ure him!" consented to this condition;
but Ledscha, in hurried words, now described how she had planned the
attack, while the corsair, at her bidding, plied the oars so as to bring
the boat nearer to the scene of the assault.

The vulture followed the skiff; but when it stopped opposite to the large
white building, one side of which was washed by the waves, Ledscha
pointed to the windows of Hermon's studio, exclaiming hoarsely to the
young pirate: "You will seize him there--the Greek with the long, soft
black beard, and the slender figure, I mean. Then you will bind and gag
him, but, you hear, without killing him, for I can only inflict what he
deserves upon the living man. I am not bargaining for a dead one."

Just at that instant the bird of prey, with a shrill, greedy cry, as if
it were invited to a delicious banquet, flew far away into the distance
and did not return. It flew toward the left; the girl noticed it, and her
heavy black eyebrows, which already met, contracted still more. The
direction taken by the bird, which soon vanished in the darkness of the
night, indicated approaching misfortune; but she was here only to sow
destruction, and the more terrible growth it attained the better!

With an acuteness which aroused the admiration of the young corsair, who
was trained to similar plots, she explained hers.

That they must wait until after the departure of the Alexandrian with her
numerous train, and for the first dark night, was a matter of course.

One signal was to notify Hanno to hold himself in readiness, another to
inform him that every one in the white house had gone to rest, and that
Hermon was there too. The pirates were to enter the black-bearded Greek's
studio. While some were shattering his statues to carry away in sacks the
gold and ivory which they contained, others were to force their way into
Myrtilus's workroom, which was on the opposite side of the house. There
they would find the second statue; but this they must spare, because, on
account of the great fame of its creator, it was more valuable than the
other. The fair-haired artist was ill, and it would be no difficult
matter to take him alive, even if he should put himself on the defensive.
Hermon, on the contrary, was a strong fellow, and to bind him without
injuring him severely would require both strength and skill. Yet it must
be done, for only in case Hanno succeeded in delivering both sculptors to
her alive would she consider herse