deed a
ship, and its course was toward the island; for, as she gazed with fixed
and longing eyes, it by degrees assumed a more defined shape; and that
which had at first appeared to be but one small white piece of canvas,
gradually developed the outlines of many sails, and showed the tapering
spars, until at last the black hull appeared, completing the form of a
large and noble vessel. Joy! joy--she should yet be saved from the
island. And, ah--do the chances of that hoped-for safety multiply? Is it
indeed another ship which has caught her eye in the far-off horizon?
Yes; and not one only, but another, and another, and another, until she
can count seven vessels, all emerging from the mighty distance, and
spreading their snow-white canvas to the breeze which wafts them toward
the isle.

Crowds of conflicting thoughts now rush to the mind of Nisida; and she
seats herself upon the strand to deliberate as calmly as she may upon
the course which she should adopt. Alas, Fernand: thou wast not then
uppermost in the imagination of thy Nisida, although she had not
entirely forgotten thee. But the principal topic of her meditations, the
grand question which demanded the most serious weighing and balancing in
her mind, was whether she should again simulate the deafness and
dumbness which she had now for many months been accustomed to affect.
Grave and important interests and a deeply-rooted attachment to her
brother on the one side urged the necessity of so doing; but on the
other, a fearful disinclination to resume that awful duplicity--that
dreadful self-sacrifice, an apprehension lest the enjoyment of the
faculties of hearing and speech for so long a period should have
unfitted her for the successful revival and efficient maintenance of the
deceit; these were the arguments on the negative side. But Nisida's was
not a mind to shrink from any peril or revolt from any sacrifice which
her interests or her aims might urge her to encounter; and it was with
fire-flashing eyes and a neck proudly arching, that she raised her head
in a determined manner, exclaiming aloud, "Yes, it must be so. But the
period of this renewed self-martyrdom will not last long. So soon as
thine interests shall have been duly cared for, Francisco, I will quit
Florence forever, I will return to this island, and here will I pass the
remainder of my days with thee, my beloved Fernand! And that I _do_ love
thee still, Fernand, although thou hast fled from my pres