Part 12 (2/2)

David's heart quaked at this, and he knew not what to do With so the boat back to her forain, he pulled the tiller first to one side and then to the other; but to his diser obeyed it Then he tried to get possession of the sheets again, and, clued to secure the to the sheets, began, as well as his nervousness would allow him, to try a series of experiments First, he pulled the tiller towards him

At this the boat came up to the wind, and resumed her former course But this was the very course on which he did not wish to go; so he pushed the tiller fro, whipping, and snapping, which had so alarmed him before, recommenced, and alarmed him th, as he brought the boat up to the wind once more, there came a fresher puff than any which had thus far blown, and the boat lay far over on her side Terrified out of his wits, David had just sense enough to put her off, and then dropping sheets and tiller, he sank back and looked all around in a panic

This puff was the beginning of a soer breeze--a breeze which would have rejoiced the heart of a sailor, but which carried nothing but terror to the heart of David What to do now he did not know, nor for some moments did he even think The wind to his inexperienced senses seemed a hurricane, and the wavelets seemed formidable waves For a ti every instant to be ingulfed; but as the tian to recover himself, and think about what he should do next

To him, in his terror and anxiety, the first necessity seeerous sail As it flapped in the wind it seeer the boat At all hazards that hty effort, he crawled forward, and grasping the flying sheets, he drew the, the work in a manner which was very clumsy, yet quite efficient The upper part of the sail still re out a little, like a balloon; but the lower part was tied up in a way that would defy the te back, he drew a long breath, and threw a fearful glance around

Soation, and as David looked, he saw that the result had been not to bring him nearer to Castellamare, but to take him farther out from the shore The nearest land to him noas an island, but what island he could not say As his eyes wandered around, they saw nothing that was familiar A mountain appeared over the land astern, and the smoke on its summit showed that it ether from that hich he was familiar He could foruess, in a general here Castellaht be

Soht that he would keep his party waiting; but now he had no trouble whatever on that score His only trouble or anxiety was about hih he was in a position of tre tossed about by pitiless waves, which were he beasts of prey In reality the pitiless waves were scarcely waves at all, the breeze was only er; but David did not know this, and so he suffered as er was real

Meanwhile a portion of the sail had been left loose, as has been said, and afforded so for the breeze to act upon The consequence was, that the boat radually approached the island which David had already noticed

For some time he remained with his eyes fixed upon the land astern, and Vesuvius When he withdrew thean to see that he was approaching that island, and that before long he would reach it This prospect excited in his mind the utmost hope, and all his attention was now directed towards that place The tith, about three hours after he had first tried to turn the boat, he found himself so close to the island that he could step ashore

It was now about ten o'clock The place where David landed was a pebbled beach, bordered by rocks, above which grew trees As he approached the island he saw houses and people The houses were plain and s in the fields

David's habit of considering all Italian peasants as brigands now excited in his ht fresh anxieties On this lonely island the whole population ands, ould treat him as lawful prey, and from whom he could hope to fare no better than those early shi+pwrecked mariners in these seas about whoratulated himself that his boat had borne hiht be secure from observation, and have tiands ht be

And so, full of anxiety, David drew his boat cautiously upon the beach as far as he could, and secured it; after which he stole up to the shelter of the trees and rocks, so as to reconnoitre The trees grew along the edge of the rocks, which rose above the beach, to a height of about twenty feet, and forrove, which was sufficiently dense for David to feel secure froe of the bank for soreat depth; and David, as he peered through the trees, could see an opening beyond, and the glis Here, then, David found hiands of the island, and it ith a feeling of great trepidation that he recognized the frailty of his present shelter, the insufficiency of his place of conceal it before long

To quit it and communicate with the inhabitants of the place, he plainly saw, could not long be avoided He had as yet eaten nothing, and already he began to feel the cravings of hunger He would also have to take er and his desire to get back to his friends alike made him desperate; and so, after a few minutes of concealan to h survey of the open ground on the other side of the grove

Stealing forward as noiselessly and as warily as possible, and keeping hie and denser underbrush, David worked his way on, and at length found hirove, where he could peer forth through the leaves of a laurel bush upon the scene

He saw here a green meadohich ran up a moderate declivity till it reached a house The house was a se, of simple and neat appearance, and it stood not rove Cattle were feeding in the ht was a vineyard, and on the left an olive grove On one side of the olive grove there ran a row of cactuses, up from the bank towards the house

All this David took, in at a glance; but he also saw so which made his heart, beat quick with excitement and anxiety

He saw ain front of the house He was a big, burly, broad-shouldered, bearded ruffian, with a red shi+rt, and a slouching felt hat A short pipe was in his mouth, stuck into the mass of hair which covered the lower part of his face His hair was long, and dark, and glossy, and curling; falling in rich clusters below his broad felt hat He had gaiters and stout shoes, and was engaged upon a rifle, which he see, bearded, Burly, broad-shouldered ruffian, David's' heart gave a great leap, and suddenly see low, as though to avoid observation

This, then, he thought, hat he had feared, and while trying to avoid the brigands, he had stuure he recognized the true brigand style, and in that bearded face, with its bushy eyebrows and slouching hat, he sahat seemed to him, from that distance, like the ferocity of the implacable Fra Diavolo himself

So overwhelmed was he, that for some time he could not move At last he felt a wild i to seek his boat once more So hurried was he that he was less cautious than before, and catching his foot in a long tendril of soainst some cactus or other thorny plant, and the spine pierced his flesh, causing severe pain In spite of himself a cry burst fro himself, prepared to continue his retreat But first he looked fearfully around to see whether his cry had discovered him

As he did so his heart sunk within hi straight towards hi, bluff, burly, brusque, bearded, broad-shouldered, beetle-browed Bully of a Brigand--A terrific Inquisition--David's Plea for Mercy--The hard-hearted Captor and the tre Captive--A direful Threat--David carried off helpless and despairing--The Robber's Hold_

So this great, big, bluff, burly, brusque, bearded, broad-shouldered, beetle-browed brigand ca with great strides; and David, seeing all hope lost, stood still, and awaited the arrival of his formidable enemy

The consciousness of his utter helplessness filled hinorance of Italian put it out of his power to disarm the fury or deprecate the wrath of his fierce pursuer In the few moments that intervened between the first discovery that he was seen and the arrival of his enemy, his brain was filled with confusion, and his bewildered thoughts turned helplessly to his friends whoht, too, of his hoht, of his , ain

Farewell, all dear ones! Farewell, bright past! Farewell, sweet life, and glad light of day! Such were the thoughts, gloo, that filled his mind, and tormented his heart; and at the rove and stood before hihtened eyes, and so like a sob escaped him