CHAPTER XXVI. THE TOWER
It is time to return to Clelia, and see how it fares with her and hercompanions, Silvia and Orazio. As night approached, Orazio made a largefire, which he had been directed to do by Julia, in order that the smokemight be a guide to her vessel. He then looked out for a boat to hire,in which to convey the women to the yacht; but as the storm rose, hefelt there would be no chance of embarking that night, and cast aboutfor a place of shelter until the morning.
He found a ruined tower--such towers abound on the coasts of theMediterranean, and are the remains of places which were erected by themediaeval pirates, who used them chiefly to signal to their vessels whenit would be safe to approach the shore. Here, after making his chargesas comfortable as circumstances permitted, he left them, and paced upand down the beach, straining his eyes for a glimpse of the _Seagull_,which, he feared, could scarcely live in such a tempest. Half blinded bythe spray, he continued his watch, dreading most of all to see the signsof a wreck. It was after many hours he perceived a dark object tossingabout in the water, nearing and then receding, and finally stranded onthe beach. Orazio ran towards it, and was horrified to discover that itwas a human body, apparently lifeless, but still clinging to a ropeand buoy. He snatched it up in his sturdy arms, and carried it into thetower, where he found Silvia and Clelia sitting by the fire which he hadkindled for them. The lad whom Orazio had rescued was no other than theyoung English sailor washed overboard from the _Seagull_.
Silvia, aided by her daughter, stripped the inanimate lad, laid himbefore the fire, and chafed him with their hands for a very long while,until, to their great delight, he slowly returned to consciousness. Thenthey wrapped him in some of their own dry garments, and hung his wetones before the fire, Orazio supplying them with fresh fuel. Some ofhis native "grog" was wanting for poor John, but none was to be had.Fortunately, Orazio had a flask of Orvieto, which he had given to thetravellers to warm their chilled bodies during the bitter night; andSilvia wisely administered a liberal dose to the exhausted mariner, who,with a stone for a pillow, and his feet towards the friendly fire, fellby-and-by into a sound sleep--yacht, tempest, shipwreck, and angelicnurses all forgotten together. His slumber could not have been moreprofound had he been stretched upon a bed of down. The youthful Clelia,also wearied with the fatigue of the past day, soon followed hisexample, and with her head in her mother's lap, slept the sleep of theinnocent.
Orazio returned to his lonely post, and after pacing up and down theshore in the fear of seeing some other sign of disaster, returned atdawn to the tower to dry his dripping clothes, and refresh himself afterhis dreary vigil.
Silvia alone could not sleep all that night, but only dozedoccasionally, as she thought over the misfortunes that had befallenthem. Her delicate and graceful frame had been much shaken by theterrible occurrences of the past few days. Affectionate mother! Thoughweary, she bore the weight of her precious Clelia, and though herposition was a constrained one, remained immovable lest she shouldawake her. She was tormented with fear, too, for the life of her belovedManlio, who had escaped the fury of the priests only to be exposed tothe merciless waves; and then, as if struck with remorse for thinkingonly of him, she murmured, in bitter accents, "Ah, my poor Aurelia,to what a fete has your generous kindness brought you also!" Mutteringwhich reflections she then fell into another troubled doze.
The Roman outlaw slept not, even after daybreak. He felt he was too nearthe cunning priests of Porto d'Anzo to be very safe. Seating himselfupon a stone which he placed near the fire, he fed it from time to timewith the wood he had previously gathered, and dried his garments oneby one, with the exception of his cloak, which he had politely insistedupon wrapping around the ladies in the early part of the evening, asthey were but-indifferently protected from the cold. Orazio was gaylydressed in a dark velvet suit, ornamented with silver buttons; gaitersbuckling at the knee covered a comparatively small and well-shapedfoot, and displayed his well-formed leg to advantage; a black cravat wasknotted round his handsome throat, and a red satin handkerchief, looselytied, fell upon his wide shoulders; a black hat, resembling in shapethose worn by the Calabrians, nattily inclined a little to the right,crowned his head; a leathern powder-bag, embroidered with silk andsilver, slung round his waist, in the band of which were placed tworevolvers and a broad-bladed dagger, which served both as a weapon ofdefense and hunting-knife, gave him a well-prepared air; not to speakof his trusty carbine, which he has taken the precaution to reload, andwhich he always rests upon his left arm. As the flickering light of thefire fell upon him and lit up his bronzed features, an artist would havegiven much to have depicted what was truly a type of strength, courage,and manly beauty; while now and then, awakening from her uneasy slumber,Silvia regarded him with admiring eye, and forgot for a moment heranxieties while guarded by that faithful sentinel. It is to be regrettedthat our hero, Orazio, was a "brigand;" but then he was one of thebetter sort, and only from the force of circumstances, his sin beingthat, like all brave and loyal men, he wished Italy to be united, andRome freed forever from priestly despotism.
Towards dawn Orazio approached Silvia, saying respectfully, "Signora,we must not remain here till broad day; as soon as there is sufficientlight to show us the path to take we must depart. We are too near ourmutual enemies here to be out of danger."
"And Manlio, Julia, Aurelia, where are they?" "Probably far out at sea,"he replied; "and let us only hope it, for so they will be safe; but itwould be well before we strike out into the woods once more to examinethe beach. God grant we may not find any more bodies there."
"God grant they may not have been cast upon the coast during thisfearful storm," ejaculated Silvia, with clasped hands and raised eyes.
A mournful silence fell upon them, broken at last by Orazio, who hadbeen looking out for the first streak of light in the leaden sky.
"Signora, it is time we were off."
Silvia shook her daughter gently to arouse her, and Clelia got up,feeling greatly restored by her peaceful slumber, while Orazio, touchingJohn with the butt-end of his carbine, awoke him.
Then, for the first time, the sailor-boy was able to tell how he waswashed overboard, and his account gave hopes to the listeners that the_Seagull_ was safe.
Our bandit, going first, led his party in the direction of the coast;but, although the rain had ceased, the wind had not subsided, and thewomen made their way with difficulty along the rough, uneven pathway,the spray from the sea beating in their faces. Orazio and John, who wasnow nearly recovered, searched for the tokens of a wreck, but, happily,none were found, and they returned to Silvia and Clelia, whom theyhad left in a sheltered place, with relieved countenances and cheerfulvoices, saying, "Our friends are out of danger." Orazio added, "And now,ladies, we will begin our own journey," turning at the same time to theright, and taking a narrow footpath through the wood well known to him.His charges, attended by John the English boy, followed in silence.