ough when they were sure of victory, he could not now depend on their
courage, and he thought that they were very likely, when they saw that
all chance of escape was gone, to quit their oars, and refuse to exert
themselves further.

On came the stranger till her hull rose out of the water, and the report
of one of her guns was the first intimation the crew had of her
vicinity. They all looked round with astonishment, not unmixed with
terror; but the calm bearing of their chief reassured them.

"Bow on, my comrades," he said. "That ship will not fire at us, and in
another short hour we may be among our friends on shore."

The stranger was, as she drew near, seen to be a brig of war, and the
ensign which blew out from her peak showed her to be British.

"I know her," he muttered in Romaic. "She is no other than the accursed
_Ione_, which has already wrought me so much injury. To escape from her
is hopeless, and naught remains for me but to execute my last resolve.
Paolo, come here." He now spoke in Italian. "You know well how to
steer, so take the helm and keep the raft for yonder headland."

Paolo came aft and took the pirate's place at the helm, who, putting his
hand on his arm, continued in a whisper, "Now show your manhood, for to
you I commit the charge of those men. Save their lives, if you can; and
you yourself, with the testimony your sister and yon fair girl can give,
will run no hazard. Say that Zappa refused to fall alive into the hands
of his enemies, and bravely met the fate he had awarded to so many.
Farewell."

Whether the act of giving up the helm to Paolo, or the expression of the
pirate's countenance, made Nina suspect his intentions, she herself
could scarcely tell, but her eye was upon him, while her limbs shook
with dread, and, just as he was about to take the fatal leap from the
raft, she sprung up, and grasped him convulsively by the arm, while her
brother seized him on the other side, so that, without running the risk
of upsetting the raft, or dragging them both into the water, he could
not execute his dreadful purpose.

"You shall not--you shall not!" exclaimed Nina, trembling in an agony of
fear, and scarcely able to utter the words she wished to speak. "Commit
not so dire a crime, or fill the cup to the brim, and drag me with you.
In destroying yourself, you slay me likewise."

As the unhappy girl said this she clung to him, endeavouring to draw him
to the centre of the raft.