"
She nodded, meeting my eyes for an instant only, and averting hers
again to the horizon. To my dismay they were dark and troubled.
"Not now--not now!" she murmured hurriedly, almost fiercely, as I
would have touched her hand. Again her eyes crossed mine, and I read
that love no longer looked forth from them, but a gloomy doubt in its
place.
From the next window my Uncle Gervase had spied the ships, and now
drew Dom Basilio's attention to them. The two discussed them for a
minute. "Were they Corsican vessels, or Genoese?" Dom Basilio
plucked me by the arm, to know my opinion. I told him of the firing
we had heard off Nonza.
"In my belief," said I, "they are Corsicans that have drawn off from
the bombardment, though why I cannot divine, unless it be in
curiosity to discover why Giraglia was a-burning last night."
"If, on the other hand they be Genoese," answered my uncle, shaking
his head, "this is a serious matter for us. The _Gauntlet_ has but
five men aboard, and will be culled like a peach."
"Had she fifty, she could not keep up a fight against two gunboats--
as gunboats they appear to be," said I.
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