o placed. At length
the eastern point of the harbour was passed, and with the towering
cliffs of the entrance rising above them on either side, the clear
boundless sea appeared ahead. Jack Raby, with the natural impulse of
his age, forgetting his own lessons to Marianna, was very nearly giving
way to a shout of joy as he found the boat floating freely on the ocean
he had learned to love and to confide in; but he recollected himself in
time, and merely uttered a whispered "hurra," which could not have been
heard above the splash of the water on the rocks close above them.

"Port your helm, Raby, and let us shut out the bay as fast as we can,"
whispered his captain. "We shall still keep under the shadow of the
cliffs for a short distance, to avoid the risk of being seen from the
eastern towers. That will do, steady.

"Keep up your courage, my sweet Ada, for a few minutes more," he said,
turning his eyes to her countenance, from which, indeed, his glance had
never been absent longer than was necessary to watch for their safety.
"We may now congratulate ourselves on having every chance of escape. In
less than half an hour we shall fall in with the _Ione's_ boats, and
then we may defy the whole nest of pirates to stop us."

"I shall have no further fear when we have lost sight of that dreadful
vessel, which looks even now like some slumbering monster about to awake
and rush after us," she answered, pointing to the _Sea Hawk_, which lay
still open inside the harbour's mouth.

She had scarcely uttered these words when a loud shout was heard, which
seemed to proceed from some one on board her, and a musket was
discharged at them. The shouting was repeated, and words were clearly
distinguished.

"We are discovered," exclaimed the Greek captain. "Pull, pull, as hard
as we can, the watch on deck is calling on us to come into the harbour.
He has evidently just woke up, and is yet uncertain what we are, though
he suspects us. He threatens to fire the guns at us if we do not obey
him, and that will have the effect, though we escape the shot, of waking
up the rascals in all quarters, and we shall have a whole fleet of boats
after us: stay, I will hail in return, and pretend we are fishermen."

On this he stood boldly up in the boat, and cried out in Romaic, at the
top of his voice--

"What fool is that on board the _Sea Hawk_, who has been sleeping on his
watch these four hours past, and now makes so much noise, because