s if you were no longer here? The best capture
wouldn't be worth a drachm if we could not say, 'Hurrah! how pleased the
old mother will be when she hears it!' And when things go badly, when
men have been wounded or perished in the sea, we should despair of
our lives if we did not know that whatever troubles our hearts the
old mother feels, too, and we shall always get from her the kind words
needed to press on again. And then, when the strait is sore and life is
at stake, whence would come the courage to cast the die if we did not
know that you are with us day and night, and will send your spirits to
help us if the need is great? Hundreds of times they rushed to our aid
just at the right time, and assisted us to hew off the hand of the foe
which was already choking us. But that is only something extra, which we
could do without, if necessary. That you are here, that a man still
has his dear mother, whose heart wishes us everything good and our foes
death and destruction, whose aged eyes will weep if anything harms us,
that, mother dear, that is the main thing!"

He bent his clumsy figure over her as he spoke, and cautiously, as if he
were afraid of doing her some injury, kissed her head with tender care.

Then, rising, he turned to Ledscha, whom he always regarded as his dead
son's betrothed bride, and greeted her with sincere kindness.

Her great beauty strengthened his plan of uniting her to his oldest son,
and when the latter entered the house he cast a searching glance at him.

The result was favourable, for a smile of satisfaction flitted over his
scarred features.

The young pirate's stately figure was not inferior in height to the
old one's, but his shoulders were narrower, his features less broad and
full, and his hair and beard had the glossy raven hue of the blackbird's
plumage.

The young man paused on the threshold in embarrassment, and gazed at
Ledscha with pleased surprise. When he saw her last his grandmother had
not been stricken by paralysis, and the girl was the promised wife of
his older brother, to whom custom forbade him to raise his eyes.

He had thought of her numberless times as the most desirable of women.
Now nothing prevented his wooing her, and finding her far more beautiful
than memory had showed her, strengthened his intention of winning her.

This purpose had matured in the utmost secrecy. He had concealed it even
from his father and his brother Labaja, who was still keeping watch o