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The Wing and Wing by J. Fenimore Cooper

J >> J. Fenimore Cooper >> The Wing and Wing




It is unnecessary to give the discourse which succeeded. It related more
to literature and matters in general than to anything connected with our
tale, the worthy vice-govenatore being disposed to reward the
ingenuousness of the young sailor, by furnishing him as much instruction
as the time and circumstances would allow. Raoul bore this very well,
waiting patiently for the light to disappear, when he felt a perfect
confidence of again meeting Ghita on the promenade. As he had discovered
how much more safety there was in diffidence than in pretension, he
found his task of deception comparatively easy; and by letting the
vice-governatore have his own way, he not only succeeded in gaining that
functionary over to a full belief in his assumed nationality, but in
persuading him to believe the "Signor Smees" a young man of even more
erudition than he had at first supposed. By means as simple and natural
as these, Raoul made more progress in the good graces of Andrea
Barrofaldi in the next two hours, than he could have done in a year by
setting up his own knowledge and reading as authority.

There is little doubt that the vice-governatore found this interview
agreeable, from the time he was disposed to waste on it; and, it is
certain, Raoul thought it some of the hardest duty in which he had ever
been engaged. As for Vito Viti, he was edified, and he did not care to
conceal it, giving frequent manifestations of his satisfaction by
expressions of delight; occasionally venturing a remark, as if expressly
to betray his own ignorance.

"I have often known you great, vice-governatore," he cried, when Andrea
had closed a dissertation on the earlier history of all the northern
nations, which lasted fully half an hour, "but never so great as you are
to-night! Signore, you have been most illustrious this evening! Is it
not so, Signor Smees? Could any professor of Pisa, or even of Papua, do
more justice to a subject than we have seen done to this to which we
have been listening?"

"Signor Podesta," added Raoul, "but one feeling has prevailed in my mind
while attending to what has been said; and that has been deep regret
that my profession has cut me off from all these rich stores of profound
thought. But it is permitted us to admire that even which we
cannot imitate."

"Quite true, Signori," answered Andrea, with gentle benevolence, "but
with dispositions like yours, Sir Smees, it is not so very difficult to
imitate what we admire. I will write out a list of works which I would
recommend to your perusal; and, by touching at Livorno or Napoli, you
will obtain all the books at reasonable prices. You may expect to see
the list on your breakfast table to-morrow morning, as I shall not sleep
until it is completed."

Raoul gladly seized upon this promise as a hint to depart, and he took
his leave with suitable acknowledgments of gratitude and delight. When
he got out of the palazzo, however, he gave a long, low whistle, like a
man who felt he had escaped from a scene in which persecution had been a
little lightened by the ridiculous, and uttered a few curses on the
nations of the north, for being so inconsiderate as to have histories so
much longer and more elaborate than he conceived to be at all necessary.
All this passed as he hastened along the promenade, which he found
deserted, every human being having apparently left it. At length he
thought he perceived a female form some distance ahead of him and in a
part of the walk that was never much frequented. Hastening toward it,
his quick eye discerned the person of her he sought, evidently waiting
for his approach.

"Raoul," exclaimed Ghita, reproachfully, "in what will these often
repeated risks finally end? When so fairly and cleverly out of the
harbor of Porto Ferrajo, why did you not possess the prudence to
remain there?"

"Thou know'st the reason, Ghita, and why ask this question? San Nettuno!
was it not handsomely done; and is not this brave vice-governatore
rarely mystified!--I sometimes think, Ghita, I have mistaken my
vocation, which should have been that of a diplomate."

"And why a diplomate in particular, Raoul--thou art too honest to
deceive long, whatever thou may'st do on an occasion like this, and in a
pressing emergency."

"Why?--but no matter. This Andrea Barrofaldi and this Vito Viti will one
day know why. And now to our business, Ghita, since le Feu-Follet cannot
always decorate the bay of Porto Ferrajo."

"True," interrupted the girl, "and I have come for no other purpose than
to say as much myself. My dear uncle has arrived, and he intends to
sail for the Torri with the first felucca."

"There!--this has done more to make me believe in a Providence than all
the preaching of all the padri of Italy! Here is the lugger to take the
place of the felucca, and we can sail this very night. My cabin shall be
yours entirely, and with your uncle for a protector no one can raise an
evil tongue against the step."

Ghita, to own the truth, expected this very offer, which, agreeable as
it was, her sense of propriety would certainly have prevented her from
accepting, but for one consideration: it might be made the means of
getting Raoul out of an enemy's port and, in so much, out of harm's way.
This, with one of her affectionate heart, was an object to which she
would have sacrificed appearances of even a graver character. We do not
wish the reader, however, to get a false impression of this girl's
habits and education. Although the latter, in many particulars, was
superior to that received by most young women of her class in life, the
former were simple, and suited to her station, as well as to the usages
of her country. She had not been brought up with that severe restraint
which regulates the deportment of the young Italian females of
condition, perhaps in a degree just as much too severely, as it leaves
the young American too little restrained; but she had been taught all
that decorum and delicacy required, either for the beautiful or the
safe, and her notions inculcated the inexpediency, if not the
impropriety, of one in her situation taking a passage in a privateer at
all, and particularly so one commanded by an avowed lover. But, on the
other hand, the distance between Porto Ferrajo and the Towers was only
about fifty miles, and a few hours would suffice to place her in safety
beneath her own roof, and, what was of more importance in her view just
then, Raoul in safety along with her. On all this had she pondered, and
she was consequently prepared with an answer to the proposal that had
just been made.

"If my uncle and myself could accept this generous offer, when would it
be convenient for you to sail, Raoul?" the girl demanded; "we have now
been absent longer than we intended, and longer than we ought."

"Within an hour, if there were any wind. But you see how it is, Ghita;
the zephyr has done blowing, and it now seems as if every fan of Italy
had gone to sleep. You can depend on our sailing the instant it shall be
in our power. At need, we will use the sweeps."

"I will then see my uncle and mention to him that there is a vessel
about to sail, in which we had better embark. Is it not odd, Raoul, that
he is profoundly ignorant of your being in the bay? He gets more and
more lost to things around him every day, and I do believe he does not
recollect that you command an enemy's vessel half the time."

"Let him trust to me; he shall never have occasion to know it, Ghita."

"We are assured of that, Raoul. The generous manner in which you
interposed to save us from the corsair of the Algerines, which began our
acquaintance, and for which we shall always have occasion to bless you,
has made peace between you and _us_ for ever. But for your timely
succor, last summer, my uncle and myself would now have been slaves with
barbarians!"

"That is another thing that inclines me to believe in a Providence,
Ghita! Little did I know, when rescuing you and your good kinsman from
the boat of the Algerine, who I was saving. And yet you see how all has
come to pass, and that in serving you I have merely been
serving myself."

"Would thou could'st learn to serve that God who disposes of us all at
his holy pleasure!" murmured Ghita, tears forcing themselves to her
eyes, and a convulsive effort alone suppressing the deep emotion with
which she uttered the words: "but we thank thee again and again, Raoul,
as the instrument of his mercy in the affair of the Algerine, and are
willing to trust to thee now and always. It will be easy to induce my
uncle to embark; but, as he knows thy real character when he chooses to
recollect it, I hardly think it will do to say with _whom_. We must
arrange an hour and a place to meet, when I will see to his being there
and in readiness."

Raoul and Ghita next discussed the little details; a place of rendezvous
without the town, a short distance below the wine-house of Benedetta,
being selected, in preference to choosing one that would necessarily
subject them to observation. This portion of the arrangements was soon
settled, and then Ghita thought it prudent to separate. In this proposal
her companion acquiesced with a better grace than he might have done,
had he not the girl's assurance of meeting him within an hour, in order
that everything might be ready for a start with the first appearance
of wind.

When left alone, Raoul bethought him that Ithuel and Filippo were on
shore as usual, the New Hampshire man consenting to serve only on
condition of being allowed to land; a privilege he always abused by
driving a contraband trade on occasions like the present. So great was
the fellow's dexterity in such matters, that Raoul--who disdained
smuggling, while he thought himself compelled to wink at it in
others--had less apprehensions of his committing the lugger than he
might have felt in the case of one less cunning. But it was now
necessary to get these two men off or abandon them; and fortunately
remembering the name of the wine-house where they had taken their
potations the previous night, he repaired to it without delay, luckily
finding Ithuel and his interpreter deep in the discussion of another
flask of the favorite Tuscan beverage. 'Maso and his usual companions
were present also, and there being nothing unusual in the commander of
an English ship of war's liking good liquor, Raoul, to prevent
suspicion, drew a chair and asked for his glass. By the conversation
that followed, the young privateersman felt satisfied that, though he
might have succeeded in throwing dust into the eyes of the
vice-governatore and the podesta, these experienced old seamen still
distrusted his character. It was so unusual a thing for a French
frigate, while it was so usual for an English frigate to be standing
along the coast, near in, that these mariners, who were familiar with
all such matters, had joined this circumstance to the suspicious signs
about the lugger, and were strongly disposed to believe the truth
concerning both vessels. To all this, however, Raoul was more
indifferent than he might have been but for the arrangement to sail so
soon. He took his wine, therefore, with apparent indifference, and in
proper season withdrew, carrying with him Ithuel and the Genoese.





CHAPTER VIII.


"Within our bay, one stormy night,
The isle's men saw boats make for shore,
With here and there a dancing light
That flashed on man and oar.
When hailed, the rowing stopped, and all was dark.
Ha! lantern work!--We'll home! They're playing shark."

DANA.

It was dark when Raoul quitted the government-house, leaving Andrea
Barrofaldi and Vito Viti in the library of the former. No sooner was the
young seaman's back turned, than the vice-governatore, who was in a
humor to display his acquirements, resumed a discussion that he had
found so agreeable to his self-esteem.

"It is easy to see, good Vito Viti, that this young Inglese is a gentle
of noble birth, though not of a liberal education," he said; "doubtless
his father, Milordo Smees, has a large family, and the usages of England
are different from those of Italy, in respect to birthright. There, the
eldest son alone inherits the honors of the family, while the cadets are
put into the army and navy to earn new distinctions. Nelsoni is the son
of a priest, I hear--"

"Cospetto! of a padre! Signor Vice-governatore," interrupted the
podesta--"it is most indecent to _own_ it. A priest must be possessed of
the devil himself to _own_ his issue; though issue he may
certainly have."

"There, again, good Vito, it is different with the Luterani and us
Catholics. The priests of England, you will please remember, marry,
while ours do not."

"I should not like to be shrived by such a padre! The man would be
certain to tell his wife all I confessed; and the saints could only say
what would be the end on't. Porto Ferrajo would soon be too hot to hold
an honest man--aye, or even an honest woman in the bargain."

"But the Luterani do not confess, and are never shrived at all, you will
remember."

"San Stefano!--How do they expect, then, ever to get to heaven?"

"I will not answer that they do, friend Vito--and we are certain that if
they _have_ such expectations they must be most treacherous to them.
But, talking of this Sir Smees, you perceive in his air and manner the
finesse of the Anglo-Saxon race; which is a people altogether distinct
from the ancient Gauls, both in history and character. Pietro Giannone,
in his _Storia, Civile del Regno di Napoli_, speaks of the Normans, who
were a branch of these adventurers, with great interest and
particularity; and I think I can trace in this youth some of the very
peculiarities that are so admirably delineated in his well-told but too
free writings. Well, Pietro; I was not speaking of thee, but of a
namesake of thine, of the family of Giannone, an historian of Naples, of
note and merit--what is thy will?"

This question was put to a servant, who entered at that moment, holding
in his hand a piece of paper, which he desired to lay before his master.

"A cavaliere is without, Signor Andrea, who asks the honor of an
audience, and who sends in his name, as your eccellenza will find it on
this paper."

The vice-governatore took the slip of paper and read aloud: "Edward
Griffin, tenente della marina Inglesa."

"Ah! here is an officer sent from 'ze Ving-y-Ving' with some
communication, friend Vito; it is fortunate you are still here to hear
what he has to say. Show the lieutenant in, Pietro."

One who understood Englishmen better than Andrea Barrofaldi would have
been satisfied at a glance that he who now entered was really a native
of that country. He was a young man of some two or three and twenty, of
a ruddy, round, good-natured face, wearing an undress coat of the
service to which he professed to belong, and whose whole air and manner
betrayed his profession quite as much as his country. The salutations he
uttered were in very respectable Italian, familiarity with the language
being the precise reason why he had been selected for the errand on
which he had come. After these salutations he put a piece of parchment
into Andrea's hand, remarking:

"If you read English, Signore, you will perceive by that commission I am
the person I represent myself to be."

"Doubtless, Signor Tenente, you belong to ze Ving-y-Ving and are a
subordinate of Sir Smees?"

The young man looked surprised and at the same time half disposed to
laugh, though a sense of decorum suppressed the latter inclination.

"I belong to His Britannic Majesty's ship Proserpine, Signore," he dryly
answered, "and know not what you mean by the Ving-y-Ving. Captain Cuffe
of that ship, the frigate you saw off your harbor this morning, has sent
me down in the felucca that got in this evening to communicate
intelligence concerning the lugger which we chased to the southward
about nine o'clock, but which, I see, is again snug at her anchor in
this bay. Our ship was lying behind Capraya when I left her, but will be
here to take me off, and to hear the news, before daylight, should the
wind ever blow again."

Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti stared, and that, too, as if a
messenger had come from the lower regions to summon them away for their
misdeeds. Lieutenant Griffin spoke unusually good Italian for a
foreigner, and his manner of proceeding was so straightforward and
direct as to carry with it every appearance of truth.

"You do not know what I mean by ze Ving-y-Ving?" demanded the
vice-governatore, with emphasis.

"To be frank with you, I do not, Signore. Ving-y-Ving is not English;
nor do I know that it is Italian."

Mr. Griffin lost a good deal of ground by this assertion, which implied
a doubt of Andrea's knowledge of foreign tongues.

"You say, Signor Tenente, if I comprehend your meaning, that Ving-y-Ving
is not English?"

"Indeed I do, sir; at least no English that I have ever heard spoken, at
sea or ashore; and we seamen have a language of our own."

"Will you, then, permit me to ask you what is the translation of _ala e
ala_, word for word?"

The lieutenant paused a moment and pondered. Then he laughed
involuntarily, checking himself almost immediately with an air of
respect and gravity.

"I believe I now understand you, Signor Vice-governatore," he said; "we
have a sea-phrase something like this, to describe a fore-and-aft vessel
with her sails swinging off on both sides; but _we_ call it
wing-and-wing."

"Si, Signore--ving-y-ving. Such is the name of the lugger of your king
that now lies in our bay."

"Ah! we thought as much, Signori; the scoundrel has deceived you, as he
has done a hundred before you, and will do a hundred again unless we
catch him to-night. The lugger is a celebrated French privateer, that we
have six cruisers in chase of at this moment, our own ship included. She
is called le Feu-Follet, which is not Wing-and-Wing, but
Will-o'-the-Wisp, or Jack-o'-Lantern, in English; and which you, in
Italian, would call _il Fuoco Fatuo_. Her commander is Raoul Yvard than
whom there is not a greater desperado sailing out of France; thought it
is admitted that the fellow has some good--nay, some _noble_ qualities."

At every word uttered by the lieutenant, a page of history was blotted
out from the memory of his listener. The vice-governatore had heard the
name of Raoul Yvard, and even that of le Feu-Follet, which the
malignancy of a bitter war had blackened nearly to the hues of piracy.
The thought that he had been the dupe of this corsair--nay, that he had
actually been entertaining him with honors and hospitality, within an
hour--was almost too much for his philosophy. Men do not often submit to
such humiliating sensations without a struggle; and before he would, or
could, accord full credence to what was now told him, it was natural to
oppose the objections that first offered.

"All this _must_ be a mistake," observed the vice-governatore; "there
are English as well as French luggers; and this is one of the former.
Her commander is a noble English gentleman, a son of Milordo Smees; and
though his education has been in a trifling degree neglected, he shows
his origin and national character in all he says and does. Ze
Ving-y-Ving is commanded by Sir Smees, a young officer of merit, as you
must have seen yourself, Signore, by his evolutions this very morning.
Surely, you have heard of Il Capitano Sir Smees, the son of
Milordo Smees!"

"We do not deny that his escape this morning was a clever thing,
Vice-governatore, for the fellow is a seaman, every inch of him, and he
is as brave as a lion; but, then, he is as impudent as a beggar's dog.
There is no Sir Smees, nor Sir Anybody else, in command of any of our
luggers anywhere. In the Mediterranean we have no cruiser of this rig at
all; and the two or three we have elsewhere are commanded by old
sea-dogs who have been brought up in that sort of craft. As for Sirs,
they are scarce out here, though the battle of the Nile has made a few
of them for the navy. Then you'll not meet with a nobleman's sort in a
clipper like this, for that sort of gentry generally go from a frigate's
quarter-deck into a good sloop, as commander, and, after a twelvemonth's
work or so in the small one, into a fast frigate again, as a
post-captain."

Much of this was gibberish to Andrea Barrofaldi, but Griffin being
exclusively naval, he fancied every one ought to take the same interest
as he did himself in all these matters. But, while the Vice-governatore
did not understand more than half of the other's meaning, that half
sufficed to render him exceedingly uneasy. The natural manner of the
lieutenant, too, carried conviction with it, while all the original
impressions against the lugger were revived by his statements.

"What say you, Signor Vito Viti?" demanded Andrea; "you have been
present at the interviews with Sir Smees."

"That we have been deceived by one of the most oily-tongued rogues that
ever took in honest men, if we have been deceived at all,
vice-governatore. Last evening I would have believed this; but since the
escape and return of the lugger I could have sworn that we had an
excellent friend and ally in our bay."

"You had your signals, Signor Tenente; and that is proof of amity and
understanding."

"We made our number when we saw the lugger with an English ensign set,
for we did not suppose a Frenchman would be quietly lying in a Tuscan
port; but the answer we got was nonsense; and then we remembered to have
heard that this Raoul Yvard was in the habit of playing such tricks all
along the Italian coast. Once on the scent, we were not the men to be
easily thrown off it. You saw the chase and know the result."

"There must be some error in all this! Would it not be well, Signore, to
see the commander of the lugger--or to go on board of her and satisfy
yourself with your own eyes of the truth or falsehood of your surmises?
Ten minutes might clear up everything."

"Your pardon, Signor Vice-governatore; were I to trust myself on board
le Feu-Follet, I might remain a prisoner until a peace was made; and I
have yet two steps to gain before I can afford that risk. Then as to
letting Yvard know of my presence here, it would just give him the
alarm, and cause us to lose the bird before we can spring the net. My
orders are positive, not to let any one but the authorities of the
island know of my visit or its object. All we ask of you is to detain
the lugger until morning; then _we_ will see to it that she will never
trouble the Italian coast again."

"Nay, Signore, we have guns of our own and could easily dispose of so
small a vessel, once assured of her being an enemy," returned the
vice-governatore, with a little pride and loftiness of manner; "convince
us of that fact, and we'll sink the lugger at her anchors."

"That is just what we do not wish you to do, Signore," answered the
lieutenant, with interest. "From what passed this morning, Captain Cuffe
has thought it probable that Monsieur Yvard, for some reason best known
to himself, would come back here as soon as he was rid of us, or that,
finding himself on the south side of the island, he might put into Porto
Longone; and, had I not met him here, I was to get a horse and ride
across to the latter place and make my arrangements there. We wish by
all means to get possession of the lugger, which, in smooth water, is
the fastest craft in the Mediterranean, and would be of infinite service
to us. We think the Proserpine would prove too much for her, blowing
fresh; but in moderate weather she will go six feet to our five. Now if
you open on her she will either escape or be sunk; for Raoul Yvard is
not a man to strike to a town. All I ask is to be permitted to make
night-signals, for which I am prepared, as soon as the frigate
approaches, and that you will throw all the delays, by means of forms
and permits, in the way of the Frenchman's sailing, until to-morrow
morning. We will answer for the rest."

"I should think there would be but little danger of the lugger's
departing in the night, Signor Tenente, her commander rather expressing
an intention of passing several days with us; and it is this ease and
confidence of his which cause me to think that he cannot be the person
you take him for. Why should Raoul Yvard and le Feu-Follet come into
Porto Ferrajo at all?"

"No one knows: it is the man's habit: and doubtless he has reasons for
it. 'Tis said he has even been in at Gibraltar; and it is certain he has
cut several valuable store-ships out of our convoys. There is an
Austrian loading with iron, I perceive, in the harbor; probably he is
waiting for her to fill up, and finds it easier to watch her at an
anchor than by lying outside."

"You naval gentlemen have ways known only to yourselves; all this may be
so, but it seems an enigma to me. Have you any other proofs of your own
character, Signor Tenente, than the commission you have shown me? for
Sir Smees, as I have been taught to call the commander of the lugger,
has one, too, that has an air of as much authenticity as this you have
shown; and he wears quite as English-looking a uniform; how am I to
judge between you?"