of truth.

"You do not know what I mean by ze Ving-y-Ving?" demanded the
vice-governatore, with emphasis.

"To be frank with you, I do not, Signore. Ving-y-Ving is not English;
nor do I know that it is Italian."

Mr. Griffin lost a good deal of ground by this assertion, which implied
a doubt of Andrea's knowledge of foreign tongues.

"You say, Signor Tenente, if I comprehend your meaning, that Ving-y-Ving
is not English?"

"Indeed I do, sir; at least no English that I have ever heard spoken, at
sea or ashore; and we seamen have a language of our own."

"Will you, then, permit me to ask you what is the translation of _ala e
ala_, word for word?"

The lieutenant paused a moment and pondered. Then he laughed
involuntarily, checking himself almost immediately with an air of
respect and gravity.

"I believe I now understand you, Signor Vice-governatore," he said; "we
have a sea-phrase something like this, to describe a fore-and-aft vessel
with her sails swinging off on both sides; but _we_ call it
wing-and-wing."

"Si, Signore--ving-y-ving. Such is the name of the lugger of your king
that now lies in our bay."

"Ah! we thought as much, Signori; the scoundrel has deceived you, as he
has done a hundred before you, and will do a hundred again unless we
catch him to-night. The lugger is a celebrated French privateer, that we
have six cruisers in chase of at this moment, our own ship included. She
is called le Feu-Follet, which is not Wing-and-Wing, but
Will-o'-the-Wisp, or Jack-o'-Lantern, in English; and which you, in
Italian, would call _il Fuoco Fatuo_. Her commander is Raoul Yvard than
whom there is not a greater desperado sailing out of France; thought it
is admitted that the fellow has some good--nay, some _noble_ qualities."

At every word uttered by the lieutenant, a page of history was blotted
out from the memory of his listener. The vice-governatore had heard the
name of Raoul Yvard, and even that of le Feu-Follet, which the
malignancy of a bitter war had blackened nearly to the hues of piracy.
The thought that he had been the dupe of this corsair--nay, that he had
actually been entertaining him with honors and hospitality, within an
hour--was almost too much for his philosophy. Men do not often submit to
such humiliating sensations without a struggle; and before he would, or
could, accord full credence to what was now told him, it was natural to
oppose the objections that first offered.

"All this _mus