human
I see that something is again amiss, she said, looking timidly up at him.
gpt
Oh, tell me what it is has agitated you?
human
Look there, he said.
gpt
A cause sufficient to make many a bold man, circumstanced as I am, tremble, he replied, in a slow, determined tone, pointing, as he spoke, towards the north-west.
human
Do you see yonder stranger, which has just hove in sight?
gpt
I see the sails of a ship above the horizon. But what harm can she do to us? said Nina.
human
If she sees us, and takes us on board, she will carry us to some land, whence we may proceed to Italy.
gpt
You forget that, to the hunted pirate, all men are enemies, answered Zappa, bitterly.
human
I could not venture on board a merchant-vessel, without the risk of being recognised, and, if my eyes deceive me not, yonder craft is no peaceful trader, but rather a British ship of war.
gpt
Heaven forbid it, exclaimed Nina.
human
But should she be, still the raft is so low in the water, that, at the distance we are off from her, we surely shall scarcely be recognised.
gpt
I wish that I could think so, said Zappa;
human
Even should she be an enemy, are we not so near the shore that you may easily escape thither?
gpt
She is standing this way, and, by the manner in which her sails rise from the water, she is making rapid progress towards us, murmured the pirate, speaking to himself rather than answering Nina's question.
human
Ah! I know her now; and long ere we can reach the shore she will be upon us. Well, we will strive to the last. Fate may, for this once, favour us. The wind may fail, or, by chance, we may not be seen; and if, when I have done all that I can to escape, rather than be captured, to hang alongside those wretches I saw not long ago on the fortifications of Malta, I have but the brave man's last resource to fly to, and the wave on which I have so long loved to float shall be my grave.