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bystander."
"Not if that person is a prisoner, and on his trial," answered the Judge
Advocate, staring to hear such a distinction from such a source; "though
the remark is a good one, in the cases of witnesses purely. You must
answer, therefore."
"It is unnecessary," again interposed Raoul. "I left my vessel here,
where I have told you, and had I made a certain signal, the last night,
from the heights of St. Agata, le Feu-Follet would have stood in near to
the rocks of the Sirens, and taken me off again. As the hour is passed,
and the signal is not likely to be made, it is probable my lieutenant
has gone to another rendezvous, of which the witness knows nothing, and
which, certainly, I shall never betray."
There was so much manliness and quiet dignity in Raoul's deportment,
that whatever he said made an impression. His answer disposed of the
matter, for the moment at least. The Judge Advocate, accordingly, turned
to other inquiries. Little remained, however, to be done. The prisoner
had admitted his identity; his capture, with all the attendant
circumstances, was in proof; and his defence came next.
When Raoul rose to speak, he felt a choking emotion; but it soon left
him, and he commenced in a steady, calm tone, his accent giving point
and interest to many of his expressions.
"Messieurs," said he, "I will not deny my name, my character, or my
manner of life. I am a Frenchman, and the enemy of your country. I am
also the enemy of the King of Naples, in whose territories you found me.
I have destroyed his and your ships. Put me on board my lugger, and I
should do both again. Whoever is the enemy of la France is the enemy of
Raoul Yvard. Honorable seamen, like yourselves, Messieurs, can
understand this. I am young. My heart is not made of rock; evil as it
may be, it can love beauty and modesty and virtue in the other sex. Such
has been my fate--I love Ghita Caraccioli; have endeavored to make her
my wife for more than a year. She has not authorized me to say that my
suit was favored--this I must acknowledge; but she is not the less
admirable for that. We differ in our opinions of religion, and I fear
she left Monte Argentaro because, refusing my hand, she thought it
better, perhaps, that we should not meet again. It is so with maidens,
as you must know, Messieurs. But it is not usual for us, who are less
refined, to submit to such self-denial. I learned whither Ghita had
come, and followed; my heart was a magnet, that her beauty drew after
it, as our needles are drawn toward the pole. It was necessary to go
into the Bay of Naples, among the vessels of enemies, to find her I
loved; and this is a very different thing from engaging in the pitiful
attempts of a spy. Which of you would not have done the same, Messieurs?
You are braves Anglais, and I know you would not hesitate. Two of you
are still youthful, like myself, and must still feel the power of
beauty; even the Monsieur that is no longer a young man has had his
moments of passion, like all that are born of woman. Messieurs, I have
no more to say: you know the rest. If you condemn me, let it be as an
unfortunate Frenchman, whose heart had its weaknesses--not as an
ignominious and treacherous spy."
The earnestness and nature with which Raoul spoke were not without
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effect. Could Sir Frederick have had his way, the prisoner would have
been acquitted on the spot. But Lyon was skeptical as to the story of
love, a sentiment about which he knew very little; and there was a
spirit of opposition in him, too, that generally induced him to take the
converse of most propositions that were started. The prisoner was
dismissed, and the court closed its doors, to make up its decision by
itself, in the usual form.
We should do injustice to Cuffe, if we did not say that he had some
feeling in favor of the gallant foe who had so often foiled him. Could
he have had his will at that moment, he would have given Raoul his
lugger, allowed the latter a sufficient start, and then gladly have
commenced a chase round the Mediterranean, to settle all questions
between them. But it was too much to give up the lugger as well as the
prisoner. Then his oath as a judge had its obligations also, and he felt
himself bound to yield to the arguments of the Judge Advocate, who was a
man of technicalities, and thought no more of sentiment than
Lyon himself.
The result of the deliberation, which lasted an hour, was a finding
against the prisoner. The court was opened, the record made up and read,
the offender introduced, and the judgment delivered. The finding was,
"that Raoul Yvard had been caught in disguise, in the midst of the
allied fleets, and that he was guilty as a spy." The sentence was, to
suffer death the succeeding day by hanging at the yard-arm of such ship
as the commander-in-chief might select, on approving of the sentence.
As Raoul expected little else, he heard his doom with steadiness, bowing
with dignity and courtesy to the court, as he was led away to be placed
in irons, as befitted one condemned.
CHAPTER XIX.
"The world's all title-page; there's no contents;
The world's all face; the man who shows his heart,
Is hooted for his nudities, and scorned."
_Night Thoughts_
Bolt had not been tried. His case had several serious difficulties, and
the orders allowed of a discretion. The punishment could scarcely be
less than death, and, in addition to the loss of a stout, sinewy man, it
involved questions of natural right, that were not always pleasant to be
considered. Although the impressment of American seamen into the British
ships of war was probably one of the most serious moral as well as
political wrongs that one independent nation ever received at the hands
of another, viewed as a practice of a generation's continuance it was
not wholly without some relieving points. There was a portion of the
British marine that disdained to practise it at all; leaving it to the
coarser spirits of the profession to discharge a duty that they
themselves found repugnant to their feelings and their habits. Thus, we
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Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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