ood and his
companions were there, and she soon perceived him and several other
persons in the costume of Maltese seamen, mixed among a number of the
islanders, who considered themselves too old to dance and too young to
sit quiet as spectators. Fleetwood descried her; he was afraid almost
to look towards her, lest any one might suspect him. Jack Raby was near
him, and he whispered to him to be prepared, should the people they were
with move in that direction, to recognise Marianna, and to rush up to
where she was standing. Ada watched them as they moved from place to
place, now talking with some of the old people, now with others, till at
last they reached a group below her. The moment was not lost. Master
Jack uttered an admirable imitation of a cry of joy, and commenced
scrambling directly up the cliff, in a way only a midshipman or a monkey
can scramble, towards Marianna. She also played her part exceedingly
well. She shrieked with joy, and bent over the cliffs, exclaiming in
Maltese,--

"My dear brother, my dear brother, where have you come from? Oh, I am
so delighted to see you!"

Jack answered in return with his choicest gibberish, which did perfectly
well to express all the sentiments of fraternal affection he was at that
moment experiencing; indeed, no one could have understood him had he
spoken Maltese, and few were listening even to what was said, they were
all too much occupied either with watching the dance, or the approach of
their chief's mistico, which was now seen just at the opening of the
mouth of the bay, and adding not a little to the picturesque beauty of
the scene. Raby had no little difficulty in getting up the cliff--he
had chosen so steep a place--and he was very nearly slipping all the way
down again, just as he had reached the edge of the ledge, but all served
to show the ardour of his affection. By a desperate effort he sprang up
and rushed into Marianna's arms, and she had no reason to complain of
his neglecting the promise his captain had made for him; and to do
Marianna full justice, she played the part of an affectionate sister to
admiration. No one would have suspected that they were not delighted to
meet after a long separation, and yet they had never, to their
knowledge, seen each other till that moment.

"Oh, my sister, I am so delighted to see you," exclaimed Raby. "And
now, Miss Garden, pray listen to me," and he gave Marianna another kiss
and a hug. "The captain ha