n for the cliffs.

"There is a light in motion near Capri, _man capitaine_" observed the
first lieutenant; "I suppose it to be on board some enemy. They are
plenty as gulls about this bay."

"You are very right, Monsieur. 'Tis la Proserpine; she shows the light
for her boats. She is too far to leeward to meddle with us, however, and
we are pretty certain there is nothing between her and the ships off the
town that can do us any harm. Are all our lights concealed? Let them be
well looked to, monsieur."

"All safe, _man-capitaine._ Le Feu-Follet never shows her lantern until
she wishes to lead an enemy into the mire!"

Raoul laughed, and pronounced the word "_bon_" in the emphatic manner
peculiar to a Frenchman. Then, as the lugger was drawing swiftly in
toward the rocks, he went on the forecastle himself, to keep a proper
lookout ahead; Ithuel, as usual, standing at his side.

The piano or plain of Sorrento terminates, on the side of the bay, in
perpendicular cliffs of tufa, that vary from one to near two hundred
feet in height. Those near the town are among the highest, and are lined
with villas, convents, and other dwellings, of which the foundations are
frequently placed upon shelves of rock fifty feet below the adjacent
streets. Raoul had been often here during the short reign of the Rufo
faction, and was familiar with most of the coast. He knew that his
little lugger might brush against the very rocks, in most places, and
was satisfied that if he fell in with the Proserpine's boats at all, it
must be quite near the land. As the night wind blew directly down the
play, sighing across the campagna, between Vesuvius and Castel a Mare,
it became necessary to tack off-shore, as soon as le Feu-Follet got
close to the cliffs where the obscurity was greatest, and her
proportions and rig were not discernible at any distance. While in the
very act of going round, and before the head-sheets were drawn, Raoul
was startled by a sudden hail.

"Felucca, ahoy!" cried one, in English, from a boat that was close on
the lugger's bow.

"Halloo!" answered Ithuel, raising an arm, for all near him to be quiet.

"What craft's that?" resumed he in the boat.

"A felucca sent down by the admiral to look for the Proserpine--not
finding her at Capri, we are turning up to the anchorage of the
fleet again."

"Hold on a moment, sir, if you please; I'll come on board you. Perhaps I
can help you out of your difficulty; for I happen to kno