s possible to the aged seaman, in order to obtain the
first intelligence, that it might be the sooner circulated; but it would
seem that among the younger of these there was also a sort of oracle of
their own, about whose person gathered a dozen of the prettiest girls;
either anxious to hear what Ghita might have to say in the premises, or,
perhaps, influenced by the pride and modesty of their sex and condition,
which taught them to maintain a little more reserve than was necessary
to the less refined portion of their companions. In speaking of
condition, however, the words must be understood with an exceedingly
limited meaning. Porto Ferrajo had but two classes of society, the
tradespeople and the laborers; although there were, perhaps, a dozen
exceptions in the persons of a few humble functionaries of the
government, an avvocato, a medico, and a few priests. The governor of
the island was a Tuscan of rank, but he seldom honored the place with
his presence; and his deputy was a professional man, a native of the
town, whose original position was too well known to allow him to give
himself airs on the spot where he was born. Ghita's companions, then,
were daughters of shopkeepers, and persons of that class who, having
been taught to read, and occasionally going to Leghorn, besides being
admitted by the deputy to the presence of his housekeeper, had got to
regard themselves as a little elevated above the more vulgar curiosity
of the less cultivated girls of the port. Ghita herself, however, owed
her ascendency to her qualities, rather than to the adventitious
advantage of being a grocer's or an innkeeper's daughter, her origin
being unknown to most of those around her, as indeed was her family
name. She had been landed six weeks before, and left by one who passed
for her father, at the inn of Christoforo Dovi, as a boarder, and had
acquired all her influence, as so many reach notoriety in our own simple
society, by the distinction of having travelled; aided, somewhat, by her
strong sense, great decision of character, perfect modesty and propriety
of deportment, with a form which was singularly graceful and feminine,
and a face that, while it could scarcely be called beautiful, was in the
highest degree winning and attractive. No one thought of asking her
family name; and she never appeared to deem it necessary to mention it.
Ghita was sufficient; it was familiar to every one; and, although there
were two or three others of