Chapter 27

--"But now lead on;
In me is no delay; with thee to go,
Is to stay here: with thee here to stay,
Is to go hence unwilling; thou to me
Art all things under heaven, all places thou."

MILTON.

The intelligence communicated by Ithuel essentially altered Raoul's
views of his actual situation. An active man might go from the
Marinella, at the foot of the Scaricatojo, or the place where the crew
of the felucca had landed, to the Marina Grande of Sorrento in an hour.
At the latter beach boats were always to be found, and two hours more
would carry the messenger, by water, to the ships off Capri, even in a
calm. The first of these important hours had now elapsed some time; and
he could not doubt that vigorous aims were already employed in pulling
across the few leagues of water that separated the island from the
shores of Sorrento. The day was calm, it is true, and it would be
impossible to move the ships; but two frigates and a heavy sloop-of-war
might send such a force against him in boats as, in his present
situation, would render resistance next to hopeless.

Raoul ceased eating, and, standing on the taffrail, he cast anxious
looks around him. His sturdy followers, ignorant of all the dangers by
which they were environed, were consuming their morning's meal with the
characteristic indifference to danger that marks the ordinary conduct of
seamen. Even Ithuel, usually so sensitive on the subject of English
power, and who had really so much to apprehend should he again fall
into the hands of the Proserpines, was masticating his food with the
keen relish of a man who had been hard at work the whole morning. All
appeared unconscious of their critical condition; and to Raoul it seemed
as if the entire responsibility rested on his own shoulders.
Fortunately, he was not a man to shrink from his present duties; and he
occupied the only leisure moment that would be likely to offer that day,
in deliberating on his resources and in maturing his plans.

The armament still remained in the lugger, but it was doubtful if she
would float without removing it; and, admitting this necessity, the
question arose of what was to be done with it, in order to render it
available, in the event of an attack. Two or even four of the light guns
might be worked on the decks of the felucca; and here he determined they
should be immediately placed, with a proper supply of cartridges and
shot. Twenty men thrown into that light craft, which Ithuel reported as
sailing and sweeping well, might prove of the last importance. Then one
of the islets had a ruin on it, of what was believed to be an ancient
temple. It is true, these ruins were insignificant, and scarcely visible
at any distance; but, on a close