"Stay, I think I hear him coming, and we won't tell him we have been
waiting; but, after he has been here a little, I will ask to be let
out."
They waited accordingly for some time, during which some person was
heard moving slowly about outside, when little Mila again exclaimed, as
loud as she could call, "Vlacco, Vlacco! let me out, I say, grandfather;
you have bolted the door, as if a storm was blowing to burst it open."
At last the bolt was withdrawn, and the door opening, an old Greek, with
white locks escaping from under his red cap, and a thick, grey
moustache, stood before them. He had a rough, weatherbeaten
countenance, and dark eyes, deeply sunk in his head, with a very stern
expression. His appearance was altogether forbidding, and his
countenance was one which it would make any person very uncomfortable to
look at, who knew that his life depended on the amount of mercy and pity
to be found in his bosom. He must have been a powerful, active man in
his youth; but a weight of years had sadly pulled down his strength, and
palsied his once unfaltering hand.
"What a noise you make, little one. You seem to be in a great hurry to
get out of the gilded cage," he exclaimed, not seeing the Italian who
stood in the shade. When, however, she stepped forward, he altered his
tone, which became as courteous as his gruff nature would allow.
"Pardon, lady," he said, "I was not aware of your presence. What is it
you wish?"
"Why, we wish to wander forth, and explore the island, grandfather,"
answered the young girl, speaking for the Italian, who had difficulty
both in comprehending old Vlacco's way of speaking, and in answering him
in Romaic. "Now, I will not hear any excuses; I am going with the lady,
who is ill, and will pine to death if she is kept shut up in this way;
and, if you do not think we are able to take care of ourselves, you can
come too. It is a pity we have not got wings, and then you might clip
them as they do those of the wild sea-fowl, to prevent their flying
away."
The old Greek offered a number of objections to the project; among
others, that if anything happened to the lady, his life would pay the
forfeit; but they were all overruled by his grandchild, who laughed at
his fears, and at length she and the Italian set out on their
expedition. They took the way along the neck of land of which I have
spoken, among rocks which towered up in many fantastic shapes, without a
sign of vegetation on their weatherworn summits, and overlooking
precipices which descended many hundred feet of perpendicular height
into the sea below. At last they emerged from this wilder tract, and
descending a gentle slope covered with many a sweet-scented shrub, on
which the bees delight to rest, they looked down into the centre of the
island. Here a scene of a nature totally different to what they had
left met their view. Every spot of ground was cultivated to the utmost
extent. Below their feet was an orange grove, the trees of which were
laden with the ripening fruit; the side of a neighbouring hill was
covered with vines wide spreading along trellises gracefully arranged.
Several orchards of apple and pear trees were seen in the distance.
Beyond were fields of Indian corn waving in the breeze, and on the
higher ground millet and barley were seen growing.
"We may boast, lady, that our island is not altogether the barren rock
those might suppose who have looked forth only from the windows of the
castle," said Mila. "And from yonder hill to the north let us enjoy the
view over the whole of it, if you will venture so far."
The Italian expressed her readiness to go there; for though, as she
said, she had before visited it, a long time since then had passed away.
As the two young girls passed through the fields, several husbandmen,
employed in them, gazed at them with a somewhat furious look; but they
all knew the granddaughter of old Vlacco, and quickly concluded who her
companion was. The view from the summit of the hill, which was the
highest part of the island, extended, as Mila had said, not only over
the whole of the island, but embraced a wide circle of the surrounding
sea, and of many a neighbouring isle and islet, which appeared in every
direction, rising from the bosom of the deep, some with their outlines
clear and defined, others of various shades of blue, the most distant
seeming like faint clouds floating in the horizon. They had enjoyed for
some time, from this rocky post, the breeze which in that elevated
position came cool and refreshing, when the quick eye of little Mila
discerned a white sail, a mere speck, upon the blue sea. It skimmed
rapidly along, and approached the island. They watched the vessel with
breathless attention.
"She has two masts; she is a brig of some size," cried the island girl,
who was well accustomed to distinguish the different rigs of vessels.
"It is, it must be his bark," exclaimed the Italian. "Oh! let us hurry
to meet him, or he may come and find me absent."
"The brig cannot arrive till long after we shall reach the tower,"
answered the Greek girl, following, however, the wishes of her
companion.
On reaching the tower they saw the shores of the bay below crowded with
people, all bustle and animation, in expectation of the approaching
sail; but neither of the girls could determine, from the great distance
at which she still was, whether she were indeed the looked-for brig or a
stranger.