Part 4 (2/2)
Little did the honest Paolo dreaathered up his measures and patterns, and took his departure, as the distinguished foreigner for who the Jew to detain the beggar Giacomo till his return, with a triu the _Zodiac_
Argiri Caramitzo was a man who hated inactivity; he was never happy except he was in e before hiland, he would have been a universal philanthropist or a radical reformer, or an inventor of patent machines, or, in late days, a railroad projector; he would have ehts of ion, and he would have been a loud advocate of the cause of the Poles, and Greeks, and Hungarians; but, as he happened to have been born in Greece, he cared not a jot for the Greeks, and e a fortune in the way most clearly open to him, and most suited to his taste
He now hurried down to the quay, off which he saw Manuel at his post, waiting for his return He beckoned hiside the English brig the _Zodiac_; he soon stood on her deck, to the no sot on board It may be supposed that they would have had no little difficulty in understanding each other; but there is a _lingua Franca_ used in the Mediterranean, which all mariners, who traverse that sea, very quickly pick up; and, ith that and the aid of signs, they ible to each other; at all events the Greek learned all he wished to know; even before he had spoken, his quick glance had made him acquainted with the armament of the vessel, and her probable seaworthy qualities His foot, too, as he walked aft, happened to strike one of the carronades, the look of which he considered suspicious, and he smiled as he found that it was of wood
He soonout for a passage to Greece by some vessel shortly to sail thither, and, as the appearance of the _Zodiac_ pleased hie a cabin on board her
”Cannot, though, receive you on board, sir; sorry for it: but all lish colonel and his family, and he would not allow anybody else on board, even if it was the Pope himself,”
answered Captain Bowse
”But I am not at all particular as to the sort of accoed the Greek ”I have been at sea before, and can rough it as well as any of you mariners”
”No er on board, so, with all the will in the world to serve you, I cannot do it”
”But suppose the colonel should not object, would you then receive er
”That would alter the case, sir, and ould rig you up the best berth we could ood,” said the Greek ”About the passage-ree; but tell reatest horror of sleeping over gunpowder, or anything likely to explode”
”Oh, we have no gunpowder except a few charges for our guns there; but we have soned to a merchant at Cephalonia, and which will, I suspect, soon find their way over to your friends on the oods, and of silks and clothes, and cottons, and such things, indeed, as would only be shi+pped in a sound shi+p--high up in Lloyd's list, let me tell you, sir There isn't a finer craft out of London than the _Zodiac_, and none but a good shi+p would have weathered the gale we fell in with t'other day, though, as it e e, which made us put in here to repair”
”I have no doubt of the _Zodiac's_ good qualities, and I hope that Ithem,” said the Greek, as he stepped over the side ”Adieu, captain; a prosperous voyage whether I sail with you or not”
CHAPTER FIVE
A grand ball was taking place at the Auberge de Provence, in the Strada Reale, at Valetta All the rank and fashi+on of the city were assembled
They consisted of the naval, military, and civil officers of the crown stationed there, their wives and daughters; a few English visitors attracted to the island to recruit their health, or to indulge their curiosity; and soners, illustrious and otherwise, who had coh a s diplomatists or scientific _savants_ Few ball-roo uniforms, both naval, military, and consular; and there was a very fair proportion of beauty aers The soldiers certainly took the lead They consider that possession is nine parts of the law; and thus as they live in the island, while their naval brethren aretheir superiority
Captains of line-of-battle shi+ps and frigates are, of course, however, held in high consideration by the fair sex; but midshi+pmen were sadly at a discount; and even lieutenants, unless they happened to have handles to their naht of
Such was the case at the time of which I write I suspect very little alteration has, since then, taken place
So our two young friends, Jack Raby and Jemmy Duff, seemed to feel as they sauntered into the ball-room, and cast their eyes round in a so lady ould deign to bestow a bow on theed a nod and a sirl who had before attracted hied indesperate love to her, evidently as much to her a on, and could scarcely help feeling jealous at his friend's good fortune; for not a single lady did he know in the room, when a hand was placed on his shoulder He looked up, and a bright smile irradiated his countenance as he saho it was
”What, Raby, don't you intend to show some of these fair ladies hoell the _Ione_ lads can kick their heels?”
The speaker was a young, intelligent-looking man, with a complexion which would have been fair, had it not been sunburnt, with thick, light, curling hair He was strongly but gracefully ht, and would have been by every one considered good looking; his forehead and reat firreat amiability of disposition His dress was that of a coet a partner, sir,” answered the midshi+pman; ”I don't know a lady in the room”
”Oh! ill soon find you one I ht to be misanthropic”
”Captain Fleetwood,” said a lady near, ”can you introduce a partner to my niece?”
”Oh, certainly,” answered the officer, seizing Jack Raby by the ar _Ione_, ill be happy to dance the next quadrille with you”