"I know not," replied Maurice; "but, my lord, I pray you let the divers go down, and see that all is safe in the hold; for, unless it was a dream, I thought we were about to sink." Hardly had he spoken, when four or five seamen let themselves down into the bottom of the ship, and searched it thoroughly, for they were experienced divers. They found neither hole nor opening of any kind through which the water could enter, and returned to the deck, saying, that the ship was safe and sound; and that the water in the hold was thick and stagnant, a clear proof that no fresh water had made its way into the ship. "Then," said Maurice, "it must needs be, that I, like an old man, (since age is often fearful,) have been scared by a dream; and Heaven grant it may be only a dream; for I would rather appear a fearful old man, than be a true prophet."
"Then," said Arnoldo, "compose yourself, my good Maurice, for such dreams as these affright the ladies."
"I will if I can," he replied; and returned to his place on deck to lie down. In the ship an anxious silence prevailed.
Rutilio, who was seated at the foot of the mainmast, invited by the serenity of the night, and the quiet of the hour; or because he had a very fine voice, and that the sweet sounds of the wind, that gently murmured among the sails, reminded him of music, began to sing the following words in his own Tuscan tongue, which, if translated, run thus—
The Patriarch in days of yore
Fled from th' avenging hand,
Which, to a wide destruction doom'd
The whole offending land;
But to his servant warning gave,