"L IBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 U N I VER.SITY 
 Of ILLINOIS 
 
 8Z3 
 
 ArS7w; 
 
 v.l
 
 IN CIRCULATION AT EVERY LIBRARY. 
 In 3 Vols. (Second edition.) 
 
 LITTLE MISS FAIBFAX, 
 
 A Novel, 
 By the Author of " The Schoolmaster of Alton." 
 
 " ' The Schoolmaster of Alton ' displayed both talent and genius j 
 but clever as it undoubtedly is, ' Little Miss Fairfax ' is, in every res- 
 ppct, immensely superior. It will insure for its author a fame that 
 will endure beyond the time when the great bulk of novels of the past 
 ten years are forgotten." — Buxton Herald. 
 
 ' ' One of those very rare uovels that will attract and please all 
 readers." — Northern Times. 
 
 " This book is evidently the work of an author of considerable 
 ability, who has peered into the secret depths of thought and feeling, 
 and can dash off character w ith the ready pen of one who knows 
 human nature." — Athenaeum. 
 
 " It is a very clever novel, very well written and very interesting, 
 the characters sketched with consistent power. ' Little Miss Fairfax 5 
 has the half-daring, half-unconscious outspokenness of a Charlotte 
 Bronte'.'' — Atlas. 
 
 " It will find favour with readers on account of its interest as a 
 story, and this interest we are bound to say is of the genuine kind — 
 that which comes from the delineation of character rather than the 
 building up of a plot."— Morning Post.
 
 — Railways, postages — in a word, all the numerous facilities of 
 the age — have almost annihilated distance, and, as a natural result, 
 caused an individual trade between country customers and London 
 establishments. Those who do not visit town, so as to select and 
 purchase directly, send for patterns from which they can give their 
 orders. But as all apparent advantages on the one hand have 
 more or less their corresponding drawbacks, so this system is not 
 without its bane. Pushing tradesmen make a market by offering 
 goods at lower rates than they can possibly be sold at to realise a 
 fair profit. The bait traps the unreflective, and the result is that 
 the receipts en masse are not equal to the tempting samples. There 
 is no new invention in this ; it has been practised in wholesale 
 merchandise and by candidates for contracts, as the proverb hath 
 it, since there were hills and valleys. But we grieve to add it is 
 sometimes resorted to by those whom one would credit for more 
 integrity. Ladies, therefore, need exercise caution, and place 
 confidence only in houses of old-established fame, for rapidly-made 
 businesses are not generally reliable. And to what does this asser- 
 tion amount more than to the fact that nothing great can be 
 effected not only without labour but without time, and that Rome 
 was not built, as the old saying says, in a day 1 Messrs. Jay, of 
 Regent-street, whose name is well known amongst the few on the 
 list of bondjlde establishments in the metropolis, are about to adopt 
 a plan (which will be registered) for assisting country ladies in 
 choosing for themselves London fashions and fabrics. And their 
 customers may rest assured that they will thus be enabled to obtain 
 goods of every quality, both low and high priced, at the most 
 reasonable terms — that is, the terms of small profits for quick 
 returns — and that they may firmly rely upon the thoroughly 
 corresponding character of samples and supplies. — From the 
 Court Journal, April 27, 1867.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE 
 
 AND OTHER TALES. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 BY 
 
 C. F. AEMSTEONG, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 The Two Midshipmen," " The Lily of Devon," " Our Blue 
 
 Jackets," &c. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 lonDon : 
 
 T. CAUTLEY NEWBY, PUBLISHER, 
 30, WELBECK STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, 
 
 1868. 
 
 [the eight of translation is RESERVED .J
 
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 a 
 
 In the month of January, in the year — , 
 
 one of those beautiful and graceful specimens 
 
 %; of art and nautical skill, an English schooner 
 
 i yacht, might -have been seen pursuing its 
 
 : course for the Harbour of Genoa. Out of the 
 
 > harbour was blowing a strong breeze of tra- 
 
 <* montane, or north wind. It was, nevertheless, 
 
 e a very fine and clear day for the time of year ; 
 
 ^ the sky was bright and unclouded, and the 
 
 breeze was more bracing than cold. 
 
 So fine, indeed, was the day, that it tempted 
 the fair daughters of Genoa, with their attend- 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
 v..
 
 I THE WILD GAZHLLE. 
 
 ant cavaleros to walk the ramparts that encircle 
 tliat magnificent harbour. The gardens of 
 the Doria Palace, overlooking the sparkling 
 waters of the harbour, were also filled with 
 gay promenaders. 
 
 The schooner yacht was sailing swiftly 
 within a couple of miles of San Pietro D'Orsina, 
 a suburb of palaces. She was under full sail, 
 and as she rounded the gigantic Pharo of 
 Genoa, whose first stone was laid three hun- 
 dred years ago, she tacked, and stood across 
 the noble harbour, in order to gain the an- 
 chorage off the Arsenal. The beauty of her 
 build, the rapidity with which she tacked and 
 gathered way, her snow white canvas, and 
 her long, low, graceful, black hull attracted 
 at once the attention, not only of the prome- 
 naders, but also the admiration of the different 
 ships she passed in her rapid passage across 
 the harbour. 
 
 Though she was rather over two hundred 
 and fifty tons burden, her light and appa- 
 rently fragile construction, her tapering, rod-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 3 
 
 like spars and yards, caused the casual 
 observer to exclaim, u How is it possible for 
 that beautiful toy to contend with the blasts 
 of winter and fierce waves of the ocean? 
 Fitter surely for the quiet lake than the 
 stormy seas of the vast Atlantic." 
 
 This graceful, swift-gliding craft, however, 
 scarcely disturbing the mimic waves she 
 separated in her course, had traversed the. 
 Atlantic in its fiercest mood; had braved, 
 witli impunity, the wild and stormy waves of 
 the Black Sea ; had seen ships, grand in their 
 magnitude, and powerful in their construc- 
 tion, yield to the tempest, while the light and 
 graceful yacht braved and survived it. 
 
 Her strength lay in her perfect symmetry, 
 which deceived the unpractised eye, But to 
 the keen eye of the sailor, who saw in her 
 breadth of beam, her clean and beautiful run 
 aft, her elongated bow and exquisitely-pro- 
 portioned spars, a splendid specimen of a 
 noble sea-going boat, and such the " Wild 
 Gazelle was well-known to be. 
 
 B 2
 
 4 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 Walking the deck of the schooner, with a 
 telescope in his hand, was a remarkably fine 
 young man, of some eight or nine and twenty 
 years of age — Commander Percy Devereux, 
 of the Royal Navy, who was the owner of 
 the " Wild Gazelle," Left an orphan at a 
 tender age, he was confided to the guardian- 
 ship of his maternal uncle, Lord Tradmore. 
 His father, a captain in the Royal Navy, was 
 killed at Navarino. His last wish was that 
 his son should enter the service at a proper 
 age. Up to the age fit for entering the navy 
 as a midshipman, Percy Devereux received 
 the best education his uncle could procure for 
 him, and finally, he was placed in the " Un- 
 daunted " frigate, as a midshipman. Aboard 
 this vessel our hero distinguished himself as 
 much as a high-spirited youngster could in 
 the time of peace. 
 
 Having passed his examination with great 
 credit, he was shortly after appointed as 
 Lieutenant to the " Gladiator," the year after 
 the Crimean war commenced, and the blue
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 5 
 
 jackets of old England were in extacies. But 
 they were doomed to a cruel disappointment. 
 It was not the fortune of the navy to distin- 
 guish itself. It was not permitted to do so. 
 
 Percy Devereux, like many others, was 
 thoroughly disgusted. He sailed for Sebas- 
 topol. He longed to see the noble ships and 
 their eager crews make a dash at those grim 
 defences, and demolish them. But glory was 
 not for the navy of England in that war. 
 
 By a piece of good fortune, our hero got 
 appointed to one of the light draught gun- 
 boats, proceeding up the Black Sea and into 
 the Sea of Azoff. Here was something to do, 
 and the blue jackets in the gun-boats did dis- 
 tinguish themselves, and did good service. 
 A brilliant exploit of Lieutenant Devereux 
 gained him promotion, and, just before the 
 close of the war, his uncle's interest and his 
 own gallantry, caused him to be made first 
 lieutenant of the M Medina." On the termina- 
 tion of the war, he returned to England. 
 
 Restless and dissatisfied, although his own
 
 6 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 career had been exceedingly fortunate, he 
 proceeded, after a short stay ashore, as first 
 lieutenant of the u Racehorse," to the West 
 Indies. This ship, from one cause or another, 
 was unfortunate, and returned to England. 
 Devereux almost immediately joined as first 
 lieutenant of the " Desperate." This ship 
 proceeded into the Pacific. Whilst there, he 
 had the good fortune, at the risk of his life, 
 to save two fine ships from total destruction. 
 One was a Government transport, with four 
 hundred human beings on board, who were 
 all saved through his daring and unremitting 
 energy. On his return to England he was 
 made a Commander. 
 
 To his great surprise he learned that he 
 had inherited, from a very distant relation — 
 in fact, one of whom he had scarcely ever 
 heard — a very large fortune. This gentleman, 
 of most eccentric habits and a bachelor, 
 possessed of a fine estate in Dorsetshire, as 
 well as one in Hampshire, which he never 
 visited, residing in London the year round,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 7 
 
 and had ate his solitary dinner at the Albany 
 year after year, happened to see an elaborate 
 account of Percy Devereux's saving the two 
 ships exposed to almost certain destruction, 
 and exclaimed, 
 
 " He shall be my heir ; he is a relative of 
 mine." 
 
 Mr. John Digby at once proceeded to his 
 solicitor, and made a fresh will. Mr. Digby 
 was a Eornan Catholic convert, and by his 
 previous will had consigned the whole of his 
 property to three Roman Catholic institutions. 
 Three days after making the fresh arrange- 
 ment he was knocked down by a cab, and so 
 seriously injured that he died in less than a 
 fortnight. 
 
 When Commander Devereux returned to 
 England Lord Tradmore imparted to him the 
 certainly pleasing intelligence that he was 
 now the possessor of two fine estates, which, 
 with other property in the funds and sundry 
 bonds, amounted to a clear income of eight 
 thousand pounds a year.
 
 8 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " So now, T think," added his Lordship, 
 " you may, as there are no symptoms of a 
 war with any power, thanks to our exertions ,! 
 — his Lordship was a peer and a Whig — " you 
 may retire from the service, marry, lead an 
 easy life, and enjoy yourself." 
 
 u Well, my Lord," returned our hero, " I 
 will so far take your advice as to retire on 
 half pay, for a war may spring up somewhere; 
 but as to marrying, T must decline that inter- 
 esting part of your plans. I will build a 
 yacht, and roam for a couple of years over 
 the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, and 
 pay a visit to my beautiful cousin and once 
 playmate, at Genoa. What on earth possessed 
 her to marry an Italian?" 
 
 " Well," returned Lord Tradmore, with a 
 smile, " it's all your fault that she married an 
 Italian, and is now a rich widow with two 
 very beautiful children. I visited her last 
 year; she is residing in Genoa. Her husband, 
 the Count Castiglioni, died rather suddenly 
 from disease of the heart, leaving her mis-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 9 
 
 tress of of his large possessions. So, Percy, 
 if you have no objection to a young, beautiful, 
 and wealthy widow, you may marry your 
 cousin yet." 
 
 u Thank you, my Lord,'' returned Com- 
 mander Devereux, with a smile ; " but I do 
 not intend devoting my life to a widow, 
 though I feel perfectly satisfied that my fair 
 cousin must be a most fascinating and dan- 
 gerous one. Why it should be my fault that 
 Laura married an Italian puzzles me." 
 
 " Why did you not propose to her yourself, 
 Percy ?" asked his Lordship. " You were 
 mighty fond of each other when twelve or 
 thirteen years of age; but you never went to 
 see her on your return from the Crimea, and 
 she told me herself she was satisfied you 
 would never love anything but the sea and 
 your profession. So she went with Lady 
 Forbes to Italy, met the handsome Count 
 Castiglioni at Nice, married him, and in two 
 years became a widow. So, if you are bent 
 on building a yacht and cruising in the 
 
 b 5
 
 10 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 Mediterranean, you can visit the Countess, 
 and very likely you may persuade her to 
 return to her native land as the Countess 
 Deverenx" 
 
 "In truth," said Percy Devereux, rather 
 seriously, " I was very fond of Laura when a 
 boy, and T shall be most delighted to renew 
 our early intimacy ; but beyond friendship I 
 can never get. I am rather romantic ; a fair 
 vision is continually floating before my 
 mind's eye, though only seen for a moment, 
 and thou oh I almost feel satisfied I shall 
 never see this vision again in reality, I cling 
 to the delusion, and still hope." 
 
 44 Humph !" muttered his Lordship, " all 
 stuff and nonsense. I never was romantic*, 
 it's all moonshine in real life. Knock about 
 a bit, spend some of your superfluous cash, 
 and depend on it you will lose all your 
 romance and fair visions for tangible reali- 
 ties." 
 
 Percy Devereux did knock about, as his 
 ci-devant guardian proposed. He mingled in
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 11 
 
 the gay world, was feted and sought after, 
 and greatly admired by the softer sex. He 
 gave large entertainments at his mansion in 
 Hampshire, kept hunters and racers, became 
 celebrated as a desperate rider ; but in twelve 
 months he became sick of the gay life of 
 fashion, and longed to get back to his old 
 elements. His magnificent yacht was the 
 admiration of all the members of the Royal 
 Yacht Club. 
 
 The "Wild Gazelle" carried off the 
 Queen's cup at the Cowes Regatta, and several 
 other cups besides, and then she sailed for the 
 Mediterranean, wafted on her way by the 
 sighs of many a fair maiden, who could not 
 behold the handsome sailor without wishing 
 her own bright eyes had the power of win- 
 ning him from his ocean love. 
 
 Percy Devereux ran through the Mediter- 
 ranean into the BJack Sea, gazed again upon 
 the grand ruins of the fortress of Sebastapol, 
 visited many places in the Sea of Asoff, 
 made numerous inquiries, seemed disappointed
 
 12 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 and unsettled. Finally he returned to the 
 Mediterranean, after visiting the Adriatic and 
 the once mighty Queen of the Adriatic, and 
 as we commenced our chapter, the " Wild 
 Gazelle ,; was on a visit to the once proud 
 rival of Venice — Genoa the Superba. 
 
 After this digression we return to the deck 
 of the " Wild Gazelle." 
 
 Devereux was well acquainted with Genoa. 
 When a midshipman he had often been in the 
 city, for the frigate he sailed in was a frequent 
 visitor at that noble seaport. Having reached 
 the desired spot, off the Arsenal, the yacht 
 anchored and furled her canvas, and the same 
 evening our hero took up his residence at the 
 Croce de Malta, with only one attendant, a 
 rather favourite servant, of the name of 
 Thomas Phillips. The next day, after mak- 
 ing some inquiries, he proceeded to visit his 
 cousin, the Countess Castiglioni. 
 
 The Countess, when in Genoa, resided in 
 one of those magnificent palaces that form 
 the noble Sfcradi de Balbi. She was the centre
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE, 13 
 
 of attraction in the society of Genoa, and the 
 noble saloons of her beautiful palace were at 
 stated periods crowded with the very highest 
 of the Italian nobility. The Countess at this 
 period was only eight and twenty. She was 
 tenderly attached to the memory of her hus- 
 band, and fondly devoted to her children. It 
 was very well known in the society in which 
 she moved in that it was her determination 
 never to marry again. 
 
 The Countess was aware that her early 
 playmate and cousin, Percy Devereux, in- 
 tended visiting Genoa. He wrote to her from 
 Naples a kind and brotherly letter, stating, 
 after a variety of other matters, that he should 
 most probably be in Genoa about the middle 
 of January, so that she was on the look out 
 for him. 
 
 It so happened, the weather permitting, 
 that the " Wild Gazelle " entered the harbour 
 of Genoa within a few hours of the time he 
 mentioned in his letter. The long range 
 of balcony, stretching the entire length of the
 
 14 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 Castiglioni Palace, commanded not only 
 a view of the entire harbour, the lofty Pharo, 
 and the wide spread sea beyond, but the lofty 
 mountains of Porte Finne were also distinctly 
 visible. The Countess was walking backwards 
 and forwards amid the beautiful profusion of 
 shrubs ranged in vases along the platform, 
 with her two children, when her attention 
 was caught by the snow white sails of the 
 " Wild Gazelle." She knew at once it was 
 an English yacht, and made no doubt but that 
 it was Commander Devereux's beautiful 
 schooner yacht. She watched its evolutions 
 till the schooner cast anchor off the Arsenal, 
 and furled her sails. 
 
 The Countess, the following day, received 
 her early playmate and cousin with extreme 
 pleasure, at the same time with a tear dimming 
 her soft beautiful eyes, as recollections of the 
 past came crowding before the mind's eye, as 
 she gazed into the very handsome animated 
 features of the sailor. 
 
 " What a great bronzed creature you have
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 15 
 
 grown, Percy," said the Countess, as they sat 
 side by side on a sofa, and gazed with sur- 
 prise into each other's features ; " you that 
 used to be such a fair curly-headed boy at 
 twelve years old; and yet, though I have not 
 seen you since you were sixteen, when you 
 returned from your first cruise, I am sure, 
 had I met you by accident, I should have 
 known you." 
 
 " I should have picked you out, Laura, from 
 amid a thousand," said Percy, thoughtfully. 
 " You look as young almost as when we 
 parted." 
 
 " And yet I have had my sorrows and my 
 trials," returned the Countess, a shade passing 
 over her lovely features, but resuming her 
 usual manner, for she was of a cheerful, hope- 
 ful nature. " What a life you have led, 
 Percy, since we parted ; and how is it I find 
 you still a lone creature after visiting half 
 Europe, to say nothing of the wild lands over 
 the far seas? Can it be possible that no beauty 
 of southern lands has as yet had power
 
 16 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 to thaw that cold heart of yours into life and 
 action ? Have you seen no eyes as bright as 
 those of your yacht's figure-head, the 4 Wild 
 Gazelle ?' for the Marquis Durazze tells me 
 that your figure-head is that of a real gazelle, 
 beautifully preserved." 
 
 Percy Devereux laughed. 
 
 " In truth, Laura?" he said, looking into 
 the Countess' brilliant orbs, " I have seen 
 none so bright as those I gaze on now. But 
 where are your dear children ? I long to see 
 them. I am, after all, a homely man ; a 
 family circle has always a charm for me ; 
 perhaps, had I frequented scenes less gay aud 
 dazzling, I might have found a heart to suit 
 me ; but too much brightness dazzled but 
 left me un scorched." 
 
 " Ah !" returned the Countess, thought- 
 fully, " your hour is not yet come ;" and she 
 rung for the children. 
 
 The two children soon came running into the 
 saloon ; they were lovely children, especially 
 the little girl, then nearly eight years old.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 17 
 
 Some men have a peculiar charm of manner 
 that wins upon them, and children soon know 
 that this manner is not put on for the time. 
 Percy loved children, and it was wonderful 
 to see how soon the two little ones now intro- 
 duced dropped all shyness and reserve with 
 him. 
 
 " You will spoil my darlings," said the 
 fond mother, when our hero bade the Countess 
 good-night at a late hour. " I must find you 
 a partner for life ; you were not intended to 
 be roaming the world in your ' Wild Gazelle,' 
 wasting your youth, and throwing away all 
 the kindly feelings of your warm nature. 
 Depend on it, I am right ; you may smile and 
 shake your head, but your hour will come, 
 Percy, and when you do love, it will be a 
 love as enthusiastic as your nature. '" 
 
 Day after day passed, week after week 
 flew by; the "Wild Gazelle" floated list- 
 lessly on the tideless water of Genoa's noble 
 harbour, and still Percy Devereux lingered in
 
 18 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 the City of Palaces. Constantly, almost 
 daily, a visitor at the Castiglioni Palazzo, in- 
 troduced to the flower of the Genoese nobility, 
 the handsome sailor, as he was styled, be- 
 came an object of great attraction to the fair 
 daughters of Genoa. 
 
 One evening, at a conversation at the 
 Countess' palace, Percy was seated in earnest 
 conversation with his charming hostess. 
 
 " You are, I see," observed his cousin, " as 
 indifferent as ever, Percy. You cannot deny 
 but that our Genoese maidens are as charm- 
 ing as they are beautiful." 
 
 "I am far from indifferent, Laura," returned 
 Devereux ; " and I confess many of your 
 charming maidens are beautiful and dan- 
 gerously fascinating, but — " 
 
 " Ah ! I see," interrupted the Countess, " I 
 see it now ; you require a love with a spice 
 of romance about it.'' 
 
 " Well, you are right, Laura, and I know 
 you will probably laugh at me when I tell
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 19 
 
 you that I once saw a face — it is now five 
 years ago — that, strange to say, floats before 
 ray mind's eyes at intervals, with a singular 
 and extraordinary vividness, and yet it has 
 almost the face of a child — at all events, a 
 mere girl of thirteen or fourteen, perhaps not 
 so much — but there was in that face such an 
 exquisite beauty of expression that really, if 
 I shut my eyes, I see it as if in a dream." 
 
 " Now you interest me," said the Countess, 
 " and you have roused my curiosity ; but as 
 this is no place for enumerating love adven- 
 tures, come to me early to morrow, for here 
 we shall be interrupted. But just tell me 
 where you saw that peerless face, and why 
 you have never seen it since/' 
 
 " Ah !" returned Percy, " it's rather a long 
 story ; but as to where I saw this child's face 
 — it was on the shores of the Sea of Azoff, at 
 the close of the Crimean war.'' 
 
 The Countess de Castiglioni started and 
 looked into Percy Devereux's face with a sin- 
 gular expression ; but several gentlemen and
 
 20 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 ladies coming up, the conversation ceased, and 
 the Countess, as she rose from her seat, 
 said, 
 
 " To-morrow ! remember I"
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Percy Devereux was early at the Castig- 
 lioni Palace, and, after a ramble and a romp 
 through the beautiful range of garden of the 
 Palace, with the delighted children, who 
 already loved their new cousin with all the 
 warmth of their sunny clime, the Countess 
 and her guest sat down in her favourite 
 saloon, the windows overlooking the harbour 
 and its forest of masts, and the bright blue sea 
 beyond. Few in Genoa ever remembered so 
 mild and beautiful a month as January, 1860. 
 " I am quite anxious, Percy, for this proposed 
 tale of yours ; I have a dash of romance in my 
 own disposition. You may remember, when
 
 22 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 we were children together, how fond I was 
 of getting you to read me tales of adventures 
 and the wild brave exploits of ancient heroes. 
 Now I must have a full and fair account of 
 your adventures, from the time you entered 
 the Black Sea and cast anchor before that 
 terrible fortress of the Great Czar." 
 
 " But, Laura, you will be weary of war 
 details ?" 
 
 " No, no,*' interrupted the Countess. " No 
 such thing. 1 have my reasons, so no brief 
 sketches and jumping at once to your par- 
 ticular adventure. Get to it by degrees, and 
 as we have a long evening to ourselves, try 
 to be remarkably agreeable." 
 
 Percy Devereux laughed. 
 
 "By Jove ! Laura, I have very little to 
 say. Mine is a very short yarn." 
 
 " Then I will not listen to you. Spin it 
 out. You sailors I have always heard, are 
 famous for yarns as long as the fore top 
 bowline. Is not that quite correct and 
 nautical too?"
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 23 
 
 u Upon my life, Laura, a six montlis' 
 cruise,'' laughed Devereux, u on board the 
 4 Gazelle,' would make you a perfect sailor. 
 Now, let me think a moment," continued our 
 hero. " I fear I must go back to the period of 
 the Crimean War, when I was a very young 
 lieutenant, and as that war progressed, — a 
 deuce of a discontented one, for instead of 
 brilliant achievements, which we blue jackets 
 fully expected, there we lay, as flue a fleet 
 of ships as the world ever saw, riding at 
 anchor, gazing till we were half blind at that 
 grim old fortress of Sebastopol, and kicking 
 our heels against the deck, and grumbing and 
 growling from morn to night, that we were 
 not allowed to make a dash at the harbour; 
 and I do verily believe, had we done so, we 
 should have taken the place then and there. 
 But it was not to be, as the weary siege 
 dragged on its slow length and horrors 
 multiplied — such as famine, disease, and sad 
 management — slaying its thousands, I was 
 permitted, with others and a party of blue
 
 24 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 jackets, to serve in the trenches. I, by good 
 fortune, happened to perform some mad act, 
 that did some service and got me into notice 
 
 and won the approbation of Admiral , 
 
 for just as the war was drawing to a close, I 
 was appointed to the command of the gun- 
 boat ' Spitfire,' and, to place myself under the 
 command of Captain Lyons, who was to 
 proceed on an expedition to the Sea of 
 Azoff. 
 
 " It was very refreshing indeed to get such 
 an appointment, and to serve under so enter- 
 prising and gallant an officer as Captain 
 Lyons. 
 
 " When I went on board the 4 Spitfire/ I 
 was delighted with all I saw. She was small, 
 to be sure, carried but one gun, but that was 
 a persuader. Her crew were a fine, hearty 
 set of tars, in the highest possible spirits and 
 exulting in the prospect of really having 
 something to do, and certain at all eveuts 01 
 not only seeing the enemy, but feeling them. 
 
 " On one of the finest mornings possible at
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 25 
 
 such a period of the year, and in such a 
 climate as that of the Crimean, the allied fleets 
 sailed for Kertch. 
 
 " Captain Lyons fleet of gun boats sailed 
 in company. After a fine run we reached 
 our destination, and the troops were landed 
 near a place called the Salt Lake, north of 
 Cape Bourman, the guns of our frigates pro- 
 tecting the troops landing. Here we ex- 
 pected to meet a fierce resistance, but to our 
 surprise the Russians fled, after blowing up 
 the fortifications and the magazines, thus 
 giving us peaceful possession of the really 
 pretty town of Kertch, without striking a 
 blow or firing a shot. 
 
 u We are sad grumblers, we sailors ; none 
 of us in the i Spitfire ' seemed pleased. 
 
 " ' I'm blowed,' said a fine young fellow to 
 a comrade, as we returned, ' if this here war 
 ain't the rummest go I know of.' 
 
 " ' Why, what's the matter with it, Billy 
 boy — hain't you got a whole skin ? — isn't that 
 
 VOL. 1. c
 
 26 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 something, after twelve months' smelling 
 powder ?' 
 
 " ' Smelling !' replied Bill, contemptuously. 
 4 Yes — blow me, that's just it; it's all 
 smell and no taste. I spent three hours yes- 
 terday putting an edge to my cutlass — that 
 would shave a pig asleep — expecting to-day 
 to try it on the skins of those Eooshans. I 
 was near one fellow, but he beat me to chalks 
 in running away ; I shied my cutlass after 
 him, hoping to trip him up, and then to finish 
 him with my fists. I'm blessed if he didn't 
 stoop, pick it up, and bolted, shouting and 
 laughing like a wild beast.' 
 
 u ' Then you lost your cutlass, Bill ?' said his 
 comrade. 
 
 u 'No, I'm bio wed if I did,' returned Bill, 
 shewing his weapon. ' You see, at first I 
 was for catching the chap, when he threw 
 away, fust his great grey coat, and then his 
 musket. I picked up the musket, and, in a 
 rage at his walking off with my cutlass, I 
 took aim and pulled the trigger ; I did not
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 27 
 
 know that the piece was loaded, but it was, 
 for the Eooshan rolled over, and then I felt 
 ashamed at firing at the poor devil ; but 
 before I could reach him he was again on his 
 pins, and, with a savage oath, he pitched my 
 cutlass with all his force at me, giving me a 
 slight gash in the thigh, and then he ran 
 limping away. I picked up my cutlass and 
 let the poor devil go.' 
 
 44 * Well, Bill, you're in luck, after all,' 
 said his comrade ; 4 you have shed your 
 blood for the good of your country, at all 
 events, since the Rooshan pricked you with 
 your own cutlass.' 
 
 " We had scarcely got aboard when a 
 Russian steamer was observed coming out of 
 the Bay, under full steam, thinking, no doubt, 
 to escape by getting into the Straits of Yene- 
 kale. We were at once signalled to give 
 chase, as the ' Spitfire ' was one of the fastest 
 amongst the gun boats. Our steam was 
 up ; so, slipping our cable, we were off in- 
 stantly in pursuit. 
 
 c 2
 
 28 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " The steamer we chased was very large, 
 and appeared to have good way on her ; the 
 water was perfectly smooth, but very shallow. 
 We, however, were fast gaining on her, and, 
 as we both rounded the Cape, two large mer- 
 chant vessels slipped their cables, and followed 
 the steamer. One of these vessels was sup- 
 posed to carry a large amount of specie. This 
 I did not know till some time after ; I was 
 intent on overhauling the steamer. When 
 within reach of our formidable single gun, 
 we opened fire, and soon knocked her spars 
 into splinters, and then down came her smoke 
 jack; but just then we came under the guns 
 of the principal battery of Yenekale, which at 
 once opened a rapid fire upon us, forcing us 
 to abandon the steamer ; and shortly after, 
 being joined by two other gun boats, we 
 silenced the batteries, and I resumed my 
 chase of the steamer, which we took with but 
 a slight resistance from a crew that outnum- 
 bered us by forty men. On returning, we 
 destroyed a number of barges anchored under
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 29 
 
 the battery, and then rejoined the fleet. To 
 this exploit I owed my permission to join 
 Captain Lyons in his projected attack upon 
 Yenekale. Separating from the fleet, we 
 sailed for our destination, and arrived therein 
 the middle of the night. 
 
 " I was anxiously watching for daylight, 
 for we were informed that the place was very 
 strongly defended. As the daylight made 
 and the light mist that lay upon the still 
 waters dispersed, we obtained a clear view of 
 the town. My only officer aboard the c Spit- 
 fire ' was a fine young man of eighteen, a 
 passed midshipman. I was very partial to 
 this youth, a Mr. Adams, for he was brave, 
 skilful, and unassuming ; he joined me on 
 deck, just as the sun shewed above the cliffs 
 on which the town is built. We had run in 
 in the night much further than Captain Lyons 
 and his gun-boats, so had a distinct view of 
 the place. 
 
 " ' It's a strong place, sir,' said young 
 Adams to me, handing me his glass; l there
 
 20 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 is a formidable range of guns along the 
 cliffs.' 
 
 "There was, in truth, a very strong battery, 
 and, from its position on the cliffs, capable of 
 doing much mischief to an attacking force. 
 Lying under the cliffs, protected by the bat- 
 teries, were a considerable number of vessels. 
 Nearly upon a level with the quay was an- 
 other battery of six field pieces, especially 
 for their protection. 
 
 " l Come,' I exclaimed, to Midshipman 
 Adams 4 now there will be something more 
 than the smell of powder' — recollecting Bill 
 Badger's observation ; — ' we have enough to 
 do here.' 
 
 " ' There goes a signal, sir, from our Com- 
 modore's craft,' remarked my first mate. 
 
 u I looked at the flags; it was a summons 
 to go on board the captain's ship. So, lower- 
 ing our gig, I was pulled alongside our com- 
 mander's vessel, where I met, besides Captain 
 Lyons, Comman Jer Crawford and three other 
 officers.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 31 
 
 M After a quarter of an hour's conversation 
 and consultation, Captain Lyons decided that 
 Crawford should proceed with a flag of truce 
 to demand the surrender of the place — -the 
 stores and shipping included. If this demand 
 was complied with, the town and private 
 property would be spared ; if refused, the 
 inhabitants would be allowed two hours to 
 leave the town, when it would be bombarded 
 and destroyed. 
 
 " Commander Crawford requested me to 
 accompany him, which I very willingly 
 agreed to do, with Captain Lyons' consent. 
 Accordingly Commander Crawford and my- 
 self were pulled towards the quay in an eight- 
 oared galley, with a flag of truce flying out 
 jauntily in the strong breeze just sprang up. 
 
 " ' It is as wel],' said Commander Crawford, 
 4 to be polite ; but depend on it this offer of 
 ours will be declined with curt thanks.' 
 
 " ' Yes,' I replied, ' it is not likely that 
 they will yield without a fierce struggle ; when 
 they do fight, they fight bravely and deter- 
 minedly.'
 
 32 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " ' By Jove! they do, and no mistake. See/ 
 added my companion, l what a number of 
 Russians are assembled on the quay, and a good 
 sprinkling of officers amongst them, whilst 
 behind the town there is a whole battalion 
 of Cossacks drawn up.' 
 
 u ' Faith, Percy, this looks like business/ 
 
 u We now rapidly approached the landing 
 place at the mole, and as we rounded to, 
 several Russian officers came in front and 
 ordered the people back, and then advanced 
 to the edge of the mole and politely requested 
 us to land. Commander Crawford and I 
 leaped out on the stairs, and the next moment 
 stood beside the four Russian officers, who 
 raised their hats, and we did the same. 
 
 " The chief officer of the group was a re- 
 markably fine man ; he was a eouple or more 
 inches taller than myself. He wore several 
 orders on his breast, and to our surprise ad- 
 dressed us in very good English. 
 
 a Commander Crawford, in a quiet, dignified 
 manner, briefly delivered Captain Lyons' 
 message.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 33 
 
 " Lieutenant-General Kirchemoff, for that 
 was his name and rank, listened to the terms, 
 as stated by Crawford, quietly and uncon- 
 cernedly. He then begged my comrade to 
 say to Captain Lyons that the place could 
 not be surrendered under any other terms 
 than that of conquest, and that it would be 
 defended to the utmost ; that they had strong 
 batteries, plenty of men, and stout hearts to 
 face any enemy. 
 
 u fie thanked Captain Lyons for his 
 courtesy, and politely took his leave of us, as 
 we returned to our boat, Commander Craw- 
 ford saying, 
 
 " ' I regret the general's answer, as the 
 town and its inhabitants will suffer,' 
 
 " ' Now then,' said I, as we returned on 
 board the commodore's ship, 4 we shall have 
 to open the ball.' 
 
 " The order of attack was arranged. The 
 4 Spitfire,' having the lightest draught of 
 water was to lead the way ; Captain Lyons' 
 vessel, the ' Eecruit,' and the two other gun- 
 
 c 5
 
 34 TTTE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 boats were to take up positions as circum- 
 stances warranted. It would be needless, 
 Laura, to give you the details of this battle. 
 Suffice it to say that such a storm of shells 
 were pitched into the town that the terrified 
 inhabitants fled in all directions. The artil- 
 lery and infantry followed, after a very 
 defective fire upon us. In fact I had but one 
 seaman killed and three wounded, though we 
 lay closer in than the other boats ; but we 
 dosed them well, chiefly with shells. The 
 'Recruit' then hoisted the signal for the boats 
 to be manned, and to pull in and burn the 
 stores and ships, anchored beneath the almost 
 deserted batteries. With three hearty cheers 
 the boats gave way for the mole, the men 
 expecting a jolly spree on shore. 
 
 u Lieutenant Mackenzie proceeded to fire 
 the ships, more than seventy in number. All 
 the time we were pulling ashore the enemy 
 kept up a vigorous and determined fire of 
 musketry. Amidst a strong volley I got foot- 
 ing on the quay with my own crew, and the
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 35 
 
 marines from the ' Recruit,' with a dashing 
 company of blue jackets from the two other 
 gunboats, led by their own officers. The 
 ships soon became a prey to the flames, and 
 a grand and, indeed, awful spectacle was soon 
 presented to our view. As the fresh wind 
 increased the flames, a roaring, crackling blaz3 
 darted up into the air, sending sparks, and at 
 times fiery beams, as a quantity of powder 
 exploded, high over the cliffs. Having over- 
 powered the resistance of the enemy, I clam- 
 bered up the cliffs, followed by about twenty 
 blue jackets, shouting and laughing, as they 
 scrambled up the steep ascent, some tumbling 
 and rolling down the declivity, but were 
 soon up again ; and full of frolic we all got 
 into a wide street of good houses, at the far 
 end of which were immense stores, which we 
 intended to burn. The terrified inhabitants 
 were flying in all directions ; men, women, 
 and children, dogs, horses, and innumerable 
 pigs. My men were ordered on no account 
 to hurt or injure any of the inhabitants. Such
 
 36 THE WILD GAZELLE, 
 
 a multitude of screaming, shrieking pigs were 
 rushing here and there that the sailors were 
 frequently tumbled over, and lay scrambling 
 in the mud, with a pig tightly embraced, amid 
 the laughter of their comrades. 
 
 " We were making straight for the stores 7 
 when a dozen Eussian soldiers came in sight 
 from a cross street, dragging violently along 
 a man in plain clothes, whilst others were 
 rudely repulsing a young girl, who, with her 
 head bare and her long tresses of hair 
 streaming behind her in the strong breeze 7 
 was shrieking wildly for help in English, 
 looking towards us at the same time. 
 
 " I made a rush forward, receiving the dis- 
 charge of two or more muskets, aimed at me, 
 but providentially only knocking off my hat 
 and cutting my belt in two, inflicting a mere 
 scratch. A brutal soldier would have knocked 
 the young girl on the head ; but I caught the 
 blow on my cutlass, seized her round the 
 waist, and knocked over her persecutor. 
 
 " ' Oh ! sir. Oh ! for God's sake rescue my
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 37 
 
 father,' she exclaimed, and became insen- 
 sible. 
 
 " A dozen of my men rushed after the 
 Russian 'soldiers to rescue the young girl's 
 ftither. Lifting the girl in my arms, I entered 
 a house whose entire inhabitants had fled, 
 except an old woman and a girl with a child 
 in her arms. They fell on their knees, and 
 said in Russian some words which, I suppose 
 meant ' don't kill us.' I spoke to them in 
 French, which the old woman understood. I 
 told them to get some water, and that no 
 harm was intended them. I then laid the 
 poor girl on a settle, and cast a glance at her 
 face. Her eyes just then opening and her lips 
 parting, she cried in an agony of fear, 
 " ' Oh ! my father, my dear father !' 
 u Heavens ! what a lovely youthful face I 
 then beheld. She could scarcely be fourteen, 
 but such an exquisitely beautiful face I never 
 before beheld. It was one I think I have 
 seen a hundred times in my dreams. I can- 
 not account for the impression that child's
 
 38 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 face made upon me. She drank a little water 
 and then again looking me anxiously in the 
 face said, 
 
 " ' Oh ! sir, do save my father ; he is not a 
 Russian.' 
 
 " Loud shouts sounded from without ; I 
 heard the cheers of my men. Saying, 
 ' Stay here, and I will look for your 
 father; I feel sure he has heen rescued/ 
 I rushed out of the house, and found my 
 men and some ten or twelve of the men 
 of the ' Recruit,' who had fired the stores, 
 hotly engaged with a retreating party of in- 
 fantry, which, after a fierce struggle, gave 
 way and fled, and we followed them in hot 
 pursuit. We were now, having done all the 
 mischief we could, recalled to our boats, for 
 the enemy, recovering from their panic, were 
 mustering in great force outside the town. 
 
 " I now inquired for the stranger — the 
 young girl's father — for I had directed several 
 of my men to keep him in sight, whilst I 
 rescued the daughter and carried her into the
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 39 
 
 house. They said he had escaped from the 
 Russian soldiers, just at that moment charged 
 by a party of our marines, and that he had 
 disappeared round a corner of a street. I 
 now, with a couple of men only, retraced my 
 way to the house where 1 had left the young 
 girl. When I got there she was gone. The 
 old woman told me that she was looking 
 eagerly out of the window after my departure, 
 when a tall man dressed in plain clothes ran 
 by the window. The young girl shrieked out, 
 ' my father, my dear father !' and rushed 
 wildly out of the house, and she saw her no 
 more. 
 
 u I felt vexed, but I made no doubt that 
 she overtook her father, and that he would 
 hurry to the quay, and place himself and 
 daughter under our protection. On reaching 
 the mole and making inquiries, I heard that a 
 strange gentleman and a young girl had gone 
 off in one of the 4 Recruit's ' boats, to place 
 himself under the protection of Captain 
 Lyons.
 
 40 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " Having collected our wounded, we all 
 now re-embarked, and returned aboard our 
 respective vessels. I had hardly reached the 
 ' Spitfire ' and seen to the comfort of my 
 wounded, when a boat from the ' Recruit ' 
 brought me orders to sail immediately with 
 despatches from Captain Lyons to the admiral ; 
 so we up anchor, steam well up, and away 
 we went." 
 
 "What!" exclaimed the Countess, abruptly, 
 " sailed away without one enquiry after father 
 or daughter?" 
 
 " What could I do, Laura ?" returned Percy 
 Devereux, with a smile. " I could not think 
 of disobeying orders, or delay sailing, to 
 make inquiries after a perfect stranger and 
 his daughter. I knew that they got safe 
 aboard the ' Recruit,' and besides I expected 
 to rejoin Captain Lyons; and again, Laura, 
 though I felt strongly and even strangely in- 
 terested, and somewhat curious, you could 
 scarcely expect me to fall in love with a child 
 of fourteen."
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 41 
 
 " Hum !" muttered the Countess. " It 
 appears to me, Percy, that you never really 
 experienced the tender passion in your life/' 
 
 "Oh! haven't I, indeed?" returned Percy, 
 laughing. " Ah ! you mistake ; at all events 
 I'm heart whole at present." 
 
 " But," inquired the Countess, " you surely 
 made some inquiry when you rejoined Captain 
 Lyons ?" 
 
 " Alas !" returned our hero, " I never re- 
 joined my gallant commander. I was, on 
 reaching the fleet, employed on several ex- 
 peditions. I first went to Constantinople, and 
 various other places, and to my deep grief, 
 when I did rejoin the fleet, it was after the 
 gallant Captain Lyons' death. He died from 
 the effects of a very slight wound, received 
 in an attack upon the sea defences of Sebas- 
 tapol. Strange to say, I never met any of 
 the officers who served at that time in 
 the Eecruit. I did, however, fall in with 
 two sailors belonging to her. They remem- 
 bered the ' strange' gentleman and his daugh-
 
 42 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 ter coming aboard, and being very kindly 
 received by Captain Lyons, and on their way 
 back to Sebastopol, Captain Lyons put them 
 aboard an English barque bound for Con- 
 stantinople. They said the stranger was not 
 an Englishman, for he spoke a foreign 
 language when conversing with Captain 
 Lyons, and they heard him call the young 
 girl Camilla. I never heard any thing further, 
 and am only amazed that the event, and the 
 memory of this young girl's sweet pale fea- 
 tures remain, so vividly before my mind's 
 eye. 
 
 " The last year I sailed up the Black Sea — 
 visited the Sea of Azoff — landed at Kertch 
 and Genetch — made all kinds of enquiries — 
 but my curiosity remained unsatisfied.' 
 
 " Well, it's very strange," said the Countess, 
 musingly ; " do you think now, Percy, if you 
 were to see this fair incognito you would re- 
 cognise her ?" 
 
 " Yes, I should think I would," returned 
 Commander Devereux. M Lee me see. Sup-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 43 
 
 pose she was, when I rescued her, about 
 fourteen. A very great change will no doubt, 
 have taken place, but I think those beautiful 
 full, large, liquid blue eyes, I should recog- 
 nise again. She was exquisitely fair, with 
 the richest auburn hair, and at her age, in 
 profusion. She promised to be tall. Yes, I 
 think I should recognise her, but that event 
 will never take place." 
 
 u Not so very an improbable event," said 
 the Countess, "for such a rambler as you are. 
 I think it's probable that your young beauty's 
 father was an Italian." 
 
 " That is very likely," returned Percy 
 Devereux ; " but wiry should an Italian and 
 his child be detained as prisoners by the 
 Russians ? And how came the young girl to 
 .speak English so fluently ?" 
 
 u We can only surmise, for we are all in 
 the dark respecting your incognita, but for 
 all that give me some few days to make en- 
 quiries ; from one or two incidents in your 
 tale, I have a faint idea that I may
 
 44 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 discover some trace of this Signor and 
 his daughter. However, do not be at 
 all sanguine. But now tell me, Percy, 
 what do you really think of the state 
 Italy is thrown into ? Such wild schemes and 
 plots are concocted in every city. Genoa 
 swarms with adventurers, and all seem to re- 
 gard that strange man, Garibaldi, as a demi- 
 god. Is there any truth in the report that he 
 intends to drive the Neapolitan King from 
 his throne?" 
 
 " He certainly will try to do it," returned 
 Commander Devereux, , sl and I have a very 
 strong presentiment that he will do so. I 
 shall certainly take a cruise to Sicily, and 
 have a look at this most decidedly brave and 
 high-minded adventurer. He puts me in 
 mind of Gaston De Foix, but not unlike the 
 Italian Condottiero of old." 
 
 " Well, Percy, at all events, do not be in a 
 hurry to leave Genoa. You promised me a 
 tolerably long visit, and already you are plan- 
 ning further rambles. I should not be sur-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 45 
 
 prised if I heard that you had donned the red 
 shirt of Garibaldi's followers." 
 
 "Not quite so romantically inclined, 
 Cousin mine," said Percy, laughingly ; " but 
 now let me have a romp in the gardens with 
 my old favourites." 
 
 A few days after this conversation, Percy 
 Devereux entertained a large party of cavel- 
 eros and some of the fairest dames and maid- 
 ens in Genoa. It was the middle of March — 
 a March of singular mildness even for Genoa. 
 
 A very beautiful day was the one seleeted 
 for a cruize in the " Wild Gazelle." The 
 breeze was the tramontana, which blows from 
 the shore, and leaves the waters of the Gulf 
 of Genoa as tranquil as a land-locked lake. 
 
 The ladies were in raptures with the smooth 
 swift, gliding motion of the yacht, and the 
 rapidity with which she divided the mimic 
 waves as they rippled and played against her 
 sharp, elongated bows. 
 
 As the sun set in the west, and tinged the 
 blue waves of the Gulf with colours of gold,
 
 46 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 sea and sky became tinged with a glow 
 known only in southern climes. The yacht 
 returned from Porto Finno with her delighted 
 freight of gay excursionists, and anchored in 
 her usual berth, and as the fair visitors de- 
 parted to meet in the evening at the Countess 
 Castiglioni's for a dance, they thought how 
 great a pity it was that so handsome, so gal- 
 lant a sailor as their entertainer, should be 
 without a mistress.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 47 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 March gave place to April, the month of 
 smiles and tears, and then lovely May opened 
 its countless flowers in the famed lands of 
 the south, and still Percy Devereux lingered 
 in the gay city of Genoa. He was continu- 
 ally questioning the Countess as to her pro- 
 gress in discovering some trace of this fair in- 
 cognita, the Countess kept his hopes alive, and 
 very skilfully added to the real curiosity he 
 felt to discover some trace of the unknown 
 Signor and his daughter. At last he was 
 getting impatient, and the exciting accounts 
 of the progress of events taking place in 
 Italy induced our hero to tell the Countess
 
 48 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 that lie intended leaving for Palermo the 
 Happy, when the Countess again roused his 
 flagging hopes by telling him she had a most 
 interesting disclosure to make, and begged 
 him to come the next day early, as she had a 
 great deal to say. 
 
 Percy Devereux was at the Castiglioni 
 Palace at a very early hour. After half-an- 
 hour spent in the gardens with the children, 
 who were then consigned to the care of their 
 attendants, the Countess and our hero seated 
 themselves in the pleasant saloon overlooking 
 the harbour of Genoa. 
 
 u I fear, Percy," said the Countess, " you 
 are beginning to regret the three or four 
 months you have spent in Genoa." 
 
 " Why should you think that, Laura ?" 
 asked our hero ; "on the contrary, I shall al- 
 ways remember those hours passed in your 
 society, as some of the very pleasantest in my 
 life." 
 
 " Well, dear cousin, I was not fishing for 
 compliments, but I allow I have somewhat
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 49 
 
 deceived you for the last five or six weeks. I 
 had an object in view, and I think I may now 
 let you into a little secret of mine. You* 
 must join me in a plot." 
 
 " A plot !'' repeated Percy, with a laugh ; 
 u anything to do with the French Emperor, 
 the Pope, Victor Emanuel, or Garibaldi ?" 
 
 u Nothing of the kind," returned the Count- 
 ess. " My plot is a very unpolitical one. I 
 want you to join me in rescuing a most lovely 
 girl from a life of misery — from persecution." 
 
 " I will help you with heart and soul, 
 Laura — always provided you do not want to 
 entangle me in the matrimonial noose." 
 
 " Perhaps," said the Countess, demurely, 
 " that catastrophe must be left to Fate ; but 
 keep quiet and be attentive, and I will tell 
 you a true story that I promise will deeply 
 interest you." 
 
 " I will be the most attentive of listeners," 
 responded the sailor, looking serious. 
 
 " Before I begin my tale, Percy, tell me 
 are you a believer that love at first sight is 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 not a merely unmeaning thing, got up by 
 poets and romancers?" 
 
 " I do really believe that there is a mys- 
 terious power or sympathy, or whatever you 
 may call it, that sometimes acts upon two 
 human beings, brought together for the first 
 time, that produces that overpowering passion 
 called Love." 
 
 "Very good," returned the Countess; "I 
 will now commence my story." 
 
 " Some twenty years ago, there resided in 
 the territory of Genoa two brothers, who were 
 greatly attached to each other, though ex- 
 ceedingly dissimilar in person, manners, and 
 disposition. Count Giuseppe Barracco, the 
 elder brother, it is said, was a remarkably 
 tall, handsome man — gay, gallant, generous 
 and most affable, but considered, for a good 
 Catholic as he was supposed to be, rather free 
 in his opinions, and rather lax in the obser- 
 vances of Mother Church. 
 
 "Beppo Barracco, the younger brother, 
 was a singular contrast to the elder. I can
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 51 
 
 describe him from my own observations, for I 
 knew him very well, as our two Palazzos 
 near Sestre Di Ponenti, are close together, 
 only divided by some gardens or shrubberies. 
 He is a man of middle height, massively 
 built, dark complexion, with a severe and 
 stern expression of countenance ; in disposi- 
 tion he is bigoted to a degree, and super- 
 stitious enough for a Monk of the middle 
 ages, and I may add a furious zealot in the 
 cause of Mother Church. It is said he never 
 abandons a purpose once resolved upon, but 
 will carry it out without the slightest regard to 
 consequences. I am particular in my re- 
 marks, Percy, for two reasons : firsc, 1 am, to 
 a certain extent connecte dvvith the Barracco's, 
 and secondly, I think it necessary you should 
 have some idea of what kind of man Beppo 
 Baracco is." 
 
 " By Jove ! Laura, you mystify me ! i ou 
 a relation of this man ! Ah ! I suppose he 
 was a connection of your lamented husband ?" 
 
 " No," answered the Countess j lt he is in 
 
 d 2 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 , ~* r* ft r\\/
 
 52 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 no way connected with the Castiglionis. I 
 will explain to you as I go on with my story. 
 I have said that the Count Barracco was a gay, 
 a gallant cavalier, and very handsome; he 
 travelled a great deal, and when six-and- 
 twenty he went to England, where he resided 
 for a couple of years, and there he fell in love 
 with a beautiful English maiden he met at a 
 gentleman's seat in Lancashire, where he was 
 on a visit. This young lady was a Miss 
 Latimer, a first cousin of my dear lamented 
 mother. She was a strict Roman Catholic, 
 and so were all her family and most of her 
 connections. She captivated the Count, and, 
 as he was of high family and possessed of a 
 large fortune, his proposal for the hand of 
 Emily Latimer was willingly accepted by her 
 family, and they were married in Preston." 
 
 " You surprise me, Laura," remarked Percy 
 Devereux. " I knew your mother's name was 
 Latimer, but boys seldom trouble themselves 
 about family connections ; but your mother 
 was not a Roman Catholic ?"
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 53 
 
 " No," returned the Countess ; " her family, 
 though Latimers, were all Protestants. But 
 to continue : 
 
 " Though Emily Latimer was very beauti- 
 ful and clever, she was of a very weak and 
 timid disposition, and also very rigid in her 
 notions of religious observances, and in which 
 she soon found her husband was not ; but he 
 was a kind, generous, noble-hearted man, and 
 loved her dearly. 
 
 " Beppo Barracco was at first sadly annoyed 
 when he heard of his brother's marriage with 
 an Englishwoman ; but when he learnt that 
 the bride was a firm and rigid Catholic, he 
 became reconciled, and when the Count re- 
 turned with his young wife, Beppo received 
 her with great cordiality. Residing within 
 less than a mile of his brother's residence at 
 Sestri, he was, as he previously had been, a 
 constant visitor. The Count never interfered 
 with his wife's strict observance of her reli- 
 gious duties ; neither did he object to the
 
 54 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 father confessor Beppo introduced as the 
 family confessor. Imperceptibly this priest 
 and Beppo Barraceo gained great influence 
 over the mind of the young wife, soon to be- 
 come a mother. 
 
 " When the Countess gave birth to a fine 
 boy there were great rejoicings ; Giusseppe 
 Barraceo was a fond husband, and the young 
 mother became absorbed in her love for her 
 infant. No doubt, if this child had lived the 
 Countess would ffradnallv have recovered h r 
 serenity, and the gloomy views of life instilled 
 into her mind by Father Antoine would have 
 faded away ; but, unfortunately, the child 7 
 when eight or nine months old, sickened and 
 died. I need not say the Count find Countess 
 bitterly deplored the loss of their heir ; but 
 when another was bora and died at nearly 
 the same age, and also a boy, the mother's 
 despair was overwhelming. About this time 
 the Count was obliged to make a journey 
 to England to secure a large inheritance
 
 THE WTLD GAZELLE. 55 
 
 left to his wife by an uncle who had resided 
 much of his life in India, and had amassed 
 considerable wealth. 
 
 " During the Count's absence at this 
 critical period, when the Countess, mind was 
 weakened by her bereavements, Father 
 Antoine insinuated, but most cautiously, that 
 her bereavement was in part a punishment 
 upon the Count, her husband, for his great 
 neglect of his religious duties ; in fact, he 
 insinuated that he was inoculated by the 
 doctrines of Luther, and that in heart and 
 ideas he was a Protestant. You can imagine, 
 Percy, how these two men worked upon the 
 mind of the poor Countess ; in fact, so much 
 power had they gained over her that she 
 made a solemn vow, should Providence bestow 
 upon her another child, and that child be a 
 girl, she should be dedicated to the service of 
 the church, and take the veil at the age of 
 eighteen, and that the convent in which she 
 should become a nun should be endowed 
 with the mother's personal fortune, which, on
 
 56 THE WILD GAZELLE, 
 
 her marrying, was settled npon her and 
 snbject to her own disposal." 
 
 " But, Laura," interrupted Percy Devereux ? 
 a good deal astonished, a what motive could 
 these two men have in thus perverting the 
 mind of the Countess, and thus poison her 
 existence ?" 
 
 " Bigotry ! n returned the Countess Castig- 
 Jioni. u Beppo Barracco was a Jesuit ; Father 
 Antoine his tool ; to gain proselytes and 
 wealth for Mother Church, their only aim. 
 Besides, Beppo was furious at his brother's- 
 disregard of their holy religion, and his sup- 
 posed adoption of the Protestant faith. I 
 must acknowledge, from all I have heard and 
 now know, that Beppo himself was not at all 
 actuated by any desire of enriching himself. 
 He possessed a very independent fortune, and 
 intended never to marry. 
 
 u The Countess, when again near being a 
 mother, told her husband of her vow, to 
 devote the child, if a girl, to a life of religious 
 seclusion ; that she was to be a nun if she
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 57 
 
 lived, and then, perhaps, Heaven might be 
 appeased and grant them a son and heir. 
 The Count was at first inclined to laugh. 
 
 " '■ Appease heaven !' he said ; ' for what, 
 my love? I hope you do not conceive we 
 are guilty of any crime. Who has put this 
 unnatural determination into your head ? I 
 cannot consent to barter my child, should we 
 have a girl, for a — ' 
 
 " ' Oh ! my beloved husband,' interrupted 
 the Countess, her countenance shewing the 
 agony of mind she suffered, ' do not further 
 anger Heaven. Have we not lost two noble 
 boys in a most singular manner, and at the 
 same age ?— does not that shew — ' 
 
 '" It shews nothing unnatural, whatever, 
 mia cava" said the husband, tenderly ; 
 4 hundreds have sustained the same bereave- 
 ment, without imagining that the Deity was 
 punishing them for some imaginary sin. 
 That bigoted Priest Antoine has been tamper- 
 ing with your weakness, or blinding you to 
 the sin you are actually anticipating.' 
 
 D 5
 
 58 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " Seeing his wife getting ill from agitation 
 and religious terrors, the Count ceased, and ? 
 by tender caresses and promises to think over 
 her vow, restored her to some degree of com- 
 posure. 
 
 " The Count severely censured Father An- 
 toine, and would have dismissed him from his 
 household, only he feared the effect such a pro- 
 ceeding would have on his wife, who expected 
 her confinement daily. Beppo was then in 
 Borne. A few days afterwards the Countess 
 gave birth to a female child, and alas ! it was 
 apparent that in giving it birth, she was 
 destined to lose her own life. 
 
 " Are you in any degree superstitious^ 
 Percy ?" asked the Countess, pausing and 
 fixing her eloquent eyes upon her cousin. 
 
 " I cannot say," returned our hero, " that I 
 am in the leust, but still we know from his- 
 tory and other sources that some veiy great 
 men have and do hold what we call super- 
 stious ideas on certain subjects." 
 
 "Well," observed Laura, "I guessed as
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 59 
 
 much, though I have often heard that sailors 
 have often very superstitious notions, and that 
 they hold certain days of the week, exceed- 
 ingly unlucky, and will not on any account 
 go to sea on those days. I know that I am 
 rather prone to this feeling, and T do believe 
 most women are." 
 
 " But why, Laura, have you put this ques- 
 tion to me ?" 
 
 " I really can scarcely tell why I inter- 
 rupted my narrative to ask you that question ; 
 but a thought came into my head at the 
 moment. But I must get on, I fear I am very 
 prolix and tire you." 
 
 " Far from it, Laura ; I am uncommonly 
 interested, and I guess that this infant just 
 born—" 
 
 lt Madre mio — not exactly — -just born," 
 laughed the Countess ; " seventeen years have 
 gone by, and some months, since that event 
 took place. But what were you going to 
 say?" 
 
 " Why, I suppose this child dedicated to a
 
 60 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 convent life before it was born, is the identi- 
 cal girl you expect me to aid you in rescuing' 
 fron Mother Church."' 
 
 " You are right there, Percy ; and, more- 
 over, I really have got it into my head that 
 you may possibly be induced to make this 
 young girl your wife/' 
 
 Percy Devereux leaned back on the sofa, 
 bursting out into uncontrollable laughter. 
 
 u Well, Laura, that's capital !— by Jove I 
 Do you want me to have all the thunders of 
 the Catholic Church hurled at my head? 
 Besides, I should not marry a Roman Catholic 
 for the wealth of Golconda. What ! have 
 a great, sleek father confessor, with a beard 
 like a he-goat, closeted at certain periods 
 with my wife ! The gods forbid !" 
 
 "Ah ! I'm almost afraid that I shall never 
 be able to ensnare you into the trammels of 
 matrimony," said the Countess, with a serious 
 countenance, and a sigh," to my beautiful and 
 accomplished Camilla." 
 
 " What's that you say, Laura ?" interrupted
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 61 
 
 Deverenx, with a start. " Did you say her 
 name was Camilla — why that's the name of 
 my little incognita of Yenekale !" 
 
 u Yes," returned the Countess, " they have 
 the same name ; but, you know, Camilla is 
 not at all an uncommon name in Italy. You 
 call your incognita a little beauty — my pro- 
 tegee is a full-grown and most exquisitely 
 lovely woman. However, to expedite matters 
 and rouse you into positive activity, I must 
 tell you that my protegee and relation is no 
 other than your little incognita of — what's the 
 name of that barbarous place?" 
 
 " Good Heavens ! how strange and extra- 
 ordinary !" said Percy Devereux, springing to 
 his feet and gazing into his cousin's face with 
 a wonderful increase of colour. 
 
 " But that's not telling me the name of the 
 town," said the Countess, " where you fell so 
 desperately in love with a child." 
 
 " Pardon me, my dear cousin," and Percy 
 actually coloured to the temples, but the next 
 instant, laughing heartily, he said, reseating
 
 62 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 himself, " Yenekale, my dear Laura ; that's 
 the name. But I see you are inclined to quiz 
 me about this little girl. I give you my 
 word, I was not in love with the child — how 
 could I ? she was only fourteen — but I cer- 
 tainly felt greatly interested." 
 
 " Oh ! no doubt about that," returned the 
 Countess ; " and no doubt if ever you see the 
 young lady, this deep interest will be changed 
 into a far deeper love. Now that you know 
 who my protegee is, are you prepared to rush 
 blindfold into matrimony — for your promising 
 to do so will encourage me to proceed — or 
 shall I look for another cavalier to carry off 
 my i^av protegee ?'' 
 
 " It is the duty of every gallant gentleman 
 to afford protection to your sex," said Percy 
 Devereux, with a smile ; " therefore I place 
 myself in your hands, and will obey you im- 
 plicitly." 
 
 " Ah !" said the Countess, with a little 
 wickedness in her smile, " I forget that 
 you expressed a horror of the thunders of
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 63 
 
 Holy Mother Church being hurled at your 
 head." 
 
 " Oh ! let them thunder away, dear 
 Laura," said our hero, " their thunder is 
 without lightning now — only makes a noise. 
 I am really very curious, and must beg you 
 to proceed. Let me see where were you ?" 
 
 "Why, just," said the Countess, "where 
 the baby to be dedicated to a religious life 
 was born. I have seventeen years to get 
 over. My story will be a long one." 
 
 " I tell you what, cousin mine, you 
 must do. Just manage the affair as the 
 genuine three volume novelists do : jump 
 from infancy into full blown womanhood!" 
 
 '•I cannot possibly do anything of the 
 kind," replied the Countess. " I must tell my 
 story my own way. Unless I do so, you will 
 never understand the position. You sailors 
 think to carry everything by a coup de main, 
 but it won't do here ; there are almost insur- 
 mountable difficulties to overcome. How- 
 ever, I will make my narrative as concise as
 
 64 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 possible, so now sit quiet and listen attentively 
 to me. What I am going to relate is reality, 
 not romance." 
 
 " As the child," continued the Countess, 
 casting a glance at her attentive listener, 
 u grew in years, her infant beauty and sweet 
 precocious ways won strongly on the father's 
 heart. During an absence of his brother 
 Beppo, he suddenly undertook a journey to 
 England, where he stayed eight years, giving 
 the little Camilla every advantage in educa- 
 tion possible, and making her perfect in the 
 English language, and at the same time, as 
 the lady who undertook the care of her was a 
 Protestant, he never prevented her from in- 
 fluencing the young girl in her religious 
 principles ; in fact he became wilfully blind to 
 her becoming a Protestant, being himself 
 a most uncompromising upholder of the 
 Romish faith. 
 
 "Camilla was thirteen, when pressiag 
 business called the Count back to Italy. 
 
 " On reaching his native land he took up
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 65 
 
 his residence at Sester, in his splendid 
 palazzo there, and had the first masters to 
 finish his daughter's education. Beppo was 
 then in Sester, gloomy and discontented. 
 He beheld the conduct of his brother with 
 respect to the education of his daughter with 
 a terrible feeling of dissatisfaction, and one 
 day he said to the Count, in a bitter, cutting 
 tone, 
 
 " l What is the use of imparting all these 
 wordly accomplishments to one dedicated to 
 seclusion and retirement from the world ?' 
 
 11 ' Pooh ! pooh ! Beppo,' interrupted the 
 Count, with a good humoured smile. ' You 
 do not imagine surely that I am going to 
 sacrifice my only and idolised child. Neither 
 do I want to cheat Mother Church out of her 
 profits. A splendid gift will pacify the Lady 
 Abbess of St. Ursula, and an appropriate 
 dowry to the Holy Father will appease his 
 scruples.' 
 
 kC ' What ! ' said Beppo Barracco. 4 Do 
 you think by such gifts to save the soul of
 
 66 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 your wife, whose vow is registered in 
 Heaven ?' 
 
 "'Humph!' muttered the Count, 'when 
 my beloved and lamented wife made a rash 
 vow, she did not contemplate her own death, 
 and that, were such a vow followed up, it 
 would leave me a childless, broken-hearted 
 man.' 
 
 " ' You do not believe. No,' almost fiercely 
 exclaimed Beppo. ' You do not believe, or 
 you would not thus condemn your wife's 
 soul to everlasting torment, and your child's 
 also !' 
 
 " ' Come, come, Beppo,' said the Count, 
 calmly. ' This is pure bigotry. Do not let 
 two brothers, hitherto fondly attached, be- 
 come embittered against each other, because 
 their ideas on certain subjects differ. My 
 mind is made up, and no human eloquence 
 will alter it !' 
 
 " ' But God will !' said Beppo, passionately, 
 ' and in a manner that will vindicate his 
 power; ' and turning round he left the room.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 67 
 
 " To get rid of the perpetual reproaches of 
 his brother, who never ceased trying to work 
 upon his mind, and to terrify his daughter, the 
 Count resolved to spend a year or two in 
 visiting various parts of Italy. Accordingly 
 he left home with his daughter and two 
 female attendants for Naples. They sailed in 
 a fine English merchant ship. Violent gales 
 drove them out of their course, and finally a 
 Russian corvette, returning to Sebastapol, 
 chased them, for the Crimean war had then 
 begun; but when they sailed from Genoa, 
 the Mediterranean was considered perfectly 
 free of Eussian ships of war, but this well 
 known corvette had run the gauntlet, and 
 got into the Mediterranean, captured several 
 rich prizes, French and English, and was then 
 about to dare the passage back to the Black 
 Sea. They were soon overtaken and boarded, 
 and the Count Barracco and his daughter 
 and attendants made prisoners. The vessel 
 was plundered and then burned ; the captain
 
 68 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 and crew left in their boats, to reach, land if 
 they could. 
 
 u The Count was furious, but what could 
 he do ? After a wonderful voyage, from hair- 
 breath escapes of being taken by the 
 numerous English cruisers, the Russian war 
 steamer got into the Black Sea, and Odessa 
 and Sebastopol being invested, she kept the 
 southern shore, and finally succeeded in 
 making Kertch. The captain of the steamer 
 was well aware that he had captured a very 
 wealthy Italian nobleman and his daughter, 
 and he determined to make the most of his 
 prizes. He placed them in a comfortable 
 mansion, but hearing that Kertch was likely 
 to be attacked, he sailed with them to 
 Yenekale. 
 
 " He then told the Count he would ransom 
 him and his daughter for forty thousand 
 crowns. To this the Count assented, and 
 matters were in progress for this purpose, 
 when the English fleet of gunboats, under
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 69 
 
 Captain Lyons, attacked the place. You, 
 Percy, know the result of that attack, as it 
 was you who rescued the Count and his 
 daughter." 
 
 " You see I have been very brief," con- 
 tinued the Countess, after a pause. " The 
 part that remains to be told, I am mixed up 
 in. What do you think, so far?" 
 
 "Why," said the impatient owner of the 
 " Wild Gazelle," " that, like the postcript in 
 a lady's letter, what's to come will be the pith 
 of your story, which you have told so re- 
 markably well that I must compliment you 
 on your conciseness." 
 
 The Countess smiled, and after a moments' 
 thoughtful silence, continued, 
 
 u You see, Percy, the reason why you 
 could never trace the young girl you rescued 
 was that Captain Lyons put her and her 
 father on board an English brig bound to 
 Constantinople. When they were landed, 
 thence they returned, after a long, tedious 
 journey by sea and land, to Genoa, to the
 
 70 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 intense surprise of Beppo and all the Count's 
 friends, who thought them lost, and that the 
 vessel they had embarked in had foundered 
 at sea. 
 
 "Time rolled on, and just as Camilla 
 entered her sixteenth year and her father was 
 preparing and opening a communication with 
 Rome, to procure a dispensation from his 
 Holiness, he was thrown from his horse, 
 crossing a ford near Albingo, and killed 
 on the spot. What Camilla suffered I need 
 not repeat to you. She fell completely under 
 the control of Beppo, but fortunately at 
 this time I returned from England, and the 
 moment I heard of her bereaved state, I 
 hastened to protect and console her. Then 
 for the first time I came into personal con- 
 tact with Beppo Barraceo, and I soon cauie 
 to understand what a desperate Jesuit I 
 had to contend with, if I persisted in seek- 
 ing to save one of the most charming 
 creatures in existence from a terrible doom. 
 My villa at Sester is in the immediate
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 71 
 
 vicinity of Count Barracco's mansion, and 
 our gardens join. When I heard of Camilla's 
 bereavement and her solitary and secluded 
 life, I made it my pleasure to become her 
 consoler ; I soon became fascinated with her 
 beauty, her sweet caressing disposition, and 
 singularly well informed mind. No visitors 
 excepting myself were received at the 
 Barracco mansion. Beppo, though cold and 
 repellant in his manner to every one, did 
 not ill-treat his ward. He allowed her every- 
 thing her father did, but he distinctly told 
 her that when she became of age, that is 
 eighteen, she was to begin her noviciate in 
 the Convent of St. Ursula, in Milan. Camilla 
 at first remonstrated, and hinted that her 
 religious opinions did not coincide with the 
 wishes of her uncle. 
 
 " 'What! degenerate girl,' he exclaimed, 
 passionately, for his temper is violent to a 
 degree, 'Would you condemn your mother's 
 soul to everlasting punishment ?' 
 
 " This and many other forcible arguments
 
 72 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 were used by Beppo Barracco — a Jesuit in all 
 his acts. I trembled for the poor girl's mind, 
 but she astonished me by the firmness and 
 decision of her character. 
 
 u 'If,' said she, c I could for a moment be- 
 lieve that my lamented mother's future state 
 could be ameliorated by any sacrifice on my 
 part, I should not hesitate. But it strikes me 
 that the Divine Will is as likely to be influ- 
 enced by the prayers of a daughter suppli- 
 cating for mercy as a simple Christian, as he 
 Deity would be by her prayers as a professed 
 nun.' 
 
 " Some months ago, I obtained leave from 
 the Signor Barracco for the young Countess 
 (for by a royal grant to the first Count Bar- 
 racco, the title goes to the surviving child, 
 male or female ; should she die, Beppo 
 Barracco would succeed to the title and 
 estates), but as I was saying, I obtained leave 
 for the young Countess, for change of air, to 
 accompany me to my country mansion at 
 Ognelia, for a few weeks. Ognelia is one of
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 73 
 
 the most romantic valleys on the Riveri de 
 Ponnente, and for salubrity of climate, far 
 superior to Nice. I should not have obtained 
 that permission had not Beppo fancied that 
 Camilla looked delicate, and required change 
 of scene. I also solemnly promised whilst 
 she remained with me I would have no 
 guests. 
 
 "Accordingly we left Sester for my resi- 
 dence at Ognelia. My mansion is situated on 
 the side of a hill, richly wooded, and its base 
 washed by the ever blue waves of the Medi- 
 terranean. There I truly learned to lo\>e my 
 beautiful and charming relative, and I vowed 
 in my own mind to exert every influence 
 that rank and wealth gave me to save her 
 from a doom she abhorred." 
 
 " Hark !" said the Countess, pausing in her 
 narrative ; "here are visitors, and I must leave 
 my narrative unfinished. But tell me, Percy — 
 are you interested ?" 
 
 " Deeply so, Laura, and believe me, I also 
 will act any part you assign me to save your 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 charming relative from the clutches of Mother 
 Church, and yet I confess I cannot imagine 
 how." 
 
 " Hush ! here are the Marchioness Durazzo 
 and her two handsome, but proud and self- 
 sufficient daughters. Prav do not leave me 
 to their mercy."
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 75 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Percy Devereux, when he left the Palazzo 
 Castiglioni to return to his hotel, felt com- 
 pletely puzzled as to his future proceedings. 
 That he might unravel his somewhat confused 
 ideas, he ascended a flight of steps, and found 
 himself on the broad walk that runs along the 
 sea wall surrounding the noble harbour of 
 Genoa. At that time of the day few, if any 
 Genoese frequented this favourite spot, so 
 that he walked on, plunged in thought. 
 
 " I cannot imagine,'' he said to himself, 
 " why the young Countess of Barracco should 
 be at all subject to the despotic will of her 
 uncle." 
 
 e 2
 
 76 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 Tn the nineteenth century it appeared to 
 him impossible that any young person 
 professing a different creed from the Romish 
 Church could be forced into a convent, and 
 made to take the veil. 
 
 " That would be all very well," he mut- 
 ered, half aloud, " if we lived in the middle 
 ages. The Countess Castiglioni must be 
 afraid of this redoubtable Beppo Barracco. 
 Now, if I can only persuade this charm- 
 ins: maiden to evince some return for 
 my love— for love her I shall, there is no 
 doubt about that, all I will ask is to let me 
 deal with her worthy uncle/' 
 
 At that moment one of those sudden and 
 violent squalls so common at that period of 
 the year, descending from the lofty hill that 
 hacks the cit} T , fell upon the rampart with ex- 
 traordinary violence, whirled off our hero's 
 hat, which flew over the wall, and was car- 
 ried a considerable distance over the waters 
 of the port ; at the same moment piercing 
 shrieks and a cry for help struck his ear ;
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 77 
 
 looking over the wall, he perceived a small, 
 lateen-rigged boat, with several persons in 
 it, had turned over to the squall. 
 
 The boat was making for the landing-place, 
 a few yards from where Percy Devereux 
 stood. Seeing two females struggling in the 
 water, he instantly kicked off his shoes, threw 
 of his coat and waistcoat, and rushing down 
 the steps, plunged into the water, and struck 
 out for the capsized boat ; he perceived three 
 or four men had scrambled up on the boat to 
 them, but he also saw that one of the two fe- 
 males was still above water, and that the men 
 on the boat were struggling courageously to 
 drag up from the water the second female, 
 Percy Devereux made at once for the drown- 
 ing fomale, for the force of the squall was 
 driving the upset boat from her. She was 
 just disappearing when he grasped her long 
 hair, the only thing then visible. Being a 
 bold and powerful swimmer, he was enabled 
 to hold the young girl's head above water. As 
 he did so, a faint cheer came from the boat,
 
 78 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 that was drifting seaward, but several boats 
 from different vessels who had witnessed the 
 accident, were pulling vigorously for the boat 
 and those that clung to it. In the meantime 
 our hero gained the steps from which he had 
 started, and lifted his insensible burden from 
 the water. She was scarcely sensible, but 
 nevertheless she showed signs of life. She 
 was, he saw, belonging to the class of artizans, 
 neatly attired, very young, and as well as he 
 could judge, extremely beautiful. He was 
 left only a few minutes alone with the rescued 
 maiden, who had just recovered a little by his 
 exertions, and had opened her eyes, when two 
 boats pulled up to the steps, and a young 
 man, his garments dripping wet, sprung out 
 of the boat, exclaiming — 
 
 " Ah ! the Blessed Virgin be praised ; you 
 are saved, Marcella," and he sunk on his 
 knees beside the girl. 
 
 " Per Bacco ! yes/' said the sailors in the 
 boats ? " thanks to this noble Signor's gal- 
 lantry and daring."
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 79 
 
 The young man caught our hero's hand, 
 laying, with much emotion — 
 
 " I owe the Signor a life. Mine is at his 
 service." 
 
 " The best thing you can do," said Percy 
 Devereux, " is to get this young girl home at 
 once. Was there any one lost from the cap- 
 sized boat?'' 
 
 " No, Signor, no," returned the sailors ; 
 " they are all safe enough." 
 
 Percy Devereux was a considerable distance 
 from his hotel, and he was not in a very 
 agreeable state to walk through the city, 
 therefore, stepping into a waterman's boat 
 that had just come up, after picking up his 
 coat and shoes, he told the men to put him on 
 board the "Wild Gazelle" lying off the Arsenal. 
 
 After receiving the most profound thanks 
 from the young girl's friends who had arrived 
 in another boat, our hero proceeded to his 
 yacht. The watermen, when they knew that 
 their fare was the owner of the splendid yacht,
 
 80 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 the il "Wild Gazelle," showed him the most 
 profound respect. 
 
 " Do you know who the people were, cap- 
 sized in that boat ?" questioned Percy. 
 
 " Si, Signor," replied one of the men. " The 
 Kagazzo is the grand-daughter of the major- 
 domo of the Signor Beppo Barracco. She is 
 accounted midto hello, and the young man, 
 her lover, is called Antonio the Lucky. He 
 is a waterman." 
 
 " Faith, he was scarcely worthy of his 
 sobriquet to-day, seing he nearly got 
 drowned, besides nearly drowning his sweet- 
 heart." 
 
 " Ah ! Signor," returned one of the men, 
 " that's it. He has been capsized in that 
 boat a dozen times ; can't swim any more 
 than a stone, and yet every time he has been 
 saved by some lucky chance. The last time 
 he upset, he was alone, and was a mile off 
 the harbour. He, however, got on the boat's 
 bottom, and drifted for eight hours, out to
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 81 
 
 sea, and was, just in the nick of time, picked 
 up by a felucca from Bastia, wlio brought 
 him and his unlucky boat back to Genoa." 
 
 " Well, I feel very gratified," said our 
 hero, " that, under Providence, I saved that 
 young and pretty girl's life." 
 
 " Madonna ! she is a good and pretty 
 maiden," said the waterman, " for I have 
 known her from a child. We are neighbours; 
 but she is going to leave the city, and become 
 an attendant upon the Signor Barracco's niece, 
 who resides at Sester." 
 
 " This is strange," thought our hero, as the 
 boat pulled up alongside the graceful " Ga- 
 zelle," and giving a liberal donation to the 
 boatman, sprang aboard, to the infinite amaze- 
 ment of the yacht's crew. 
 
 Having explained matters in a few words, 
 he descended into the cabin, changed his 
 garments, and was then rowed ashore, and at 
 once proceeded to his hotel. 
 
 That night was passed in a confusion of 
 thought. He said to himself, " I am going to 
 
 E 5
 
 82 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 embark in an adventure that is intended to 
 end in matrimony. It is quite true I have 
 always felt a strange interest in the young 
 girl T rescued at Yenikale, and often wished 
 to know who she was, and to see her again, 
 and now, in a strange manner, I have un- 
 expectedly discovered her, but am, singularly 
 enough, asked to rescue her from her uncle's 
 machinations, and then to marry her." 
 
 " "Well," he went on soliloquising, u I sup- 
 pose it's man's destiny to marry sometime or 
 other. So I'm resigned," and he fell asleep. 
 
 After breakfast the following day, he pro- 
 ceeded to the Castiglioni Palace, being some- 
 what impatient to hear the end of the Coun- 
 tess' communication, and to learn by what 
 means the Countess proposed to bring about 
 the renewal of his acquaintanceship with the 
 young Countess of Barracco. 
 
 " You ought, my dear cousin," said the 
 Countess to our hero, after a short ramble 
 with the children through the orange groves, 
 "to have lived in the middle ages, and
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 83 
 
 roamed the world as the rescuer of distressed 
 damsels." 
 
 rt I am happy to say, Laura, that I did not 
 live in those iron days, or I should not have 
 been here now. By your saying what you 
 did, I suppose you heard of the ducking I had 
 yesterday.'' 
 
 14 In truth I did, Percy. In fact I saw the 
 accident from the balcony. I was looking 
 out over the harbour, and my attention was 
 caught by the white sails of a pretty boat 
 crossing the harbour. Whilst I looked, to my 
 surprise and terror, I beheld the boat cap- 
 size, and then I saw the squall tearing up the 
 water, and driving the spray high, into the 
 air till it passed over the east mole. I feared 
 some one would be drowned, and, feeling 
 anxious, I sent one of my domestics down to 
 the quay, and told him to wait until he gained 
 some intelligence. 
 
 44 He came back, two hours afterwards, with 
 the intelligence that the boat that upset 
 belonged to Antonio the Lucky, who was out
 
 S-i TIIE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 with Lis sweetheart, Marcella Gavone and 
 some others, and that the pretty Marcella, 
 
 who is very well known to me, would have 
 been drowned, only Captain Pevereux, of the 
 yacht the 'Wild Gazelle,' swam out and 
 brought her ashore by the Poria water steps. 
 You see, Percy, you are always in the way 
 when a pretty girl is in want of assistance. 
 Now this little adventure will introduce your 
 name to the young Countess Barracco, for 
 Marcella is her favourite attendant. She 
 was home on a visit, with her grandfather 
 and Antonio Gavone, who, notwithstanding 
 his propensity of capsizing in that unlucky 
 boat of his, and which he persists in calling 
 one of the fastest a. id safest boats in the har- 
 bour, is a very well looking and smart boat- 
 man, and very well to do, for he is the private 
 waterman and boat keeper of the Durazzo 
 family." 
 
 " But does Camilla know the name of her 
 rescuer at Yenikale ?" 
 
 " No," leturned the Countess, "she does
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 85 
 
 not ; but sit down, and I will resume my 
 narrative, which is just spun out, as you 
 sailors would say, and then we'll talk over 
 the matter, and see in what way I can pos- 
 sibly introduce you to my protegee" 
 
 " I do not see any difficulty in that, Laura,' ' 
 said our hero. 
 
 " But I do," responded the Countess, " con- 
 siderable difficulty. I leave Genoa to-mor- 
 row for my mansion at Sester De Ponenti 
 and Beppo Barracco sets out for Borne to- 
 morrow, no doubt to hasten his project of 
 immuring his niece, and Camilla is permitted 
 to spend the three weeks he will be absent 
 with me at my residence at Sester." 
 
 " Well," hastily interrupted the impatient 
 sailor, " by Jove ! can anything be more pro- 
 pitious ?" 
 
 rt Oh I" interrupted the Countess, laughing, 
 "you think yourself a second Cassar — veni, 
 vidi, vici. So in three weeks you have the 
 vanity to think you will be able to persuade 
 this fair young Countess to fall in love with
 
 86 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 yon, and to rush into your arms, instead of 
 those of Mother Church." 
 
 " Indeed, you wrong me, Laura," inter- 
 posed Percy Devereux, colouring, " I am as 
 free from vanity as any man living, and- — " 
 
 " There, you need not attempt to vindicate 
 yourself. I think I may say I know you are; 
 but now, let us be serious, for the happiness 
 of a young life depends upon the events of the 
 next four weeks. You forget, though this is 
 the nineteenth century, that you are in a 
 Catholic country, and that the power of the 
 priesthood is still terrible. Camilla herself, 
 though determined to resist the projects of 
 her uncle, will do nothing rash, and still 
 thinks she can counteract his intentions by 
 calm and resolute argument. But the dear 
 girl little knows Beppo Barracco. She 
 will be carried off without a moment's warn- 
 ing, placed within the walls of a convent, 
 from which I fear no power that we possess, 
 could ever release her. 
 
 " I have given my solemn word of honour
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 87 
 
 to Beppo Barracce that during his absence, I 
 will not permit the visits of any guests — I 
 said guests — male or female. So you see it 
 will require some little ingenuity to defeat 
 Beppo's plans, and get you and Camilla ac- 
 quainted. If I were to impart to her my in- 
 tention of seeing her by introducing you as a 
 lover, she would instinctively shrink from such 
 a proceeding and forbid it. When Camilla 
 related to me her adventures after leaving 
 Genoa, her capture by the Russian frigate, 
 and her imprisonment with her father at 
 Yenikale, she also told of her release by a 
 gallant English officer, whom she never saw 
 afterwards. I asked her yesterday, when T 
 visited her^at her residence at Sester, if e she 
 thought she would recognise the young officer 
 that rescued her.' 
 
 " 4 Yes/ she replied, ' I certainly think I 
 should, for his face was one not easily for- 
 gotten.' 
 
 " Do not blush, Percy," laughed the Coun-
 
 88 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 tess ; " you are too old and hackneyed in the 
 world." 
 
 " I thank you, Laura, go on." 
 
 " Humph !" muttered the Countess. " So I 
 said to Camilla, l Oh ! thei), you had time to 
 note his features ?' 
 
 " ' Yes. He carried me some distance in 
 his arms and placed me on a sofa in some 
 house, and he and an old woman busied 
 themselves in recovering me. I soon became 
 quite conscious, and spoke to him, and begged 
 him to try and release my dear father. So, 
 kindly soothing me, and telling me he would 
 be sure to find him, he ran out, hearing some 
 firing and shouting outside the house. I got 
 to the window, and beheld him, in a scene of 
 terrible confusion dash in amidst a lot of 
 Russians ; and he and his men, after a fierce 
 fight, drove them all before them. But why 
 do you ask me that question now, Laura ?' 
 
 " ' Because, cava, there is a naval officer 
 here whom I have met at several parties, who
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 89 
 
 was at the taking of Yenikale, and who 
 served under Captain Lyons, and I believe 
 commanded the gun-boat the " Spitfire." ' 
 
 " Camilla's colour brightened as she, with 
 much vivacity, said, ' That'is the name ; I re- 
 member the officer shouting as he left me in 
 the house, ' Spitfires fall in — gather together 
 and charge them.' I suppose the Spitfires 
 were the sailors of his ship. 
 
 " ' I suppose they were,' I returned. So 
 you see, Commander Percy Devereux, I have 
 been paving the way for your appearance, 
 and I have also hit upon a plan to bring you 
 together without alarming the young Coun- 
 tess' delicacy." 
 
 " But, Laura," said Percy Devereux, se- 
 riously, " it appears to me that I shall run a 
 very great risk of falling in love with this 
 beautiful protegee of yours, with but a faint 
 hope of succeeding in inspiring her, in so 
 short a time, with the same feeling.'' 
 
 " Ah ! never venture, never win; you 
 have a strong claim on her gratitude, to begin
 
 90 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 with , you saved her and her father from a 
 perilous position, and from, perhaps, a long 
 imprisonment. Besides, you are a cousin of 
 mine, and that's something, for Camilla loves 
 me dearly." 
 
 " Who would not?" said Percy, seriously. 
 
 "Now, my plan is this," continued the 
 Countess; "when I am settled at Sester, 
 with Camilla as my visitor, you must contrive 
 to meet with an accident at my door." 
 
 Percy Devereux laughed. 
 
 " You mean, Laura, pretend to meet with 
 a sprain, or something of the sort." 
 
 " Well, I do not exactly know the species 
 of accident ; it would be awkward, certainly, 
 to break a leg and then make love upon 
 crutches. But, seriously, you can do this — 
 get a horse and ride along the road before my 
 pavilion in Sester. I know you are a skilful, 
 bold rider. When opposite the pavilion, make 
 a show, as if your horse started, and come to 
 the ground, and lie as if stunned ; I will have 
 you conveyed into the house."
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 91 
 
 " All ! Laura," said Percy, laughing, " you 
 are cheating the — excuse me." 
 
 " No, no," returned Laura, with a smile, 
 " I am only outwitting a Jesuit, and in a good 
 cause.' 
 
 " But I shall never look like an invalid. It 
 would be rather curious if I broke some of 
 my ribs for the express purpose of getting a 
 rib; eh?" 
 
 " Percy, you are incorrigible, and I fear you 
 never will be in love." 
 
 " Oh ! by Jove, won't I ! You shall see," 
 returned the sailor. 
 
 " Well, then, mind my instructions,'' said 
 the Countess. " This is Tuesday ; on Friday 
 morning — " 
 
 " Excuse me," interrupted Percy Devereux, 
 " Friday is, by all sailors, considered an un- 
 lucky day to sail on." 
 
 " Nonsense ! Percy ; you are not going to 
 sail, but to ride. So mind, on Friday, at 
 twelve o'clock, you must be riding along the
 
 92 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 road to Sester. You know my residence — 
 the road passes under the terrace of my pa- 
 vilion or summer-house in the grounds. We 
 shall be there. You manage, as I said, to get 
 a fall, or slip skilfully off your horse ; leave 
 the rest to me." 
 
 " I must put some chalk in my pocket," 
 said Percy, " and rub it over my face, for, 
 unfortunately, I cannot get up a pale face." 
 
 " I am afraid I shall have a deal of trouble 
 with you," laughed the Countess, pouting; but 
 Percy Devereux became serious, and per- 
 suaded his fair cousin that he would manage 
 matters famously. 
 
 So they parted on amicable terms, and our 
 hero left the Castiglioni Palace to return to 
 his hotel, muttering to himself, 
 
 " I must get up sufficient resignation to lie 
 on a sofa for three or four days, with my leg 
 propped up, and sop, gruel, perhaps the wing 
 of a chicken, or an ortolan for dinner — no 
 physic, I hope. Faith ! it's a pleasant idea,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 93 
 
 though, to be nursed by a charming widow 
 and a beautiful young Countess ; they shall 
 see how gracefully I can fall." 
 
 As our hero did not wish that his worthy 
 valet should know anything about his move- 
 ments for the next fortnight, on reaching his 
 hotel he summoned Philips to his presence. 
 
 " I am going to explore the west coast, 
 Phillips, and shall probably be absent a 
 fortnight or so. I shall go alone, so just go 
 to a horse dealer's and purchase me a good 
 roadster, and a small leather valise, to carry 
 a change of shirts, stockings, and a few 
 articles of the toilet. Get a second-hand 
 saddle and bridle— I dislike new ones — and 
 then bring him here and put him up in the 
 stables." 
 
 Phillips was a discreet young man, who 
 always obeyed the very best of masters, 
 never asked questions, or made observations. 
 He at once proceeded to a well-known horse 
 dealer. Horses were scarce in Genoa. Dealers 
 brought them from Turin and Milan. This
 
 94 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 was before the Italian campaign. After tliat 
 they were scarcely to be had at any price. 
 
 " What kind of a horse do you require ?" 
 said the dealer, eyeing Tom Phillips from 
 head to foot, calculating how much he might 
 venture to clap on his horses to his English 
 customer. But Tom looked knowing. " Your 
 master's an Englishman. Ah ! per Baccho I 
 He can ride well, I dare say." 
 
 " You are not far out," replied Tom 
 Phillips, who spoke Italian tolerably well. 
 "He can ride. I never saw the horse he 
 could not ride. It was my master who mas- 
 tered the Marquis Durazzo's Arabian." 
 
 " Cospetto ■'" returned the dealer; " then I 
 will sell him a horse not to be matched in 
 Genoa, and, for the matter of that, in either 
 Turin or Milan." 
 
 Tom went back to the hotel, and in half 
 an hour the dealer arrived with the horse, 
 and Percy went into the court-yard to see 
 him. 
 
 " Come," he said, " that's a remarkably
 
 THE WILD GAZKLLE. 95 
 
 handsome and powerful horse ;" he spoke to 
 his valet in English. " If he is sound, wind 
 and limb, he's worth a hundred guineas if 
 he's worth a shilling." 
 
 After carefully examining the horse, he 
 looked at the dealer, and said, 
 
 u I do not see anything the matter with 
 him ; five years old, eh?" 
 
 " Yes, sir ; he's as sound as a bell ; first 
 rate paces, and can take a fence like a deer. 
 
 I won't deceive you, sir," continued the dealer, 
 
 II for you look like a signor as could cross a 
 good horse. This one is well known in 
 Genoa, for no one can ride him." 
 
 11 You are an honest dealer in horse flesh," 
 replied our hero, laughing. 
 
 " He's worth a hundred Napoleons, sir ; 
 but I'll sell him for forty ; and if you can ride 
 him, he's the cheapest horse in Europe." 
 
 " Oh ! I can ride him. I see by his eye 
 that he has plenty of spirit. Perhaps he 
 shies." 
 
 " You have hit it, sir, he does shy — no mis-
 
 96 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 take. He has not a blemish but that; but he 
 throws every man. I never saw a man as 
 could ride him three miles.'' 
 
 " He will just suit me," said Devereux. " I 
 will take him at your own price. Put a 
 saddle and bridle on him, Phillips. I will 
 try him." 
 
 The dealer rubbed his head and looked at 
 our hero, and with a demure expression, said, 
 
 " Well, sir, I hope you may like him. If I 
 have to take him back, for no one else in 
 Genoa will buy him, I can give but twenty- 
 five Napoleons for him. 
 
 Devereux laughed heartily. 
 
 " Well, that's all fair to state that before- 
 hand. You will not, however, have to take 
 him back, though your charge of fifteen Na- 
 poleons for an hour's ride and a chance of a 
 fall is troppo, caro. v 
 
 Percy paid the dealer, changed his gar- 
 ments, and then mounted his new purchase. 
 He rode through the city, out through the 
 west gate, and along that most beautiful road,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 97 
 
 with the beautiful blue sea on the left, and a 
 range of palaces on the right, each fit for the 
 residence of a prince ; and yet this was only 
 the suburb of San Pietro D' Arena. 
 
 On his way he passed a military detach- 
 ment, with its band, drums beating, colours 
 flying ; but the horse evinced but little emo- 
 tion or signs of fear ; neither did the railway 
 train startle him ; his paces and action were 
 admirable. 
 
 " He's a splendid horse, and worth sending 
 to England," thought our hero, as, satis- 
 fied with the trial, he retraced his way to 
 Genoa, his mind fully occupied with the 
 strange adventure he was about to embark 
 in. 
 
 In passing across the square of Aqua 
 Verde, he stopped to speak to a French 
 cavalry officer, with whom he had made 
 acquaintance. Like most Frenchmen who 
 can speak a little English, he preferred show- 
 ing his proficiency in English to addressing 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 98 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 Percy Devereux in French, which he spoke 
 fluently. 
 
 "Di'ablef" said Captain Le Garde, "eh, 
 mon Bleu! You ride dat debble of a horse ?" 
 
 41 Yes," returned Percy. 44 I bought him, 
 and like him very much." 
 
 44 Ah! sacre! so I did buy him four months 
 ago ; he pitch me four times, and, sacre 1 1 no 
 ride bad ; but that sacre diable, he beat me ; 
 and I sell him again to the sacre bleu of a 
 dealer fifteen Napoleons less. So trojp clier, 
 ma foil" 
 
 Our hero laughed, saying, 
 
 "When 1 bought him, Captain, I knew 
 that he was likely to shy and be troublesome ; 
 but be has shown me no vice of any kind 
 to-day.'' 
 
 u Ah ! par bleu ! Mon amie, dat is his 
 vay *, he real debbil ; he wants you to tink 
 him a mutton, I mean a lamb, and den when 
 no tink nothing, he give one terribly jump 
 off de ground and turn round, so queek, dat
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 99 
 
 no possible sit on Mm ; so you look out, mon 
 ami, lie sure to play his debble trick!" 
 
 Assuring the cavalry officer that lie would 
 take care, Devereux said good bye and they 
 parted. 
 
 p 2
 
 100 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 On the appointed Friday morning, Percy 
 Devereux mounted his horse, with a neat 
 valise strapped behind his saddle, and took 
 the road to Sester. It was a very beautiful 
 day, with a strong westerly breeze ruffling 
 the sea, and curling the short waves with 
 snowy crests. Passing along the suburb of 
 San Pietro and crossing the torrent of the 
 lolchiveya, over a noble bridge, our hero 
 rode on, immersed in thought. He remarked 
 that several times the horse evinced signs of 
 considerable uneasiness, throwing back his 
 ears, and breathing with a kind of snort. 
 "Ah!" thought the rider, "you have, as
 
 THE WTLD GAZELLE. 101 
 
 my friend Le Garde said, something of ' de 
 debbel ' in you, but you had better take it 
 easy." 
 
 The road to Sester de Ponenti traverses 
 the whole way along the sea coast and through 
 the picturesque village of Pagia. Beyond 
 Sester, is Voltri, a large town. Though 
 Sester, from its position on the side of a 
 charming hill, is protected from all the blasts 
 from the north, Voltri, scarcely three 
 miles distant, is subject to the most violent 
 gales from the north, tossing the waters of 
 that stormy gulf into foam, whilst Sester, at 
 the same moment,enjoys an atmosphere equal 
 to the climate of Madeira. 
 
 " Now, suppose," reflected Percy Devereux, 
 communing with his own thoughts. " Suppose 
 I do become desperately enamoured of this 
 young and lovely Countess ? Should unfor- 
 seen circumstances separate us for life, am I 
 not sowing the seeds of an unhappy passion ? 
 Again, supposing a mutual affection takes 
 place, how are we to proceed. I must carry
 
 102 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 off my lady love, that's all I can do." He 
 was approaching the appointed spot. He 
 looked at his watch and found he should be 
 there to the exact time. As he entered upon 
 the road leading to the pavilion, where he 
 expected to see the Countess and her protegee, 
 he felt considerable excitement, and a little 
 agitation. He freed his feet from the stirrups, 
 intending to make his horse rear, and then he 
 would slip rapidly to the ground; there was 
 a very strong breeze from the sea, blowing 
 right in his face ; he could see two females in 
 white robes on the terrace of the pavilion, 
 and just as lie arrived nearly under it, and 
 was looking up, a blue scarf held by the 
 Countess was seized by a violent gust of 
 wind ; the next moment it was blown right 
 across the horse's eyes, causing the animal to 
 rear, and giving a tremendous spring upwards 
 and twisting round, fall upon his side, throw- 
 ing Percy Devereux, who had loosened his 
 feet from the stirrups and his hand from the 
 bridle, with great violence to the ground.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 103 
 
 There was now no need of feigning illness, for 
 his head came with considerable violence 
 against a projecting rock in the bank, render- 
 ing him perfectly senseless and to all appear- 
 ance dead. 
 
 How long he remained insensible, he 
 could not say, but when he did recover and 
 open his eyes, and became conscious of what 
 was going on, he gazed round him with con- 
 siderable curiosity, notwithstanding the severe 
 pain he felt. He perceived that he was 
 reclining on a sofa in a noble and elegant 
 saloon. The Countess Castiglioni was bath- 
 thing his temples with some pungent essence, 
 and by her side stood a young lady, pale as a 
 lily, and greatly agitated, holding a bowl. 
 At that moment, he thought he had never 
 beheld so lovely a countenance. Two or three 
 female attendants were moving about the 
 room, seemingly, trying, to be of use, 
 but doing nothing, except bringing all kinds 
 of articles totally useless for the occasion. 
 
 " God be praised!" exclaimed the Countess,
 
 104 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 with a sigh of relief, when she perceived 
 Percy open his eyes, and a slight flash come 
 to his cheek. " He was only stunned." 
 
 Hearing the Countess's words, our hero 
 made an effort to rouse himself, at the same 
 time letting his eyes rest upon the young 
 maiden, but the effort gave him intense pain, 
 and before he could utter a sentence, the 
 doctor the Countess had sent for, and who 
 resided in the town, entered the room. 
 
 The young lady immediately retired, whilst 
 the Countess whispered, stooping over the 
 sofa, " I got a horrible fright, Percy. I can 
 never forgive myself; but I trust in God no 
 bones are broken ?" 
 
 " Do not be uneasy, Laura ; I have no 
 bones broken, but I am likely to have a heart 
 ache." 
 
 " Hush !" returned the Countess, and the 
 doctor approached. 
 
 " By Jove !" muttered our hero, as the 
 Countess retired, " I shall not want to play 
 the part of the 'Malade Imaginaire.' I've
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 105 
 
 broken my collar bone to a certainty," and 
 this the worthy doctor declared to be the case, 
 besides having received sundry bruises, and 
 a sprained ancle. 
 
 "Pretty well, I think, doctor?" said Percy 
 Devereux. 
 
 " Might have been much worse, for if you 
 had had the knock you had on the back of 
 head, on the temple, you would not have 
 needed my services." 
 
 The doctor, with the aid of one of the male 
 domestics, set the collar bone, bandaged the 
 ancle, and then Devereux was assisted, or 
 rather carried, to the bed-room prepared for 
 him, to which was attached a charming little 
 saloon. 
 
 " With such a constitution and frame as 
 yours," said the doctor, " you will be as well 
 as ever in three weeks." 
 
 " I am not going to stop three clays in bed 
 doctor, let alone three weeks ; why, God bless 
 you, my worthy friend, on board ship, — I'm 
 a sailor, — we are accustomed to be knocked 
 
 f 5
 
 106 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 about, and take such mishaps as mutters of 
 
 course." 
 
 The doctor smiled, looked at the powerful 
 leg he had just bandaged with considerable 
 admiration, and then said, as he retired. u I 
 can very well imagine, Signor, that it will 
 not be easy to keep you in bed, but really 
 you must not use your leg without the support 
 of a crutch." 
 
 Devereux laughed. 
 
 u Bv Jove !" he said to himself, u a new 
 way to begin love making, on crutches. That 
 confounded horse played me a nice trick. I 
 wonder what has become of him." A 
 domestic was fidgeting about the room, un- 
 settling and then settling everything that came 
 in his way. Percy said, addressing the man, 
 
 "Pray, what has become of my horse?" 
 
 " He's in the stable, sir, not at all hurt ; 
 broke the pommel of the saddle *, rather a 
 vicious beast, sir, though a handsome animal. 
 I saw the start he gave, sir; I was in the 
 garden."
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 107 
 
 " I was not attending to him," said our 
 hero, " and had my feet out of the stirrups." 
 
 That evening the Countess and Camilla 
 Ban acco were seated in their favourite saloon ; 
 the children had, with the greatest difficulty, 
 been restrained from bursting into Percy 
 Devereux's chamber. The little girl ceased 
 talking when she saw her favourite lying 
 senseless on the sofa, whilst the boy said 
 " mamma should have the wicked horse 
 shot." They had retired to rest, and the two 
 countesses sat employed in some fancy needle- 
 work. Whether their thoughts employed 
 them, or there was a certain awkwardness in 
 the Countess Castiglioni's situation respect- 
 ing the introduction of Percy Devereux as an 
 inmate into her family, but for several 
 moments after the children had retired, 
 neither uttered a word. At last the Countess 
 looked up, and into the thoughtful features of 
 her companion, and said, 
 
 " I am afraid, Camilla, that this sad acci- 
 dent to my cousin Devereux has startled
 
 108 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 yon ; at all events it lias robbed your cheek 
 of its roses." 
 
 " I confess T was terribly frightened, Lanra 7 
 for I thought the gentleman was hilled. If 
 I had known it was this cousin you have been 
 so attached to from childhood, T should have 
 felt much more ; but, thank God, there is not 
 much danger to be apprehended." 
 
 u My scarf did the mischief," said the 
 Countess ; " and I now understand the horse 
 he rode is notorious in Genoa for its capabi- 
 lities of throwing its riders, though I know 
 Percy Devereux to be a most skilful horse- 
 man. He was looking up at the pavilion, 
 and was riding carelessly 7 and the horse fell; 
 but, depend upon it, he will not let himself 
 t be confined to bed. He wiU be up to-mor- 
 row." 
 
 " I shall go home to sleep, Laura, till he 
 goes," said Camilla, " and return in the morn- 
 ing to breakfast." 
 
 " Well, you can do so, dear, if you wish. 
 It's only a walk across the garden and
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 109 
 
 through, the orange grove. I have put my 
 cousin in your room, and thus your favourite 
 saloon will be occupied. He will not be able 
 to return to Genoa for some days. I hope 
 you will have no objection to my introducing 
 my cousin to you, especially when I mention 
 that he is the naval officer I spoke about the 
 other day, as having been at the taking of 
 Yenikale." 
 
 Camilla dropped her work, whilst a bright 
 colour rushed to her cheek and temple, as she 
 exclaimed, 
 
 " Then it was no freak of my fancy, Laura. 
 I was afraid you would laugh at me if I men- 
 tioned it; but when I obtained a clear view 
 of your cousin's face and features, I started 
 and felt a tremour come over me. I thought 
 I beheld the English officer who rescued me 
 from the Russians at Yenikale. But can it 
 be possible that my gallant preserver and 
 your cousin are one and the same person ?" 
 
 " Such is the fact, cava" said the Countess. 
 " Strange things come to pass in this world
 
 110 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 of ours, and this is one of them. But that he 
 should have been nearly killed at rny door, 
 and in my presence, is quite as extraordinary, 
 is it not ?" and the Countess looked the young 
 girl inquisitively in the face. 
 
 Camilla Barracco had no suspicion that the 
 Countess was in any way implicated in the 
 catastrophe. 
 
 " It was certainly singular," she replied ; 
 " but I think the cause of the accident was 
 owing to your scarf, snatched from your hands 
 by the sudden gust of wind, and blown into 
 the horse's face. The horse, you say, is well- 
 known for its viciousness ?" 
 
 " No doubt," returned the Countess, quite 
 pleased ; " why, that horse is notorious for its 
 escapades. But Percy Devereux is a bold 
 and skilful horseman. He says he had his 
 feet out of the stirups, and the reins were on 
 the horse's neck. The start was so sudden, 
 he could recover neither, and the horse fell." 
 
 " How strange that he should fancy to ride 
 a beast so notorious," observed Camilla.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. Ill 
 
 " My dear," returned the Countess, " men 
 always aelight in overcoming difficulties. 
 Percy, I dare say, heard of this horse's wicked 
 tricks, and, proud of his horsemanship, bought 
 the animal.'' 
 
 Late in the evening Camilla was escorted 
 home to the Barracco Palace by the Countess's 
 own attendant. 
 
 As Camilla, in a very thoughtful mood, 
 entered her own chamber, she was met by a 
 very pretty, interesting young girl. 
 
 " Ah! Marcella, when did you comeback? 
 I expected you yesterday." 
 
 " Indeed, my lady," replied the girl, with 
 an increase of colour, " I was very nearly 
 never coming back. Did not the Countess 
 Castiglioni tell you what happened to me ?" 
 
 "No, indeed," said Camilla, looking into 
 the young girl's face, as she seated herself to 
 unrobe for the night, assisted by Marcella, 
 u though the more I look at you, you appear 
 pale, and not looking as well as when you left."
 
 112 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 11 Indeed, my lady, I was very nearly being 
 drowned yesterday." 
 
 "Drowned!" repeated our heroine, " good 
 gracious ! what brought you into such a 
 situation?" 
 
 " Indeed, I ought not to have been tempted 
 to go out in a boat ; but the day was so fine, 
 I let myself be persuaded to join in a party 
 to sail round the harbour, and see the beauti- 
 ful schooner yacht of the English Milor. The 
 water was quite smooth, and we were all 
 chatting and laughing, when, oh ! Madonna ! 
 a frightful squall of wind fell upon the sails 
 of the boat, and over she went. Oh ! blessed 
 saint ! shall I ever forget it ? I sank, then 
 came up, choking, and a noise like thunder 
 in my ears and brain, and then sank again, 
 and would have been drowned, but I was 
 seized by the hair of the head and dragged 
 up. I was, however, insensible. When I 
 recovered, I found I was held in the arms of 
 a man dripping wet ; and then people came
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 113 
 
 up in boats, and I was lifted, quite bewildered, 
 into a waterman's boat and carried ashore." 
 
 " I trust there was no one drowned," said 
 the Countess, anxiously. 
 
 " No, my lady ; thanks to the Madonna, 
 they were all saved, having clung to the boat 
 when she went over. In the evening a grand 
 handsome signor came to my grandfather's 
 house to inquire how I was, and then I learned 
 I had been saved by the English Milor, who 
 owns the fine yacht." 
 
 " How singular !" exclaimed Camilla, with 
 an increase of colour on her cheek, " the very 
 signor who saved your life is now lying 
 severely hurt by a fall from his horse, just as 
 he was riding past the pavilion in the Coun- 
 tess's garden, which you know overlooks the 
 road running along the sea beach." 
 
 "Oh! blessed Madonna !" exclaimed Mar- 
 cella, clasping her hands. " I am so grieved, 
 my lady. He is the handsomest man I ever 
 saw, and so gentle and kind in his manner. I 
 shall pray for his recovery, my lady, every
 
 114 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 night and morning. Did you see him, my 
 lady?" 
 
 " Yes," returned Camilla, finishing her 
 toilet for the night, " and I will pray for his 
 recovery also; for many years ago, when I 
 was a little girl, he saved my life also ; at all 
 events he rescued my dear lamented father 
 and myself from some very savage Eussians, 
 who were dragging us off into captivity." 
 
 The Genoese maiden, as she finished her 
 duties for the night and left the chamber, said 
 to herself, 
 
 " Then I am sure my beautiful young 
 mistress will fall in love with this handsome 
 English Milor. Oh! Madonna ! what a hand- 
 some couple they would make. But that 
 odious Signor Beppo Barracco, wants to make 
 my mistress a nun. If I was my lady, I 
 would just run off with this handsome Signor 
 at once." 
 
 The Countess Castiglioni passed several 
 hours of the night in a somewhat perplexed 
 train of thought. So far she had succeeded
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 115 
 
 in bringing the two young people acquainted, 
 and Percy Devereux was an inmate of her 
 mansion ; still there were tremendous difficul- 
 ties to be overcome. 
 
 The next day, when she visited the chamber 
 of the invalid, she found the room untenanted, 
 and entering the saloon, to her amazement, 
 beheld Percy reposing on the sofa, and the 
 remains of a very substantial breakfast spread 
 on the table before him. 
 
 " Why, good gracious, Percy I" exclaimed 
 the Countess, gazing earnestly into his face. 
 " The doctor left word that you were to 
 remain perfectly quiet, till he came." 
 
 a Ah ! my dear Laura, your worthy doctor 
 never had a British tar under his care before. 
 Can you for one moment believe that we 
 sailors could, under any circumstances, remain 
 quiet and drink slops for a mere tumble from 
 a horse's back ! I'm not mad, but by Jove ! 
 I'm desperately inclined to be in love ; but 
 Cupid on crutches is not inviting, and this ill- 
 starred leg of mine will force me to use one."
 
 116 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " Well, I trust you are not doing wrong, 
 and that you have no fever." 
 
 " Fever ! By Jove ! look at the remains of 
 my breakfast, feel my hand. I'm as cool and 
 comfortable as you could wish. Yours is a 
 very charming hand," continued Percy 
 Devereux, imprinting a kiss on the fair 
 small hand of his cousin, " and if you can 
 only secure for me the reality of the beautiful 
 vision I saw yesterday by your side, I'm your 
 debtor for life." 
 
 "Ah !" said the Countess, with a pleased 
 smile, " I knew how it would be. But you 
 ought not to have sprained your ancle. First 
 impressions go a great way, and a lover on a 
 pair of crutches — Hem ! I really do not know 
 what to say to it." 
 
 Just then in walked the Signor Venni. He 
 started back when he beheld his patient, and 
 then cast a look at the demolished fowl and 
 tongue. 
 
 " You have a most unruly patient, doctor, 
 I fear," said the Countess, laughing. " Sailors
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 117 
 
 are the most mercurial creatures in the world, 
 and my cousin is, I assure you, . one of the 
 worst of those amphibious animals." 
 
 " You must really pardon me, doctor," 
 interposed Percy Devereux, holding out his 
 hand to the worthy physician, who, feeling his 
 pulse, laughed. 
 
 " There's not much amiss, Signor, but at 
 all events keep quiet till your collar bone 
 sets, and use a crutch till the sprain subsides, 
 and you will do well enough. I shall not re- 
 strict you to diet." 
 
 u Ah!" interrupted our hero, "you would 
 just suit one of my old captains. He always 
 allowed his sick and wounded to have what 
 they liked. My blue jackets are not accus- 
 tomed to pills and bolusses, mutton broth, 
 and chicken-whey, and, in fact, though some 
 few died, others recovered. There was a fair 
 balance j at all events, there was less medicine 
 
 used aboard the old A than any ship in her 
 
 Majesty's service."
 
 118 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 After the Signer Vermi took his leave, the 
 Countess said, 
 
 " But do you not suffer pain, Percy, from 
 your bruises? You gave us a horrible fright. 
 I never shall forget how stupified we both 
 were when we saw you lying as it were dead 
 on the road, for I saw plain enough the fall 
 was no act of your own. But what could 
 induce you to select that abominably vicious 
 horse? He threw my groom into the pond 
 this morning, as he rode him to water ; luckily 
 he only got ducked." 
 
 Percy laughed. 
 
 "He's a remarkable fine horse, Laura, and 
 my fall was all my own fault. I wanted to 
 come to the ground gracefully, but do you 
 know it's the best thing that could have hap- 
 pened. I should have made a most wretched 
 pretended invalid ; but tell me, what does 
 your beautiful friend think ?" 
 
 u Think ?" returned the Countess, with a 
 wicked smile ; " why, that you are a very
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 119 
 
 careless rider, and that a tall man like you 
 will look very awkward on crutches ; and, by 
 the bye, it puts me in mind that I must get 
 one or two made, for I have not got a stock 
 of those articles on hand. Ah ! do you hear 
 the children ; they are frantic to come in and 
 see you." 
 
 " Let them in by all means. I cannot romp 
 with them, but I can talk to them ; what a 
 charming room you have given me possession 
 of — such a splendid view, and what exquisite 
 taste in the pictures and other articles ; this 
 must be your favourite room." 
 
 " No, it is Camilla's when she remains here 
 with me. I must let the children in, but they 
 must not be allowed to jump into your arms 
 as usual." 
 
 The door was then opened, and in rushed 
 the two beautiful children of the Countess, 
 who held them forcibly back. 
 
 Percy, however, insisted on kissing his 
 favourite, and after asking a number of 
 questions, and promising them faithfully to be
 
 120 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 well in a few days, and ramble all over the 
 grounds with them, they consented to retire. 
 After a long conversation with the Countess 
 relative to Camilla and the best way of pro- 
 ceeding, now that the first difficulty was 
 overcome, Percy Devereux was left alone to 
 indulge in the many fancies and projects that 
 filled and occupied his brains.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 121 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Whilst the events related in the preceding 
 chapter were taking place, the "Wild Gazelle" 
 lay tranquilly alongside the jetty in the 
 arsenal of Genoa, unto which the English 
 yacht was warped, by special permission, to 
 be painted, her rigging set up, and various 
 little repairs executed, after her long and 
 stormy voyage in the Black Sea. 
 
 The nominal commander of they acht in Com- 
 mander Devereux's absence, was an old man- 
 of-war's man, formerly a master's mate in the 
 Royal Navy, and who had served in the same 
 ship in which our hero, then a lieutenant, also 
 sailed. He was a fine-looking man, but with 
 
 vol. i. a
 
 122 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 only one arm, having lost the other in action. 
 The first mate was also an old quarter-master 
 in the navy, but still hale and vigorous ; four of 
 the crew were young men who had served in 
 the Crimean war, in the gun brig, "Spitfire ;" 
 the rest were fine active young fellows, selec- 
 ted from the merchant service. They all loved 
 their commander, especially those who had 
 served under him in war time. 
 
 The morning after Percy Devereux's expe- 
 dition to Sester, Thomas Phillips, his valet, 
 came on board the yacht. The crew were 
 busy setting up some new rigging, and Mr. 
 Blowhard, the nominal captain, was walking 
 the deck. 
 
 " Ah ! Phillips,'' said the old tar, holding 
 out his only fin, "how's the wiud with you? 
 how's the commander ?" 
 
 " He's off for a land cruise, Mr. Blowhard ; 
 he started yesterday on horseback, for what 
 you would call a cruise along shore." 
 
 " Ah !" said the sailor, looking aloft, " I 
 never, no how, could manage them there
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 123 
 
 crafts. I have tried them often for a short 
 cruise, but blow me ! if I ever could hold on; 
 there's nothing forrad you see, to pick a fellow 
 up, if the craft dips ; so I generally found as 
 how I came over the bows in a head sea; 
 these four-legged craft generally heave up the 
 stern, as if struck by a sea aft, and so, hav- 
 ing no rigging to hold on by, blow me ! I got 
 capsized. How long will your master be on 
 his cruise ?" 
 
 a He talked about a fortnight," said the 
 valet. 
 
 "Ever a petticoat in the wind, Master Phil- 
 lips ?'' asked the sailor, looking knowing, and 
 giving the valet a punch in the ribs that took 
 away his breath for a second or two. "Lord 
 love you, he was a broth of a boy for the 
 bunting. Come down and have a bit of din- 
 ner and a glass of grog, and I'll spin you a 
 yarn of how I lost my poor fin. Ah ! those 
 were not jolly days — little or no fighting, bad 
 feeding, and no prizes worth taking. Come, 
 heave a-head, now, boy," turning to a smart 
 
 g 2
 
 124 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 lad of fifteen, "and stir up the cook, and let us 
 have a look at the contents of his coppers." 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir, I'll pitch into him — it's 
 hungry weather." 
 
 " Blow me if I ever knew when it wasn't 
 with you youngsters." 
 
 Phillips was a favourite on board the 
 "Gazelle," and during the absence of his master 
 always messed with Blowhard and the first 
 mate. Having finished their dinner, and grog 
 being the order of the day, the first mate 
 came down to join the party. 
 
 " Now, Mr. Blowhard," said Phillips, " I 
 want a good yarn. I'll mix the punch, and 
 here's pipes," and unlocking a cupboard, he 
 took out some of his master's stock of tobacco 
 and placed it on the table. 
 
 " Aye, aye, mate, I'll spin you a yarn," re- 
 turned old Blowhard, tasting the mixture, and 
 giving Phillips an approving nod. 
 
 "This time I'll take you to the Baltic, 
 where our blessed blue jackets had such 
 splendid chances of gaining honours and pro-
 
 THE WILD GAZ3LLE. 125 
 
 motion, and yet did nothing, as we may say. 
 You see, as here in England we thought as 
 little of the Eooshans as we would of babies, 
 and thought as how their forts were made of 
 gingerbread, and as easily demolished, but 
 we found them made of granite, and didn't 
 like trying if we could knock them about 
 their ears. 
 
 " The ships seemed very formidable,stretched 
 in a line before Cronstadt, which looked grim 
 and defying at us, and after a time, our blue 
 jackets felt satisfied that that was all they 
 would have an opportunity of seeing. At 
 this time I was master's mate aboard the 
 " Cossack." She was commanded by one 
 Captain Fanshaw. We were cruising about 
 picking up useless vessels and breaking them 
 up for firewood, using the timber instead of 
 coals, when Admiral Dundas sent us seven or 
 eight Eussian prisoners, with orders to put 
 them on shore. 
 
 " Oar craft was a screw corvette of twenty- 
 one guns — a smartish craft, and well-manned
 
 126 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 — and though our worthy commander got 
 afterwards blamed for acting in a careless 
 manner, and. sacrificing lives uselessly, we 
 aboard the ' Cossack ' knew better. 
 
 " At this time we were off a place called 
 Han go. So the corvette stood in pretty close, 
 and then anchored ; and the boat being 
 launched, a party was selected to take these 
 Hooshians ashore. We nil liked the spree, as 
 we thought we- might have a lark some way 
 or other with the natives. Our ship had no 
 flag of truce flying at this time, but one was 
 put into the boat and hoisted. 
 
 " In the boat was our Lieutenant Geneste, 
 our ship's surgeon, myself, and three or more 
 stewards. Our prisoners were mostly chaps 
 as called themselves Fins ; one of them a cap- 
 tain of a ship. Our stewards wanted to see 
 if any provisions could be got. 
 
 " Between the ship and the place where v e 
 intended landing our prisoners, there were 
 several small islands, so that we lost sight of 
 the ship before reaching the quay. We had
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 127 
 
 our white flag flying, though, there was very- 
 little wind ; enough, however, to blow it out, 
 and to shew those Eooshan savages as how it 
 wasn't a red flag. 
 
 u As we came in sight of the landing place, 
 not a soul was to be seen ; there were a range 
 of rocks and some houses about a hundred 
 yards from the sea, and towards them we 
 went and ran the boat ashore, close to the 
 landing place. 
 
 " Our three officers sprung ashore ; one, 
 Lieutenant Geneste, took the flag of truce 
 and, unfurling it, walked on to the houses. 
 Most of our men remained in the boat, but T 
 and Tom Draper came straggling after our 
 officers with baskets to put any prog we might 
 get hold on. We hadn't gone fifty yards, when 
 blow me ! if we weren't a little startled by 
 seeing two or three hundred Eooshians start up 
 from behind the range of rock; and before 
 you could say Jack Robinson, the cowardly 
 lubbers raised their muskets, and took aim.
 
 128 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 Our lieutenant roared out, c Avast ! ye land 
 lubbers ! don't you see the flag of truce ?' 
 
 " ' Flag of truce be !' said a 
 
 Booshian, in good English, and bang went a 
 volley of balls at us. I saw one of our 
 officers go down, and poor Tom Draper. T 
 stood unhurt for a moment, confounded at 
 such a cowardly act ; just then those in the 
 boat leaped ashore and ran towards us, and 
 then two more volleys were fired ; then down 
 I went, with my left arm shattered, and as T 
 saw they intended murdering us, and we 
 could do nothing, I lay as if I was dead, 
 whilst the bloody villains ran shouting to the 
 boat. I had rolled over on my right fin, and 
 could just see over the body of my poor com- 
 rade down to the boat. These ruffians of 
 Eooshans then fired several volleys into the 
 boat, killing all in her, and shouting and 
 cursing, like devils, as they were ; they then 
 plundered the boat, and made prisoners of 
 those who remained alive — but to my horror
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 129 
 
 I saw them pitch the bodies overboard —and 
 then they dragged a seaman up on to the 
 wharf, and then I seed the poor fellow stagger, 
 and I then saw it was a comrade named Henry 
 Gibbons ; what he said I don't know, but 
 three of the Eooshians rushed at him and 
 bayonetted him, and pitched him over the 
 wall. Ah ! how my blood boiled ! but Lord 
 love ye ! I was helpless — I was suffering 
 agony, for my arm was shattered to pieces 
 below the elbow, and only hanging on by the 
 skin and sinews. As I saw them coming 
 towards us, I lay on my face, and never 
 stirred as they passed me ; some villain gave 
 me a kick in the ribs, and laughed, saying 
 something to his comrades ; another struck 
 me with the butt of a musket. Still, I lay 
 still. After a time I ventured to look round, 
 and then I found they had marched off with 
 all the wounded, leaving the dead where they 
 lay. There was a thin grey mist at this time 
 creeping over the ground, and presently i t 
 shut out from my sight the rocks and the 
 
 a 5
 
 130 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 houses. I felt sick and faint, but I still had 
 pluck and strength enough left to crawl 
 towards the boat, and at last I got into her, 
 and there I found four dead comrades lying 
 along the bottom ; she was afloat, and her 
 sides riddled with shot, but all luckily above 
 water. I sat quiet awhile, to recover from 
 my faintness, but suddenly hearing voices on 
 shore coming towards the quay, with my 
 right fin I cast off the painter, and, with one 
 oar, had just strength to push off into the 
 tide-way, which luckily ran strong out. I 
 could hear the bloody Eooshians shouting, 
 though I could not see them for the fog, but 
 the villains fired several shots in my direc- 
 tion ; one musket ball by chance struck the 
 oar I was sculling with, and knocked several 
 splinters out of it. I was not able, with my 
 shattered arm and loss of blood, you see, to 
 scull very much ; so I sat down and looked 
 with a wistful eye at my poor murdered mess- 
 mates, only hoping that I might live to reach, 
 the c Cossack/ and that the commander would 
 take a glorious revenge. As I drifted out to
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 131 
 
 sea the fog lifted ; it was at this time about 
 three or four o'clock, and I saw I was drifting 
 on one of the small islands ; so I took to 
 sculling again with one oar to avoid getting 
 on shore, and just as I was fainting from the 
 exertion, and just turned the end of the 
 island, I saw the ' Cossack's ' cutter pulling 
 towards me. I had just strength to give a 
 cheer, and then blow me, if I didn't faint off 
 as neatly as ever any fine lady did, falling on 
 the dead bodies of my messmates. 
 
 " When I recovered I found myself in the 
 cockpit of the ' Cossack,' and after taking a 
 draught from the surgeon, and getting life 
 into me, I told them my story. The surgeon 
 then cut off my arm above the elbow, and 
 that wasn't pleasant, by no means ; howsome- 
 ever, it saved my life, although I was minus 
 a fin. So that's the way, Mister Phillips, I 
 lost my arm." 
 
 " But bless me," said the valet, " did you 
 let those cowardly rascals off without pepper- 
 ing their jackets ?"
 
 132 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " Well, I have not much to say about that," 
 replied the sailor. " Our captain was furious 
 and no mistake, and shoved our craft within 
 five hundred yards of the place, and opened 
 a heavy fire upon it ; but they never returned 
 a shot, and the fog came on again. So the 
 ' Cossack ' got under weigh again, and 
 anchored in a safe place ; 1 wasn't but a few 
 days confined below, for I was rather a tough 
 chap ; but we heard some short time after, to 
 our great joy, that Lieutenant Geneste and 
 our doctor were not dead, but were prisoners, 
 and that of the Rooshian prisoners we went 
 ashore to release, two were killed and one 
 wounded ; and also that the Rooshians said it 
 was all our fault. Blow me ! I thought this 
 too bad, and in England I heard that our 
 gallant captain was blamed ; but I knows 
 
 right well that the Eooshians told a lie, 
 
 and so let it be." 
 
 " It cost you your arm, anyhow, Mr, 
 Blowhard," said Phillips, u and that was bad 
 enough ; but where did you fall in with my
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 123 
 
 roaster? I never heard how he got away 
 from the Russians, after being taken prisoner 
 by the crew of some ship of war, at some 
 outlandish place in the Black Sea." 
 
 " Oh ! bless me, I knows what place you 
 mean, Mr. Phillips," replied the master of 
 the yacht. " That was the only gallant ex- 
 ploit of the Eooshian navy, and, blow me ! if 
 that 'ere ship was not a good one. She was 
 called the 4 Vladmir.' She got out of Sebas- 
 topol, in spite of our fleet, cruised along the 
 shores of the Black Sea, sunk several vessels, 
 burnt others, and got back safe and sound 
 into her old berth. Ah! he was a good and 
 a bold seaman, her commander. Another 
 time, Mr. Phillips, I'll spin you a better yarn 
 than the one I have just told you. Now I 
 must go and see after some stores. When do 
 you expect our commander back ?'' 
 
 " Well, I can't say, Mr. Blowhard ; he may 
 be a fortnight, but not longer ; for his stock 
 of clothes won't hold out longer."
 
 134 THE WILT) GAZELLE. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Peecy Devereux, in the meantime, rapidly 
 recovered ; his broken collar bone and bruises 
 ceased to pain him, but he fairly lost his 
 heart to the beautiful and amiable Camilla 
 Barracco. It required but little entreaty to 
 induce the fair Genoese to accompany the 
 Countess into the little saloon, generally 
 occupied by herself when on a visit to her 
 dearest and most-loved friend. 
 
 As the deliverer of herself and father from 
 captivity and, possibly, persecution, Percy 
 Devereux was at once acknowledged as a 
 friend. A few days increased the intimacy 
 into a feeling of sincere regard in Camilla,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 135 
 
 and into a fervent love in the heart of our 
 hero. 
 
 When able to leave his room and wander 
 through the beautiful grounds of the Coun- 
 tess's villa, this feeling of friendship in the 
 breast of Camilla rapidly ripened into a first 
 love in her young heart, almost unknown to 
 herself. Percy, by the express wish of the 
 Countess, had sent for his valet, and for many 
 articles of clothing he required. Camilla 
 each night retired to her own mansion, and 
 returned to breakfast at the villa. With the 
 happy children accompanying them, they 
 rambled along the sea shore, up the flower- 
 clad hills of Sester, and through the beautiful 
 shrubbery of Palazzo Barracco, the grounds 
 belonging to the latter place being exceed- 
 ingly extensive, and beautifully and tastefully 
 laid out in the English style. 
 
 Thus a fortnight passed, like a dream to 
 Percy, but a dream that influenced all his 
 after life. 
 
 Our hero was not a man to fall violently
 
 136 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 in love with a merely beautiful face. He 
 had seen many in his rambles over the world 
 — some as beautiful as Camilla Barracco, but 
 none whose manner, voice, and conversation 
 so spoke to the heart. His was not the love 
 of extreme youth — he was nearly eight-and- 
 twenty. And now that he loved, he loved 
 with all the devotion and fervour of a some- 
 what romantic and enthusiastic disposition. 
 Fourteen days appears but a very short time 
 for a woman to surrender her often priceless 
 heart; but Camilla, young as she was, had 
 strangely retained a strong remembrance 
 of her preserver ; and when again she beheld 
 him, his fine and handsome person and intel- 
 lectual features, added to extremely pre- 
 possessing manners, rapidly changed grati- 
 tude and friendship into a much warmer sen- 
 timent. 
 
 For many reasons the Countess thought it 
 better that Percy Devereux should return to 
 Genoa after the fortnight had expired, and he 
 could use his leg as well as ever. The Signor
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 137 
 
 Barracco bad written to his steward, stating 
 that he should be detained in his mission for a 
 few weeks longer, so the Countess said he could 
 continue his visits daily to her villa, and thus 
 his declaration of love to the fair Countess 
 might be postponed for a while, and not 
 shock her somewhat timid nature by so very 
 sudden a declaration. 
 
 Devereux, therefore returned to Genoa 
 on his recent purchase, notwithstanding all 
 the Countess could say. She considered the 
 horse as an untameable, savage brute. He 
 had thrown two of her grooms, and they both 
 declared the vicious beast was possessed by 
 an evil spirit. 
 
 The sagacious beast, however, soon found 
 out that he had got a master at last, and after 
 two or three sharp contests, he gave up trying 
 to master his rider, and daily master and 
 horse might be seen proceeding in the most 
 amicable manner along the road to Sester. 
 
 In Genoa, the handsome Englishman was 
 set down by the dames and cavaliers as
 
 138 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 the future intended of the fascinating 
 Countess Castiglioni, and the Countess, to hide 
 their own projects, allowed the public to think 
 as it pleased. But the day at last came when 
 those two gifted beings — Camilla and Deve- 
 reux — acknowledged their mutual love for 
 each other. Percy, overpowered with hap- 
 piness, clasped the beautiful Camilla to his 
 heart, and pressed the first kiss of love upon 
 her glowing cheek. They were at this time 
 seated on a rustic seat in one of the beautiful 
 bowers in the villa gardens, commanding an 
 unrivalled view over sea and land. The 
 Countess, with her two children, had driven 
 over to Voltri, purposely leaving the young 
 couple to come to an eclaircissement, for time 
 was rapidly speeding, and the Signor Bar- 
 racco's return might be weekly expected. 
 
 After this mutual confession of affection, 
 Camilla said, in her low, musical voice, 
 which trembled with emotion, 
 
 " Have we not been rash, Percy ? have we 
 fairly considered the terrible obstacles that
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 139 
 
 still exist ? Ah !" she continued, with a 
 smil^, as she looked into the face of her 
 lover, " confess, now, this has been brought 
 about by — '' 
 
 " The feelings of our own hearts," interrupted 
 Percy, kissing the small, fair hand he had 
 detained captive in his. " Blessed with your 
 love, my own Camilla, the obstacle you think 
 so seriously of, is to me a thing of naught." 
 
 Scarcely had our hero pronounced these 
 words, when the flowing branches of the 
 honeysuckle were dashed aside, and a man 
 burst through and stood before them, with 
 his face inflamed by passion. Percy sprang 
 from his seat, and the next moment he would 
 have struck the man down, when Camilla, 
 pale and agitated said, 
 
 " Hold, Percy ; this gentleman is my 
 uncle and guardian.'' 
 
 Commander Devereux let fall his hand, and 
 gazed inquiringly into the face of the man, 
 who held his and Camilla's destiny in his 
 hands.
 
 140 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 Giuseppe Barracco, almost powerless from 
 rage, gazed fiercely from one to the other of 
 the two lovers. His broad chest heaved with 
 emotion, and his clenched hands shook with 
 passion. 
 
 " So," said he, gazing at Camilla, " de- 
 generate, weak, selfish girl, thank the God 
 you have outraged, that I have arrived in time 
 to save your body and soul from the snares 
 of Satan. And you, sir," he continued, look- 
 ing into the calm, undisturbed features of our 
 hero, " abetted and shamefully aided by that 
 false, perfidious, heretical woman, to whom, in 
 my simple faith, T trusted this girl, devoted to 
 her Saviour — you dared — " 
 
 " Hold, Signor Barracco," interrupted Percy, 
 with a frown, but speaking calmly and ear- 
 nestly, " I am not going to stand here and 
 permit any man to pass insulting epithets 
 upon a noble-minded woman." 
 
 " Pshaw !" burst from the lips of Camilla's 
 infuriated guardian. " I say what I think. 
 As to you, madame," turning to Camilla, " I
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 14L 
 
 will take you for ever from the presence of 
 one who has dared to pollute your ears — you, 
 a child of God — with words of love," and he 
 attempted to seize the maiden's hand, but 
 Camilla drew herself proudly back, whilst 
 our hero said, laying his powerful grasp upon 
 the Italian's shoulder, 
 
 " Take care, sir, how you venture to apply 
 words and epithets to me, that hereafter you 
 may dearly repent. You are well aware that 
 your niece's father was decidedly opposed to 
 his daughter's becoming a nun, and you are 
 also perfectly aware that her religious opinions, 
 as well as her inclinations, are utterly re- 
 pugnant to — '' 
 
 With a terrible oath, the Signor Barracce, a 
 slave to his temper, burst into one of those 
 ungovernable fits of passion which rendered 
 him, at times, almost insane. His features 
 worked as if in a fit, while his cheeks and 
 temples appeared as if all the blood in his 
 body had rushed into them. 
 
 " Proud, accursed Englishman," burst from
 
 142 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 his lips, " to you I owe this deadly stain upon 
 an untarnished name. Die, accursed heretic, 
 as you are !" and, drawing a pistol from his 
 breast, he levelled it full in the face of the 
 young man, before he could even dream of 
 such an act. But Camilla, aware of her 
 uncle's furious and ungovernable passion, and 
 knowing that he always went armed, had 
 watched his every motion with a steady and 
 unshrinking eye. The moment he levelled 
 the pistol, she, with a spring, threw his arm 
 up, the weapon exploded, knocking off Deve- 
 reux's hat, and singeing his cheek with the 
 flame. At the same instant Percy grasped his 
 opponent's wrist, for the pistol had four 
 barrels, and with a terrible wrench, that 
 extorted a groan of agony from the Italian, 
 he tore the pistol from him, and hurled it far 
 over the flowery scene before them. 
 
 One look of deep gratitude our hero cast 
 into the pale features of his beloved, and 
 then he coldly and bitterly said to the dis- 
 mayed Barracco,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 143 
 
 u So, Signor, you would play the assassin's 
 part to gain your ends! I know your creed — 
 no matter the means so the object is attained. 
 But the laws of even this country will not 
 permit one man to murder another with 
 impunity ; but from respect and gratitude 
 to this dear girl," pressing her hand to his 
 lips, " who shall yet, please God, despite your 
 machinations, be my partner through life — " 
 
 u Never !" shouted the infuriated Italian. 
 " Never i Sooner would I slay her with my 
 own hand." 
 
 " Then, uncle," said Camilla, remaining 
 by the side of her lover, " since thus you 
 express your sentiments and determination, 
 I will state mine. You have no right or 
 power to treat your brother's child with such 
 cruelty, and to insult her with such language, 
 and I will piace myself under the protection 
 of the Countess Castiglioni, and let the law of 
 the land decide between us. A nun I will never 
 become. I am a Protestant, heart and soul, 
 and to this gentleman I have pledged my
 
 144 THE V ILD GAZELLE. 
 
 faith, and by this determination I will 
 abide." 
 
 " And he to whom you have pledged this 
 precious gift, dear Camilla," said Percy, with 
 fervour, " will sacrifice life and property to 
 secure you from oppression. Your guardian 
 has forfeited all claim to your obedience, by 
 his cruel insults and his unmanly and wanton 
 aggression." 
 
 The Signor Barracco stood astounded — 
 perfectly bewildered — gazing from one to the 
 other. To be thus braved and thwarted by one 
 he considered a mere child, and who he 
 thought trembled at his presence, overpowered 
 him ; but Camilla's uncle had too much of 
 the Jesuit in his nature to let himself be foiled 
 by a girl, and her heretic lover. 
 
 Seeing our hero about to lead Camilla to 
 the house, the Count stepped forward, saying 
 in a calm, suppressed voice — 
 
 " Stay, niece, I beseech you. I have, I 
 confess, acted the part of a madman and a 
 coward. You well know that I am a slave
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 145 
 
 to passion and always deeply repent acts 
 committed under its influence. 
 
 Then turning and looking into the thought- 
 ful, serious features of Percy Devereux, he 
 continued, in a contrite and humble manner — 
 4t Signor, I confess I deserve the humiliation 
 and rebukes I have received. I have, in my 
 Insane passion, attempted to commit an act 
 that if known will cover an honourable name 
 with opprobrium. If you can forgive and 
 forget, Signor, this terrible act of mine, and 
 let me have time till to-morrow evening to 
 consider over our relative positions and 
 wishes, I will make ample restitution. I 
 offer you now my humble apology, and to 
 you, my niece, I offer the same. You can 
 never say 1 denied you anything, or refused 
 you a single indulgence, according to my 
 creed and my belief. I believed you devoted 
 and vowed to the service of Christ. Let me, 
 then, pass this night in calm reflection, and 
 to-morrow, if you still persist in your present 
 intention, I will forego my guardianship, and 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 leave you. You are your own mistress, 
 under the protection of the Countess Cas- 
 tiglioni." 
 
 The lovers looked at each other ; they were 
 young, honourable, and confiding, and thus 
 they became the dupes of the wily Italian's 
 dissimulation. 
 
 " I accept your apologies, Signor," said 
 Percy Devereux, " and I trust you will see, 
 after some hours' reflection, that injustice to 
 your niece's happiness, you will abandon, 
 willingly, views impossible to be carried out 
 in a Christian country, and in such a free and 
 enlightened period. I have tendered her my 
 heart, my hand, and my fortune. My name 
 is an honourable one, and my portion ample ; 
 the Countess Castiglioni is my cousin. I 
 neither covet nor desire this young lady's for- 
 tune ; her hand and her love is all I have 
 sought. If you consider that your church re- 
 quires compensation in lieu of an unwilling 
 victim, we freely offer you the fortune your 
 niece is entitled to." 
 
 " You are generous, Signor, and most cer-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE, 147 
 
 taiuly I cannot impute to you mercenary 
 motives in winning* my niece's affection. To- 
 morrow I shall be able fully to bring my 
 mind to a clear understanding on this matter ; 
 and as I am most anxious that what has 
 taken place may remain confined to our 
 own breasts, you may be sure that what I 
 shall propose will conduce to both your wel- 
 fare and future happiness. I see the 
 Countess's carriage coming up the avenue. I 
 will therefore retire with my niece, and by 
 this time to-morrow, you will give me credit 
 for the measures I shall adopt." 
 
 Percy Devereux returned the profound 
 salutation of the Signor Barracco, and kissing 
 the hand of his beloved Camilla, bade her 
 adieu till the next day. 
 
 The young girl looked pale, and her beauti- 
 ful features wore a serious look, but she roused 
 herself from her sombre thoughts, returned 
 her lover's salutation with a sweet, affection- 
 ate smile, and a few words in a low voice 
 breathing of hope and true affection. 
 
 h 2
 
 148 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Percy Deyereux stood gazing after the 
 graceful form of her he so fondly loved, till 
 she and her guardian disappeared behind the 
 shrubbery that divided the grounds of the do- 
 mains of the Countess and those of Barracco. 
 
 He remained some moments very thought- 
 ful, and communing with himself. 
 
 " Have we, after all," he said, half-aloud ; 
 " have we done well to trust this Jesuitical 
 Italian? I doubt if Camilla's first resolution, 
 to place herself under the protection of the 
 Countess, was not the safest. However, the 
 time is past, even in this country, for forcing
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 149 
 
 unwilling victims into convents, and pronoun- 
 cing vows abhorrent to their own feelings." 
 
 Full of deep and perplexing thought, he 
 turned round, and perceived the Countess and 
 the children alighting from the carriage and 
 entering the mansion. He walked on, 
 anxious to see his fair cousin, and relate to 
 her the events of the last hour. 
 
 In the meantime the Signor Barracco pro- 
 ceeded through the grounds, followed in 
 silence by his niece. Kespect for her uncle, 
 after witnessing his recent outrageous act 
 against her lover, she could have none. Still, 
 she felt no apprehension that he intended 
 wilfully to deceive her, and that his pretended 
 contrition was a deception, for whilst uttering 
 the words, his heart was a prey to the fiercest 
 passions. Hatred against the heretical En- 
 glishman, who had foiled him ; vengeance 
 against his niece, who had openly stated that 
 she had renounced the creed of herfathers; and, 
 above all, bitter resentment against the Countess 
 Castiglioni, whom he conceived to be the
 
 150 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 principal, if not the sole, instigator of the 
 whole plot to deprive the church of its 
 devotee. 
 
 Camilla, after all, knew but little of her 
 uncle's real disposition and nature. In heart 
 one of the most bigoted members of the 
 Komish Church, his life had been passed in 
 lamentation over the rapidly failing power 
 of the Popedom. He firmly believed that his 
 niece's soul was condemned for ever if she 
 failed to fulfil her mother's vow, so solemnly 
 registered before God ; and, worst of all, a 
 union with a heretic filled his mind with 
 horror. In his fury he had attempted to kill 
 Camilla's lover, and had he done so, he would 
 have gloried in it, for such was the then state 
 of the Italian kingdom, did he flee into the 
 Papal States, he would be joyfully received 
 and protected, and the act looked upon as a 
 just and righteous one. He would have 
 placed his niece's wealth at the disposal of 
 the Holy Father, who was just then very 
 much in want of such offerings, and thus the
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 151 
 
 act of shooting a heretic would only be con- 
 sidered as a necessary deed in order to save a 
 soul from perdition. Overpowered with such 
 thoughts, Beppo Barracco, as soon as he en- 
 tered his own private study, threw himself 
 into a chair, and burying his face in his 
 hands, remained for several minutes plunged 
 in thought j he then started up and rung his 
 bell, and told the domestic who answered the 
 summons to send his secretary to him. 
 
 In a few minutes a highly respectable- 
 looking man, somewmat past middle age, 
 entered the room and quietly closed the door, 
 and then turning, he surveyed the Signor 
 Barracco with an anxious and enquiring eye. 
 
 u Sit down, Servili," said Beppo Barracco; 
 " I wish to speak to you on business of great 
 importance. I shall have to leave this place 
 with my niece immediately, and I shall also 
 require you to accompany me." 
 
 The secretary sat down, and then the 
 Signor Barracco pushed over to him two or 
 three letters he took from a desk, saying,
 
 152 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " Copy those quickly l rr 
 
 Taking some paper from a drawer, tiie 
 secretary did so, neatly and rapidly, and then 
 handed them to the Signor. 
 
 " Very good," said Barracco, beginning to 
 fold them. u Now, the first thing yon have to 
 do is to go at once to Voltri, to the Hotel le 
 Grande Duke ; there yon will find Captain 
 Lotero, of the Polacca brig ' Bella Donna/ 
 the vessel I came here In. You will give him 
 this letter," taking up one of the letrers ? 
 " and tell him it's all right; and that he must 
 be ready for sea an hour before daybreak... 
 Do not lose a moment, and mind — communi- 
 cate with no one." 
 
 a You shall be obeyed, Sign or,' r returned 
 the secretary, putting the letter in his breast 
 pocket, bowing and retiring. 
 
 Barracco then rose from his chair r sayings 
 to himself, 
 
 " There is little time to spare : now for 
 this degenerate, deceiving girl ; she thinks 
 to outwit me, and that she and her accursed
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 153 
 
 heretical lover," and lie laughed contemptu- 
 ously, " will receive the benediction of Beppo 
 Barracco, and that he will join their hands in 
 holy wedlock, and retire penitent and reformed. 
 Benissimo t we shall see." . 
 
 Leaving the library, and proceeding through 
 a corridor, and ascending a flight of marble 
 stairs, he proceeded along a gallery, and 
 opening a door, entered a small but ex- 
 quisitely tastefully decorated and furnished 
 saloon — his niece's private sitting-room — 
 with a folding-door opening into the sleeping 
 chamber. Camilla was seated at the open 
 window — her beautiful head resting on her 
 hand, her elbow upon the window-sill; she 
 was gazing out, with a very serious expres- 
 sion of countenance, upon the rippling waters 
 of the Gulf of Yoltri ; the sun was setting 
 and its crimson rays played upon the waters 
 and the white sails of the feluccas proceeding 
 seawards. 
 
 Several vessels lay at anchor close in on 
 the shingly beach before the town ; but her 
 
 h 5
 
 154 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 eyes rested — why she could not exactly say— 
 upon a large and graceful-looking craft, lying 
 further out in the bay; it was a long low 
 vessel, with black sides, and tall, raking masts. 
 This was the Polacca brig the u Bella Donna." 
 
 As she sat, full of thought, the sound of 
 the opening door startled her from her reve- 
 ries ; were her thoughts golden dreams of the 
 future, or did the shadows of coming troubles 
 press upon her mind? Perceiving her uncle? 
 Camilla rose,and,leaving the window, sat down 
 on the sofa, near which her guardian had takers 
 a chair. She could see by the expression of 
 his features, contracted brow and stern, 
 gloomy look, that the object of his visit 
 would not be agreeable to her, or cause her to 
 think well of his self communing concerning her 
 future destiny. But Camilla was neither easily 
 frightened nor depressed ; she looked calmly 
 into her uncle's face, and waited till he com- 
 menced the conversation. 
 
 For several moments Barracco remained 
 silent. Did he fear the spirit and determina-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 155 
 
 tion of liis intended victim? Certainly, lie ap- 
 peared doubtful how to first address our 
 heroine ; at length he said, 
 
 11 1 am come, Camilla, to inform you that 
 most important business forces me to sail this 
 night for Civita Vecchia in the vessel that 
 brought me here." 
 
 Camilla started, but made no reply. The 
 uncle watched his niece's truthful counte- 
 nance, and, with a malicious satisfaction, per- 
 ceived the impression his words had made. 
 After a pause, he continued, 
 
 " Reflecting upon what has passed, I think 
 it would be highly detrimental to your cha- 
 racter to leave you unprotected here.'* 
 
 " I cannot perceive the necessity," inter- 
 rupted Camilla, calmly, " of forcing me to 
 undertake such a voyage. I can remain under 
 the protection of the Countess Castiglioni." 
 
 " No doubt," said her guardian, bitterly 5 
 " such a protection as that false woman could 
 give you, would facilitate the views of that 
 mad Englishman and your own ; but no scandal
 
 156 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 shall be brought on the name of Barracco 
 
 by-" 
 
 " Yon forget, Signor," interrupted Camilla,, 
 a little excited, " that your own conduct some 
 hours ago has already disgraced an honour- 
 able name — not, I trust, any conduct of mine 7 
 or the honourable gentleman to whon^ I have 
 pledged my faith." 
 
 u Insolent girl !" exclaimed her uncle, rising 
 from his chair ; " I see your purpose is to 
 defy me. I will trouble myself no more in 
 bandying words with you. You are my ward y 
 and no one can deny my power over you — at 
 all events, till you are eighteen years of age, 
 I chose to take you to Civita Vecchia to-night ? 
 and to-night you shall accompany me on 
 board the brig now tying in Voltri roads. 
 Summon, therefore, your attendants, and 
 commence packing whatever necessaries 
 you shall require for a voyage, and a long 
 stay in Borne;'* and without another word he 
 turned abruptly and quitted the saloon. 
 
 Though somewhat startled and greatly
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 157 
 
 indignant at the deceit and falsehood of her 
 guardian, Camilla was far from dismayed. 
 She had too much faith in her lover's affec- 
 tion, and also in his power to protect her; 
 besides, she did not believe in the extent of 
 her guardian's power, or that he could immure 
 her in a convent without her consent. 
 
 Camilla little knew how powerful is the 
 Eomish church, and how unscrupulous its 
 ministers in executing any project, the result 
 of which would be conducive to its own 
 interests. 
 
 The young Countess sat for some minutes 
 in deep reflection upon the course she ought 
 to pursue. She was aware whatever she deter- 
 mined must be promptly done, to thwart her 
 guardian's projects. To be carried off to 
 Rome would be a terrible calamity. To defeat 
 this design she must find means, to communi- 
 cate with the Countess Castiglioni and with 
 Percy Devereux. In two or three hours the 
 latter would be back in Genoa, trusting to 
 the honourable intentions expressed by
 
 158 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 Barracco. Thus she might be many miles 
 across the broad waters of the Mediterranean, 
 before her lover could hear of her treacherous 
 uncle's doings. Even if she could get a few 
 lines conveyed to the Countess Castiglioni, it 
 could not prevent her being carried off, but 
 it would inform her of her guardian's projects, 
 and also let her know her destination was 
 Eome, She therefore sat down to her writing 
 desk, and wrote a rapid note to the Countess, 
 when her female attendant, Marcella, hastily 
 entered the room, flushed and agitated, and 
 looking frightened. 
 
 " What has occurred, Marcella?" questioned 
 our heroine, laying down her pen and folding 
 up her note. 
 
 " Ah ! Madonna, my lady," said Marcella, 
 " I am terrified to death. Your unele met me 
 in the passage, and catching me by the arm, 
 said, fixing his terrible eyes upon me, ' Hark 
 ye, girl ; go to your mistress's room and pack 
 up some of her things, for we sail to-night 
 for Civita Vecchiaj and mind what I say: re-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 159 
 
 main in your mistress's room ; if I find you 
 out of it, woe betide you. Go !' You may be 
 sure, my lady, I did go, for the Signor always 
 frightens me ; but the blessed saints ! my lady, 
 what will become of us? What will your 
 lover — I mean what will the Signor Devereux 
 do? Madre mi! we are ruined. Antonio 
 won't know, either, where I am gone !" 
 
 " You must contrive to leave the house, 
 Marcella, and hasten with this note to the 
 Countess." 
 
 "Madonna! Signora, every door is locked, 
 and the keys with that horrid— I mean with 
 your uncle, my lady." 
 
 Camilla looked dismayed. 
 
 " Ah ! the Virgin be praised, I think I can 
 out-wit him," exclaimed Marcella, clapping 
 her hands. " I would do anything in the 
 world to serve the noble Signor who saved 
 my life." 
 
 " Well, Marcella, what's your plan?" asked 
 Camilla, eagerly. 
 
 " Come into your bed-room, my lady, and
 
 160 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 lower me out of the window into the 
 garden." 
 
 " Why, it's many feet from the ground !" 
 said Camilla. 
 
 "No matter, my lady; tie the sheets 
 together, and I shall get down famously. T 
 can, in the dark, clamber over the laurel 
 hedge, out into the road, and make my way 
 to the Countess." 
 
 Camilla thought a moment, and then said, 
 
 u It may be done, and there is no other 
 way." 
 
 She even thought she might escape that 
 way herself, but her innate sense of 
 maidenly propriety forbade such an attempt. 
 She therefore agreed to Marcella's proposal. 
 Eetiring to her bed-room, they locked the 
 door, tied the sheets and counterpanes 
 together, and fastened one end to the leg of a 
 table they drew close to the window. 
 
 Maicella covered herself with a large 
 shawl, and clambering up on the table, 
 looked out. It was a dark, cloudy night ; so
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 161 
 
 recommending herself to the care of the 
 Madonna, she grasped the sheets, and began 
 lowering herself from the window, resting 
 her little feet upon the trellis work that ran 
 round that side of the house. 
 
 Just as she thought her feet ought to touch 
 the flower bed, she felt her legs grasped by a 
 pair of hands, and a voice say, 
 
 " Hush ! for the love of the Virgin !" but a 
 faint shriek nevertheless escaped her lips. 
 
 Camilla, terrified, put her head out of the 
 window, and a voice said, 
 
 " Do not be alarmed ; take the light away, 
 draw up the sheets, and close the window." 
 
 " Oh ! Madonna !" cried Marcella, " who 
 are you ? Let go my legs, and I will drop 
 down. I'm fainting !" 
 
 " Let go ! I will support you," said the 
 voice. 
 
 The next moment an arm encircled her 
 waist, and she was placed on the gravel-walk ; 
 the sheets were drawn up, and the light dis- 
 appeared.
 
 162 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " In the name of the saints^ who are you?" 
 asked Marcella, trying in the deep gloom to 
 make out the man's face — but she could not. 
 "I think your voice is familiar; what were 
 you doing under my mistress' window ?" 
 
 " The contrary of what you have done, my 
 pretty Marcella. I was going up/' said the 
 stranger. 
 
 u i\h! how dare 3^011; but I know you 
 now, and I think you would serve my mistress 
 rather than injure her." 
 
 " You are right, Marcella ; I was going to 
 tell her by climbing up to the window that 
 she has a true friend, and she must not be 
 afraid." 
 
 " Ah ! Signor Servili, I knew you were a 
 friend," said Marcella ; " but why did you not 
 let me drop down, and not take me by the 
 legs." 
 
 "Because," said the Secretary, "your rope 
 was short; you were six feet from the 
 ground, and would have hurt yourself. But 
 where were you going ?"
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 163 
 
 " To the Countess' with a note." 
 
 u Ah! just the thing. I was going there 
 myself, but I came to warn your mistress 
 first. Your going will "be far, far better, for 
 I have just come back from Voltri ; the 
 vessel cannot sail till break of day. Take 
 this letter, and tell the Countess if the Captain 
 Devereux is gone to Genoa this must be sent 
 at once to him, and be delivered" into his 
 own hands. Come, I will lift you over the 
 laurel hedge, and let you through the private 
 gate into the Countess' grounds, and then run 
 through the garden to the house ; the Signor 
 Capitani may not be gone. Then come back 
 here, and I will smuggle you into the house, 
 for you must be with your mistress on board 
 the brig." 
 
 u Ah! Madonna! must we go to sea? 
 Better get my mistress out of the win- 
 dow." 
 
 " No, no ; there would be scandal. I 
 would have no slur on your noble mistress'
 
 164 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 name. No more delay ; you can be back 
 here in half an hour, can you not ?" 
 
 "Yes," returned Marcella, muttering to 
 herself, " if some one else does not catch me 
 by the legs." 
 
 Helping Marcella over, or rather through 
 the laurel hedge, they crossed the second 
 garden, and then Servili unlocked the iron 
 gates in the high wall, and admitted her into 
 the Countess Castiglioni's grounds. 
 
 " Now, Marcella, make haste, and mind and 
 tell the Signor Devereux, if he is still at the 
 villa, not to be rash ; to do as I have told him in 
 my letter, and not to attempt force here, for 
 the Signor Barracco has ten armed men guard- 
 ing the house." 
 
 So saying, the Signor retired, leaving the 
 iron door unlocked. 
 
 "Madonna !" muttered Marcella, as she 
 pushed her way through the thick shrubberies, 
 "it's frightfully dark ; I cannot make out the 
 path."
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 165 
 
 Pushing violently through a tuft of ever- 
 greens, poor Marcella tripped, and to her 
 amazement and terror, fell into the arms of a 
 man, who very tenderly caught her up. 
 
 " Ah ! Holy Mother ! what will become of 
 me this night ? I'm doomed to — " 
 
 " Who are you," interrupted the stranger ; 
 u you have a very nice little waist, and a very 
 pretty voice. What can a young maiden like 
 you be doing here at this time of night?" 
 
 The tone of voice and the gentle manner of 
 the stranger satisfied Marcella that the speaker 
 was a gentleman. Gently releasing her waist 
 from his arm, Marcella said, very demurely, 
 u Pray, Signor, who are you ? for I am going 
 to the Countess de Castiglioni's mansion, and 
 did not expect to meet any one on the grounds, 
 and I am in great haste." 
 
 " Are you one of the Countess Barracco's 
 attendants ?" asked the stranger. " I suspect 
 you are — perhaps your name is Marcella." 
 
 " Oh ! blessed Madonna ! you must be the 
 noble gentleman who saved my life the other
 
 166 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 day," exclaimed Marcella, considerably agi- 
 tated, 
 
 "Yes, yes," said Percy Devereux, with a 
 start ; " and happy I am that I did so. Tell 
 me, is there anything wrong with your mis- 
 tress?" 
 
 Marcella, with tears in her eyes, took our 
 hero's hand and kissed it, saying, 
 
 "I never saw you to thank you, noble 
 signor ;" but Percy Devereux, stooping, 
 kissed the "young girl's cheek, saying, "Let us 
 go to the house ; I know that there is some- 
 thing wrong. I suspect that smooth-tongued 
 Jesuit has ensnared your mistress, and will 
 play ns false. I felt uneasy, and before 
 leaving for Genoa resolved to observe how 
 affairs were at the Barracco mansion. I have 
 the key of the gate ; and if you say there is 
 any deceit practising against the Countess, I 
 will go immediately and demand an interview 
 with the Signor." 
 
 "No, no, no, Signor," cried Marcella, 
 eagerly ; " the saints forbid ! If you went to
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 167 
 
 tlie house blood would surely be slied — the 
 Signor Barracco has ten armed retainers in the 
 mansion. Ah ! there are the lights ; we are 
 close to the house. I have a letter for you, 
 Signor, and one for the Countess, which will 
 explain all, and how you are to act. Now I 
 had better go back, for the Signor Servili told 
 me to lose no time. I came out of a window, 
 and he will meet me and smuggle me in again ; 
 so that I may be with my lady, and the Signor 
 Barracco know nothing about my absence." 
 
 " Perhaps you are right, Marcella," returned 
 Percy, taking the two notes ; M tell your 
 mistress to fear nothing — she shall be pro- 
 tected; and now, my pretty Marcella, cling to 
 your mistress, and accept this from me, and 
 when you wed Antonio the Lucky — and lucky 
 he will be in earnest in having you for a wife 
 — let this be worn on your bridal day in re- 
 membrance of me." 
 
 And unhooking a remarkably handsome 
 and valuable Venetian worked gold chain
 
 168 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 from his watch, he dropped it over her neck, 
 and pressing her hand, hurried to the house. 
 
 Marcella stood for a moment bewildered. 
 
 " He's gone — he is a noble gentleman. The 
 Madonna send I may see my beloved mistress 
 the wife of this gallant Signor." 
 
 Marcella then hurried back, passed through 
 the iron gate, and crossed the garden. All 
 was still ; she scrambled through the laurel 
 hedge, and the next moment ran against 
 Servili. 
 
 " Ah ! per Bacco •' you are back soon ; did 
 you deliver the letters, Marcella?" 
 
 " I did, and to the captain himself. I met 
 him in the shrubbery coming here." 
 
 " Ah ! Diavolo ! that would have led to 
 mischief; but come, there is no time for talk ; 
 you must go up through the window again." 
 
 " Madonna !" exclaimed Marcella, " that's 
 impossible — I'm not a cat." 
 
 "No," returned Servili ; " cats have not 
 such well-shaped legs as you possess ; but
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 169 
 
 come, I have a ladder ready for you to mount, 
 and then tap at the window. I have not been 
 near ; I found this ladder in the tool-house.' 
 
 So saying, they proceeded cautiously to the 
 mansion, and, listening for a moment and 
 finding all still, they got beneath Camilla's 
 window. There was a light in the room. 
 
 " Give this note to your mistress," said the 
 Secretary of the Signor Barracco, " and tell 
 her to fear not, but that it would be worse 
 than useless to resist the Signor Barracco's 
 projects; obey quietly, and depend on assis- 
 tance." 
 
 Marcella mounted the ladder, tapped as 
 she had been desired, and was immediately 
 answered by the amazed Countess, who never 
 dreamed of Marcella' s returning that way ; 
 indeed, she never expected her back, for she 
 knew she dare not return and knock for 
 admission. Joyfully opening the window, 
 Marcella entered ; the ladder was instantly 
 removed, and the shutter closed. 
 
 vol. 1. r
 
 170 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 Pekcy Devereux, with a feeling of great un- 
 easiness, hastened into the house, and found 
 the Countess Castiglioni still in the sitting- 
 room, 
 
 M Well, Percy," she said, looking up into 
 his face, " I am glad you are back. I did not 
 feel very comfortable during your absence. 
 You did not, I suppose, pass through the iron 
 gate?" 
 
 " No, indeed, Laura, for I met Camilla's 
 favourite attendant struggling through the 
 shrubbery, coming here with a note from 
 Camilla for you, and one from a person in
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 171 
 
 ike Signor Barracco's establishment, called 
 Servili." 
 
 " All !" cried the Countess, eagerly, u there 
 is something wrong. I told you I had no 
 faith in that intemperate man's promises. He 
 intends playing us false." 
 
 u Here's your note, Laura ; I am anxious to 
 read mine," and breaking the seal, he com- 
 menced reading. 
 
 " Good heaven !" exclaimed the Countess. 
 a The Count is going to carry off Camilla this 
 very night," 
 
 Percy strode across the room and pulled 
 the bell, saying to the Countess, 
 
 u Tear Laura, order my horse at once to 
 the door — there is not a moment to lose. I 
 must sail this night if I can, or at all events 
 before dawn." 
 
 " What does Servili say ? Though secre- 
 tary to Beppo, he loves the ground Camilla 
 treads upon. He dearly reverenced her 
 father, whose secretary he also was, and who 
 left him quite independent, but for some 
 
 i 2
 
 172 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 reason of his own he accepted the post of 
 secretary to Beppo. What does he say?" 
 
 " What a fool and dolt I was !" exclaimed 
 Percy, passionately, but the attendant entering 
 the room caused him to pause. 
 
 " Annette," said the Countess," tellJacoino 
 to order the Signor Devereux's horse to be 
 saddled and brought round quickly to the 
 door." 
 
 u It is a fearfully dark night, my lady," and 
 Annette looked into Commander Devereux's 
 face. 
 
 u Quite light enough, Annette," said our 
 hero. u Do not lose time, for I must gallop 
 nearly all the way. Luckily I ordered the 
 yacht to be taken out of the Arsenal yester- 
 day ) so she is lying ready for sea." 
 
 When Annette closed the door, Percy 
 Devereux said, 
 
 " The Signor Servili writes that Beppo Bar- 
 racco sails at daybreak from Voltri, with his 
 niece, in the Polacca brig the l Bella Donna/ 
 bound for Civita Vecchia. Once in Borne, to
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 173 
 
 rescue Camilla from the power of the Church, 
 would be impossible ; to attempt to take her 
 from his house would be a terrible risk, and 
 would end, if attempted, in loss of life, as he 
 has ten unscrupulous armed retainers guard- 
 ing the house.' , 
 
 "But what does Servili advise?" asked the 
 Countess, eagerly and anxiously. 
 
 u He says that as time is precious, we have 
 but one course to pursue : for me to put to 
 sea immediately in my yacht, and get within 
 clear view of the vessels lying close in 
 shore opposite the town of Voltri. He 
 minutely describes the Polacca brig that 
 Beppo Barracco has hired to convey him and 
 his niece and attendants to Civita Vecchia, so 
 that that there may be no possibility of mis- 
 taking her. The brig he says, is a fast one, and 
 carries a captain, two mates, and eight sailors. 
 I am to keep this vessel in sight till she 
 is clear of the land, then run her aboard 
 and take the Countess and her female attend- 
 ants into the yacht, make for Malta, and there
 
 174 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 marry the Countess, which would at once put 
 an end to Beppo Barracco's schemes." 
 
 " That is a hazardous plan," said the 
 Countess, seriously ; u still, T see no other 
 course to pursue, as it would be a far greater 
 risk to attack the Count and his retainers on 
 their way to the vessel ; besides, we could not 
 get half a dozen men we could depend upon. 
 Blood would surely be shed, and the law 
 would then claim its victims. Servili is ri^ht. 
 If you manage to carry Camilla off without 
 injury to anyone in the brig, no ill conse- 
 quences may follow, for the Signor Barracco 
 knows he is acting with perfidious deception 
 and also illegally. He will shun publicity." 
 
 "There shall be no injury inflicted on any- 
 one," said our hero. " I have fourteen fine 
 young fellows on board the yacht ; the crew 
 of a small trading vessel will offer no resist- 
 ance, depend on that. Ha ! There is my 
 horse. Adieu, dear Laura — a thousand 
 thanks for all your kindness and deep anxiety 
 for Camilla's welfare. I have numerous
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 175 
 
 friends in Malta. Captain Vansittart's wife 
 and daughters reside there, and under their 
 protection I will place Camilla till we get 
 married. I will write immediately I reach 
 the island.'' 
 
 " God bless you, Percy, and the dear girl 
 also ; and may He protect you both through 
 this, to me, apparently dangerous trial." 
 
 " Eemember me to the dear children ; and 
 when you write and tell me this affair bears 
 no injurious consequences, I will return to 
 Genoa." 
 
 Devereux mounted his horse, and lighted 
 by a flambeau through the avenue to the 
 lodge gate, gained the road. It was an 
 exceedingly dark night, but after a time the 
 great obscurity passed off, a break occurring 
 in the cloudy sky. Pushing on at a rapid rate, 
 the seven miles between Sester and Genoa 
 were soon passed, and the outer gates of 
 the latter were reached. Shewing his night 
 pass, he was instantly admitted, and in two 
 minutes more, he passed through the Strada
 
 176 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 Balbi, and drew bridle in the court yard of 
 the Croce del Malta. The ostlers looked sur- 
 prised at the foam that covered the sleek sides 
 of the horse, but giving them a dollar, he 
 said " See th at he is thoroughly dried before 
 you make him up for the night." He hurried 
 into the hotel and summoned his man 
 Phillips. 
 
 Tom soon made his appearance, 
 
 " You rode hard, sir. I have just been to 
 the stable, and — " 
 
 "Tell me, Tom,*' interrupted Percy 
 Devereux, showing considerable anxiety ; 
 "has the yacht been taken out of the 
 Arsenal ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir, Mr. Blowhard warped her out 
 yesterday, she lies just off the Arsenal." 
 
 " How fortunate ! Now, Tom, be alive ; 
 pack up a few things, and get ready for us to 
 go aboard at once. I must clear the harbour 
 before daybreak. Send the landlord to me. 
 I must have some provisions better than the 
 ship's present larder can afford. It's now
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 177 
 
 eleven o'clock ; we must get on board before 
 twelve, or the sea gates will be closed. 
 
 Money is a powerful agent for accomplish- 
 ing one's wishes. It is almost magical. Our 
 hero and his valet and two large hampers of 
 choice provisions were stowed away in the 
 boat of Antonio the Lucky, who was roused 
 from his slumbers to carry them to the yacht. 
 
 In a few minutes they were alongside the 
 " Wild Gazelle," just as the great bell of the 
 Annunciata tolled the midnight hour. As 
 Devereux placed a Napoleon in the hands 
 of Antonio, who resisted as long as he 
 could taking any remuneration, our hero 
 said — 
 
 <l Not two hours ago, I saw, and was speak- 
 ing to your pretty Marcella; she has done me 
 a great service — very great indeed, and it will 
 not be forgotten, I assure you.'' 
 
 u Our lives are at your service, noble 
 Signer," replied the young waterman, grate- 
 fully. " You saved one who is dearer to me 
 than life." 
 
 i 5
 
 178 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 The watch on the deck of the schooner 
 were amazed when their commander appeared 
 amongst them. 
 
 " Now, my lads, call all hands up. I will 
 rouse Mr. Blowhard, and let us be ready for 
 sea in as short a time as possible." 
 
 Entering the cabin, Tom commenced stow- 
 ing away the contents of the hampers, whilst 
 Mr. Blowhard dressed himself with all the 
 haste his one arm admitted. 
 
 u Bless me, sir !" exclaimed the old salt, as 
 he entered the cabin, u nothing wrong, sir — 
 nothing — w 
 
 " Well, nothing, old boy," returned Percy 
 Devereux, " that I can tell you now. I want 
 the schooner to be off Voltri by break of day. 
 There's a breeze from the land now, so go on 
 deck, and see that we are under weigh at 
 once. By the bye, what provisions have 
 you T 
 
 " Well, sir, if it's not a very long cruise, 
 we are pretty well off — quite abundance of 
 everything for the crew, but — "
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 179 
 
 " Ah !" interrupted our hero, who was 
 quietly divesting himself of his shore-going 
 toggery, as Jack styles it, " if you mean that I 
 require anything better, rest satisfied. I have 
 brought some choice refreshments in the 
 hampers Tom is storing away, for I expect 
 visitors in the female line, with whom our 
 sea stores might not agree. Look sharp, and 
 let us clear the harbour." And putting on 
 his pea jacket, Devereux and old Blowhard 
 ascended on deck. 
 
 The schooner's topsails were set, her main- 
 sail up, and the anchor just breaking ground, 
 and in less than ten minutes the " Wild 
 Gazelle" was gliding over the still waters of 
 the port, with a fresh breeze from the north. 
 
 The " Gazelle" was soon under all her can- 
 vas, and being strong-handed, the deck was 
 quickly in first-rate order, the ropes coiled, 
 boats stowed, &c, &c. 
 
 Having cleared the Pharo, and shaped a 
 course for Voltri, but intending to keep some 
 five miles off from the town, our hero gave
 
 180 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 the helm to one of the crew, and having told 
 the steward to serve wine and refresh- 
 ments on the cabin table, he instructed Mr* 
 Blowhard to descend with him and take a 
 glass of grog. 
 
 Now the old skipper could take a glass of 
 grog at all hours ; it mattered nothing to him 
 whether it was twelve at night, or the same 
 hour in the forenoon. Nevertheless, though 
 liking his allowance, he was always in mode- 
 ration. 
 
 " Now, my friend/' said Devereus, when 
 they had filled their glasses, " I will tell you 
 the cause of this hasty cruise of mine. By 
 the way, we have left all our papers ashore r 
 but no matter — but that I may not lead you 
 into a scrimmage blind -folded, I — " 
 
 "Well, blow me! Captain Devereux, you 
 need only say do so-and-so, and may I be 
 spliced — which thanks he to old Neptune, 1 
 never was, and never will be — if I don't do 
 it, if I were to lose my life." 
 
 " I know that, old ship-mate ; but you see
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 181 
 
 we think differently on the subject of matri- 
 mony. You never had your precious neck in 
 a noose of that kind. Now, I am going just 
 to try fiow the yoke will suit me." 
 
 The old salt swallowed his smoking-hot 
 grog at a draught, which made his full, round 
 face look like the sun in a fog, for the strength 
 and heat of the punch nearly choked the old 
 tar, he was so amazed. 
 
 His commander laughed heartily, and then, 
 in a few words, stated he was running for 
 Voltri, to watch the movements of a Polacca- 
 rigged brig, named the " Bella Dorina ;" that 
 in this brig there was a young lady of rank, 
 to whom he was betrothed, and her guardian 
 being a rank Jesuit, and very bigoted, was 
 carrying off the lady to make her a nun. 
 Percy Devereux then stated that he intended 
 running alongside the Polacca brig, and 
 carry off the lady and her female attendants, 
 and then steer for Malta. 
 
 The old skipper listened with singular at- 
 tention. That he was astonished, was appar-
 
 182 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 ent, but only astonished that his commander, 
 whom he considered one of the finest, bravest, 
 and handsomest men in the navy, should 
 have to take so much trouble to make him- 
 self, as he considered, miserable ; but he 
 rut bed his hands and said, 
 
 "All right, sir; we'll soon overhaul this 
 Polacca brig." 
 
 " But mind, my old comrade, when you 
 put the crew up to my intentions, there must 
 be no injury inflicted on the crew of the brig. 
 Merely keep them quiet, though I scarcely 
 think they will offer any resistance ; if they 
 do, we must overpower them without blood- 
 shed." 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir, we can easily do that. No 
 necessity to use either fire-arms or cutlasses. 
 Boat stretchers will be quite enough. We 
 are a strong crew, and none of these Italian 
 merchant craft have more than eight or ten 
 for a crew, including captain and mate." 
 
 a Now you understand me," said our hero, 
 " all will go right. In two hours or less,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 183 
 
 you will be close enough, then brace jour 
 topsails aback and wait for day light. I will 
 just lie down for a couple of hours on the 
 sofa. Let all but the watch go and take their 
 rest." 
 
 Our hero threw himself on a sofa, more to 
 think than seeking rest. He was not without 
 some anxiety, for there was a possibility of 
 failure. The Signor Barracco might change 
 his tactics, and instead of putting to sea, 
 pursue, his purpose by land. However the 
 case might be, Percy Devereux continued, 
 instead of sleeping, to torment his mind, and 
 perplex his thoughts, till at last he jumped 
 up, at the expiration of the two hours, and 
 proceeded on deck. His first look was aloft 5 
 the sky was overcast. He then walked up to 
 his skipper, who declined going to his cot, 
 and asked him what he thought of the wea- 
 ther. 
 
 " Well, sir, there's still a breeze off the 
 land; but it comes in fitful puffs." 
 
 u The sky is too overcast for the tramon-
 
 184 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 tana, " observed Captain Devereux, " and 
 there's a considerable ground swell I think, 
 before manv hours are over, we shall have a 
 breeze from the south west ; the swell sets in 
 from that quarter." 
 
 u Aye, aye, sir ! sure fore-runner of what 
 the Italians in Genoa call ' Le Bechia,' but 
 I am just thinking, sir, that your best plan 
 will be not to stand too close in for Voltri, 
 for if this Polacca brig is a fast sailer — and 
 you say, sir, that they are carrying away this 
 young lady against her will — there will be a 
 sharp look out kept, and if they sight this 
 craft, hovering about the bay, they will 
 suspect something, as she's not an every day 
 looking craft ; but as to the brig out-running 
 us, that's -all moonshine. She must be a 
 clipper, built by some one not born, that will 
 beat the ' Wild Gazelle.' " 
 
 u I'm not afraid of that, old comrade, but 
 I think you are quite right not to attract 
 observation till the brig gets well clear of the 
 land, so now stretch across the gulf, and then
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 185 
 
 put about, and keep just at a sufficient distance 
 to be able to make out with our glasses tbe 
 different crafts anchored before Voltri." 
 
 Having reached across the gulf, the 
 schooner was put about, and with her fore 
 sheet to windward was allowed to forge 
 slowly ahead. The commander paced the 
 deck, anxiously regarding the land as the 
 dawn appeared and made objects dimly 
 visible. The roll of the swell came more 
 rapidly in from the south west, whilst puffs 
 of wind from the land were felt at intervals. 
 The weather was sultry, and over the land 
 hung dark clouds, whilst to seaward the 
 dense masses seemed to heave up with a 
 southerly breeze. 
 
 As soon as the town of Voltri appeared in 
 sight, some four or five miles to windward, 
 Percy Devereux, who held a very powerful 
 magnifying glass in his hand, fixed his gaze 
 upon the cluster of vessels, anchored off the 
 town. Voltri, a small town situated at the 
 termination of the gulf of the same name, has
 
 186 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 no port or shelter from any wind save the 
 tramontane and in southerly gales any 
 vessel caught at anchor before it is almost 
 sure to be driven ashore and wrecked by the 
 tremendous sea that runs into the gulf., 
 Very large vessels are built at Voltri, and a 
 considerable trade carried on with coasting 
 vessels. Already the aspect of the weather, 
 and the ground swell that broke upon the 
 beach, appeared to frighten the captains of, 
 the feluccas, and tartanes, and xebecques, 
 anchored before the town, for they were all 
 busy making sail and heaving up their 
 anchors. 
 
 " I have her now," said Devereux, speak- 
 ing to old Blowhard, " she is the only square 
 rigged craft at anchor, and she is making 
 sail ; her topsails are up and sheeted home ; 
 she will be under weigh in ten minutes. 
 Let our fore sheet draw, and keep away a 
 little more to the southward." 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir ! I can make her out ; she's 
 filling her topsails, and now, as she turns her
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 187 
 
 starn to the town, I can see a white form for 
 a figure head." 
 
 " Yes," returned our hero. " That's the 
 4 Bella Donna,' and she looks a handsome 
 craft."
 
 188 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 At the western extremity of the town or 
 Voltri, was a large, rambling old building, 
 once a place of some pretensions, and which 
 might even once have been styled a Palazzo. 
 It was five hundred yards from any other 
 building, and close to the steep shingly 
 beach which protected the town from the 
 furious sea, that in heavy gales break with 
 the noise of thunder upon this strong rampart 
 of defence. 
 
 In the year 1860, this old building was 
 turned into a tolerable hostelry, for it had 
 numerous chambers, and most extensive 
 stables, formerly used by the great body of
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 189 
 
 muleteers that traversed, with merchandise, 
 the mountain roads and sea shores of the 
 Eivieri de Ponenti. This traffic still exists, 
 but greatly diminished by steam on land and 
 sea. 
 
 On the night that the Signor Barracco 
 made up his mind to hire the Polacca brig, 
 the a Bella Donna,'' this hostelry, called 
 the " Savoy Arms," was crowded with men, 
 all wearing the well known red shirts and 
 slouched beavers of the Garibaldians ; but 
 these men were carefully screened from 
 observation, by being confined to chambers 
 in the back of the building. In a front 
 chamber on the ground floor, five individuals 
 were seated, on each side of a large oak 
 table, on which were placed divers flasks of 
 wine, glasses, bowls, pots of tobacco, and a 
 pile of clay pipes. The occupants were 
 drinking, smoking, and talking at intervals. 
 The most conspicuous amongst them was a 
 tall, bony, and very powerful man, about 
 forty years old, a type of a class now nearly
 
 190 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 extinct. One hundred years ago, he would 
 have been classed with those pests of Genoa 
 the half assassin, or bravo, and Ligurian 
 gentleman ; and in 1860, might be termed a 
 reckless adventurer. He wore the tarnished 
 uniform of some extinct Sardinian regiment, 
 with the addition of the Garibaldi red shirt. 
 
 In his broad belt he had stuck a brace of 
 four-barrelled revolvers and a sheathed 
 stiletto ; he wore boots to the knees ; and lying 
 on the table were a dirty, well-used pair of 
 gauntlet gloves ; his features were coarse and 
 repulsive, but his thick, black moustache and 
 whiskers and short beard nearly hid the 
 whole of his face, leaving only a pair of dark, 
 sparkling, restless eyes to be seen ; his head 
 was covered by a thick mass of jet black 
 hair, almost lying on his shoulders. He called 
 himself Colonel Carlo Eiotti ; he sat at the 
 head of the table. 
 
 Next him was the skipper of the " Bella 
 Donna," a man of middle height, broad should- 
 ered, and with a round bullet head, massive
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 191 
 
 features, and a skin the colour of mahogany ; 
 there was, however, nothing whatever re- 
 pulsive in his features. The other three men 
 were mariners — the first and second mates of 
 the Polacca brig and the steward. 
 
 Colonel Carlo Eiotti had hired the brig 
 after Beppo Barracco had landed, to cany 
 himself and forty- five volunteers to Sicily, to 
 join Garibaldi. 
 
 When the Signor Servili, the secretary of 
 the Signor Barracco, had gone to seek the 
 skipper of the "Bella Donna," he had met him 
 at a small cabana or venta, in the town ; 
 therefore he made the arrangement without 
 being aware that the pardone had engaged to 
 take on board the brig, Colonel Riotti and 
 his forty-five wild adventurers. 
 
 The skipper was a man who would do any- 
 thing for money ; therefore, without any hesi- 
 tation whatever he let the brig, and the entire 
 use of the cabin to the Signor Barracco, and 
 agreed to land him and his family at Civita 
 Vecchia.
 
 192 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 As soon as the Signor Servili left him, he 
 began to think how he should manage with 
 Colonel Eiotti. Notwithstanding the war- 
 like and reckless manner and appearance of 
 the redoubtable colonel, the captain of the 
 "Bella Donna" was not at all afraid of him. He 
 was only thinking of how he could manage to 
 cany him and his attendants and the Signor 
 Beppo and his niece and female attendants. 
 
 Meeting his two mates and his steward, he 
 took them with him to the Savoy Arms, and 
 they and Colonel Carlo Eiotti sat down for 
 a drinking bout. 
 
 Such was the party we beg to introduce 
 our readers to. 
 
 The skipper knocking the ashes out of his 
 pipe, and commencing to fill it again, said, 
 looking up into the Colonel's face — 
 
 " 1 think, Colonel Eiotti, I can make a 
 good bit of this voyage." 
 
 " Cente diavolos" exclaimed the Colonel, 
 " I think you have. Haven't I agreed to pay 
 you a thousand piastres for landing me and
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 193 
 
 my battalion on the west coast of Sicily? 
 Haven't I paid you five hundred in advance?" 
 
 u All right, arnica" said the skipper, filling 
 his glass ; " all fair and above board ; but 
 look at the risk I run. If I am caught by a 
 [Neapolitan cruiser, it's all up with the 4 Bella 
 Donna.' " 
 
 " Corjjo de diavolof'' fiercely exclaimed 
 the Colonel, his eyes Sashing as he looked at 
 the skipper, " what are you driving at ?" 
 
 u I'll tell you, Colonel, but don't get into a 
 passion, for I think you yourself will feel 
 pleased at what I have done." 
 
 u Say what you have done !" roared the 
 Colonel, exasperated at the coolness of the 
 skipper. 
 
 " Why, you see, I was obliged to let the 
 cabin in my ship to the Signer Barracco/' 
 
 Colonel Biotti knocked over his glass of 
 liquor, dropped his pipe, and sank back in 
 his chair, glancing at the skipper as he said, 
 
 " What, rascal ! Let the cabin to who, 
 
 VOL. 1. K
 
 194 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 after iny bargain for it, and paying my five 
 hundred piastres down ?" 
 
 He laid his hand on one of his pistols, and 
 was pulling it out, when he saw the captain's 
 two mates — strong, able men — instantly un- 
 sheath their long-bladed, formidable knives. 
 
 " Be easy, Colonel ; one would think I was 
 going to cheat you, and sail without you, 
 instead of which I am doing you a service. 
 Do you know, without the Signor Barracco's 
 influence with the customs, I could not sail 
 at daybreak, and if it was known I was going 
 to embark your followers, there would be a 
 stopper put upon my sailing altogether. 
 Didn't I tell you it was rumoured that an 
 order was issued by the authorities in Genoa 
 to stop all vessels sailing with recruits for 
 Garibaldi. I have just heard that it is a fact. 
 Now, by my taking the Signor Barracco and 
 his beautiful niece, who is a countess in her 
 own right, and a wealthy heiress — " 
 
 " Eh !" interrupted the colonel, thrusting 
 his fingers through his beard and whiskers,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 195 
 
 and looking vivacious, " how old is this 
 countess? You say she is handsome, and an 
 heiress ; tell me all about her." 
 
 The skipper laughed, rubbed his strong, 
 horny hands, and said — 
 
 U I thought I would let you in for a good 
 thing. A fine, personal man like yourself, 
 scarcely fifty — " 
 
 " Cente diavolos ! say forty, amicoT 
 
 u Well, forty, I meant. You see, Colonel, 
 the Signor Barracco is afraid his niece will 
 run away with a heretic Englishman, and as 
 the Signor is a true son of Mother Church, he 
 is taking her at once out of the way ; he will 
 take her to Rome, and put her in a convent." 
 
 " Sacristi! that must not be," muttered 
 Riotti ; u better take me for a husband 
 than become a nun. I would show her the 
 world, and she need not be ashamed of me — 
 a full colonel, and of a noble family." 
 
 He had never heard of his father, but his 
 mother had been a somewhat notorious charac- 
 ter in Milan. 
 
 K '2
 
 196 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " Well, that's your business, not mine,' 7 
 said the skipper. u Are you satisfied to let 
 the ladies have the cabin ? Your men, you 
 know, have the hold fitted up for them, and 
 you can have my small cabin to yourself, or 
 shall I go back from my bargain with the 
 Signer Barracco and wait till the customs are 
 open ?" 
 
 " Diavolo ! No. Are you mad ? No ; 
 certainly let the Signor and the lady have the 
 entire cabin to themselves." 
 
 " Well, then, the best thing we can do," 
 observed the skipper, inwardly congratulating- 
 himself on the success of his plans, and the 
 goodly sum he would receive for the voyage 
 of the a Bella Donna," and troubling himself 
 very little about the absurd projects of the 
 Garibaldian adventurer. " The best thing you 
 can do is to immediately embark your men 
 before they get too drunk to manage them 
 quietly. Besides, the Signor Barcacco must 
 have no suspicion that the "Bella Donna" has 
 so redoubtable a personage aboard as the 
 valiant Colonel Carlo Biotti."
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 197 
 
 a Are the two large boats ashore, mates?" 
 msked the skipper, turning to his mates, who 
 were quietly smoking, and imbibing enough 
 wine to swamp any ordinary head. 
 
 " Yes, under the shelter of the three rocks 
 that break the surf now running in," replied 
 one of the men. u I think when this land 
 wind dies out, we shall have a rough gale 
 from seaward." 
 
 " Well, then, colonel, get your men quietly 
 *io the beach ; it's dark as pitch," said the 
 skipper, "and we shall have just time to get 
 you all aboard before the Signor Barracco 
 •comes to embark." 
 
 " Well, I think it would be a good move. 
 ;Some of my men are raw recruits, and some 
 of them not very easily managed ; but I'll 
 manage them." 
 
 Ascending to the upper chambers, in which 
 were assembled a motly group of penniless 
 adventurers, all eager to embark and conquer 
 a kingdom, and each individually thinking 
 himself a hero. Yet more than the half of
 
 198 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 thein were the very scum of Turin, Milan, and 
 Genoa — shoeless, penniless vagabonds, picked 
 up by a greater vagabond than themselves. 
 The Colonel, as he styled himself, was a dis- 
 charged sergeant, having abundance of im- 
 pudence, and sticking at nothing in the way 
 of falsehood. He had passed himself off as a 
 colonel upon one of the GaribaJdian agents, 
 as an enthusiast in the cause of his country's 
 freedom. He was supplied with funds, and 
 employed to collect recruits to join Garibaldi 
 in Sicily. Recruits he found, by holding out 
 golden prospects, plunder, and as little fight- 
 ing as possible. 
 
 On entering the chambers where the men 
 were stowed away, he found them seated in 
 various attitudes, and on every available 
 article of furniture the house afforded. On 
 the tables were various kinds of eatables — 
 bread, jars of wine, and a variety of drinking 
 utensils. 
 
 A bout a dozen of these men were deserters 
 from the regular army, and were considered
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 199 
 
 of value, as they could drill the others, and, 
 besides, they could fight as well as plunder. 
 On these Colonel Eiotti depended a great 
 deal in keeping his unruly recruits in order ; 
 and as they were well-armed and the others 
 but indifferently so, they succeeded in keeping 
 a kind of obedience to orders. They were 
 all now mustered, and after sundry oaths and 
 invectives against the officers for disturbing 
 them, they were got quietly out of the house, 
 inarched to the beach, embarked, and safely 
 stowed away in the hold of the " Bella 
 Donna," which had been roughly prepared 
 for their reception. The boats were then 
 pulled back to the beaeh to wait for the 
 presence of the Signor Barracco and his 
 family. 
 
 We now return to the mansion of the 
 Signor Barraco. The Jesuit was busily em- 
 ployed preparing for embarkation, perfectly 
 satisfied that not a soul had left the house or 
 •entered it, since giving orders to that effect, 
 save the Signor Servili, in whom he placed
 
 200 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 the most unbounded confidence. He congra- 
 tulated himself on the success of his project 
 for defeating the plans of the heretic English- 
 man and his degenerate nieee 7 who dared to- 
 fly from the holy asylum he had prepared for 
 her reception, and where her days would foe 
 passed in penitence and prayer, and herself 
 prepared for a blessed hereafter ;. instead of 
 which he shuddered with horror at the 
 thought that she preferred destroying her 
 mothers soul and her ov\n y by flinging her- 
 self into the arms of an accursed foreigner 
 and heretic. 
 
 We must confess that the Signor Barraeco 
 had no worldly motives in thus acting. He 
 coveted none of his niece's fortune — the- 
 church should have it all ; he was a man; 
 body and soul devoted to the Romish Church. 
 A perfect Jesuit, he considered all means fair 
 and approved of by the Deity 7 so that the 
 end prospered. He never bestowed a thought 
 upon the sufferings he was so anxious to in- 
 flict on his niece, and his passionate nature.,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 201 
 
 inflamed by the meeting with the English- 
 man, who had dared to seduce his niece from 
 her religion and duty, drove him to adopt 
 measures harsh, cruel, and oppressive. 
 
 Camilla, in the meantime, having helped 
 Marcella in through the window, closed it, 
 her heart beating almost audibly with anxiety 
 and fear of being discovered ; and then, 
 sinking into a chair, said,, in an agitated 
 voice, 
 
 u How quickly you are back, Marcella ; I 
 never expected that you would be able to get 
 
 here." 
 
 "Ah! Madonna!" returned the girl, " do 
 you think, my lady, T would let you be carried 
 off, and I not accompany you?" 
 
 " But who could dream of your getting 
 back ? I knew the man who helped you to 
 mount to the window was my dear lamented 
 father's secretary, the Signor Servili. What 
 brought him out to meet you ? was he the 
 man that caught you getting out of the 
 window ?" 
 
 a 5
 
 202 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " Yes, my lady, the same. Ah ! how 
 startled I was when I felt my legs grasped by 
 a man's hand, Madonna ! I thought I should 
 faint. Suppose it had been the Signor Bar- 
 racco !" 
 
 "Then," anxiously interrupted the young 
 Countess, "then you got safe to the Coun- 
 tess' r 
 
 " Oh ! yes, Signora ; but 1 again fell into a 
 man's arms, pushing through the shrubbery 
 — I thought it was all over with me then." 
 
 " A man out at that time of the night in 
 the Countess' garden !" said Camilla. " Who 
 was he ?" 
 
 " Madonna ! the very person I wanted to 
 see. I was caught up by the Signor 
 Devereux so tenderly, he was coming to 
 have a look at the house." 
 
 " Oh !" exclaimed Camilla, turning pale. 
 " Why run such a risk ? — if discovered, those 
 retainers of my uncle would surely have fired 
 at him." 
 
 " So I told him, my lady, and then he re-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 203 
 
 fleeted, and took the notes, and told me to go 
 back and rejoin the Signor Servili, and be 
 sure to get back to you and tell you to have 
 no fear, that he would watch over and protect 
 you. I therefore rejoined the Signor, and he 
 got a ladder, and thus I got luckily back ; 
 and here is a note the Signor Servili gave 
 me for you. Ah! he is a good man, is the 
 Signor." 
 
 " God bless him ! He was my lamented 
 father's fast friend, as well as secretary, and 
 he has often told me in secret that he became 
 my uncle's secretary solely to watch over my 
 interests. Now let me see what he says." 
 
 The Countess read the note over twice, and 
 then, holding it to the lamp, let it consume 
 into ashes. 
 
 Camilla remained silent and thoughtful, and 
 Marcella, gazing into her features, said, 
 
 " Pardon me, my lady, but what does the 
 Signor say ?" 
 
 Camilla aroused herself, replying,
 
 204 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 11 1 was thinking, Marcella ; but I will tell 
 you what the Signor says. He has instructed 
 Commander Devereux how to proceed in 
 rescuing me. He is to follow the brig and 
 run along side and take us out, and then 
 carry us to Malta, and — n 
 
 Camilla hesitated, and the colour came to» 
 her cheek and temple. 
 
 " And then, my lady ?" put in Marcella, her 
 pretty features betraying considerable curi- 
 osity. 
 
 " Why,"' returned the Countess, u the 
 Signor Servili says the best thing Captain 
 Devereux can do will be to marry me." 
 
 a The saints be praised, my lady !" ex- 
 claimed the young girl, clapping her hands ? 
 and her eyes sparkling ; u he's quite right — 
 once married, my lady, it is all up with your 
 being made a nun. Oh ! how delightful ; I 
 wish Antonio was to be of the party/' 
 
 Camilla could not repress a smile. 
 
 " Well, the only thing I dread, Marcella, is
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 205 
 
 that my uncle, being a man of furious temper, 
 may, as he always goes armed, in his fury do 
 some mischief." 
 
 " Oh ! I have no fear of that, my lady ; 
 the merchant vessel will only have a few 
 men, and the captain's beautiful yacht has 
 fourteen or fifteen fine young men as crew." 
 
 A knock at the outward door made mistress 
 and maid start. 
 
 " Go and see, Marcella, who is there, for the 
 door I locked and bolted." 
 
 Marcella ran to the door. 
 
 " Who's there ?" cried the girl. 
 
 " Humph !" muttered the voice of the 
 Signor Barracco ; " you are up still ; open 
 the door and let me see what packages you 
 have got ready to send on board." 
 
 u I can't do any such thing," said Marcella, 
 promptly. " I'm undressed and my mistress 
 is in bed. "We have only two boxes — that's 
 not too much." 
 
 "You are a saucy minx," retorted the 
 Signor ; " tell your mistress she must be
 
 206 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 ready in two hours, and that I will take the 
 two boxes, though I do not see what she 
 wants with more than one." 
 
 " Ah ! Madonna, I want one myself," said 
 Marcella, sharply. 
 
 " Corpo dt Bacco /" exclaimed the Signor, 
 angrily ; " I'm not going to take you — your 
 tongue is too long and too sharp." 
 
 " Ha !" said Marcella, a little startled, 
 " then my mistress will not go at all." 
 
 44 We shall see,'' said the signor, in a sneer- 
 ing tone. 
 
 Camilla approached the door. 
 
 M Indeed, uncle," she said mildly, u you 
 are very harsh ; but I positively will not stir 
 from this house without Marcella. I do not 
 understand why I should be so treated." 
 
 "Well, well, do not be angry, Camilla," 
 replied her uncle, " I only wanted to frighten 
 the girl. She has a sharp tongue. You had 
 better take a couple of hours' sleep. I will 
 rouse you in time." So saying, he retired. 
 
 " There's a spiteful old hum — " Marcella
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 207 
 
 checked herself, saying, "is he not very 
 heartless, wanting to separate me from you?" 
 
 " He is, in truth, worse than heartless ; he 
 is cruel, and I cannot be blamed by the 
 world, when the treatment I have received is 
 known, that I seek to escape such persecu- 
 tion as my dear, dear father never intended I 
 should undergo ; but now that we have packed 
 our things, let us lie down. It will rest us a 
 little, though we may not sleep." 
 
 Nevertheless mistress and maid did fall 
 asleep, and slept till they were roused by 
 a loud knocking at the outer door.
 
 208 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 As neither mistress nor maid had undressed, 
 they were soon ready to open the door. 
 
 " Why, niece," said the Signor Barracco, 
 " you and Marcella slept like the Seven 
 Sleepers ; it is near day-break, and we must 
 hasten on board before the land wind fails." 
 
 "We are quite ready, at all events," re- 
 turned Camilla, u and there are the two 
 trunks. " 
 
 Two men entered, and carried awa} r the 
 trunks. Several of the old servants of the 
 household were ranged along the corridor to 
 bid their young mistress farewell, and there 
 were tears in their eyes, and in those of the
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 209 
 
 young Countess, as they did so, for she was 
 much loved, and many a heartfelt prayer was 
 breathed for her safety and happiness. 
 
 The Signor Servili was standing in the hall, 
 and the Signor Barracco said, 
 
 " I am leaving Servili behind, niece, to 
 manage my correspondence till we return. I 
 first thought of taking him with us." 
 
 The Signor bowed, and, approaching the 
 Countess, took the hand held out to him, 
 which respectfully kissing, he said, 
 
 " I trust, Countess, we shall soon have the 
 pleasure of seeing you amongst us again," and 
 bowing, he stepped back. 
 
 The eyes of Camilla rested upon his with a 
 look of gratitude, as she said, her voice tre- 
 mulous with emotion, 
 
 " It is with extreme regret, Signor Servili, I 
 quit the home of my lamented parents. Did 
 I think I should not return, nothing but force 
 should take me from beneath the roof of my 
 ancestors, and from those faithful friends and 
 retainers I love and esteem."
 
 210 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 The Signor Barracco's brows met in a dark 
 frown. He muttered something not exactly 
 audible, but, taking his niece by the hand, 
 led her to the carriage that stood waiting at 
 the door. Then it was that she perceived, 
 standing at a little distance, some ten or a 
 dozen men ; and, as the torch-light flashed for 
 a moment upon them, its light betrayed that 
 they were well armed. With a heavy sigh 
 she leaned back against the cushions, and, 
 despite her resolution, burst into a flood of 
 tears. 
 
 The Signor Barracco did not enter the 
 carriage — he rode on the box. It was scarcely 
 a mile and a half to the town of Voltri, and 
 in twenty minutes the carriage drove through 
 the long, silent street leading to the place of 
 embarcation. 
 
 A faint light was breaking through a 
 murky, lowering sky. The air was close and 
 very sultry, and the ground swell from sea- 
 ward broke with a portentous sound upon 
 the shingly beach as the Countess and Mar-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 211 
 
 cell a left the carriage. They could just see 
 the long boat in which they were to embark, 
 held on by four men, to keep it from striking 
 with the roll back of the swell against the 
 range of rock that partly sheltered it from 
 the ground sea. 
 
 After some little delay and difficulty, the 
 whole party embarked. Enveloped in her 
 mantle, Camilla Barracco sat in the stern 
 sheets, absorbed in a train of melancholy 
 thoughts. Her whole future depended upon 
 her lover. She never doubted him, but she 
 dreaded some untoward circumstance might 
 occur. There was one thing that rejoiced 
 her — the armed men she had seen when she 
 entered the carriage were left behind. The 
 first mate had charge of the boat. The 
 captain, he stated to the Signor Barracco, had 
 gone on board to have the brig under weigh 
 as quick as possible, for the weather looked 
 threatening, and a sea gale might be ex- 
 pected. 
 
 " Ah !" said the Signor Barracco, u I see 
 all the small craft are getting under weigh."
 
 212 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " Eh ! per Bacco / Signor, if caught in this 
 anchorage by a sou-wester these feluccas and 
 Tartanas would not clear the land on either 
 tack." 
 
 As they reached the side of the " Bella 
 Donna," they perceived that her topsails 
 and jib were hoisted, and also mainsail. 
 The land wind came in fitful puffs, and 
 the aspect of the sky over the land looked 
 ominous. The " Bella Donna ,: was a re- 
 markably handsome Polacca-rigged brig 
 — long, low, and taut rigged. She had 
 formerly belonged to the Neapolitan service, 
 and was then brig rigged ; but having been 
 purchased into the merchant service, the few 
 hands employed in trade were not sufficient 
 to work her heavy square yards and lofty 
 spars. She was, therefore, made into a 
 Polacca-rigged craft, one easily and safely 
 handled in the fierce and sudden squalls the 
 Mediterranean Sea is subject to. 
 
 On ascending to the deck, the Countess was 
 received by the skipper, and without noticing 
 anybody or anything, she and her maid de-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 213 
 
 scendecl into the cabin, a very roomy and 
 commodious one, recently painted and fitted 
 up. The Signor Barracco followed his men 
 on deck, but did not descend to the cabin. 
 The anchor broke ground, the yards were 
 braced round, the sails filled, and the " Bella 
 Donna " was under weigh. 
 
 During the period of getting under weigh, 
 Colonel Riotti and his Garibaldian Volunteers 
 remained stowed away in the hold ; but the 
 Colonel could not brook this indignity, so, the 
 moment the sails filled and the brig gathered 
 way, to the amazement of the Signor Barracco, 
 the tall, burly form of the worthy colonel 
 appeared on deck, and walking deliberately 
 up to the Signor Barracco, politely saluted 
 him. 
 
 The Signor Barracco — it was broad day- 
 light — stared at him, but instead of saluting 
 him in return, said, abruptly, 
 
 " Pray, sir, who are you?" 
 
 "Sir," said the Colonel, stiffly, "you are 
 not over polite. I am, sir, Colonel Eiotti,
 
 214 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 commanding a body of gallant volunteers 
 intended to aid the glorious projects of 
 General Garibaldi, who intends to free our 
 magnificent country from the yoke of tyrants 
 and Jesuitical priests." 
 
 The Signor Barracco's face became crim- 
 son; he detested the name of Garibaldi, whom 
 he considered an unprincipled adventurer. 
 
 " Sir," said he, in return, " you may be 
 whom you please, but you have no business 
 here. You must return on shore. I hired 
 this vessel for my sole use." 
 
 " Excuse me, sir,'' returned the Colonel, 
 drawing out his whiskers, and pulling his 
 moustache, " I hired this vessel before you 
 did, and I have forty-five volunteers stowed 
 away in the hold." 
 
 " By '."exclaimed the Signor, in his 
 
 towering rage making a slight mistake in his 
 speech, "our skipper is a rascal, a cheat; 
 
 I'll— " 
 
 " Pardon me, Signor Barracco," interrupted 
 the skipper, blandly, just coming up the com-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 215 
 
 panion stairs, " you insult me as well as this 
 worthy gentleman." 
 
 " Eascal ! did T not pay you for the entire 
 use of this vessel ?" roared the Signor Bar- 
 racco. 
 
 " Bizbanti '■' " roared the Colonel, inclined 
 to choke from rage, " didn't I hire this vessel 
 for myself and my volunteers — speak." 
 
 " Valiant Colonel and worthy Signor," said 
 the padrone, not at all abashed by the vehe- 
 mence of his two guests, " you are both right ; 
 allow me to explain." 
 
 As he spoke, half a dozen of the volunteers, 
 who had never been to sea, came up on deck, 
 looking very pale, and evidently inclined to 
 pay the usual tribute to the heaving sea. 
 
 The Signor Barracco glared fiercely from 
 one to the other, but he plainly saw that he 
 was sold, and, probably, at the mercy of the 
 Colonel, who had forty-five men at his beck. 
 
 " Signor Barracco," said the Colonel, 
 blandly, " permit me to explain, and you will
 
 216 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 be quite satisfied, both with ray conduct, and 
 also with that of the skipper." 
 
 "Necessity has no law," said Barracco, less 
 excitedly. 
 
 " You see, sir," continued the Colonel, " I 
 actually hired this vessel first, to land me and 
 my men on the coast of Sicily. Our padrone 
 was then solicited to hire his vessel to you. 
 Had he refused, you might possibly have in- 
 duced the custom-house officers to prevent 
 the vessel sailing with volunteers for Gari- 
 baldi. He consulted me, and I immediately 
 said, 'Do not, on any account, disappoint 
 such a noble Signor as the Signor Barracco. 
 It makes no difference to me ; I will keep my 
 volunteers quiet, and I am quite willing to 
 give up the entire cabin to the ladies of the 
 Signor's family, and I now repeat,' and the 
 Colonel took off his hat and bowed pro- 
 foundly, "you are perfectly welcome to all 
 the accommodation this vessel can afford." 
 
 Policy and necessity taught the Signor
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 217 
 
 Barracco politeness ; he bowed in return, and 
 holding out his hand, said — 
 
 " You have acted like a gentleman, 
 Colonel. I am quite satisfied, and I hope at 
 meal times you will favour us with your 
 company." 
 
 The worthy Colonel congratulated himself 
 on his astuteness, winked at the skipper, and 
 bowed, and shook the Signor's hand most 
 condescendingly. During this time the 
 14 Bella Donna " was crowding sail to gain a 
 good offing before the sea breeze set in. 
 
 At about five miles distance, the " Wild 
 Gazelle," under easy sail, was heading to- 
 wards the " Bella Donna." With their 
 glasses, Percy Devereux and old Blowhard 
 were watching her movements : they let her 
 run some two leagues off the land, and then 
 additional sail was set, and the chase begun, 
 the said chase being destined to be a long 
 one. 
 
 At times the u Gazelle" tore through the 
 water, her immense sails distended with the 
 vol. r. l
 
 218 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 puffs from the land; again she barely held 
 way, the wind dying away into cats' paws. 
 Nevertheless she gained so rapidly on the 
 Polacca brig, that she got within two miles 
 of her, when it suddenly fell stark calm, the 
 swell from the south-west rapidly increasing. 
 
 " By Jove ! Blowhard," exclaimed our 
 hero ; " the wind is done. I have a mind to 
 out boats and board her." 
 
 " Won't do, sir," said Blowhard. " Look 
 ashore, sir ; there's a heavy thunder storm 
 over Voltri. Moving rapidly out from the 
 land, and away to the south-west, those 
 heavy banks of cloud are upheaved by a 
 powerful south-wester; we are caught between 
 two storms." 
 
 Percy Devereux did look around him, and 
 saw a huge, dense-like cloud driving out to- 
 wards them. Though not a breath of wind 
 played upon the heaving sea, these clouds came 
 rapidly up from seaward ; the different currents 
 of air met, the masses settled into a vast, pall- 
 like mass, the clouds pressing one on the
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 219 
 
 other, some driven by the storm aloft into 
 fragments, twirling and twisting themselves 
 into strange shapes, and then was heard the 
 roar of winds aloft, as if contending for 
 victory. 
 
 " Lower away, handsomely, my lads," cried 
 Captain Devereux to his silent crew, who 
 were all on deck watching the contest of the 
 elements aloft, " the storm will be upon us in 
 less than five minutes." 
 
 Then came a vivid, dazzling flash of 
 lightning, like a sheet of flame, half blind- 
 ing all with its intense vividness, and the 
 crash of heaven's artillery that followed 
 seemed to proclaim the annihilation of 
 the globe. The schooner trembled as if 
 Struck, and the next instant, the storm from 
 out the gulf agitated the waters a quarter 
 of a mile astern of them. One glance our 
 hero obtained of the " Bella Donna," and it 
 eased his mind. She looked as if under bare 
 poles, for all her yards were lowered upon 
 deck and her sails furled. 
 
 l 2
 
 220 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 The next moment the demon of the storm 
 was upon them. On he came with a roar of 
 triumph, proud of his might, and on the frail- 
 looking craft he rushed, with a shriek of 
 delight. With him he carried a sheet of 
 spray, torn from the surface of the waters, 
 and looking like a snow-drift ; but every 
 sail was furled except the storm staysail, 
 hastily hoisted to bring the schooner's stern 
 to the tempest. With a yell the staysail was 
 torn from its fastening and scattered like 
 ribbons in the air. The u Gazelle " bent 
 under its violence and fury, till her topsail 
 yard buried itself in the now foaming deep. 
 
 "Jam the wheel down," shouted Devereux, 
 grasping the weather rigging ; " hoist the 
 storm jib; it will bring her round before the 
 wind." 
 
 The jib did its duty, though it also fol- 
 lowed the fate of the staysail, and the 
 schooner righting and bringing her stern to 
 the gale, flew before the tempest like an 
 affrighted sea bird on the wing.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 221 
 
 Old Blowliard and one of the crew was at 
 the wheel. Devereux, half drowned by the 
 continual sheets of spray that flew over the 
 low decks of the schooner, now that the craft 
 was flying before the gale, the sea rapidly 
 rising, left his place and gained the side of 
 old Blowhard. 
 
 " By Jove ! old boy, we had a sharp half- 
 hour of it ; except in the Black Sea, I never 
 felt a heavier squall. We shall not be able, 
 till the spray ceases, to sight the brig. We 
 do not require sail. I fear we shall over-run 
 the ' Bella Donna' as it is." 
 
 " Blow me ! it was a sneezer," said the old 
 tar, as he shook himself and left the wheel to 
 the able seaman beside him ; for now, going 
 before the gale, a child might almost have 
 guided the vessel. For two hours the tem- 
 pest raged in fitful squalls, shifting with each 
 squall several points. After this, the sky 
 cleared over the land^ and then the tempest 
 settled into a remarkably heavy gale from 
 the north. The sea had now got up into
 
 222 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 regular white-topped waves, breaking dan- 
 gerously at times ; but the spray was clearing 
 away, and all were looking out anxiously to 
 sight the " Bella Donna," for both vessels 
 were forced, from the violent fury of the gale, 
 to run dead before the tempest. 
 
 " The 4 Bella Donna !' " said our hero, first 
 catching sight of her, looming indistinctly 
 through the spray blown from the foaming 
 seas. All looked in the direction pointed 
 out, and there she was, about a mile distant, 
 going steadily before it, under a storm stay- 
 sail alone — her yards all down. 
 
 "Ah!" said the old master, to his com- 
 mander, "those Polacca-rigged craft are 
 handy chaps in squalls. He looks all right ; 
 hasn't lost a rag, I'll warrant." 
 
 "Yes," returned Percy Devereux, "he 
 looks all right ; but I fear it is almost im- 
 possible to run alongside him in this troubled 
 
 sea." 
 
 "Just so, sir," answered old Blowhard, "he's 
 a much larger and stronger- built craft ; he
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 223 
 
 would grind us to splinters. Blow me! she 
 goes a-head well. She's fast." 
 
 "Rim up a piece of our foresail," said our 
 hero, " I will get as close as I can. By Jove ! 
 they suspect us. They are hoisting their 
 fore yard, with the sail furled." 
 
 " There appears a number of men upon 
 deck, sir,'' said Blowhard, eyeing the brig 
 through the glass, " and they all seem dressed 
 in red shirts." , 
 
 c ' Bed shirts I" echoed Percy Devereux? 
 with a start, taking the glass, and letting it 
 rest upon the deck of the Polacca. 
 
 After a careful survey, he said, turning to 
 his skipper, and looking serious, 
 
 "The men in the red shirts are armed; 
 they are Garibaldians, but they are evidently 
 not accustomed to the sea, for half of them 
 are sick, and all holding on by the rigging and 
 ropes as for life. What on earth could cause 
 the Signor Barracco to put his niece on board 
 a vessel full of reckless adventurers ?" 
 
 " We'd tumble those red gentry over like
 
 224 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 nine-pins, sir," said Tom Phillips, who was 
 standing by, " if we could only get alongside; 
 they have not a leg to stand on." 
 
 " Very true," observed our hero, thought- 
 fully ; " to get alongside is the difficulty." 
 
 By this time the fore-yard was in its place. 
 The sail, treble reefed, was suddenly dropped, 
 and instantly, strong handled, its sheets were 
 made fast. The sail, distended to bursting, 
 tore the brig through the sea, 5 and buried her 
 bows till the foaming crests poured over the 
 figure-head into the fore part of the brig. 
 She was leaving the " Gazelle," when Percy 
 Devereux ordered sail to be carefully made 
 upon the yacht. 
 
 In a few moments a double-reefed topsail 
 was set and sheeted home, and then the fore- 
 sail was close reefed. The " Gazelle " seemed 
 scarcely to touch the water. She skimmed 
 the lofty seas, like a sea-bird, and in half an 
 hour was within hail of the Polacca brig, and 
 not fifty yards from her to windward. 
 
 Devereux was quite right. The Signor
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 225 
 
 Barracco recognized, the "Gazelle" tlie mo- 
 inent he beheld her, before the storm broke 
 upon them. After getting a couple of leagues 
 from the land, the lt Bella Donna," like the 
 " Gazelle," became becalmed. The skipper 
 beheld the storm brewing; over the high, moun- 
 tains that back the town of Voltri. In sweep- 
 ing the horizon with his glass, his attention 
 was caught by the schooner yacht. He thought 
 her a vessel of war. 
 
 " What vessel are you looking at, Captain?" 
 asked Colonel Riotti, who was standing near, 
 conversing with the Signor Barracco. As it 
 was extremely sultry, the Countess Camilla 
 had ascended the cabin stairs and stood on the 
 last step, leaning on the slide of the companion, 
 gazing eagerly around on the heavy but calm 
 sea. The maiden's thoughts were centred 
 upon her lover, and her eyes anxiously sought 
 to catch a glimpse of the schooner yacht. 
 
 She was near enough to hear Colonel 
 Riotti's question "What vessel is that?'' The 
 redoubtable Colonel had an idea that Neapo- 
 
 l 5
 
 226 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 litan cruisers might be roaming in Genoese 
 waters. 
 
 " It is a rather remarkable looking 
 schooner," answered the skipper ; " very long 
 and taunt, raking masts, with a figure-head 
 like a deer." 
 
 Signor Barracco changed colour, and 
 abruptly took the glass from the skipper, and 
 fixed it on the schooner. He knew that 
 Commander Devereux had a beautiful 
 schooner yacht, called the " Wild Gazelle,'' 
 in Genoa. As his gaze rested on the graceful 
 yacht, quite visible, even to the figure-head of 
 the " Gazelle," he stamped upon the deck 
 with passion, and said aloud, 
 
 " I am betrayed ! That is the yacht of 
 the heretical Englishman Devereux !" 
 
 Camilla heard the words ; her heart, beat 
 and the colour came to cheek and temples, 
 but she instantly hurried below. 
 
 Colonel Kiotti looked at the Signor Bar- 
 racco, surprised at his words and his evident 
 passion. The skipper's attention was called
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 227 
 
 to the care of his craft, for he perceived that 
 the gathering storm was about to break ; he 
 ran forward, called all his crew on deck, and 
 ordered the sails to be furled and the yards 
 lowered. 
 
 " What vessel is it, Signor Barracco ?" 
 enquired the Colonel. 
 
 Camilla's uncle hesitated a moment, and 
 then said, 
 
 " Colonel, you can do me a service." 
 
 The Colonel bowed. 
 
 The Signor Barracco then said, 
 
 u The vessel you see yonder belongs to one 
 who had the audacity and wickedness during 
 ray absence to trifle with my niece's affec- 
 tions. She has been devoted from her birth 
 — -in accordance with the vow of her mother, 
 who died in giving her birth — to the service 
 of the church — in fact, to take the veil. That 
 accursed English heretic has seduced her 
 from her duty, and she intended to elope with 
 him. To prevent this, I hired this vessel to
 
 228 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 take us on our way to Rome, by landing us at 
 Civita Vecchia. Once in Borne, there will be 
 no difficulty in forcing her into a convent, and 
 thus her mother's vow, registered in Heaven, 
 will be fulfilled." 
 
 " And that vessel yonder ?" asked the 
 Colonel, who had listened very seriously. 
 
 " That vessel," interrupted the Signor, " is 
 watching us, and will run us aboard and 
 carry off my niece." 
 
 " What ! Corpo di demonios / " exclaimed 
 the Colonel, laying his hand on the hilt of his 
 sword, " with Colonel Eiotti and forty-five 
 followers aboard — hem ! There's my hand, 
 Signor Barracco. If he attempts any such 
 mad exploit, I will have my comrades armed 
 on deck, and annihilate that piratical Inglesi 
 — yes, Gorpo di Bacco ■' and sink his ship." 
 
 a Signors, Signors !" roared the skipper, 
 " the tempest is upon us — get into the cabin, 
 or make fast to a rope." 
 
 Both the Signor and the Colonel started,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 22i> 
 
 and made a rush for the cabin, as the loud roar 
 of the hurricane was heard, and the flash of 
 lighting almost blinded them. 
 
 " May the thunder of heaven crush that 
 vile heretic's ship !" said the Signor Barracco, 
 as he and the Colonel were thrown iwwn the 
 cabin stairs by the sudden heel over of the 
 brig, and both rolled into the cabin, to the 
 amazement of the Countess and Marcella. 
 Thinking the vessel was on her beam ends, 
 the two gentlemen quickly regained their 
 legs, and, hurrying up the stairs, were met by 
 a blinding sheet of water cast over the brig 
 by the fury of the squall. 
 
 " Oh ! blessed saints ! she will founder ; 
 we are lost," tremblingly exclaimed the 
 valiant Colonel. 
 
 " No," said the Signor Barracco, after a 
 glance; " she has righted, and is going before 
 the gale. Heaven has worked a miracle. 
 The storm, if it does not sink the yacht, will 
 save us from being pursued. They cannot see 
 us ; I'll make the skipper change his course."
 
 230 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 As soon as he could get near the captain , 
 he whispered in his ear, 
 
 " Change your course !" 
 
 " Eh I sacriste !" shouted the skipper. 
 " Change our course ? Diantre ! we can only 
 run before the wind under bare poles ; we 
 can't shew a rag. The yacht has probably 
 foundered. I never before encountered so 
 tremendous a gale at this time of year." 
 
 " God grant that she has gone down !" 
 muttered the Signor. " They are lost souls, 
 as it is." 
 
 During the fiercest part of the gale, Camilla 
 retired to her own cabin, and she and the 
 terrified Marcella lay clown in their berths. 
 The latter, entirely unaccustomed to the sea, 
 suffered not only from fright, but the penalty 
 almost all pay that tempt the perils of the 
 mighty leveller of all ranks in life. 
 
 As the hurricane settled into a steady gale, 
 the Signor Barracco and the redoubtable 
 Colonel Riotti held an earnest conversation 
 concerning the yacht, the latter swearing he
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 231 
 
 would annihilate every man who should dare 
 to set foot on the deck of the " Bella Donna." 
 They ascended to the deck, in order to see 
 how affairs were, and whether there was any 
 sign of the yacht, supposing she had survived 
 the first burst of the tempest. Most of the 
 unhappy vol unteers were on deck, and deadly 
 sick; they could not stand the heat and the 
 rolling below. 
 
 As the surface of storm-tossed sea became 
 cleared, in a measure, of the flying foam, 
 Signer Barracco and the Colonel looked 
 eagerly over the stern ; the u Bella Donna " 
 was then carrying a storm stay-sail. 
 
 Suddenly Colonel Riotti called out, 
 
 " Maladetta ! the schooner !'' 
 
 All eyes were turned in the direction the 
 Colonel pointed, and there, through the misty 
 spray, the lofty, tapering spars of the " Wild 
 Gazelle " were visible, and in another moment 
 the long low graceful hull was seen skim- 
 ming the tops of the seas, without a stitch of
 
 232 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 canvas ; she appeared to fly over the space of 
 foamy water between them. 
 
 The Signor Barracco shook his clenched 
 hands at the yacht, and a terrible oath passed 
 his lips ; as, hurrying to the astonished 
 skipper, he said, 
 
 u She will run us aboard !" 
 
 " No, no, signor," replied the Padrone-, " no 
 fear of that in this heavy sea ; she would be 
 knocked into splinters." 
 
 " Now, then, Colonel," said Barracco, 
 eagerly, " let your men hand up arms ; let 
 us shew this heretic Englishman what he has 
 to expect, should he attempt the capture of 
 my niece." 
 
 "Let him come within shot," said the 
 Colonel, twisting his moustache. " Per Bacco ! 
 he'll never try the experiment a second 
 time." 
 
 Turning to a sergeant of the Garibaldians, 
 less sick than the rest, he ordered him to arm 
 the best of the volunteers, and those who
 
 THE WILD GAZKLLE. 23 
 
 o 
 
 could stand to range themselves along- the 
 deck. 
 
 " Cospetto !" muttered the sergeant to him- 
 self. " It's easy to say range them along the 
 deck, when they can't even stand in this 
 maladetto bark "
 
 234 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Countess Barracco, who suffered nothing 
 from the violent motion of the brig, except 
 the difficulty of keeping an erect position- 
 as soon as she felt that the brig, going dead 
 before the gale, had acquired a steadier 
 motion, got up, and throwing a large mantle 
 over her shoulders, entered the principal 
 cabin, which no person occupied. The tramp 
 of many feet on deck, and then the voices of 
 men shouting, showing that the u Gazelle " 
 would assuredly follow them, she ascended 
 the cabin stairs, and gently pushing back the 
 slide, gazed out first on the deck, then over 
 the tumultuous and heaving waters. 
 
 With an exclamation of delight, her gaze
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 235 
 
 rested upon the graceful and rapidly advanc- 
 ing yacht, looking like a toy upon the 
 boisterous billows, so symmetrical was her 
 build, so beautifully proportioned her spars, 
 and so thread-like her rigging. From the 
 rapidly advancing yacht, she turned her 
 attention to the deck of the " Bella Donna." 
 Standing near the mainmast, she beheld her 
 uncle, talking vehemently and passionately 
 to the grim looking Colonel Eiotti and the 
 skipper of the " Bella Donna," whilst some 
 fifteen or twenty of the Garibaldian volun- 
 teers, grasping a musket in one hand were 
 clinging spasmodically to every available 
 object to steady themselves, and looking as 
 pale and miserable as it was possible for men 
 to look. As she gazed, the schooner came 
 almost within hail. Colonel Eiotti started 
 forward, calling; to his men to stand at ease ; 
 
 7 O 7 
 
 in doing so, several fell prostrate on the 
 deck, and that position suiting them, there 
 they remained, whilst the exasperated officer, 
 after bestowing sundry kicks to relieve their
 
 236 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 imfirmities, snatched a musket from a pros- 
 trated hero, and rejoined the Signor Barracco 
 and the skipper, swearing he would shoot the 
 first man that he could take aim at on the 
 deck of the piratical schooner, as he called 
 the " Gazelle." . . 
 
 Eagerly watching the " Wild Gazelle's " 
 every movement she beheld her shoot up 
 in a parallel line with the "Bella Donna n 
 and not more than fifty yards off, when a 
 young man suddenly sprung upon the bul- 
 warks, and with one hand holding on by the 
 after backstay, raised his hat from his head, 
 and waved it several times towards Camilla, 
 who involuntarily had sprung up the last step, 
 and stood upon the deck, grasping the com- 
 panion slide. 
 
 " Curse the heretic !" shouted the enraged 
 Signor Barracco, stamping on the deck, " give 
 me the musket !" 
 
 " Is that your man ?" coolly observed 
 Colonel Biotti, coclsino- his musket. "Let 
 him digest that," and he levelled and fired.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 237 
 
 It was by no means a bad shot, for the ball 
 knocked Devereux's hat off, he having just 
 replaced it on his head. Camilla uttered a 
 faint cry, but blushing, as all eyes turned upon 
 her, she tore off her scarf, and waving it to 
 her delighted lover, who quite unmoved 
 retained his position, she hurried below. 
 
 " Oh ! my lady, what was the firing for?" 
 cried Marcella. " I just got a glimpse of the 
 schooner, as you ventured on deck, but the 
 sight of the frightful sea terrified me." 
 
 " It is a stormy sea," said Camilla, " but 
 it is not new to me. I have seen it worse. 
 That horrid adventurer my uncle calls 
 Colonel Eiotti, fired a musket at Captain 
 Devereux as he stood exposed upon the 
 bulwarks of his yacht, and it went so near as 
 to knock his hat off!" 
 
 " The cowardly wretch ! " ejaculated 
 Marcella. " Ah ! Madonna ! if the Signor 
 Devereux was near him he would pitch him 
 overboard !" 
 
 In the meantime, the two vessels continued
 
 238 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 to ran parallel to each other, the sea far too 
 heavy to attempt to run along- side. The 
 crew of the "Bella Donna" were busy 
 hoisting their fore-sail close reefed, which, 
 when set, enabled her to forge ahead of the 
 44 Gazelle." But a stay sail being hoisted 
 aboard the schooner, she easily maintained 
 her position. 
 
 Commander Devereux was nevertheless 
 extremely uneasy. 
 
 " I am puzzled how to act," he said to old 
 Biowhard. It was near sunset, the gale 
 was shewing signs of abating, and the sky 
 again getting overcast and threatening. " You 
 see," he continued, " we are evidently in for 
 a dark night, the coast of Corsica right 
 before us. We cannot weather the Cape even, 
 if we much longer keep on this course. Still 
 we must stick close to this Polacca, which 
 by the way, sails remarkably fast." 
 
 " Yes, sir," answered the old sailor, " it's 
 quite impossible to run aboard her without 
 destroying the schooner, for that brigantine
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 239 
 
 is a strong built craft. But this gale will go 
 down with the sun, and we shall have a 
 thunder storm, for even now there's a dense 
 black sky rising to leeward, and no doubt we 
 shall have the south west gale after this 
 ceases." 
 
 " Well, whatever happens," said Devereux, 
 thoughtfully, u we must not let the brigantine 
 escape us." 
 
 The sun set, and the high hills of Cape 
 Corso rose distinctly into sight ; the short 
 twilight of the south faded away ; and the 
 northerly gale, after some fitful squalls, 
 blew itself out. Immediately a light south 
 west wind sprang up ; this after a puff or two 
 expired, and the "Gazelle" and the "Bella 
 Donna," not more ^than a mile asunder, lay 
 rolling heavily in the agitated waters. 
 
 With the night, came the storm clouds 
 from the south west, accompanied by squalls 
 and heavy thunder and lightning, and the 
 gale increased so violently that the " Bella 
 Donna " ran before it, the M Gazelle " fol-
 
 240 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 lowing, though, our hero feared they would 
 get embayed, for though the night was dark, 
 the land was clearly seen in the vivid flashes 
 of lightning that illuminated the dreary scene 
 of tumultuous heaving waters. 
 
 Presently those on the deck of the 
 " Gazelle" could perceive that the brigantine 
 was hove up in the wind, and that she lay 
 to, under close reefed canvas. 
 
 The "Gazelle" was instantly put in the 
 same position, and lay to like a sea bird at 
 rest. About midnight a thick drizzling rain 
 fell, shutting out all objects, save the masts 
 of the schooner herself. 
 
 Intensely anxious, our hero continued 
 pacing the deck all night, and praying for 
 the dawn to make. There was still a heavy 
 cross sea, and he feared, in the dense fog- 
 spread around, the " Bella Donna " might 
 weather the headland and rounding Cape 
 Corso, gain the open sea, and make for the 
 coast of Italy.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 241 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 tc After all," said Devereux to Mr. Blow- 
 hard, as he paced the deck, " this gale will 
 be of short duration, but I regret to see this 
 thickening up of the weather, and this drizz- 
 ling rain. I have lost sight of the brig this 
 last half hour." 
 
 " She is about a mile to leeward of us," 
 replied the old skipper. "I saw her just 
 before you came upon deck, sir. The gale is 
 going down rapidly, and the mist is increas- 
 rog. 
 
 u In three hours it will be daylight, at all 
 events," said our hero. " We must make 
 short tacks of it, for as the wind now stands 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 we cannot weather the land to the south. 
 We are in a very deep bay." 
 
 As the night wore away, a ' strict look out 
 was maintained. Devereux became extremely 
 anxious. It was quite possible that the brig 
 might baffle him : she might tack and bear 
 away, and weather Cape Corso, whilst he 
 might imagine she had weathered the south 
 headland, and then make for the coast of 
 Italy, running through the Straits of 
 Bonafaccio, the channel between Corsica and 
 Sardinia. The whole of the night was passed by 
 Percy pacing the deck ; the gale had gone 
 down to a double-reefed topsail breeze, and 
 the sea also was falling, but the mist and haze 
 continued even after day-break. 
 
 The watch on deck kept a keen look out. 
 More sail wtis set on the " Gazelle," and 
 every attempt was made to discover the brig. 
 By sounding, our hero perceived that they 
 were close to land, but hour after hour passed, 
 and though the sky cleared overhead and 
 the gale moderated to a single-reefed breeze,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 243 
 
 the mist still obscured the surface of the 
 waters. Towards mid-day, however, the 
 breeze shifted into the west, and rapidly the 
 mist drifted off the surface of the sea. 
 
 The "Wild Gazelle" was then heading to 
 the south west ; to the surprise of our hero 
 and his skipper, they found that they were 
 within two miles of a large rocky island, bet- 
 ween which and the main land of Corsica 
 there was a wide open channel. All eyes 
 anxiously sought for the u Bella Donna," but 
 no such craft was to be seen in any direction. 
 The long line of the Corsican coast was 
 distinctly visible, stretching away to the north 
 as far as the eye could trace. 
 
 Devereux was confounded and agitated. He 
 could perceive a number of vessels out to sea, 
 and several small coasters coming out from a 
 wide gulf to the eastward of them, but the 
 u Bella Donna " was not visible. Old 
 Blowhard stood, glass in hand, examining 
 every nook and corner of the Corsican coast 
 to leeward of them. 
 
 M 2
 
 244 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 " She lias gone between this island and the 
 main land, in the mist," said our hero, " pro- 
 bably without being aware of it, and then 
 made for the Straits of Bonafaccio. When 
 we weather this island, we shall no doubt 
 open the channel ; it is studded with islands, 
 and the ' Bella Donna ' may be hid from 
 our sight by them. Now make sail, I will 
 run through the channel ; we may fall in with 
 some vessel, the crew of which may have seen 
 this Polacca brig?" 
 
 Before an hour was over the island was 
 weathered, and then they at once perceived 
 how the " Bella Donna ' had escaped, for 
 the islands, all scattered over the channel 
 between Corsica and Sardinia were right 
 before them, while numerous small crafts, 
 some at anchor, some working amongst the 
 islands, were plainly visible. 
 
 The " Gazelle's " yards were squared 
 before the fine breeze, with a clear blue sky 
 overhead ; the weather after the two thunder 
 storms apparently becoming settled. The
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 245 
 
 strong currents that run between the numerous 
 islands renders the navigation of the Straits, 
 except with a leading wind, extremely 
 difficult. 
 
 Having passed the Island of Caprera, now 
 famous as being the residence of Garibaldi, 
 Devereux beheld a large three masted 
 Xebecque stretching in from the southward 
 under full sail. 
 
 " Now," said our hero to his skipper. " If 
 the ' Bella Donna ' ran through this channel, 
 
 O 7 
 
 she must, I should think, have passed very 
 close to this craft working* through." Ac- 
 cordinglv the " Gazelle " bore down on the 
 Xebecque, and hailed her. 
 
 The padrone of the lateen rigged vessel 
 threw his foresail aback, taking the yacht for 
 a vessel of war. 
 
 Devereux ran close along side, and ques- 
 tioned the padrone respecting the Polacca 
 brig, describing her minutely. 
 
 u Si Sir/nor " returned the skipper, " we 
 spoke that very craft, with a woman's
 
 246 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 bust and head over her prow, and a number 
 of men aboard; she was steering for the coast 
 of Sicily, and spoke us, asking where we were 
 from. We said Sicily ; the Capitano then 
 asked if there were any Neapolitan cruisers 
 between here and Sicily. I said that there 
 were several off the north coast, but that 
 Garibaldi had effected a landing. They gave 
 us three cheers, and crowded all sail for 
 Sicily." 
 
 Devereux felt immense relief. The " Bella 
 Donna " was then actually before them ; they 
 were on her course, and that was a great 
 thing to know, though she had nearly three 
 hours' start of them. The skipper of the 
 Xebecque was thanked for his information, 
 and the " Wild Gazelle ' : was soon under a 
 cloud of canvas, steering direct for the coast 
 of Sicily. A little reflection convinced Percy 
 that the skipper of the " Bella Donna " had 
 changed his intentions, and was now steering 
 for Sicily, instead of Civita Vecchia. It was 
 possible, he conjectured, that the Garibaldian
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 247 
 
 volunteers had insisted on being landed on 
 the coast of Sicily previous to the Signor 
 Barracco being taken to Civita Vecchia. 
 
 Every manoeuvre was resorted to increase 
 the " Wild Gazelle's " speed. A fine steady 
 breeze blew, and in a direction that permitted 
 all the sails of the schooner to draw. On heav- 
 ing the log, she was going through the water 
 at the rate of fourteen knots. 
 
 "A stern chase is a long chase, Blowhard," 
 said Devereux, to his skipper, who was look- 
 ing attentively at the wake of the u Wild 
 Gazelle." " She has at least five and twenty 
 miles start of us. I therefore do not expect 
 to overhaul the l Bella Donna* till close up 
 with the Sicilian coast." 
 
 " We have one thing in our favour, sir," 
 replied the old seaman. " The brig will 
 approach the coast cautiously, for fear of 
 running into the jaws of a Neapolitan 
 
 cruiser." 
 
 " True !" returned our hero, " she will most 
 likely slacken sail as she nears the coast."
 
 248 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 The breeze continued fair and steady 
 during the night, though with the setting sun 
 it fell to a light breeze. Still the " Gazelle " 
 was sailing full eight knots all through the 
 night. She passed numerous crafts, who gazed 
 with wonder at the graceful schooner, as, 
 under every sail that would draw, she shot 
 by them as if they were at anchor. 
 
 Devereux slept but little that night, and 
 relieved the old skipper as soon as the sun 
 rose. The wind had lulled completely with 
 the dawn, and very shortly after a strong 
 south-east wind sprung up; this forced the 
 yacht to take in sail, and as it blew direct 
 against them, they were obliged to continue 
 the rest of the chase working to windward. 
 This our hero considered an advantage, as he 
 felt very confident he could sail two feet for 
 the " Bella Donna's" one, on a taut bow-line. 
 
 Shortly after a large steamer appeared in 
 sight, coming up from the south-east. ' : Most 
 likely," thought our hero, " this vessel passed 
 close enough to observe the ' Bella Donna,' :
 
 THE WTLD GAZELLE. 249 
 
 so keeping a little away, he crossed her course. 
 Hoisting the English ensign at his peak, the 
 vessel he soon recognised as an English one, 
 and as the yacht backed her topsail, evidently 
 with the intention of speaking the steamer, 
 the latter blew off her steam, and dropped up 
 nearly along side. The steamer was a 
 remarkably handsome boat, called the '■ Peri," 
 and was from Palermo the Happy On politely 
 questioning the captain, Devereux had the 
 satisfaction of hearing that they had spoken 
 the " Bella Donna " little better than an hour 
 before. The captain described her accurately ; 
 those on board the brig he said were parti- 
 cularly anxious for news from Sicily, and 
 when he told them there was a frigate and an 
 
 CD 
 
 armed Xebecque cruising off the island, they 
 appeared startled. The captain of the 
 " Peri " considered that the " Bella Donna " 
 might be about ten or twelve miles astern, 
 and would, as the wind had veered a point 
 or two into the eastward, make the coast of 
 Sicily before night fall. 
 
 m 5
 
 250 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 Thanking the captain of the steamer, and 
 carrying a press of sail, Devereux sailed on, 
 hoping to reach the island before the " Bella 
 Donna," for the chances of falling in with 
 her whilst tacking was greatly against them, 
 as both might be on opposite tacks and thus 
 not pass within miles of ea>ih other. The 
 next day, the lofty mountain peaks of the 
 island of Sicily rose up before them, not 
 fifteen miles distant. 
 
 Turning his glass all round the horizon, 
 numerous crafts of all sizes and rig might be 
 seen, steering their different courses, but not 
 one resembling the " Bella Donna." Within 
 three miles Percy Devereux perceived a very 
 large Xebecque, with extremely lofty yards, 
 and a long pennant streaming from the peak 
 of her main lateen yard. 
 
 ''• That xebecque is a Neapolitan cruiser. She 
 is bearing down upon us," observed Devereux. 
 As the xebecque approached, those in the yacht 
 could perceive that it was full of men, and 
 carried four guns a side. It was a very
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 251 
 
 handsome craft, and considerably larger in 
 tonnage than the " Wild Gazelle." As the 
 yacht's hows were crossed, an officer hailed, 
 desiring them to heave to. But Devereux 
 only run up the English flag, and continued 
 his course for the island. The officer, stand- 
 ing on a gun aboard the xebecque, again 
 hailed, in an an^rv voice, desiring to know 
 where they were bound to. 
 
 Taking a trumpet, for the xebecque, though 
 she attempted to follow, was falling rapidly 
 astern, our hero merely replied, "He was not 
 bound to any particular place ; that he was 
 cruising for his pleasure." He then held on 
 till the shores of Sicily became distinctly 
 visible, the xebecque still following, several 
 miles astern. 
 
 When within five miles of the shore, and 
 near the harbour of Melita, the schooner was 
 hove to, and again the commander began to 
 inspect every sail in sight; but the Neapolitan 
 xebecque, after an hour, came up with them 
 and lay to within a short distance. A boat
 
 252 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 was then launched, and our hero perceived 
 an officer jump into the stern sheets, followed 
 by four of the crew, who speedily pulled up 
 alongside the yacht. Percy felt a great in- 
 clination to brace round his fore-yards and 
 give them a long pull, feeling no kind of 
 respect for the Neapolitan flag, and wild and 
 improbable as the attempt of Garibaldi 
 appeared at that time, he most sincerely 
 wished to see the Bourbons driven out of 
 Naples and Sicily. 
 
 The officer in the xebecque's boat was a 
 young man, about his own age. Standing up 
 in the stern sheets, he looked up fiercely into 
 our hero's face, saying, 
 
 " What is the name of this craft?" 
 " I deny your right to ask," returned our 
 hero, quietly. " If entering a Neapolitan port, 
 I should, of course, answer all proper inqui- 
 ries. I am cruising for my own pleasure, and 
 under a flag respected by all nations ; there- 
 fore, I decline answering any unnecessary 
 questions, especially as they are not made in
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 253 
 
 a very courteous manner. My country is at 
 peace with the Neapolitan King, and I am on 
 the high seas.'' 
 
 The Neapolitan lieutenant looked savage. 
 
 " You are in Neapolitan waters," cried the 
 officer. " The coast of Sicily is threatened by 
 bands of pirates, calling themselves Garibaldi 
 Volunteers. Your vessel is suspected of 
 carrying arms and ammunition, and we have 
 a right to challenge and inspect any craft 
 approaching the shores of Sicily." 
 
 " By Jove !" replied our hero, laughing, 
 " it's something new to hear of a party of 
 volunteers invading a kingdom. However, 
 that's no affair of mine. This is my yacht, 
 and in the open sea. I will allow no armed 
 men to board her." 
 
 " Take care," returned the Neapolitan. 
 tl Coolly as you take it, you will find out 
 your error when too late to remedy it." 
 
 " Patienza •' " returned Percy Devereux, 
 smiling. " You will find me ready to answer 
 you, in any other manner you please. On to
 
 254 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 the deck of this yacht no one comes without 
 my permission. '' 
 
 The Lieutenant motioned with his hand to 
 the surprised men at the oars, for Percy spoke 
 Italian well. They could see that the " Wild 
 Gazelle " carried four brass guns, and they 
 also suspected that there might be a large 
 body of men concealed below. As the gig 
 pulled towards the xebecque, Tom Barlow 
 called out from the main cross-trees " that 
 he could make out the Polacca brig ; he was 
 sure it was she ; he knew her by the new 
 cloth in her fore topsail. He had remarked 
 it when he had first seen her." 
 
 Devereux seized his glass and ascended to 
 the cross-trees. He soon sighted the vessel 
 Tom Barlow had stated was the brig. She 
 was coming up before the breeze rapidly, and 
 after a steady survey, he became satisfied that 
 it was the " Bella Donna," for he waited till 
 her hull rose to view, and then her white 
 figure head became discernible through the 
 glass.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 255 
 
 As he was preparing to descend, lie per- 
 ceived that the Neapolitan cruiser was stand- 
 ing away in the direction of the brig. Evi- 
 dently [they intended inspecting her. She 
 had lowered her ensign and pennant, and at 
 a moderate distance might easily be taken for 
 a merchant vessel. 
 
 " You are quite right, Tom," said our hero, 
 on reaching the deck; "that is the 'Bella 
 Donna.' " 
 
 " That ere chap, sir, with the lateen sails 
 is making for her, and will surely board her 
 and take her as a prize, with those volunteers 
 aboard her. I wonder would she fight, 
 sir . ; 
 
 " She would stand no chance in the world," 
 returned our hero, "of beating her off; but 
 we must stand after the xebecque, for I strongly 
 suspect we shall have something to do in this 
 affair." 
 
 Mr. Blowhard coming on deck, Devereux 
 had his four twelve-pounders loaded and 
 prepared. Rescue Camilla, he had resolved to,
 
 256 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 at all risks, and lie instantly formed his plans, 
 should the Neapolitan xebecque board the 
 " Bella Donna." 
 
 Under easy sail the " Gazelle " kept close up 
 with the xebecque, ready to act at the proper 
 moment. The brig soon became distinctly 
 visible, advancing apparently unconcerned, 
 and the captain evidently did not suspect the 
 zebec, and if he recognised the yacht, thought 
 himself too strong for her. 
 
 When almost within pistol-shot, the xebecque 
 tacked, and ran up the Neapolitan ensign and 
 pennant. This startled the crew of the 
 " Bella Donna " out of their supposed security, 
 instantly the yards were squared away, her 
 royals hoisted, and sail made, dead before 
 the wind. The xebecque immediately altered 
 its course, followed, and tried one of her bow 
 guns, as a signal and intimation to heave to ; 
 but the " Bella Donna " crew commenced 
 hoisting their sails. 
 
 The " Gazelle," with her foresail brailed 
 and her top-gallant sail lowered, found she
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 257 
 
 could keep abreast of the xebecque. This pro- 
 ceeding the captain of the cruiser thought 
 showed a collusion between the two vessels, 
 and very deliberately fired one of his guns 
 right at her, the ball cutting away both 
 back stays. 
 
 " Blow me ! if that chap ain't saucy," said 
 Tom Barlow, as he and a comrade repaired 
 the damage committed by the eight-pound 
 shot. 
 
 " I could cripple him with one of our 
 twelve-pound shots," observed our hero to old 
 Blowhard, who was growling at being shot 
 at without giving any return of the compli- 
 ment; " but, if possible, I will effect my object 
 without hurting anyone." 
 
 The xebecque was rapidly coming up with 
 the u Bella Donna," who, finding that to be 
 the case, opened fire with one of her eight- 
 pounders over the stern, the xebecque return- 
 ing the shot with one of her bow chasers; but 
 very little damage was done to either vessel. 
 
 " Now, mind your helm," cried Devereux
 
 258 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 to his skipper, who placed himself at the 
 wheel ; " they are going to run the ' Bella 
 Donna " aboard. The moment you see this 
 done, run us alongside on the other hoard 
 and make fast." 
 
 "Aye! aye! sir, I understand; it shall be 
 done." 
 
 Our hero, calling Tom Barlow and half- 
 a-dozen of his crew, who had armed them- 
 selves with cutlasses, together, told them to 
 follow him; he and Barlow would make for 
 the cabin, whilst the rest were to keep the 
 passage to the schooner, " for depend upon it 
 all hands will be employed beating off the 
 Neapolitan cruiser." 
 
 He had hardly finished instructing the 
 sailors, and requesting them, except actually to 
 preserve life, not to strike with the edge of the 
 cutlass, before a loud cheer from the deck of the 
 xebecque, and shouts of rage from the Garibal- 
 dian volunteers, announced that the two vessels 
 had engaged. The next instant the " Gazelle" 
 ranged up alongside, and Devereux, followed
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 259 
 
 by his eager crew, scrambled up the side, and 
 made a rush for the cabin. A scene of in- 
 describable confusion reigned on the decks of 
 the " Bella Donna." Knowing their fate, if 
 captured, and having a fearful apprehension 
 of being thrust into a Neapolitan dungeon 
 and tortured, Colonel Riotti and his volun- 
 teers fought furiously, beating back the 
 Neapolitans as they attempted to climb over 
 the high bulwarks of their vessel. So engaged 
 were they, that our hero and Tom Barlow 
 reached the cabin unheeded, and rushing 
 down the stairs, Devereux burst open the door 
 of the main cabin. As he did so, Barracco, 
 standing in the middle of the floor, levelled 
 a brace of pistols at his head. "Well might 
 our hero's comrades say he had a charmed 
 life. His cap was knocked off and one ball 
 tore through the collar of his coat, just raising 
 the skin, and, as Tom Barlow followed, the 
 same ball deprived him of his starboard 
 whisker, and caused him, for a moment to 
 fall back; but the next instant Devereux had
 
 260 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 disarmed the furious Italian, and, handing 
 bim over to the enraged sailor, who was a 
 most powerful man, he proceeded to burst 
 open the door of the cabin where Camilla 
 and her two female attendants had been locked 
 in by the Signor Barracco. 
 
 Barracco foamed at the mouth, and 
 struggled so fiercely with Tom Barlow that 
 both rolled over on the floor, breaking the 
 table to pieces ; but Tom, smarting under his 
 lost whisker and scorched cheek, grasped 
 the Italian by the throat, with such a grip 
 that Barracco gasped for breath. Just then 
 Devereux passed through the cabin with 
 Camilla and her terrified attendants. 
 
 " Oh ! for ^God's sake, Percy," exclaimed 
 the trembling girl, " release my uncle ; do not 
 let him be injured." 
 
 '* He shall be released," whispered our 
 hero, "only pass through the door, and I will 
 lock it." 
 
 Camilla, pale and trembling with emotion, 
 still anxious for her uncle, obeyed with a
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 261 
 
 hesitating step, the shouts, cheers, and re- 
 peated musket reports on deck bewildering 
 her ; for she could not know how affairs were 
 over her head. 
 
 Binding the Signor Barracco's hands with 
 some spun yarn, Tom Barlow left him 
 struggling on a sofa, and hurried after his 
 master. 
 
 As Devereux gained the deck, supporting 
 Camilla in his arms, Colonel Biotti and a 
 dozen of the volunteers made a furious rush 
 upon him with their cutlasses in hand, whilst, 
 with shouts of rage and triumph, an officer of 
 the xebecque, followed by a score of the 
 Neapolitans, gained a footing at last upon the 
 deck of the " Bella Donna." 
 
 Seeing the perilous state of affairs on the 
 deck of the brig, old Blowhard and the entire 
 crew of the schooner scrambled on to the 
 deck, making a dash at their enemies, cheer- 
 ing and using the flat of their cutlasses with 
 might and considerable effect. Before this, 
 Devereux and Colonel Biotti met face to face,
 
 262 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 the former making a desperate cut at our 
 hero's head. Leaving Tom Barlow and the 
 skipper to get the females into the yacht, 
 Devereux knocked up the Colonel's cutlass, 
 and dealt him so hard a blow on the side of 
 the head with the flat of his heavy weapon, 
 that he rolled over senseless to leeward ; 
 before he could, however, gain the schooner 
 the Neapolitan lieutenant, who had recognised 
 him, called out, 
 
 "Ah! cowardly robber, you won't escape 
 me !" 
 
 Devereux saw that he had scarcely a 
 moment to lose, his men had got the Lady 
 Camilla and one of the females to the yacht, 
 and had already freed her from the brig, 
 thinking their commander was going to spring 
 aboard ; her topsail was braced round, and a 
 fresh breeze was paying her off from the brig, 
 when Percy arrested himself in the act of 
 leaping, and turned, hearing the words of the 
 Neapolitan officer; even Tom Barlow had 
 sprung aboard, carrying one of the terrified
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 263 
 
 female attendants with him. The Neapolitan 
 officer rushed at Devereux, with three or four 
 of his men, who hastened to secure their prize; 
 but they made a fatal mistake, for Percj^, en- 
 raged, and seeing he could no longer leap 
 aboard his yacht, met the Neapolitan officer, 
 and striking him a fearful blow, cut through 
 his cap, and dashed him bleeding and sense- 
 less upon the deck. Just then Barracco, 
 having freed himself, rushed upon deck, and 
 seeing the Neapolitan officer struck down, 
 shouted out, " a thousand crowns for this 
 robber, dead or alive I" A blow of our 
 hero's heavy cutlass felled another Neapoli- 
 tan to the deck, and the next instant he sprang 
 over the bulwarks, Amid shouts, shots, and 
 various imprecations, and the cheers of his 
 own excited crew, he swam gallantly along 
 side the yacht, and in a moment more stood 
 unharmed upon her deck.
 
 264 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The commander of the Neapolitan cruiser, 
 perfectly satisfied that the " Gazelle " was a 
 confederate of the " Bella Donna," hear- 
 ing how his lieutenant had been cut down 
 and severely wounded, and secure of the brig 
 as a prize, at once cast off, and ranging ahead, 
 without a moment's hesitation opened fire 
 upon the schooner as she was bracing round 
 her topsails, and broke the peak of her main- 
 sail, which she had previously lowered. 
 
 " This will never do ! ' exclaimed Percy, 
 seeing part of his bulwarks carried away, and 
 two of his men wounded by the shot from the
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 265 
 
 xebecque. " Bring over the two guns, and 
 let us cripple him." 
 
 Getting the schooner in hand, and the guns 
 brought to the side and double shotted, after 
 another broadside from the xebecque, which 
 splintered their main boom, and wounded old 
 Blowhard and Devereux slightly, the guns 
 were fired, and with a cheer of triumph, the 
 crew of the schooner beheld the mainmast of 
 their opponents, with its ponderous yard, go 
 right over the side, crashing and tearing away 
 the most part of the starboard bulwarks, and 
 covering the crew with the folds of the 
 enormous sail. 
 
 The xebecque lay perfectly disabled, 
 whilst the " Gazelle," squaring her fore top- 
 sail, bore away on her intended course for 
 Malta. 
 
 Those on board the u Bella Donna" no 
 sooner beheld the disabled condition of the 
 Neapolitan cruiser, than tbey overpowered 
 the few Neapolitan sailors left, and making 
 all the sail they could, bore up for the Italian 
 
 VOL. r. N
 
 266 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 shore, abandoning their intention, as Colonel 
 Eiotti was severely hurt, of attempting a land- 
 ing on the Sicilian coast. 
 
 Whilst this short contest was taking place 
 between the three vessels, a large ship, under 
 a cloud of sail, was standing out from the 
 Sicilian shore, and without being observed, 
 was approaching the scene of contention. 
 Even on board the u Gazelle " she was not 
 noticed, for Devereux was changing his 
 soaked garments, and binding a bandage over 
 the long splinter wound in his left shoulder. 
 The old skipper had also bound up his wound 
 in the side, which luckily was slight, and was 
 attending to the two wounded men, who 
 had been carried below. T he rest of the crew 
 were strengthening the boom where it had 
 been wounded by a round shot, by lashing 
 slight spars along the splintered part. The 
 rigging was also cut in several places, and 
 the planks of the bulwarks were knocked to 
 pieces. Camilla Barracco was sitting on the 
 sofa in the yacht's cabin, with her two terrified
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 267 
 
 attendants. The young Countess was pale as 
 death, and was also greatly agitated. She 
 could not and did not regret her rescue by 
 her lover, but she could not have imagined that 
 such a scene as she had witnessed could have 
 taken place. She had, however, become aware, 
 whilst in the " Bella Donna," that she was 
 likely to become an object of interest and 
 speculation to Colonel Riotti, for the Colonel, 
 with very little ceremony, told her guardian 
 that the brig would first proceed to the coast 
 of Sicily, to land him and his followers. 
 Barracco, though enraged, perceived he was 
 in the Colonel's power, and the skipper of the 
 u Bella Donna," with his crew of eight men, 
 were also powerless against the adventurers 
 attached to the fortunes of the colonel. 
 Riotti very deliberately told the Count that 
 he fancied his niece for a wife, and he 
 thought she would make a much better wife 
 than a nun. 
 
 The Italian, caught in a trap, was speech- 
 less with the contending passions that agitated 
 
 n 2
 
 268 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 hiin. That a penniless adventurer like Riotti 
 should dare to make the descendant of a noble 
 house, such an offer was an insult insupport- 
 able. In his first fury he struck the colonel 
 in the face, and had not the skipper and the 
 terrified Camilla interfered, one would have 
 killed the other. Camilla thus became ac- 
 quainted with Biotti's designs, for he openly 
 avowed he would take her with him when 
 they made the coast of Sicily, and could 
 land. 
 
 Such was the position of affairs, when they 
 sighted the Sicilian coast, and afterwards, 
 when they mistook the xebecque for a mer- 
 chant craft, they braced round and fled, 
 Barracco regained courage. The best thing 
 that could happen for him was the capture of 
 the " Bella Donna." Colonel Biotti was 
 cowed ; still, after a moment's reflection, he 
 resolved to resist the attempt of the cruiser 
 to board. The dungeons of Naples appalled 
 him and his followers. 
 
 The sight, however, of the u Wild
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 269 
 
 Gazelle" astounded both Kiotti and 
 Barracco. The latter vowed that Devereux 
 should never carry off his niece ; and Eiotti 
 vowed to exterminate him if he attempted it. 
 
 Camilla, however, was rescued from both 
 guardian and adventurer. Carried onboard the 
 14 Gazelle," she was left in the cabin with her 
 two attendants, in a state of mind not easilv 
 described. She trembled lest, in the heat of 
 temper, her lover might injure her guardian, 
 or be himself wounded. She could feel no 
 real affection for her uncle, but she felt 
 acutely when she thought what the world 
 might say. Yet, were she not rescued, she 
 would assuredly have fallen a victim to the 
 schemes of Colonel Riotti. 
 
 When Devereux had changed his garments, 
 he hastened into the cabin, to reassure 
 Camilla respecting the situation of her uncle, 
 and to satisfy her scruples, by stating that no 
 single life had been sacrificed in rescuing her. 
 Camilla was exceedingly pale, but as her 
 lover entered the cabin, the sense of her
 
 270 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 strange situation brought the blood for a 
 moment back to her cheeks. Nevertheless, 
 she held out her hand, with a sweet, affection- 
 ate, grateful smile, to him who had staked his 
 life to preserve her from a fate she shud- 
 dered to think of. The two female atten- 
 dants very discreetly retired into an inner 
 cabin. 
 
 " This has been a terrible day, dear Percy," 
 said the maiden, " but I trust in God that 
 my uncle is unhurt, and that none of your 
 people have been wounded." 
 
 u There was not a hair of your guardian's 
 head injured, dearest," said our hero, sitting- 
 down beside his beloved, taking her hand 
 and kissing it affectionately. Even that 
 slight token of his love was done so respect- 
 fully and so tenderly, that no maiden need 
 have felt offended ; knowing the peculiarity 
 of Camilla's situation, and her natural timi- 
 dity and delicacy of thought and feelings, he 
 was most careful in his manner. 
 
 After explaining to her how the affair ended
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 271 
 
 on board the " Bella Donna," lie stated that 
 it was his intention to steer for Malta, and 
 there to place her under the protection of a 
 lady whose husband was an old comrade 
 and a most dear friend. " There you will 
 receive every attention and kindness, till 
 this," and he again gently kissed the hand he 
 held, " becomes mine ; we will then return 
 to Genoa." 
 
 Much more was said between the lovers, 
 but lovers' thoughts, disclosed to each other, 
 are sacred. When Devereux quitted the 
 cabin to ascend upon deck, he left his fair 
 and beautiful prize much more tranquil and 
 hopeful, and less alarmed at her strange 
 situation. Before he reached the deck, the 
 loud boom of a heavy gun, at no great 
 distance, caught his ear, and he hastened his 
 steps. 
 
 On reaching the deck, his skipper, handing 
 him the glass, said, " I think this ship, over- 
 hauling us, is a Neapolitan frigate." 
 
 Taking the glass, our hero fixed it upon
 
 272 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 the vessel, under a crowd of canvas, following 
 in their wake. 
 
 u Yes," said he, " she's a Neapolitan 
 sailing frigate. We must baffle her. I was 
 afraid it was the " Veloce" screw frigate. She 
 is very fast. Now this vessel, if we can coax 
 her on a wind, in such a breeze as this can beat 
 her. I shall suddenly heave to, as she nears 
 us, and before she can take in sail, she will 
 run a long way past us. The moment she does, 
 brace round and get on a taut bowline. This 
 we will continue to do till night, and then 
 alter our course." 
 
 " If she does not cripple us with a shot, 
 sir, we shall escape her." 
 
 " Ah! we must run that chance ; it won't 
 do to be taken to Naples to explain matters." 
 
 On came the Neapolitan frigate, under 
 studding sails, low and aloft. Suddenly the 
 "Gazelle" was run up in the wind, and 
 hove to as if in submission. The frigate shot 
 past, and then began lowering away, as she 
 prepared to round to also. But the yacht
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 273 
 
 had already braced her topsails on a wind, 
 and with the fresh breeze was gliding through, 
 the water before the frigate perceived her 
 manoeuvre. As soon as she could get upon 
 a wind and reduce her canvass, her bow 
 chasers were brought to bear upon the fly- 
 ing " Gazelle," but they struck wide of the 
 mark, and the frigate settled herself for 
 a chase, being quite confident of overhauling 
 her puny antagonist, and blowing her out of 
 the water. But to their intense disgust, after 
 half-an-hour, they plainly perceived that the 
 a Gazelle " increased her distance, and was 
 leaving them fast. 
 
 The " Gazelle," under her immense spread 
 of canvas, appeared to fly through the water, 
 her mainsail almost lying on the surface, and 
 sweeping the crests of the light waves. 
 
 " Cento diavolo ! " exclaimed the com- 
 mander of the frigate, as he paced the deck, 
 with an angry frown on his brow, " how is 
 this? — we do not gain upon this maledetta 
 golleta ■'" 
 
 n 5
 
 274 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 The night became very dark ; with an 
 increased breeze, and then the " Gazelle's " 
 course was altered, the sheets slacked, and 
 they shaped for Malta. 
 
 As the dawn made, our hero, who had 
 snatched a couple of hours' rest in the stew- 
 ard's berth, returned to the deck. The island 
 of Malta was visible through a thin, grey 
 mist, which lay upon the surface of the deep. 
 The breeze having died away, above this 
 mist was seen the tall spars of a large ship 
 between them and the island ; but as the 
 light increased, and the surrounding scene 
 became distinctly visible, Devereux, who had 
 his glass fixed upon the spot where he expected 
 each moment to see the hull of the ship that 
 owned the tall masts, exclaimed, in a tone 
 of vexation, 
 
 " The Neapolitan frigate, by Jupiter !" 
 
 Old Blowharcl rubbed his eyes, and uttered 
 an exclamation not exactly mentionable. 
 
 " How is it possible, sir ?" 
 
 The fact was that Captain Manfrede, of the
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 275 
 
 Neapolitan frigate, felt exceedingly chagrined 
 at not only being out-manoeuvred but out- 
 sailed. 
 
 " This is too bad," said lie, to his first 
 lieutenant, " that filibuster must have been 
 an English yacht. She was, when we first 
 chased her, shaping a course for Malta. Now, 
 ten to one, when it becomes dark, she alters 
 her course, and will again make for Malta. 
 We can beat her before the wind easily. So 
 the moment we lose sight of her, square away, 
 and make all sail, and we will be off to the 
 Island of Malta." 
 
 The Neapolitan commander was right— he 
 reached the island first, and was lying to 
 when first perceived by those on board the 
 " Wild Gazelle."
 
 276 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 At the time Percy Devereux made out the 
 Neapolitan frigate, she was about three miles 
 off. There was not a breath of air, the water 
 like a mirror of glass, and the sky overhead 
 without a speck to sully its brilliant purity. 
 
 " This is annoyingly awkward, Blowhard," 
 said our hero. " They will put out their 
 boats." 
 
 " Blow me if they are not doing so !" ex- 
 claimed the skipper. 
 
 It was true enough. Two boats were 
 lowered over the side of the Neapolitan 
 frigate, and as Devereux regarded them with 
 his glass, he perceived that they were filled
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 277 
 
 with men, and immediately began pulling 
 towards the " Gazelle." 
 
 Devereux thought for a moment — looked 
 carefully all round the horizon, and then 
 said, 
 
 4 ' Come, by Jove ! I must lead them another 
 dance after us. That long black line to 
 eastward of us; tells of a Levanter coming 
 up, which will reach us nearly as soon as the 
 boats. Now, let all the men come on deck 
 armed with pistol and cutlass; and run out 
 our twelve pounders. I don't mean to hurt a 
 man; but I am quite satisfied the Neapolitans 
 will not attempt to board us from their boats, 
 though they doubtless mistake us for a 
 filibustering craft." 
 
 All this was done in a few minutes, and 
 seventeen hands, including all the males 
 aboard, made a good show, with the muzzles 
 of two twelve pounders protruding from the 
 side. 
 
 The boats came rapidly up, and so did the
 
 278 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 dark line to the eastward. When the boats 
 were within a very short distance, Devereux 
 hailed, and hoisting the English ensign, said, 
 
 " If more than one boat comes alongside, 
 we shall open lire upon you. This is an 
 English yacht." 
 
 This intimation instantly checked the 
 speed of the boats. One was a gig, with an 
 officer in the stern sheets, four men pulling 
 and four armed men in her besides, The 
 other was a ship's boat, carrying half-a- 
 dozen marines with muskets, and half-a-dozen 
 sailors pulling ; a marine officer sitting in 
 the stern. 
 
 The two boats paused. The officer in the 
 gig spoke with the officer in the boat, and 
 the gig pulled up within a few yards of the 
 " Gazelle," and then lay upon their oars. 
 The officer in her, standing up, hailed the 
 schooner. 
 
 u What's the name of this schooner?" 
 
 ''The ' Wild Gazelle,' " returned Devereux,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 279 
 
 and then added, " if you will come alone on 
 board, I will easily undeceive you as to her 
 character. She is simply a yacht. 
 
 " I am not going to be made a fool of," 
 returned the Neapolitan officer, fiercely. 
 " Yachts do not generally fire into vessels 
 and dismast them. My orders are to take 
 you in tow, and bring you alongside the 
 Neapolitan frigate, the ' Ferdinando.' If you 
 offer resistance, you must take the conse- 
 quences. I will do my duty." 
 
 As he said the words, a strong puff of wind 
 from the east bent the schooner gracefully 
 towards the Neapolitan boats. Already the 
 sails were prepared for receiving the easterly 
 wind, and instantly she gathered way. A 
 fine fresh breeze was curling and cresting the 
 ripples with their tiny crests of foam. 
 
 The Neapolitan officer cried out in a rage, 
 waving his hat to the boat full of marines to 
 come up. 
 
 "If you don't he:ive to, we'll fire into 
 you.''
 
 280 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 On dashed the "Gazelle" under her im- 
 mense canvas, and bang went the muskets of 
 the enraged Neapolitans, whilst an amusing 
 attempt was made to pursue in the boats. 
 
 A cheer was given by the yacht's crew as 
 they beheld the discomfitted Neapolitans give 
 up the chase, and pull back towards the frigate. 
 
 " Now, skipper, you see we shall baffle 
 the frigate ; for with this breeze, I shall have 
 a great advantage, and be able to double 
 yonder head before the crew can possibly 
 get us within range of her guns, and into 
 Valetta she will not follow us, of course." 
 
 As soon as the frigate had picked up her 
 boats and the breeze reached her, she made 
 sail after the " Wild Gazelle ;" but it was too 
 late. The yacht weathered the head, the 
 frigate firing her bow guns at the saucy 
 schooner, without effect. Half-an-hour more, 
 and the " Gazelle " rounded Battery Point 
 and ran into Valetta Harbour. 
 
 Camilla had heard the firing and the cheer- 
 ing of the " Gazelle's " crew, and feeling some
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 281 
 
 degree of alarm, threw her mantle over her, 
 and with her attendant, tried to gain a view 
 out from the companion stairs. The yacht 
 was then rounding Battery Point, and she 
 could just see into the little harbour they 
 were entering. Devereux, seeing her, hast- 
 ened to her, and in a few words explained, 
 and relieved her mind of all alarm. 
 
 When the " Gazelle '' anchored, Percy 
 hastened ashore, and proceeded at once to the 
 house of Mrs. Vansitart, with whom he was 
 exceedingly intimate, her husband being one 
 of his oldest and most valued friends. In 
 going out, Percy had spent some weeks at 
 Malta, and most of his time was passed at 
 Captain Vansitart's, whose ship was then at 
 Malta. 
 
 The Captain's lady received our hero most 
 cordially, and so did her sisters, for he was a 
 general favourite. 
 
 " Where in the world have you come from, 
 Captain Devereux ?" asked the lady, after a 
 cordial greeting. "You are here, and there,
 
 282 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 and everywhere in that ' Wild Gazelle ' of 
 yours. Any new adventures since we saw 
 you r 
 
 " My dear madam," replied Devereux, with 
 a smile, " my adventures are now over, for I 
 have got a wife.'' 
 
 " A wife ! " repeated all the ladies in a 
 breath, "What! married? Is the lady a 
 Circassian princess, a Turkish sultana, or an 
 Arabian of the Desert ?" 
 
 " Luckily neither one nor the other," an- 
 swered the young man, laughing. " I promised 
 to present a fair lady to you when next we 
 should meet ; but the wife I hope to have is 
 simply an Italian maiden." 
 
 " Oh ! then you are not married ?" 
 
 "No; but I have all the preliminaries 
 necessary for that happy state — the fair lady 
 and her consent." 
 
 He then related his adventures in full, 
 requesting in return a kind reception of the 
 young Countess, his intended bride, from 
 Mrs. Vansitart.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 28 
 
 a 
 
 Mrs. Vansitart and her sisters, with de- 
 lighted cordiality, expressed their readiness 
 to receive their fair guest, and the carriage 
 was ordered to convey her to their residence, 
 Mrs. Vansitart and one of her sisters going 
 for her. 
 
 A very few days made Camilla perfectly at 
 ease in the hospitable home of the Vansitart 
 family. Her grace and beauty soon created 
 a deep interest in her favour. Scarcely ten 
 days had passed before Captain Vansitart, 
 with his frigate, arrived in Malta. He was 
 delighted to see his old comrade. 
 
 " I knew you were here, Percy," said the 
 Captain. " You have kicked up a pretty 
 roWj at all events. I could make nothing of 
 the story myself. All I could understand 
 was that you it was, and your yacht, the 
 'Gazelle,' that did the mischief; but, now, 
 in the name of fate, what is it all about?" 
 
 " First tell me what you did hear, and I 
 will explain afterwards," answered our hero, 
 laughing.
 
 284 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 "I was in Palermo, now the unhappy, just 
 preparing to sail for Malta, when a Neapo- 
 litan xebecque, with loss of mainmast, came 
 in, several of her crew killed and wounded. 
 I was in a cafe that evening and heard 
 several officers and men talking vehemently 
 about some desperate engagement with a 
 piratical schooner and a Polacca brig, full 
 of fillibusters. Some words, and a descrip- 
 tion of the piratical schooner, whose figure- 
 head was accurately described, excited my 
 attention. I joined in the conversation, and 
 received from a Neapolitan naval officer the 
 following account. 
 
 " He stated that he was commander of the 
 ' Stromboli ' Neapolitan cruiser, xebeeque- 
 rigged; that they had chased a fast Polacca 
 brig, full of fillibusters, going to attempt a 
 landing on the coast of Sicily ; that after a 
 desperate engagement with more than a hun- 
 dred Garibaldians, they succeeded in driving 
 them below, and taking possession of the 
 4 Bella Donna ' — so the brig was called — «
 
 THE "WILD GAZELLE. 285 
 
 when a piratical schooner, armed with twelve 
 pounders, and full of men, ran up alongside, 
 and boarded the ' Bella Donna ' to aid the 
 fillihusters, or Garibaldi Volunteers, and after 
 a furious struggle they beat her off ; but 
 some of the piratical crew forced in the 
 cabin, shot an Italian signor, who resisted, 
 and carried off his wife, knocking his first 
 lieutenant over, and nearly braining him with 
 an axe ; that the xebeeque pursued the pirate, 
 but an unlucky twelve-pound shot carried 
 away their mainmast, and the schooner got 
 off, but was pursued instantly by a Neapolitan 
 frigate, and no doubt was by this time sunk.' 
 
 '"What was the schooner like?' I ques- 
 tioned, rather astounded at this strange, in- 
 comprehensible story. 
 
 " ' She was a long, low craft, with taunt, 
 very taunt, raking spars, and had for a figure- 
 head the head and neck of some wild animal, 
 like a deer.' 
 
 " ; Jupiter Amnion ! ' cried I ; ' it cannot 
 be the "Wild Gazelle?'"
 
 l86 the wild gazelle. 
 
 " ' Ah / Santo Madonna I Signor Capitanaf 
 exclaimed the Neapolitan Commander, ' that's 
 the name ; I remember now. The men of the 
 " Bella Donna " said she was called the 
 " Gazelle;" but even that rascal made off 
 seeing us dismasted.' 
 
 " I made no further remark, but, by Jove! 
 I was confounded. I felt satisfied the 
 schooner was your yacht; but what the deuce 
 could tempt you to attack a Neapolitan 
 cruiser, board a brig, and carry off a gentle- 
 man's wife, amazed me." 
 
 Percy burst into an uncontrollable fit of 
 laughter. They were then standing on the 
 
 deck of the "L " Frigate, and Captain 
 
 Vansitart knew nothing of our hero's ad- 
 ventures. 
 
 " Well, by Jove ! Vansitart, this is a story 
 with a vengeance." Our hero then gave a 
 brief account of the contest between him and 
 the Neapolitan xebecque, and the carrying off 
 of Camilla. 
 
 The Captain enjoyed the tale amazingly.
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 287 
 
 " All you have to do now, Percy, is to 
 make your beautiful prize a heretic and get 
 spliced, and you will be all right. So, come 
 along ashore. I am anxious to see this fair 
 captive of yours." 
 
 A fortnight after this our hero received the 
 hand of his beautiful prize, and the rejoic- 
 ings, balls, and fetes that took place are still 
 the talk of the gay inhabitants of Malta. 
 
 Camilla had publicly renounced the Eo- 
 man Catholic faith previous to her marriage, 
 and, established in a house of her own, hired 
 for three months, was as happy as a tenderly- 
 loved bride could be. 
 
 A month after she had attained her eight- 
 eenth year, the " Gazelle " and the " L " 
 
 frigate sailed in company for Genoa. 
 
 The joy of the Countess de Castiglioni and 
 the two children on again seeing Camilla was 
 great indeed, added to by the success of her 
 project in rendering two persons to whom she 
 was so tenderly attached supremely happy. 
 The bride and bridegroom promised to stay a
 
 288 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 few months at Sester; at the end of that 
 period the Countess was to accompany them 
 in their yacht to England, and remain several 
 years amongst her own connections, to educate 
 her children. 
 
 Camilla's first anxious question was, 
 
 " Had any tidings been received of her 
 Uncle Barracco ?" 
 
 " Oh ! you will be astonished," returned 
 the Countess, " when I tell you that the 
 Signor Barracco was at first thought mortally 
 wounded." 
 
 " What !" exclaimed Camilla, in great and 
 anxious amazement. "Mortally wounded! 
 By whom?" 
 
 " He never received the slightest hurt. I 
 left him in the cabin of the ' Bella Donna,' " 
 said Percy, " uninjured." 
 
 " Then you have not heard," said the 
 Countess, " what followed after you carried 
 off your fair bride. It was rumoured here in 
 Genoa, that the l Wild Gazelle' boarded the 
 1 Bella Donna,' carried off the Signora Bar-
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 289 
 
 racco, and afterwards dismasted and nearly 
 sunk a Neapolitan war xebecque, and that 
 afterwards a Neapolitan frigate pursued the 
 schooner, and, with a^ single broadside, sunk 
 her, and that every soul on board perished." 
 
 " Capital ! by St. Peter !" said Captain 
 Devereux ; u capital ending. All the dramatis 
 'persona? disposed of, as far as the schooner 
 was concerned. Now for the ' Bella Donna?'" 
 
 " Ah ! you may laugh now ; but till this 
 rumour was contradicted by the arrival of an 
 English brig from Malta, whose Captain 
 positively swore to seeing the ' Gazelle ' fired 
 into by a frigate without any damage, and 
 afterwards run into Malta, we almost believed 
 it. I know I suffered great uneasiness. How- 
 ever the Signor Servili's arrival from Eome 
 cleared up the mystery. He related to me 
 what 1 will now tell you. The ' Bella Donna/ 
 after escaping from the Neapolitan cruiser, 
 m ade for Civita Vecchia, by the Signor Bar- 
 racco's orders ; but Colonel Riotti swore 
 fiercely that he and his men should be landed 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 290 THE WILD GAZELLE. 
 
 on the coast of Italy first. The skipper of 
 the brig, however, being sadly frightened, 
 seconded the Signor Barracco's desires, for 
 several of the volunteers were wounded and 
 three dead. Hot words eDsued. Both violent 
 and furious men in their passions, they drew 
 their weapons, and when the captain of the 
 brigantine, hearing the noise of the conten- 
 tion, rushed into the cabin, both combatants 
 lay prostrate on the floor. Coloned Eiotti 
 rolled over on his back, gasped out, l Bascal, 
 get me water. It was a fair fight.' The 
 next moment he was dead. The Signor 
 Barracco was, at first, considered dead also ; 
 but he slowly recovered, and when the 
 brigantine made the port of Civita Vecchia, 
 was carried on shore. The unfortunate 
 adventurer, Biotti, was consigned to the deep 
 before they reached the port ; the volun- 
 teers dispersed, and thus ended this disastrous 
 expedition of Colonel Biotti. 
 
 " The Signor Barracco, on recovering, pro* 
 ceeded to Borne, and his conscience, I suppose,
 
 THE WILD GAZELLE. 291 
 
 convincing him he was wrong, the Signor 
 Servili was sent to Genoa with orders to 
 restore all papers, deeds, &c, to the Countess, 
 so as to enable her to gain complete posses- 
 sion of her inheritance. Thus, after all, my 
 dear Percy, c All's well that ends well.' " 
 
 END OF VOL. I 
 
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 THE VOICE AND SINGING, 
 
 (The Formation and Cultivation of the Voice for Singing), 
 By ADOLFO FERRARI. 
 
 "The great and deserved success of this work has brought it, in no longtime 
 to a second edition, carefully revised, and enriched with a number of additional 
 exercises, which greatly increase its value. 
 
 "Since its first publication this book has met with general acceptance, and is new 
 used as a vade mecum by many of the most eminent and intelligent vocal instruc- 
 tors both in the metropolis and the provinces. We say vocal instructors, because 
 it is only to instructors that works of this class can be of material use. Singing 
 is not an art which can be learned by solitary study with the help of books, and 
 those who are self-taught (as it is called) are always badly taught. But a good 
 treatise, in which the principles and rules of the art. founded on reason and ex- 
 perience, are clearly expressed, is of infinite value, first to instructors, in assisting 
 them to adopt a rational and efficient method of teaching, and next to pupils 
 themselves, in constantly reminding them of, and enabling them to profit by, the 
 lessons of their master. In both these ways Signor Ferrari's works have been 
 found pre-eminently useful. 
 
 " The foundation of singing is the formation of the voice. A bad voice cannot 
 he made a good one ; but the most mediocre voice may be made a source of 
 pleasure both to its possessor and to others. Accordingly, ample dissertations on 
 the formation of the voice abound in our treatise on singing. But it unfortunately 
 happens that these dissertations are more calculated to perplex than to enlighten 
 the reader. We could refer to well known works by professors of singing of great 
 and fashionable name, in which the rules for the formation of the voice are pro- 
 pounded with such a parade oi science, and with descriptions of the vocal organs 
 so minute, and so full of Greek anatomical terms, that no unlearned reader can 
 possibly understand them. Signor Ferrari (as he tells us) was brought up to the 
 medical profession before, following the bent of his inclination, he betook himsslf 
 to the study of music. But this circumstance, while it made him acquainted with 
 the physical construction of the human organs of sound, has not led him into the 
 common error of displaying superfluous learning. We have not a word about the 
 
 * glottis,' or the ' trachea,' but we have a broad principle distinctly enunciated, 
 and intelligent to everybody. 
 
 " Signor Ferrari's principle is of the simplest kind. ' Everyone,' he says, ' who 
 can speak may sing . The only difference between speaking and singing is, that in 
 speaking we strike the sound impulsively and immediately leave it, whereas in 
 singing we have to sustain the sound with the same form of articulation with 
 which we struck it impulsively.' It is on this principle that Signor Ferrari's 
 practical rules for the formation and cultivation of the voice are based. To give 
 the pupil a sufficient control of the breath for utterance of prolonged sounds — to 
 soften the harshness and increase the strength and equality of the natural tones oi 
 the voice, without ever forcing it— these are the objects of the scales and exercises 
 on sustained sounds, which must be practised under the careful superin tender ce 
 of the teacher, whose assistance Signor Ferrari always holds to be indispensable, 
 
 * * * —Illustrated News. 
 
 KEBLE'S HYMNS. 
 
 Just Published. Price 3s. 
 
 The new Swiss tune " St. Gall," harmonised by Mr. G. B. Allen (as sung at AH 
 Saints', Trinity, and other Churches,) set to Keble's Morning Hymn, with three 
 other hymns by the same author, set to music by the late Vincent Wallace and 
 Mr. W. Guernsey, are just published, with a portrait of Mr. Keble, and a fac-simile 
 of his Autograph. 
 
 London : Duncan Davison & Co., 244, Regent Street, W.
 
 OETZMANN & Compy., 
 
 PIANOFORTE HAWFACTURFRS, 
 
 27, BAKER STREET, 
 
 PORTMAN SQUARE. 
 
 Oetzmann &Co's. 25 Guinea Royal Cottage Pianoforte, 7 octaves, 
 metallic plate, registered keys, and all the latest improvements, 
 warranted The manufacturers, Oetzmann & Co. , 27, Baker Street, 
 offer greater advantages to purchasers of Pianofortes for Cash, 
 than any other house in London. 
 
 N.B. — Packed free for any part, on receipt of remittance. 
 
 OETZMANN & Co's., 
 PIANOFORTES FOR HIRE. 
 
 Pianofortes for Hire, 14s. per month, 7 octaves. No hire charged 
 if purchased in six months. The most economical and judicious 
 mode of obtaining a really good pianoforte is to hire one (with the 
 option of purchasing it if approved) of the manufacturers, 
 OETZMANN and Co., 27, Baker Street, Portman Square, W., 
 opposite Madame Tussaud's. No other address. 
 
 NEW MUSIC HALF PRICE. 
 
 ALL full price music sent at Half Price and post free to any part 
 of the United Kingrdom. 
 
 MUSICAL CIRCULATING LIBRARY, One Guinea, or Two 
 Guineas per annum. 
 
 OETZMANN & COMPY., 
 
 27, Baker Street, 
 
 Portman Square, 
 
 London, W.
 
 In 3 Vols. 31s. 6d. 
 
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 AND OTHER TALES, 
 
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 THE AGE OF PITT AND FOX, 
 
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 LITERARY ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 OMITTED STANZAS OF DON JUAN. 
 
 (Hitherto unpublished.) 
 
 The folh wing verses, forming a part of the celebrated description of Donna Inez. 
 
 in the first canto of Byron's Don Juen, which were in all the published editions 
 
 omitted, much against the will of the noble poet, are now presented to the world, and 
 
 fill a blank in one of the most sketch}' episodes of the book. They continue the 
 
 catalogue of the personal charms of Donna Inez. 
 
 The Hair !— her lovers swore that it was black — 
 
 Her enemies half-hinted it was grey ! 
 Until she sent to London for a pac- 
 
 quet of Macassar Oil, to steal away 
 That venerable colour, and bring back 
 
 The glossy ringlets of her early day ; 
 When curling tresses, jetty, thick, and long, 
 
 Soon proved her foes were weak, and Rowland strong. 
 
 The Skin ! — why, old Alfonso would declare 
 
 That alabaster by its side might blush — 
 Shamed out of whiteness ! — did there not a rare 
 
 And rich Castillian tide of pure blood rush 
 Beneath to tinge it ; but (which was not fair,) 
 
 To this the envious sneer'd ' pshaw,' and ' tush j' 
 And so she sent for Rowland's Kalydor, 
 
 Which proved her lily-whiteness more and more. 
 
 Her Teeth ! — some scorners said she had a grin, full 
 
 With vEthiop specks ;— but reader, by your leave, 
 If you'd have seen them, you'd have deem'd it sinful, 
 
 That she should ever laugh within her sleeve ; 
 You couldn't pick a dot out with a pin. — Full 
 
 Well this row of pearls you will believe 
 She owed to Rowland: — sceptic, if you wont, O ! 
 
 For God's sake brush your own with his Odonto ! 
 
 In 1 Vol. 8vo. Price 12s. Cloth. 
 
 THE SPAS, 
 
 OF BELGIUM, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, FRANCE, 
 AND ITALY, 
 
 By THOMAS MORE MADDEN, M.D., M.R.I.A., 
 
 Author of " Change of Climate in. Pursuit of Health," "The 
 Climate of Malaga," &c.