ermitted, though there was all the shelter that the
season and weather required. The Proserpine manifested no intention to
give up her pursuit; for she, too, came off the outlet and brought up
with one of her bowers about two miles to seaward of the lugger. She
seemed to have changed her mind as to the coasters, having let both
proceed after a short detention, though, it falling calm, neither was
enabled to get any material distance from her until the land-breeze
should rise. In these positions the belligerents prepared to pass the
night, each party taking the customary precautions as to his ground
tackle, and each clearing up the decks and going through the common
routine of duty as regularly as if he lay in a friendly port.

CHAPTER XI.

"The human mind, that lofty thing,
The palace and the throne,
Where reason sits, a sceptred king,
And breathes his judgment tone;
Oh! I who with silent step shall trace
The borders of that haunted place,
Nor in his weakness own,
That mystery and marvel bind
That lofty thing--the human mind!"

ANONYMOUS.

It is unnecessary to dwell on the glories of the Mediterranean. They are
familiar to every traveler, and books have again and again laid them
before the imaginations of readers of all countries and ages. Still,
there are lights and shades peculiar to every picture, and this of ours
has some of its own that merit a passing notice. A sunset, in midsummer,
can add to the graces of almost any scene. Such was the hour when Raoul
anchored; and Ghita, who had come on deck, now that the chase was over
and the danger was thought to be past, fancied she had never seen her
own Italy or the blue Mediterranean more lovely.

The shadows of the mountains were cast far upon the sea, long ere the
sun had actually gone down, throwing the witchery of eventide over the
whole of the eastern coast, some time before it came to grace its
western. Corsica and Sardinia resemble vast fragments of the Alps, which
have fallen into the sea by some accident of nature, where they stand
in sight of their native beds, resembling, as it might be, outposts to
those great walls of Europe. Their mountains have the same formations,
the same white peaks, for no small portion of the year at least, and
their sides the same mysterious and riven aspect. In addition, however,
to their other charms, they have one that is wanting in most of
Switzerland, though