The Children of the King

ny men, now, with strongly marked features, short yellow hair and fair beards. So far they are alike, and at first sight might be taken for twin brothers. But there is a ma

temper of the two. At sea there is little to choose between them. Perhaps, on the whole, Sebastiano has always been the favourite amongst his companions, while Ruggiero has been thought the more responsible and possibly

he north-easter threatened to blow the sail out of the bolt-ropes-but Ruggiero got hold of the lee earing all the same and Sebastiano followed him, and the captain swore a strange oath in the Italo-American language, and went aloft himself to help light the sail out to windward, being still a young man and not liking to be beaten by a couple of beardless boys, as the two were then.[2] And they have seen many strange sights, sea-serpents not a few, and mermaids quite beyond the possibility of mistake, and men who can call the wind with four knots in a string and words unlearnable, and others who can alter t

rk who, when top-sails are reefed in his watch regularly takes the lee earin

ange and engage themselves for the summer, Ruggiero with a gentleman from the north of Italy known as the Conte di San Miniato, and Sebastiano with a wid

precisely. Two things are certain, that his father never had a title at all, and that he himself made a large fortune in sulphur and paving stones, so that his only daughter is much of an heiress, and his elderly widow has a handsome income to spend as she pleases, owns in Palermo

s, a pale olive complexion, black hair white at the temples, considerable taste in dr

se of prime and ultimate social ratios. She is unusually well educated, speaks three languages, knows that somehow North and South America are not exactly the same as the Northern and Southern States, has heard of Virgil and the Crusades, can play a waltz well, and possesses a very sweet little voice. She is undoubtedly pretty. Brown, on the whole, as to colourin

eases. She perfectly appreciates her own position and knows that she can either marry a rich man of second-rate family, or a poor man of good blood, a younger son or a half ruined gentleman at large like San Miniato, and she hesitates. She is not quite sure of the value of money yet. It might be delightful to be even much richer than she is, because

o with the step. At all events he scratched his major rather severely in the duel which took place, and has the reputation of a dangerous man with the sabre. It is said that the major's wife had something to do with the story. At present San Miniato is about thirty years of age. His only known vice is gambling, which is perhaps a chief

first interview that his future employer did not know the difference between a barge and a felucca, and he has had ocular demonstration that the Count cannot swim, for he has seen him in the water by the bathing-houses-a thorough landsman at all points. But there are two kinds of landsmen, those who are afraid, and those who are not, as Ruggiero well knows. The first kind are amusing and the sailors get more fun out of them than they know of;

e mutters decisively. "They are good men, and we can

ways. But in Sorrento and all down the coast, most seafaring men get nicknames under

e Gull owed his to the singular length and shape of his nose, and the Cripple had in early youth worn a pair of over-tight boots on Sundays, whereby he

ar of the perfectly new blue guernsey about his neck. It was new, and it scratched him disagreeably, but it was highly necessary to present a prosperous as well as a seamanlike appearance on such an important occasion. Nothing could have been more becoming to him than the dark close-fitting dress, showing a

own eyes, an exquisite figure clad in a well-fitted frock of white serge, a firm, smooth step that was not like any step

ly to him, in acknowledgment of his politeness in rising. As she did so she noticed on her part that the poor sai

Miniato's boatman?" she

nswered Ruggiero, st

he boat? We want a boa

you get

y brother,

a good

han I, Ec

e figure before her a

'clock," she said. "The Mar

Eccell

corner beyond which the young girl had disappeared. He was conscious for the first time in his life that he possessed a heart, for the thing thumped and kicked violently under his blue guernsey, and he looked down at his broad chest wi

ed to himself. "Worse

ppened to him again he would go to the chemist and ask for some medicine. His strength was the chief of his few possessions, he thought, and it would be better to spend a franc at the chemist's than to let it be endangered. It was a serious matter. Suppose that the young lady, instead of speaking to him about a boat, had told him to pick up the box on which he was sitting-one of those big boxes these foreigners travel

ew malady immediately grew worse again, and when it somehow struck him that he might serve her, and let Sebastiano be boatman to the Count, the pounding

r who is to get me

d. Strange to say, at the sound of the man's voice the alarming

t would be contrary to boatman's honour to draw back. After all, too, women in a boat were always a nuisance at the best, and he

xcursions in all direct

g about the sea, but I

o me of bad weather whe

under

t your excellency," an

We shal

as the Greek. The Greek is old and infirm and has a vicious predilection for wine and cards, so that he is quite unfit for the sea. But he owns a couple of smart sailing boats and gets a living by letting them to strangers. It is necessary, however, to have at least one perfectly reliable man in charge of each, and so soon

ng sinnet for gaskets. The two were inseparable, so far as their varied life permitted them to be together, and were generally to be found in

iero gave him the message, whereupon Sebastiano went off to array himself in his best bef

peated in a t

nodded ca

lady who h

es

certain Conte di San Miniato-a gre

neatly over his bare arm, but looked

matter with y

heaved as he bit his lip and thrust his hands into

e if there is everything for rigging the boat. We must have her out thi

you need not be so anxious. I daresay it is not true that

Ruggiero thoughtfully. "I will be back in h

shop for the first time in his life in search of medicine for himself. He took off his cap and looked about him with some curiosity, eying the long rows of old-fashio

ou want?"

shelves, as though to select a remedy. "A little of the best," he added, jingli

icine?" asked the old

er

ony hand down upon his huge chest with a noise

er ironically. "You have the he

etimes it is quite quiet, as it is now, but somet

lied his ear to Ruggiero's breast. "Regular as a steam engine,"

ero l

pened first this morning. I was waiting in the hotel a

Young perhap

ol. You know him I daresay. And it began to jump again, and I said to myself, '"

st chuckl

talking about?" h

uggiero in a tone of ref

that the lady is t

" cried the old man, la

never bee

o stare

eans-what has that to do with it? You-what the malora-

place where you will not see the lady any more," said the

ra, a great lady! You

oes not beat every time she looks at you. As for her

socialistic id

k in an hour to tell you that you do not understand your business. My brother

opped suddenly on the t

n, but not so hard this time. Is the lady here, n

imed the latter, after listening a m

lf," said Ruggiero. "I

chemist brok

it began to beat at the thought of seeing her? Go an

are crazy. But I will

e interview. The chemist apparently took him for a fool. It was absurd to suppose that the sight of any woman, or the mention o

iano's young beard was not quite so thick, his eyes were a little softer, his movements a trifle less energetically direct

time. She lay in a deep chair under the arches of her terrace, s

as the two men stood still at a respe

other end of the terrace-a fresh young thing with rosy che

Then, as though exhausted by the effort

ain. Ruggiero and Sebastiano stood motionless, only their eyes turning from

oked at them both for a moment

a," she said. "Do you wis

chesa opening her eyes and im

blood rushing to his face, and his heart began to pound his ribs like a fuller's hammer. He glanced at hi

exclaimed. "With which of y

ose own voice sounded strangely in his e

ot been got in places where ladies are often seen, or manners frequently discussed. But Beatrice did not seem at all disturbed by the scrutiny, though she was quite aware of its pertinacity. A woman who has beauty in any degree rarely

ent out through the garden to the gate. When they were in the square b

rsaults and get into your mouth, when yo

Does

Just

nd pretty, and uncommonly clean. Eh-the devil! If you like her, ask for her

thing. Unfortunately for him, for Sebastiano, for the maid, for Beatrice, and for the count of San Miniato, too, he sa

e day," observed Sebastiano. "The Greek will be ple

to-night," added Rug

d padrone, everybody says,

ope

the Son of the American, Black Rag-otherwise known as Saint Peter from his resemblance to the pictures of the Apostle as a fisherman-and the Deaf Man. The latter is a fellow of strange ways,

ballasted and rigged, the sails were bent to the yards and the brasses polished, so that Ruggiero a