traces of it are to be found in Savoy and on the
southern side of the Alps; they have that strange admixture of the soft
and the severe, of the sublime and beautiful, that so peculiarly
characterize the witchery of Italian nature. Such was now the aspect of
all visible from the deck of le Feu-Follet. The sea, with its dark-blue
tint, was losing every trace of the western wind, and was becoming
glassy and tranquil; the mountains on the other side were solemn and
grand, just showing their ragged outlines along a sky glowing with "the
pomp that shuts the day"; while the nearer valleys and narrow plains
were mysterious, yet soft, under the deep shadows they cast. Pianosa lay
nearly opposite, distant some twenty miles, rising out of the water like
a beacon; Elba was visible to the northeast, a gloomy confused pile of
mountain at that hour; and Ghita once or twice thought she could trace
on the coast of the main the dim outline of her own hill, Monte
Argentaro; though the distance, some sixty or seventy miles, rendered
this improbable. Outside, too, lay the frigate, riding on the glassy
surface of the sea, her sails furled, her yards squared, everything
about her cared for and in its place, until she formed a faultless
picture of nautical symmetry and naval propriety. There are all sorts of
men in a marine, as well as in civil life; these taking things as they
come, content to perform their duties in the most quiet manner, while
others again have some such liking for their vessels as the dandy has
for his own person, and are never happy unless embellishing them. The
truth in this, as in most other matters, lies in a medium; the officer
who thinks too much of the appearance of his vessel, seldom having mind
enough to be stow due attention on the great objects for which she was
constructed and is sailed; while, on the other hand, he who is
altogether indifferent to these appearances is usually thinking of
things foreign to his duty and his profession; if, indeed, he thinks at
all. Cuffe was near the just medium, Inclining a little too much,
perhaps, to the naval dandy. The Proserpine, thanks to the builders of
Toulon, was thought to be the handsomest model then afloat in the
Mediterranean, and, like an established beauty, all who belonged to her
were fond of decorating her and of showing her fine proportions to
advantage. As she now lay at single anchor just out of gun-shot from his
own berth, Raoul could not avoid gazing at her