he supposed the vessel must have struck, she
beheld a person, whom she concluded was old Vlacco, waving, as if to
some one below. He and his followers then disappeared down the cliffs.

"There is hope yet, Nina--there is hope yet!" she exclaimed joyfully.
"Thank Heaven! some may have escaped."

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

The morning preceding the storm I have described was very lovely, and
the pirate chief had gone out at an early hour; and was standing on the
edge of the cliff overlooking the harbour and the sea, while he
meditated on the plan of some future predatory expedition he had
proposed to himself to undertake on board the _Sea Hawk_. He was
interrupted in a short time by the appearance of one of his followers,
who had come up the ravine from the bay below.

"Pardon, chief, for my thus coming on you without warning; but I have
tidings of importance to communicate," said the man, making a
reverential obeisance.

"What is it, Baldo?" asked Zappa. "Haste, I am always impatient of
news."

"It is this, chief. A boat arrived this morning, soon after break of
day, from the island of Naeiri, and a man, who has come in her,
Gerassimo Listi, one of the scouts, states that a British ship of war
has been anchored some days at the farther end of it, and that he
suspects--"

"Where is the man, this Gerassimo Listi?" exclaimed Zappa, interrupting
him suddenly. "I want not to hear his suspicions--I will examine him--
where is he, I say?"

"Under the walls of the tower, chief, waiting your return," replied the
man.

"Send him hither instantly," said Zappa. "Then go in search of Vlacco,
and tell him I would speak with him--I may have need of his counsel."

The man hurried off to obey the orders he had received, while Zappa
stood, with his arms folded on his bosom, waiting the coming of the
messenger.

"A ship of war, and British," he muttered. "There must be some cause
for her coming here. She may possibly be in search of me; but yet, how
can it be known where I am to be found? and that English merchant
vessel, I took good care that neither she nor any on board should tell
tales. Well, friend, what news do you bring me?" he asked, turning to a
man in the costume of a Greek fisherman, who now approached. "Haste,
tell it me."

"Why, chief, for the last six days, in a sheltered bay, to the west end
of our island, a brig of war, carrying eighteen guns, has been at
anchor. When she first came in, I thought