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Various - "Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 99, October 18, 1890"

Thomas Clarkson - "The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Vol. I"

Kalidasa - "Sakoontala or The Lost Ring"

Elihu Burritt - "A Walk from London to John O'Groat's"

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The Wing and Wing by J. Fenimore Cooper

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




Throughout the livelong night did Ghita watch by the body of her
well-beloved, now hanging over it with a tenderness no change could
extinguish, now besieging heaven with her prayers. Not one awoke to
interfere with the strange happiness she felt in those pious offices, or
to wound her sensibilities by the surprise or the sneers of the vulgar.
Ere the day came, she closed the eyes of Raoul with her own hands,
covered his body with a French ensign that lay upon the rock, and sat,
patient and resigned, awaiting the moment when some of the others might
be ready to aid her in performing the last pious offices in behalf of
the dead. As a Romanist, she found a holy consolation in that beautiful
portion of her church's creed that admits of unceasing petition for the
souls of the departed, even to the latest hour of earthly things.

Winchester was the first to stir. Starting up, he appeared to be
astonished at the situation in which he found himself; but a glance
around told the whole truth. Advancing toward Ghita, he was about to
inquire after the welfare of Raoul, when, struck by the expression of
her seraphic countenance, he turned to the body, and read the truth in
the appropriate pall. It was no time for self-upbraidings, or for
reproaches to others; but arousing the sleepers, in a subdued and
respectful manner, he gave to the place the quiet and seeming sanctity
of a chapel.

Carlo Giuntotardi soon after begged the dead body from the conquerors.
There was no motive for denying the request, and it was placed in a
boat and towed to the shore, accompanied by all who had remained. The
heavy sirocco that soon succeeded drove the waves athwart the islet of
the ruins, effectually erasing its stains of blood, and sweeping every
trace of le Feu-Follet and of the recent events into the sea.

At the foot of the Scaricatojo the seamen constructed a rude bier, and
thus they bore the dead up that wild and yet lovely precipice,
persevering in their good work until they reached the cottage of Carlo
Giuntotardi's sister. A little procession accompanied the body from the
first, and, Ghita being universally known and respected among the simple
inhabitants of those heights, when it entered the street of St. Agata it
had grown into a line that included a hundred believers.

The convent, the empty buildings of which still crown the summit of one
of the adjacent hills, was then in existence as a religious community;
and the influence of Carlo Giuntotardi was sufficient to procure its
offices in behalf of the dead. For three days and nights did the body of
Raoul Yvard, the unbeliever, lie in the chapel of that holy fraternity,
his soul receiving the benefit of masses; then it was committed to holy
ground, to await the summons of the last trump.

There is a strange disposition in the human breast to withhold praise
from a man when living, that is freely accorded to him when dead.
Although we believe that envy, and its attendant evil detraction, are
peculiarly democratic vices, meaning thereby that democracy is the most
fertile field in which these human failings luxuriate, yet is there much
reason to think that our parent nation is preeminent in the exhibition
of the peculiarity first mentioned. That which subsequently awaited
Napoleon, after his imprisonment and death, was now exhibited in the
case of Raoul Yvard, on a scale suited to his condition and renown. From
being detested in the English fleet, he got to be honored and extolled.
Now that he was dead and harmless, his seamanship could be praised, his
chivalry emulated, and his courage glorified. Winchester, McBean,
O'Leary, and Clinch attended his funeral, quite as a matter of course.
They had proved themselves worthy to be there; but many others insisted
on being of the party. Some came to get a last look of so celebrated an
adventurer, even in his coffin; others to say they had been present; and
not a few to catch a glimpse of the girl whose romantic but innocent
passion had got to be the subject of much discourse in the ships. The
result was such a procession, and such funeral honors, as threw the
quiet little hamlet of St. Agata into commotion. All noted the
particulars, and all were pleased but Ghita. On her these tardy
compliments failed of their effect, her soul being engrossed with the
great care of petitioning heaven in behalf of the deceased.

Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti, too, figured on this occasion; the
latter taking care to let all who would listen understand how closely he
had been connected with "Sir Smees"; no longer viewed as an impostor,
but honored as a hero. He even created a little difficulty in claiming a
precedency for the _toga_ over arms on the occasion; well knowing that
if the vice-governatore got a conspicuous place in the ceremony, the
podesta could not fail to be near at hand. The matter was settled
entirely to Andrea's satisfaction, if not to that of his friend.

To confess the truth, Nelson was not sorry for what had occurred. When
he learned the desperate nature of Raoul's defence, and heard some
traits of his liberal conduct on various occasions, he felt a generous
regret at his death; but he thought even this preferable to escape. When
Cuffe got in, and brought the report of the lugger's fate, though he
would have preferred her capture, the common sentiment settled down into
a feeling that both lugger and commander had fared as well as a
privateer and her people usually merited.

As a matter of course, those concerned in the capture, and who survived
the affair, reaped some advantage from their success. England seldom
fails in the duty of conferring rewards, more especially in her marine.
When Cook returned from his renowned voyages, it was not to meet with
persecution and neglect, but credit and justice. Nelson knew how to
appreciate that spirit and enterprise which were so often exercised by
himself. As for Sir Frederick Dashwood, little could be done besides
giving his name an honorable place on the list of those who had fallen
in battle. His heir wore mourning, seemed filled with sorrow, and
inwardly rejoiced at being a baronet with some thousands a year. Lyon
got his ship; and from that moment he ceased to consider the chase and
all connected with le Feu-Follet an unprofitable thing. Airchy followed
him to the Terpsichore, with visions of prize-money before his eyes,
which were tolerably realized in the course of the succeeding
five years.

Winchester was promoted into the Ringdove, and Griffin became first of
the Proserpine. This, of course, made Yelverton second, and left one
vacancy. Thus far the orders had been made out, when Cuffe dined with
the admiral, by invitation, tete-a-tete.

"One of my objects in having you here to-day, Cuffe," observed Nelson,
as they sat together over their wine, the cabin cleared, "was to say
something about the vacant berth in your gun-room; and the other was to
beg a master's-mate of you, in behalf of Berry. You remember that some
of your people were received on board here before you got in, the
other day?"

"I do, my lord; and I meant to make my acknowledgments for the favor.
The poor fellows had a warm time of it at the rocks, and deserved
comfortable berths after it was over."

"I believe we gave them as much; at least, I know few suffer in this
ship. Well, there was a mate among them, who is a little advanced, and
who is likely to stick where he is, by what I learn. We want just such a
man for the hold, and I have promised my Captain to speak to you about
him. Don't let him go if there's any reason for wishing to retain him;
but we have three seamen ready to exchange against him; good fellows,
too, they tell me."

Cuffe picked some nuts, and appeared a little at a loss for a reply.
Nelson saw this, and he fancied the other reluctant to give up his mate.

"Well, I see how it is," he said, smiling, "We must do without him, and
you will keep your Mr. Clinch. A thorough officer in a ship's hold is an
advantage not to be thrown away; and I suppose, if Hotham had asked such
a thing of old Agamemnon, he might have whistled for the favor. The
deuce is in it, if we do not get as good a mate somewhere!"

"It's not that, my lord--you're welcome to the man, though a better in
his station cannot be had. But I was in hopes his recent good conduct,
and his long services, might give him a lift into the vacant
gun-room berth."

The admiral appeared surprised, while he did not seem to be exactly
pleased.

"It has a hard look, I grant you, Cuffe, to keep a poor devil ten or
fifteen years in the same station, and this, too, after he has served
long enough for a commission. I was a captain ten years younger than
this Mr. Clinch must be to-day, and it does _seem_ hard; and yet I doubt
not it is just. I have rarely known a midshipman or a mate passed over,
in this way, that there was not some great fault at the bottom. We must
think of the service, as well as of generosity."

"I confess all this, my lord--and yet I did hope poor Clinch's
delinquencies would at length be forgotten."

"If there are any particular reasons for it, I should like to hear
them."

Cuffe now related all that had passed between himself and the master's
mate, taking care to give Jane a due place in his history. Nelson began
to twitch the stump of his arm, and by the time the story was told
Clinch's promotion was settled. An order was sent forthwith to the
secretary, to make out the orders, and Cuffe carried them back with him
to the Proserpine that night, when he returned to his own ship.

All Nelson's promotions were confirmed by the Admiralty, pretty much as
a matter of course. Among others was that of Clinch, who now became the
junior lieutenant of the Proserpine. This elevation awakened new
feelings within him. He dressed better; refrained from the bottle; paid
more attention to his mind; improved in manners, by keeping better
company; and, in the course of the next twelvemonth, had made rapid
advances toward respectability. At the end of that time, the ship was
sent home; and Jane, in her imagination at least, received the reward of
all her virtuous constancy, by becoming his wife. Nor did Cuffe cease
his friendly offices here. He succeeded in getting Clinch put in command
of a cutter; in which he captured a privateer, after a warm action,
within a month. This success procured him a gun-brig, and with her he
was still more fortunate; actually cutting out, with her boats, a French
sloop-of-war, that was not half manned, it is true, but which was still
considered a handsome prize. For this affair he got the sloop; thus
demonstrating the caprice of fortune, by whose means he found himself a
commander in less than three years after he had been a mate. Here he
stuck, however, for a long time, until he got another sloop in fair
fight, when he was posted. From that moment, we have lost sight of him.

Cuffe being sent into the Gulf of Genoa, shortly after, seized the
opportunity to restore the vice-governatore and his friend to their
native island. The fame of their deeds had preceded them, exaggerated,
as a matter of course, by the tongue of rumor. It was understood that
the two Elbans were actually in the fight in which Raoul Yvard fell;
and, there being no one to deny it, many even believed that Vito Viti,
in particular, had killed the corsair with his own hand. A discreet
forbearance on the part of the podesta always kept the matter so
completely involved in mystery, that we question if any traveller who
should visit the island, even at this day, would be able to learn more
than we now tell the reader. In a word, the podesta, forever after,
passed for a hero, through one of those mysterious processes by which
men sometimes reach fame; quite as much, perhaps, to their own
astonishment as to the surprise of everybody else.

As for Ithuel, he did not appear in America for many years. When he did
return, he came back with several thousand dollars; how obtained no one
knew, nor did he choose to enter into particulars. He now married a
widow, and settled in life. In due time he "experienced religion," and
at this moment is an active abolitionist, a patron of the temperance
cause teetotally, and a general terror to evil-doers, under the
appellation of Deacon Bolt.

It was very different with the meek, pious, and single-minded Ghita;
though one was e'en a Roman Catholic, and the other a Protestant, and
that, too, of the Puritan school. Our heroine had little of this world
left to live for. She continued, however, to reside with her uncle,
until his days were numbered; and then she retired to a convent, no so
much to comply with any religious superstitions, as to be able to pass
her time, uninterrupted, in repeating prayers for the soul of Raoul. To
her latest hour, and she lived until quite recently, did this
pure-minded creature devote herself to what she believed to be the
eternal welfare of the man who had so interwoven himself with her virgin
affections as to threaten, at one time, to disturb the just ascendency
of the dread Being who had created her.

THE END