Part 24 (2/2)
”What shall we do with the boat, sir?” inquired the first lieutenant of the captain ”Shall we cast her adrift?”
”No--get her in on deck, and overhaul her hly,” was the answer
This was done; and while the carpenter was exa remarks on the curious way she had been patched up, he found, in the stern sheets, a silk handkerchief, which had been thrust into a hole, over which, evidently, there had not been tihtly, that the water had not been able to wash it out
The carpenter drew it forth, and opened it
”Ah, here is a nao far to prove to whoed,” he exclaimed ”If I kno to read, these letters on it spell--'J Bowse' What do you say, Brown?”
”There's no doubt about it,” answered the boatswain, shaking his head
”And by the saed to thehis handkerchief marked in that way, as it was Mistress Bowse's own handy work; and, t'other day, when he was aboard of us, he, poor fellow, showed me that very handkerchief, and said his missis had worked him another set just afore he came away”
The discovery was reported to the captain; but he made no remark on it
He, apparently, had before coed to the unfortunate _Zodiac_
”Land ahead,” was cried out froh the shi+p; and before the middle of the afternoon-watch, the lofty mountains of Cephalonia rose in vieith the lower lands of Zante to the southward
The wind freshened, and backing round more to the ard, the _Ione_ stood boldly in for the entrance of the htfall, anchored within a mile of the town
Captain Fleetwood i with anxiety, hehad been heard of her, or her passengers and crew He did not yet despair, and taking an interpreter with hily recoot up, and the _Ione_ stood out of the harbour of Argostoli
There was little chance of the grass growing under her keel
CHAPTER NINETEEN
On reaching the ruins, the Lady Nina and her companion saw old Vlacco seated on a rock, at a short distance, whence he could colass in his hand, which he every now and then lifted to his eye, to observe the approaching sail, and then he would let it fall again into his lap, as if he were considering what she was
”Let us go and ask ht,” said Mila, and, with some difficulty, they worked their way over the rocks and ruins towards hi the voice of his grandchild, as she asked hi the island; for, as he himself had not yet ive her a positive answer; and was very unwilling to confess his ignorance, especially in the presence of the Lady Nina
”She is a brig, child; and I should have thought your own sharp eyes would have told you that,” he answered
”So they have, grandfather,” she replied ”I have seen that she is a brig long ago; but I want to knohether she is the _Sea Hawk_, or a stranger”
”A stranger would scarcely be running directly for the port, as that vessel is; and it is about the time we may expect our chief's return,”
answered old Vlacco; ”so, if one was unable to distinguish that brig below there froht conclude that she was the _Sea Hawk_”
The young Italian stood by, anxiously listening to these observations, for her heart beat eagerly for the return of him who commanded the vessel of which they spoke, and dark were the forebodings of disaster which oppressed her at his long absence
”Then you think she is the _Sea Hawk_?” exclaimed Mila ”I pray she may be, for the sweet lady's sake”
”If she is not, they have cleverly imitated her to deceive an old seaman's eyes,” returned the old Greek ”You may tell the lady, that, to the best of my belief, yonder vessel is our chief's; but it is necessary to be cautious, when our strength is so much diminished by the absence ofoff the inhabitants fro islands; and even the British have taken upon themselves to interfere with some of the domestic concerns of our friends”
Nina clasped her hands with an expression of thankfulness, as Mila explained to her what her grandfather had said, her eyes all the ti the vessel
”Ah!” she exclai from the mast-head