ns which might conduce to her comfort and
convenience.

Captain Bowse was on board with every preparation made for sailing, and
only awaited the arrival of his passengers. The master of the _Zodiac_
heard the account given by the naval officer without any alarm, though
at the same time he owned that there was some cause for suspicion; and
he promised to keep a sharp look-out, and to take all the precaution in
his power to prevent being surprised. When he heard that the Greek
stranger had gone on board the speronara, he remembered the visit of a
personage answering his description, on the previous evening, to his
vessel, and he felt glad that he had not been induced to take him.

"The chances are, if the fellow be a rogue, that he saw that there would
be no use trying to do anything with the _Zodiac_ and he has gone to lay
his plots against some other craft," he observed. "That's my view of
the case, sir, and I don't think that you need at all alarm yourself
about the safety of your friends. But although we are safe ourselves,
that is no reason that we should not think of others; and if I was you,
sir, I would make inquiries about the strange gentleman, and give notice
to the authorities of what you have observed. You can tell, sir, of his
wanting to take a passage to Greece, on board here, and then shipping
off suddenly in a Sicilian craft. There may be nothing in it; but there
may be something; and to my mind it's as well never to trust to a rope
with a strand gone."

Wishing a prosperous voyage to the master, and again cautioning him to
be careful, Captain Fleetwood stepped into his gig, and had got some
little distance, when he saw a large boat approaching, which he divined
contained her he loved best on earth, with her uncle and his attendants.
How could he resist the temptation of seeing and speaking to her once
more? so, giving his boat a sweep, he pulled round to the other side of
the _Zodiac_, from that on which the gangway ladder was shipped, and lay
on his oars, trusting to the chance of seeing Ada on deck, while her
uncle was below.

There were fewer packages than most families travel with, for the
colonel was a martinet, and would allow none of his womankind, as he
called them, to have more traps than was absolutely necessary; and thus
no time was lost in getting the party and their goods on board. Besides
the colonel and his niece, there was a little Maltese girl, as an
attendant, and the colonel