ss than five minutes; and all had been done
with a steadiness and promptitude that seemed more like instinct than
reason. Raoul's voice was not heard, except in the few orders mentioned;
and when, by the glaring light which illuminated all in the lugger and
the adjacent water to some distance, nearly to the brightness of
noonday, he saw Ghita gazing at the spectacle in awed admiration and
terror, he went to her, and spoke as if the whole were merely a
brilliant spectacle, devised for their amusement.

"Our girandola is second only to that of St. Peter," he said, smiling.
"'Twas a narrow escape, love; but, thanks to thy God, if thou wilt it
shall be so, we have received no harm."

"And you have been the agent of his goodness, Raoul; I have witnessed
all from this spot. The call to the men brought me on deck; and, oh! how
I trembled as I saw you on the flaming mass!"

"It has been cunningly planned on the part of Messieurs les Anglais; but
it has signally failed. That coaster has a cargo of tar and naval stores
on board; and, capturing her this evening, they have thought to
extinguish our lantern by the brighter and fiercer flame of their own.
But le Feu-Follet will shine again when their fire is dead!"

"Is there, then, no danger that the brulot will yet come down upon
us--she is fearfully near!"

"Not sufficiently so to do us harm; more especially as our sails are
damp with dew. Here she cannot come so long as our cable stands; and as
that is under water where she lies, it cannot burn. In half an hour
there will be little of her left, and we will enjoy the bonfire while
it lasts."

And, now the fear of danger was past, it was a sight truly to be
enjoyed. Every anxious and curious face in the lugger was to be seen,
under that brilliant light, turned toward the glowing mass as the
sunflower follows the great source of heat in his track athwart the
heavens; while the spars, sails, guns, and even the smallest object on
board the lugger started out of the obscurity of night into the
brightness of such an illumination, as if composing parts of some
brilliant scenic display. But so fierce a flame soon exhausted itself.
Ere long the felucca's masts fell, and with them a pyramid of fire. Then
the glowing deck tumbled in; and, finally, timber after timber and plank
after plank fell, until the conflagration, in a great measure,
extinguished itself in the water on which it floated. An hour after the
flames appeared little re