“Oh, it is the mistico,” she exclaimed eagerly. “I know her by the shape of her sails. It must be her, and they are returning in safety.”
As soon as Nina had withdrawn her eye from the glass, which she did not do for a long time, till she had fully persuaded herself that the vessel in sight was the one she hoped, with her husband on board, Ada’s curiosity and interest were excited to watch the progress of the mistico. On she came, careering across the foaming sea, now lifted on the summit of a curling wave, now sunk into the deep trough between the watery mountains, where she would remain, her sail alone visible, apparently about to be overwhelmed by the wave which lifted its crested head close astern of her; but again she would rise once more on the summit of another, and as it were seated on it would fly onwards for a long distance, again to plunge down to the dangerous depths from which she had just emerged. To Ada the little vessel appeared in the most imminent danger, and she expected every instant to see it disappear beneath the waves, and wondered how she could have so long continued to buffet them successfully. As she watched, she observed that the mistico, instead of steering towards the west end of the island, so as to fetch the mouth of the bay, was gradually verging towards the east; and it struck her also that she was smaller than the mistico she had been accustomed to see from the stern windows of the brig, while she was living on board. But of that, of course, she was not able to form any correct judgment, as from so great a height and distance the eye even of the most experienced is easily deceived. She feared therefore that the sail in sight was a stranger, and would, to a certainty, be wrecked on the coast, without the chance of receiving any aid from the inhabitants, who were much more likely to murder any of the unfortunate crew who might escape the perils of shipwreck, for the sake of their clothes, and any money they might have about them, than to assist in preserving their lives.
Nina also had been watching, with still more intense interest, the progress of the sail, now seen without the aid of the glass; but so persuaded was she that it was her husband’s mistico, that she did not remark the difference of size, nor that she was not steering directly for the harbour.
“Ah, he will be here soon, and in spite of the storm I must return to my tower, to receive him when he comes on shore,” she exclaimed in a cheerful voice. “Lady I must bid you farewell, and as I cannot now tell you all the love and gratitude I feel for you, I must entreat you to allow me to visit you again. You will forget my passion and folly, and remember only any redeeming traits you may have discovered in me. Say you will do this, my sweet friend, before I leave you.”
“Indeed I will,” answered Ada, pressing both the hands which were held out to her. “I shall think of you always with the affection of a sister; but I must not let you go even now; for I fear greatly you will be disappointed in your expectations. See, yonder bark; mark how her head is turned; and tell me if she is steering for the harbour.”
“Alas! that is not our chief’s mistico, after all,” exclaimed little Mila, corroborating the opinion Ada had formed. “She will be wrecked, too, and all in her will, to a certainty, perish.”
“I cannot think that it is not his,” said Nina. “He has some reason for approaching the further end of the island, if, indeed, he is not about to enter the harbour—perhaps he may purpose going round it to anchor on the northern side.”
“That vessel, as she now steers, would not get round the island, lady,” observed the Greek girl. “I wish my grandfather were here—and he would understand clearly all about it. Ah, there he is; and now the rain is over I may venture out and call him up here. He will explain matters clearly to us.”
Saying this, without a thought of the consequences either to herself or to her, should the morose old pirate think fit to inform his chief of Nina’s visit to the stranger lady, out ran the lively girl into the open air.
She was almost blown away down the ravine by a furious gust of wind, which caught her just as she got outside the door; but, undaunted, she managed to work on her way, shouting loudly all the time to her grandfather to come to her assistance; but as he was to windward, and rather deaf, he did not hear her.