Soon the captain
came on board, and on learning the absence of the boat and its occupant,
he expressed considerable anxiety and impatience. A breeze sprang up
and began to curl the surface of the water, and clouds obscured the
moon. Then the wind freshened to a storm, and lifted the waves on the
channel, and roared in the cypress forests above Pera and Scutari.
Under the light sails already set, the ship tugged hard at her cable.
Yet the boat did not return. The captain walked the deck nervously,
and finally gave orders to weigh anchor, when just as our bark, freed
to the wind and the current, sprang forward on her long voyage, the
boat for which we were looking shot suddenly under the prow, and in
an instant our mysterious comrade stepped in upon the deck from the
bow-chains. As he did so, the light of the mate's lantern fell full
upon him, and the scene it revealed will certainly never be forgotten
by anyone who witnessed it.
There he stood, looming out from the tempestuous darkness more gigantic
and terrible than ever, with the form of a beautiful girl, gorgeously
clad and flashing with jewels, held easily and firmly by one encircling
arm.
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