ready for her to start at once; the sooner she is
off the better."

The Italian knight at once undertook the mission, and started for the
shore. Fosco, who had been chosen principally because he was light of
frame, as well as very shrewd and intelligent, was then called up, and
his mission explained to him. He was delighted at having been selected.
Gervaise took him down to the cabin, and they consulted the maps with
which the galley was furnished.

"You will row on to Muravera; it is some twenty miles from here. You
see, the village lies at the mouth of a river. As soon as you arrive
there, you will land and find out whether there is any report of
Moorish pirates having been seen along the coast. We shall be there this
evening, and you will come on board and report. Next day you will get to
Lunasei, which is about five miles on this side of Cape Bellavista, and
they will certainly know there if the pirates are lying behind the cape.
If they are so, you will row back to meet us; if they are not, you will
remain there until we come up in the evening. Remember that, should you
on either day be seen and chased, and you find they are overtaking you,
you will make for the shore, land, and conceal yourselves. We shall keep
along near the coast, and as we pass you can come down to the water's
edge and signal to us to take you off. Now you had better disguise
yourself, so as to be in readiness to start as soon as da Vinci
comes off with the men. You will only need to take a small stock of
provisions, as each night you can replenish them here."

An hour later da Vinci came off with two stalwart young fishermen. The
little boat had already been painted, and it was lowered at once; Fosco
stepped into it, and started.

Two hours later the prizes got up sail, and, accompanied by the galley,
coasted quietly along the shore, arriving, late in the afternoon, at
Muravera. Fosco at once came on board.

"There is no news here beyond that which we gained this morning, Sir
Gervaise," he said. "Strange ships have certainly been seen sailing
north, but they did not approach the coast."

A similar report was given at Lunasei; there were certainly no corsairs
lying behind Cape Bellavista, or news would assuredly have reached the
village. At Orosei, next day, the report was the same; there were no
strange ships at Cape Comino. They had been warned overnight that
the coast beyond the cape was so precipitous, that there would be no
village