, blood-stained, and torn.

This man was Fernand Wagner. He entered the city of Leghorn, and
purchased a change of attire, for which he paid from a purse well filled
with gold. He then repaired to a hostel, or public tavern, where he
performed the duties of the toilet, and obtained the refreshment of
which he appeared to stand so much in need. By this time his countenance
was again composed; and the change which new attire and copious ablution
had made in his appearance, was so great that no one who had seen him
issue from the grove and beheld him now, could have believed in the
identity of the person. Quitting the hostel, he repaired to the port,
where he instituted inquiries relative to a particular vessel which he
described, and which had sailed from Leghorn upward of a fortnight
previously.

He soon obtained the information which he sought; and an old sailor, to
whom he had addressed himself, not only hinted that the vessel in
question was suspected, when in the harbor, to be of piratical
character, but also declared that he himself had seen a lady conveyed on
board during the night preceding the departure of the ship. Further
inquiries convinced Wagner that the lady spoken of had been carried by
force, and against her will, to the corsair vessel; and he was now
certain that the demon had not deceived him, and that he had indeed
obtained a trace of his lost Nisida!

His mind was immediately resolved how to act; and his measures were as
speedily taken.

Guided by the advice of the old sailor from whom he had gleaned the
information he sought, he was enabled to purchase a fine vessel and
equip her for sea within the space of a few days. He lavished his gold
with no niggard hand, and gold is a wondrous talisman to remove
obstacles and facilitate designs. In a word, on the sixth morning after
his arrival at Leghorn, Fernand Wagner embarked on board his ship, which
was manned with a gallant crew, and carried ten pieces of ordnance. A
favoring breeze prevailed at the time, and the gallant bark set sail for
the Levant.

CHAPTER XL.

WAGNER IN SEARCH OF NISIDA.

The reader may perhaps be surprised that Fernand Wagner should have been
venturous enough to trust himself to the possibilities of a protracted
voyage, since every month his form must undergo a frightful change--a
destiny which he naturally endeavored to shroud in the profoundest
secrecy.

But it must be recollected that the Mediterranean is dotte