heard the gate open, and, a female figure appeared at the entrance.

Captain Fleetwood's heart beat audibly, for, during the first moment, he
could not tell whether it might not be Ada Garden; but the next, a gleam
of light, and to him it was one of sunshine, exhibited a graceful and
beautiful person; but a stranger. In his satisfaction, he was very
nearly forgetting himself, and rushing forward to inquire for Ada. She
stopped to address the old pirate, who had opened the gate.

"You have treated these poor men with scant hospitality, thrusting them
down here, wet and hungry," she observed to him, in an angry tone.
"Conduct them up to my room, and I will inquire whence they come, and
how they happened to be cast on the shore. Send, also, for Signor
Paolo, for some of them seem hurt, and may require his aid; and, good
Vlacco, see that food be supplied to them, of the best the island
affords, and let a chamber be prepared for them in the house, near to
the room where my brother sleeps. We will, at least, endeavour to be
hospitable to the few strangers who are ever likely to visit our
shores."

Nina ascended to her chamber, into which Vlacco directly afterwards
ushered the Maltese seamen. She inclined her head in acknowledgment to
the reverence they made her, and then ordered Vlacco to retire, and to
fulfil her directions.

"Do any of you speak Italian?" she asked in that language.

"_Si, signora_, I do," said Fleetwood, stepping forward. "I am also
eager, in the name of my comrades, to thank you for your interference in
our favour; nor are we at all assured, that without it, our lives would
have been safe, had we fallen into the hands of some of those
islanders."

"As to that," returned Nina, "I cannot say. They are rude men, and are
little accustomed to encounter strangers. But I am glad to be of
service to you, and will be of more, if you can point out the way."

"The greatest you can render us, signora, will be to order some twenty
or thirty men to aid us in launching our mistico. She is, fortunately,
uninjured, and we may thus be enabled to continue our voyage."

"They shall do so to-morrow morning, by which time the sea will be
calm," said Nina. "I have ordered lodging and food to be prepared for
you. And tell me, can I, in any other way, serve you?"

Fleetwood felt a strong inclination to confide in her completely.
Before, he had dreaded seeing Ada as the mistress of the tower; and now,
he almo