Part 28 (1/2)
”Thanks, lady, thanks, you already relieveso,” he exclai into his tone and manner ”To convince you further that you did ive you a brief outline of my history:--
”You see before you the last remnant of an old, and noble, and once powerful fahbourhood of Brindisi, aed mountains which form the eastern spur of the Appenines, and abut on the shores of the Adriatic They first rose and flourished in the days when the sword of the strong hand could win lands and power, and when, whatever was lost by the extravagance or folly of one, was easily replaced by the bravery and daring of his successor But in later years, although the forer existed, yet, still with rather frequent succession, a Lord of Montifalcone would assume the family honours, who failed not to squander away property which he had no enerations, till, at last, my father found himself the heir to a half-ruined castle on the borders of the ocean, and a few thousand acres of unproductive land in the sahbourhood My mother, who is now a saint in heaven, was as h my noble father inherited much of the true pride of ancient ancestry, he was free from the folly and vice of his predecessors, and he resolved to exert all his energies in repairing his broken fortunes, and to hand down a fair estate to his progeny
”By prudence and econo so; and as he considered that idleness had been the cause of the ruin his ancestors had wrought on the faive all his own children professions, which should afford the the spirit which considered any enity of a noble
”My eldest brother was, accordingly, educated to the profession of the lahile I studied that of medicine I had three sisters, all equally lovely, and endued, apparently, with the sa, and went to live in the neighbourhood of Naples; the second died; and the history of the third is closely interwoven withto the nature of the soil, my father had so improved the farms on his estate, that their produce was increased threefold; and as he spent the greater part of the inco only as absolutely necessary for the education of his sons, the produce went on increasing, to the surprise of all his neighbours
”The castle had been put in sufficient repair, tothe time my brother and I could escape froerly hastened to spend it in the society of those to ere ardently attached Our greatest favourite, if we loved one more than the other, was our sister Nina, for she was the youngest She was the h we confessed that if she had a fault, her disposition was too yielding and confiding--guileless herself, she could not credit that guile existed in others Hers was one of those characters which, from its very innocence, would be held h it exposes its possessor to be ht have supposed that our remote and quiet home would have been free from the accursed presence of such a one Never was a family more united or orous health, and proud of his family, and the success of his laudable projects Our sainted mother rejoiced when he did, and their children had a contented present, and could look forith confidence to the future I have not described the castle in which we lived It was one of great antiquity, though, as it had been added to, in subsequent years, the walls were ood repair It stood on the sureat height, so that the waves, during a wintry storm, could dash up to the very base, and send showers of the sparkling spray over the walls There was a deep e over it; and, besides the reat extent, there alls with passages through thele hich they coes, and so dark and dangerous, from their ruined condition, that even I, a son of the house, had never entirely explored thehly-cultivated plain, the property of my father, who could thus froreater portion of his estates Beyond the plain rose range above range of lofty and alave a character of peculiar wildness to the scenery Indeed, during the winter, I have never seen a spot partaking randeur thanon one side, and the cloud-capped Appenines towering to the skies on the other
”It was un inthe reed precipices of the one, or to bound inwaves of the other
”Aave a tone to my mind, which subsequent intercourse with the world did not altogether wear out; and such as may be supposed had a still more powerful effect on thetheir effect counteracted
”One night during the middle of winter, when all the reat hall, sitting round the large dish of burning embers, to keep ourselves warm, chilled as we should otherwise have been froale, which blew across the Adriatic froht in by one of the farerous reef of rocks, which ran out to sea, at a short distance from the southward of the castle My brother and I seized our hats and cloaks, and bidding the rest of the family not to be alarmed for our safety, we rushed out to see what assistance we ht render to the hapless crew of the vessel, should any of them escape alive She was still at some little distance, and apparently not aware of the iuns of distress to call those on the shore to her assistance, as if, in the situation she was placed, any huious height, and dashi+ng with the wildest fury on the rocky shore, and not a boat we had ever seen could have lived in it an instant The wind too blew in awful gusts, so that we frequently could scarcely stand, and it sent the foa over us in showers, till ere drenched with it to the skin, as we passed along to the edge of the cliff; on our way to the spot near which we judged the hapless vessel would strike the rocks We had collected as many of our people as we could find, and were supplied with ropes and spars to enable us to save the lives of any, should they be washed on shore from the wreck
”Now,a truly Christian and virtuous act, and yet it was the cause of all the subsequent misery! and those I loved far better thanto preserve fro us to death Thus, Heaven ordained it should be, and its ways are dark and intricate, beyond ainst all the rules one can conceive of justice that a virtuous action should be thus rewarded Perhaps you will say that His ways are inscrutable, and, that as we have neither the power, nor have we the right to attempt to read them, so we should not venture to cavil at His ordinances, but humbly believe that the ultimate result will be for our benefit I believe it is so, lady; or it may be for a punishment; but it is bitter, very bitter, oftenti froress of the fated vessel by the occasional flashes of her guns, and the stillwhich darted from the dark clouds, and we could see that she still had so to haul off the shore On she flew, plungingwaves, when, just as we reached the beach, she was lifted on the summit of a sea, and crashed doard on the reef We fancied that we could hear the despairing shriek of the hapless mariners above the loud roar of the waters as the aves dashed over them, and their barque parted beneath their feet A second flash revealed to us theby the board, and every ti ae of the vessel re how hopeless was the prospect of saving the lives of any of those who had the misfortune to be on board, for we believed that not one could have survived an instant after the vessel had struck, when the men ith us asserted that they saw so towards us; and directly afterwards a chest and some planks were cast within their reach, and hauled on shore
”This encouraged us to remain; and some other chests and boxes, bales of silk, and parts of the wreck, quickly followed My brother and I had been endeavouring to pierce the darkness with our eyes, to discover if any of our fellow-creatures were floating a the re along the shore, to which it gradually drew near; and as a h the air, ere convinced thatthe figure of athe men to our assistance, we hurried on to the spot where we judged he would coain to be carried off We saw that theropes round our waists, rushed into the water, and striking out against the waves, almost overpowered with their force, we seized the now nearly insensible body, just as his grasp had loosened froed him ashore So completely exhausted was he that, at first, we believed our exertions had been in vain, and that he was dead; but, on feeling his heart, we found that he still breathed; and, after looking in vain for the appearance of any of his late shi+ph we left some men to watch, should any come on shore--we bore him to the castle My brother and I were alh our wet clothes--for we had wrapped up the stranger in our cloaks--yet, on our reaching home, before ould attend to ourselves,hiarments, and placed him between blankets inclothes, leaving hi some warm liquid down his throat When we returned we found that he had h with pain--for he confessed that he had received some severe blows from the pieces of the wreck, and was ht to have stated that, on entering the castle, we found that he was habited in the Greek costume; and that his dress was rich and costly, as were the ornaer and brace of pistols which still were fixed in his sash We were not, therefore, a little astonished to hear him speak Italian with a pure accent, the reason of which he soon explained, by stating that he had been educated in our country, which he had, indeed, only lately left At first it had struck me that he seemed restless and uneasy when he heard that ourthose who ht come on shore
”He made minute and constant inquiries whether any of his shi+pmates had been saved; and when he was informed that the men had returned, and reported their belief that he was the only survivor of the whole shi+p's corief, he very soon recovered his coret at their loss
”As he was very ht have proved fatal; and I therefore forbade hiave hi it It did not, however, do so entirely; and for some days he suffered severely
”I sat by his side, and watched over hireatest care--in which work I was aided by my sisters--ere in constant attendance on hihtly recovered, he told us, without our questioning hied to the Greek patriot navy, which was just then for off the Turkish yoke, and that he was simply a junior officer on board, as he had not, indeed, had any great length of experience on the sea--though that, with regard to rank and family, he was equal to any in his native land
”He then told us that he had been educated at the university of Pisa; and when he iri Caramitzo, my elder brother, who had been there, recollected fully hearing h it struck hihtless youth
His ultimate recovery was slow, for the injuries he had received were very severe As, in our econo, we had few personal attendants, my mother and sisters were er's couch than would otherwise, probably, have been the case; at the same time that it would have been contrary to our notions of hospitality to leave him much to the care ofand lively--so full of anecdote of his varied intercourse with the world--and his manners were so courteous--and his expressions were so full of gratitude, that they felt theratification they experienced in his society--especially reat world he painted was new, and strange, and wonderful
”My brother and I were not so er as were the rest of the family; at the same time I confess that, by his cordiality and evident anxiety to win ation he was under to ard, if not my affection--indeed, I could not place that perfect confidence in hiuarded moments, heard him express sentiments which were totally at variance with those he led my family to suppose he possessed I had, however, no doubt of the account he gave of himself--as it was corroborated in one point by the numbers of bodies washed on shore habited in the Greek costu succeeding it When he heard that none of his shi+pmates had escaped, he entreated us to exert ourselves in preserving from plunder such chests and boxes as came on shore, as he said he trusted that, as Providence had saved him, it had preserved his property also, and that he should hope to find his own chest a exaive the remainder up to those who had found them
This wish, of course, seemed very natural, and several boxes which were discovered were conveyed to the castle It was more difficult to account for a number of bales, and pieces of silk and cloth, which drove on shore entangled with the seaweed; but when he heard of it, he stated that they had fallen in just before with a foundering o
”His first care on recovering was to exa without any witnesses One he claimed as his own, and he showed us that it contained several rich Greek dresses, which he begged ht be cleaned and dried The rehly ransacked for the purpose, as I since have reason to know, of destroying any papers which ht betray the character of his shi+p; and also to res of treasure which he knew they contained He thus became possessed of considerable wealth, and the surest ht have in view As he partially recovered his strength, he would wander out with arden within the walls of the castle, and afterwards to one which was situated on the outer side of the e and apple, and other productive trees The ti when my brother would be compelled to return to his practice, and I to uest was able to accompany me on a short excursion into the ued, he said, again to atte an expedition This observation ledthe castle He expressed his regret at my intended departure, and assured ain at some future period to thank me more than he had hitherto done for the service I had rendered hie would benefit him, I invited him to accoht, and the air was almost as balmy as in summer Ithe conversation which ensued, as we sat at the stern of the boat rowed by two sturdy fishernor Paolo,' he said, 'I understand that you are studying the science of h but little understood in my country'
”My answers are immaterial, so I will not repeat theh, you are destined to lead, if you are to be shut up in one of the sers and sick babies I should have thought that such an occupation were soatory to one with the noble blood which flows through your veins Each nor Paolo Noere I to recommend, I should advise you to claim your patrimony from your father, and to wander forth and see the world Instead of returning to your college, accoo; and I will show you solorious sport of war, and introduce you to the land where the arts and sciences flourished when Italy was but a desert When you groeary you can return to your studies; but I promise you that you will find by far too much excitement and interest in the life you will lead to o back to the dull routine from which I shall have emancipated you'
”Such was the tenor of his conversation; and though I declined accepting his offer, it made an impression which I should not at the time have supposed possible
”I had for some time past observed that he seeest sister, Nina, than to the other members of the family, and she used to listen to his words, and to watch his looks with an eagerness which ought to have warned those about her of the too probable result
”I, at length, the day before I left hoer was becouard She assured roundless; that she had not renor Caramitzo's ht up to give her affections to one of whom she knew so little We left our beloved and happy home--my brother, alas! never to return We were the only two of the fahly trust him