but which, in fact, was merely a
signal lantern of the Proserpine, coming rapidly down from
the end of her gaff.
“Ah! d—n you,” said Ithuel, grating his teeth, and
shaking his fist in the direction of the spot where this transient
gleam of brightness had disappeared — “I know you,
and your old tricks, with your lanterns and night-signals.
Here goes the answer.”
As he said this, he touched a rocket, of which he had
several in the boat, with the lighted end of the segar he had
been smoking, and it went hissing up into the air; ascending
so high as to be plainly visible from the deck of le Feu-Follet,
before it exploded. Griffin saw this signal with wonder;
the frigate noted it with embarrassment; for it was far to
seaward of the lamp; and even 'Maso conceived it necessary
to quit his station, in order to report the circumstance to the
colonel, whom he was to call, in the event of any unusual
occurrence. The common impression, however, among all
these parties was, that a second cruiser had come through
the canal, from the southward, in the course of the night,
and that she wished to notify the Proserpine of her position,
probably expecting to meet that ship off the island.
On board le Feu-Follet the effect was different. The land-breeze
of Italy is a side-wind to vessels quitting the bay of
Porto-Ferrajo; and two minutes after the rocket exploded,
the lugger was gliding almost imperceptibly, and yet at the
rate of a knot or two, under her jigger and jib, towards the
outer side of the port, or along the very buildings past which
she had brushed the previous day. This movement was
made at the critical instant when 'Maso was off his watch;
and the ordinary sentinels of the works had other duties to
attend to. So light was this little vessel, that a breath of
air set her in motion, and nothing was easier than to get three
or four knots out of her in smooth water, especially when
she opened the comparatively vast folds of her two principal
luggs. This she did, when close under the citadel, or out
of sight of the town, the sentinels above hearing the flaps of
her canvass, without exactly understanding whence they
came. At this instant Ithuel let off a second rocket, and
the lugger showed a light on her starboard bow, so concealed,
however, on all sides but one, as to be visible only in the
direction of the boat. As this was done, she put her helm
hard down, and hauled her fore-sheet over flat to windward.
Five minutes later, Ithuel had reached her deck; and the
boat was hauled in as if it had been inflated silk. Deceived
by the second rocket, the Proserpine now made her number
with regular signal lanterns, with the intention of obtaining
that of the stranger; trusting that the promontory would
conceal it from the vessels in the bay. This told Raoul the
that he was already to the westward of her; a fact that
permitted him to slip round the island again, so near in as
to be completely concealed by the back-ground of cliffs.
By the aid of an excellent night-glass, too, he was enabled
to see the frigate, distant about a league, under everything
that would draw, from her royals down, standing towards
the mouth of the bay on the larboard tack; having made her
calculations so accurately as to drop into windward of her
port, with the customary breeze off the land. At this sight
Raoul laughed, and ordered the mainsail taken in. Half-an-hour
later, he directed the foresail to be brailed; brought his
jigger-sheet in flat; put his helm hard down; and hauled the
jib-sheet to windward.
As this last order was executed, day was just breaking
over the mountains of Radicofani and Aquapendente. By
this time le Feu-Follet lay about a league to the westward
of the promontory, and abreast of the deep bay that has
been already mentioned as being in that direction from the
town. Of course she was far beyond the danger of missiles
from the land. The night wind, however, had now failed,
and there was every appearance that the morning would be
calm. In this there was nothing extraordinary, at that
season; the winds which prevailed from the south being
usually short and light, unless accompanied by a gust. Just
as the sun appeared, the south air came, it is true, but so
lightly, as to render it barely possible to keep the little
lugger in command, by heaving-to with her head to the
south-west.
The Proserpine stood in until the day had advanced far
enough to enable her look-outs to detect le Feu-Follet braving
her, as it might be, in the western board, at the distance of
about a league and a half, under her jib and jigger, as described.
This sight produced a great commotion in the ship,
even the watch below “tumbling up,” to get another sight
of a craft so renowned for evading the pursuit of all the
English cruisers of those seas. A few minutes later, Griffin
came off, chopfallen and disappointed. His first glance at
the countenance of his superior, announced a coming
storm; for the commander of a vessel of war is no more apt
to be reasonable, under disappointment, than any other potentate.
on deck; but as soon as it was ascertained that he was
coming off in a shore-boat, he retired to his cabin, leaving
orders with the first lieutenant, whose name was Winchester,
to send Mr. Griffin below, as soon as he had reported himself.
“Well, sir,” commenced Cuffe, as soon as his lieutenan
came into the after-cabin, without offering him a seat —
“here we are; and out yonder, two or three leagues at sea
is the d—d Few-Folly!” for so most of the seamen of the
English service pronounced “Feu-Follet.”
“I beg your pardon, Captain Cuffe,” answered Griffin,
who found himself compelled to appear a delinquent, whatever
might be the injustice of the situation; “it could not be
helped. We got in, in proper time; and I went to work with
the deputy-governor, and an old chap of a magistrate who
was with him, as soon as I could get up to the house of the
first. Yvard had been beforehand with me; and I had to
under-run about a hundred of his lying yarns, before I could
even enter the end of an idea of my own—”
“You speak Italian, sir, like a Neapolitan born; and I
depended on your doing everything as it should have been.”
“Not so much like a Neapolitan, I hope, Captain Cuffe,
as like a Tuscan, or a Roman,” returned Griffin, biting his
lip. “After an hour of pretty hard, and lawyer-like work,
and overhauling all the documents, I did succeed in convincing
the two Elban gentry of my own character, and of
that of the lugger!”
“And while you were playing advocate, Master Raoul
Yvard coolly lifted his anchor, and walked out of the bay,
as if he were just stepping into his garden, to pick a nosegay
for his sweetheart?”
“No, sir, nothing of the sort happened. As soon as I
had satisfied the Signor Barrofaldi, the vice-governatore—”
“Veechy-govern-the-tory. — D—n all veechys, and
d—n all the governatorys, too; do speak English, Griffin,
on board an English ship, if you please, even should your
Italian happen to be Tuscan. Call the fellow vice-governor,
at once, if that be his rank.”
“Well, sir, as soon as I had satisfied the vice-governor
that the lugger was an enemy, and that we were friends,
lugger, as she lay at her anchor.”
“And why the devil didn't he do it? Two or three heavy
shot would have given her a stronger dose than she could
bear.”
“You know, Captain Cuffe, it has all along been your
wish to take her alive. I thought it would tell so well for
the ship, to have it to say she had caught le Feu-Follet, that
I opposed the project. I know Mr. Winchester hopes to get
her, as a reward for carrying her, himself.”
“Ay, and that would make you first. Well, sir, even if
you didn't sink her, it was no reason for letting her escape.”
“We could not prevent it, Captain Cuffe. I had a look-out
set upon her—one of the very best men in Porto Ferrajo,
as everybody will tell you, sir; and I made the signals of
the lamp and the blue-lights, as agreed upon; and, the ship
answering, I naturally thought all was as it should be,
until—”
“And who burnt the rockets, off here, where we are at
this moment? They deceived me, for I took them to be
signals of their presence, from the Weasel or the Sparrow.
When I saw those rockets, Griffin, I was just as certain of
the Few-Folly, as I am now of having my own ship!”
“Yes, sir, those rockets did all the mischief; for, I have
since learned, that, as soon as the first one was thrown,
Master Yvard tripped his kedge, and went out of the bay as
quietly as one goes out of a dining-room, when he don't
wish to disturb the company.”
“Ay, he took French leave, the b—y sans culotte,”
returned the captain, putting himself in a better humour
with his own pun. “But did you see nothing of all this?”
“The first I knew of the matter, sir, was seeing the lugger
gliding along under the rocks, so close in, that you
might have jumped aboard her; and it was too late to stop
her. Before those lazy far nientes could have pricked and
primed, he was out of gun-shot.”
“Lazy what?” demanded the captain.
“Far nientes, sir; which is a nickname we give these
siesta-gentry, you know, Captain Cuffe.”
“I know nothing about it, sir; and I'll thank you always
to speak to me in English, Mr. Griffin. That is a language
enough for all my wants.”
“Yes, sir, and for any man's wants. I'm sure, I am
sorry I can speak Italian, since it has led to this mistake.”
“Poh—poh—Griffin, you mustn't lay everything to heart,
that comes wrong end foremost. Dine with me to-day, and
we'll talk the matter over at leisure.”
| CHAPTER VIII. The wing-and-wing, or, Le Feu-follet | |