The town of Porto Ferrajo is so shut in from the sea by the rock against
which it is built, its fortifications, and the construction of its own
little port, as to render the approach of a vessel invisible to its
inhabitants, unless they choose to ascend to the heights and the narrow
promenade already mentioned. This circumstance had drawn a large crowd
upon the hill again, among which Raoul Yvard now threaded his way,
wearing his sea cap and his assumed naval uniform in a smart, affected
manner, for he was fully sensible of all the advantages he possessed on
the score of personal appearance. His unsettled eye, however, wandered
from one pretty face to another in quest of Ghita, who alone was the
object of his search and the true cause of the awkward predicament into
which he had brought not only himself, but le Feu-Follet. In this
manner, now thinking of her he sought, and then reverting to his
situation in an enemy's port, he walked along the whole line of the
cliff, scarce knowing whether to return or to seek his boat by doubling
on the town, when he heard his own name pronounced in a sweet voice
which went directly to his heart. Turning on his heel, Ghita was within
a few feet of him.
"Salute me distantly and as a stranger," said the girl, in almost
breathless haste, "and point to the different streets, as if inquiring
your way through the town. This is the place where we met last evening;
but, remember, it is no longer dark."
As Raoul complied with her desire any distant spectator might well have
fancied the meeting accidental, though he poured forth a flood of
expressions of love and admiration.
Pages:
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126