. It superseded, too, the necessity of any lamps
or torches.

We pass over all the first outpourings of Ghita's anguish, when she
learned the wound of Raoul, her many and fervent prayers, and the scenes
that took place during the time that the islet was still crowded with
the combatants. More quiet hours succeeded when these last were gone;
and as the night advanced, something like the fixed tranquillity of
settled despair followed the first emotions. When ten o'clock arrived,
we reach the moment at which we wish to raise the curtain once more, in
order to present the principal actors in the scene.

Raoul lay on the summit of the islet, where his eye could range over the
mild waters that washed the rock, and his ear listen to the murmurings
of his own element. The Tramontana, as usual, had driven all perceptible
vapor from the atmosphere, and the vault of heaven, in its cerulean
blue, and spangled with thousands of stars, stretched itself above him,
a glorious harbinger for the future to one who died in hope. The care of
Ghita and the attendants had collected around the spot so many little
comforts, as to give it the air of a room suddenly divested of sides and
ceiling, but habitable and useful. Winchester, fatigued with his day's
work, and mindful of the wish that Raoul might so naturally feel to be
alone with Ghita, had lain down on a mattress, leaving orders to be
called should anything occur; while the surgeon, conscious that he could
do no more, had imitated his example, making a similar request. As for
Carlo Giuntotardi, he seldom slept, he was at this prayers in the ruins.
Andrea and the podesta paced the rock to keep themselves warm, slightly
regretting the sudden burst of humanity which had induced them
to remain.

Raoul and Ghita were alone. The former lay on his back, his head
bolstered, and his face upturned toward the vault of heaven. The pain
was over, and life was ebbing fast. Still, the mind was unshackled, and
thought busy as ever. His heart was still full of Ghita; though his
extraordinary situation, and more especially the glorious view before
his eyes, blended certain pictures of the future with his feelings, that
were as novel as he found them powerful.

With the girl it was different. As a woman, she felt the force of this
sudden blow in a manner that she found difficult to bear. Still, she
blessed God that what had occurred happened in her presence, as it might
be; leaving her the means of act