"I"ve always managed to see the way out of any place I"ve got into, sir," replied Small. "Please Heaven, sir, we"ll get out of this too."
"Very well," said the captain. "Gentlemen, I will lead, and let the boats follow at a sufficient distance from each other not to run the risk of fouling."
Captain Va.s.silato was lifted into the cutter, she was shoved off through the surf, and the impetus almost sent her up to the entrance. A high black mound appeared to rise before her, obscuring the view even of the lights on board the ships, and seeming to block up all exit. Small"s eyes were keen, he exactly hit the pa.s.sage, and the boat, rising on the surge, her oars almost touching the rocks on either side, darted out into the open sea. For an instant only, Fleetwood went alongside the _Ione_ to put his Greek friend on board, and to order Saltwell to get everything ready for weighing the instant he returned, and he then pulled off to the frigate to make a report of what had occurred, and to advise the instant pursuit of the pirate.
Captain Grantham was very much grieved to hear of the loss of so many men, and that the young lady had been again spirited away, and promised, as soon as it was daylight, to go in chase of her; but in the dark, he considered it worse than useless to move from his comparatively snug berth. He was glad a nest of such determined pirates had been routed out; but, independent of more humane motives, he regretted to have to send up to the Admiralty so long a list of casualties. It showed, however, that it was no trifling affair, and he might truly state, that it was impossible to count the number of the enemy killed.
"You, Fleetwood, do as you think best," said Captain Grantham. "If you wish to get under weigh, do so; but, tell me, what plan do you propose to pursue?"
"I think, while the present gale lasts, of standing across to examine the island to the westward of this; and when it moderates, or if the wind shifts, I shall stand to the northward, towards the Gulf of Salonica, where there are numerous hordes of pirates, with whom Zappa is certain to find friends."
"I am not quite so sure of that--remember, two of a trade can never agree. However, it is as well to try in that direction. I will stand to the southward and westward, and will send Rawson to the eastward, and we will then rendezvous off this island, unless we happen to catch sight of our friend in the meantime, in a week or ten days--Heaven grant that we may have success!"
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.
When Zappa saw, by the overwhelming number of his enemies who poured into the fort, that he must perish or make good his retreat from the island, he ordered those of the _Sea Hawk"s_ crew who were on sh.o.r.e to accompany him; and retreating from the fight, he left them below while he rushed up into Ada"s tower, and gained the chamber where the terrified females were a.s.sembled.
"Fond girl, I will not leave you to perish or to be branded as the pirate"s mistress," he exclaimed, clasping Nina in his arms. "I will not quit you till I can place you in safety--come with me."
"We will live or die together," murmured Nina, forgetting, in that moment of defeat and disaster, all the cruelty of which he had been guilty towards her.
"Lady, your friends have gained the day," he continued, turning to Ada.
"You have brought rain on my head, and you have your revenge--farewell."
Miss Garden"s heart beat quick with hope. The moment of her emanc.i.p.ation had at last arrived, and he whom she loved had come to her rescue. At the instant the pirate disappeared, a person rushed forward, and seizing her in his arms, exclaimed,--"Haste, signora, from hence, or destruction awaits us."
She knew Paolo Montifalcone"s voice; and believing that the pirate had intended to blow up the tower, she fancied that he had come to save her, nor attempted to struggle in his grasp. She shrieked out to Marianna to follow her, but the poor girl was so petrified with horror at the death of little Mila, which had just taken place, that she could not move, and in vain Ada implored the Italian to stop for her attendant. His only reply was--"It will be too late, and we shall be destroyed--on, on."
He seemed to be endowed with strength almost superhuman; he gained the bottom of the steps, and rushing on, was soon among the body of the retreating crew of the _Sea Hawk_, who were following their captain.
They all recognised Paolo, who was a favourite among them, and aided him in supporting his burden.
"Oh where are you taking me to?" exclaimed Ada, when, too late, she heard the sounds of the strange voices round her, and found that she was descending the ravine.
"To happiness and freedom," he answered pa.s.sionately, and pressed her closer in his arms.
Ada, with horror, saw that she was cruelly betrayed. She shrieked aloud, and struggled to get free; but he who bore her had pictured the only joy he could hope for in possessing her, and intense misery without her, and he could not bring himself to relinquish what he valued more than life itself.
"Hear me, sweet Ada," he exclaimed, as he still bore her on. "He whom you loved is dead, and a heart devoted as mine, is alone worthy to occupy the place he held."
Still Ada entreated him to have mercy on her, to take her back to her friends, who must even now be in the tower she had just quitted; but he was deaf to all her prayers.
The gentle, timid Paolo had been sadly changed by the scenes he had witnessed, and the burning love to which, he had madly resigned his soul. She saw at length that all appeals to his generosity or better feelings were vain, and overcome with horror, she fainted.
When they reached the beach, Zappa and Nina had already embarked; he placed Ada in another boat, with the rear-guard of the pirates. They were quickly alongside, and she was lifted on deck, still insensible, and, without the chief seeing her, Paolo carried her in his arms below.
Instantly the brig was under weigh, and darting out of the harbour, was hotly engaged with the _Ypsilante_.
Once on the open sea, the pirates breathed more freely, and sail after sail, notwithstanding the strength of the breeze, was let fall from the yards. The shot of the fort had already damaged their enemy, and now bringing their broadside to bear on her just before she kept away in chase, they raked her fore-and-aft, killing many of the people, and cutting away much of her rigging.
The _Sea Hawk_ was celebrated for her speed, and the rigging of the _Ypsilante_ was much cut up, but her commanding officer was a gallant fellow, and crippled as he was, determined, if he could, not to lose sight of the enemy; and was soon after her, firing his bow-chasers with little or no effect, as the _Sea Hawk_ was rapidly running from them, firing her stern guns in return.
Meantime the _Sea Hawk_ winged her rapid flight over the foaming waters.
She had received but slight damage from the cannonade, opened on her by the _Ypsilante_, during the storming of the fort, and none after she got outside the harbour, so that the pirates were able to laugh at the efforts of her pursuer.
Zappa having run the _Ypsilante_ out of sight, shaped as northerly a course as the wind would allow him, towards that part of the Archipelago where the islands cl.u.s.ter the thickest, that, among their many intricate and dangerous channels, well known to him and his crew, he might have a greater chance of avoiding his enemies; and would be certain to find friends ready to a.s.sist him. The two misticos, not being able to look up so well to the gale, had to run before it till it moderated, and they then hauled up in the same direction. From their rig and appearance being that of the ordinary craft of the Mediterranean, they ran less risk of recognition than the brig, or of detection, from being able to conceal themselves in any nook or bay, or behind any reef which might offer itself, so that an enemy might pa.s.s close to them, without their being seen.
The gale continued blowing with undiminished fury till daylight, when it gave signs of abating. It had been the means of saving Zappa and his comrades, and he wished it to continue rather longer to carry him entirely clear of his pursuers. Men with sharp eyes were sent aloft to look out on every side, to discover if any vessels were in sight. They reported one hull down in the northern board, the heads of her topsails only seen, which was, doubtless, the _Ypsilante_, and two on the larboard quarter, which seemed like the two misticos. As the sun rose, his beams seemed to calm the rage of the tempest, the wind fell, the clouds dispersed, and the sea went down, and Zappa no longer felt the anxiety he had at first experienced for the fate of his vessel. He now mustered his crew, and found that some of his bravest and best men had fallen when attempting to defend the fort against the first attack of the English; the remainder promised to stand by him as long as the _Sea Hawk_ floated on the waves. Every arrangement which circ.u.mstances would admit of being made for the future, he dismissed all but the necessary watch on deck, to take the rest they so much needed.
Among those who appeared was Paolo. He hitherto had had no time to speak to him--he now summoned him to his side.
"What," he exclaimed, "are you not yet weary of a rover"s life, that you return again to the _Sea Hawk_--or did you fear a pirate"s fate, if you had remained on sh.o.r.e?"
The Italian looked conscience-stricken and miserable. He could not meet the glance of the pirate"s eye; he dared not confess what he had done; and yet he knew it must be instantly discovered.
"Could I leave my sister?" he asked. "Could I leave one whom I love dearer than life itself to perish amid the raging fight, when my arm might save her? Do you suppose that my eye is so dull, my heart so callous, that I could behold the rare beauty which almost won your affections from her who had sacrificed all to you, and yet feel no impression? Know, that he whom you have treated as a tyrant does his slave, whom you have scorned and deceived, has a heart capable of burning with a pa.s.sion far more intense, far brighter, far purer, and more enduring than the flickering flame which yours can alone nourish."
"What is this rhapsody about?" exclaimed Zappa, thinking that Paolo had gone mad.
"When you go below, you will discover," answered the Italian, and walked to the other side of the deck.
When Ada Garden came to her senses, she found herself in the cabin of the _Sea Hawk_, and Nina bending over her, and applying such restoratives as she had at command. She was soon sufficiently recovered to explain to her astonished friend the means by which she had come there.
"And Paolo could have done this. He who professed to be ready to die for you, to tear you from the very arms of your friends, when they were on the point of recovering you. Alas! my unhappy brother--his mind must have forsaken him."
"Whatever the cause, I have sorely suffered, and I have no one to trust to now but you, Nina. Through you alone can I now hope to be restored to my friends."
As Ada was speaking, the pirate chief entered the cabin. He started back, on seeing her, and an angry frown came over his brow. "What! and my suspicions are true," he exclaimed, in a voice of pa.s.sion. "And that mad youth has ventured to bring you on board. You, lady, who have been the cause of the disaster we have suffered, who have already so nearly proved my destruction."
He ground his teeth as he spoke, and the two defenceless girls saw that he was working himself up to the same awful pitch of fury to which he had given way when he so barbarously wounded Nina.
"But where is this wretched youth?" he continued. "Here, Momolo-- Balbo," calling to some of his officers, "seize Signor Paolo, and drag him here. Take care that he does not leap overboard to avoid you. He has performed an act, by which he has well merited death, and he knows his guilt is discovered."
While those he spoke to were absent obeying his orders, he stood at the door of the cabin, grasping his sword, as if he meditated a dire and speedy vengeance. Nina sprung towards him and clasped his arm.
"Oh! you will not injure him--you will not--you cannot kill my brother!
He has committed a great fault--but his death will not remedy it. Say, for my sake--say, for her sake--for she wishes not his destruction--you will forgive him?"
While Nina was thus pleading for her brother, he was brought in by four of the crew, who, supposing that he had been found guilty of treachery-- the only crime in a pirate"s eye--stood over him with their drawn daggers in their hands, to execute, at the moment, the chief"s commands.
Zappa shook her off without answering her.
"So, signor, you have dared to drag hither the glittering bait which has already allured a host of enemies to attack us; and while I would have left her as their prize, and escaped in safety from what you have done, they will still continue their pursuit, nor desist till they have destroyed us all. From the number of men engaged in the attack, there must, doubtless, be many ships in chase of us, whereas, had you not committed this mad act, we might have gone our way unmolested. Such is your crime and its consequences; and if I deliver you up to the crew, and explain what you have done, they will save me the trouble of being your executioner. Take him on deck," he said, in Romaic, to the men who held Paolo. "I will follow shortly; and you may, meantime, make preparations to deal with a traitor."
The pirates were dragging the miserable man away, when Ada, who though she knew not the words which were used, comprehended their meaning, sprang from her seat and grasped Paolo"s arm, to prevent his being carried off.
"Stay," she cried, appealing to Zappa. "Do not condemn this unhappy man to death. Towards me he has acted the most cruel part--but I forgive him. For your own sake, I implore you to do so likewise, for the sake of that sweet girl. Oh! do not commit so black a crime. It will be a murder, for he had no intention of injuring you or your followers.
Blinded by an unhappy pa.s.sion for me, he has done this, fancying that the man to whom I was to be united is no more; and has been led on in the vain hope of one day possessing me, and winning the worthless love I should have to give. Let me now swear that nothing shall ever induce me to become his--and let it be part of his punishment that he knows what he has done is in vain; and if, by any means, I can remedy the evil he has committed, I will do so, if you will allow him to live."