could scarcely be said to be anything deserving the name of wind, though
Ghita felt her cheek, which was warmed with the rich blood of her
country, fanned by an air so gentle that occasionally it blew aside
tresses that seemed to vie with the floss silk of her native land. Had
the natural ringlets been less light, however, so gentle a respiration
of the sea air could scarcely have disturbed them. But the lugger had
her lightest duck spread--reserving the heavier canvas for the
storms--and it opened like the folds of a balloon, even before these
gentle impulses; occasionally collapsing, it is true, as the
ground-swell swung the yards to and fro, but, on the whole, standing out
and receiving the air as if guided more by volition than any mechanical
power. The effect on the hull was almost magical; for, notwithstanding
the nearly imperceptible force of the propelling power, owing to the
lightness and exquisite mould of the craft, it served to urge her
through the water at the rate of some three or four knots in the hour;
or quite as fast as an ordinarily active man is apt to walk. Her motion
was nearly unobservable to all on board, and might rather be termed
gliding than sailing, the ripple under her cut-water not much exceeding
that which is made by the finger as it is moved swiftly through the
element; still the slightest variation of the helm changed her course,
and this so easily and gracefully as to render her deviations and
inclinations like those of the duck. In her present situation, too, the
jigger, which was brailed, and hung festooned from its light yard, ready
for use, should occasion suddenly demand it, added singularly to the
smart air which everything wore about this craft, giving her, in the
seaman's eyes, that particularly knowing and suspicious look which had
awakened 'Maso's distrust.

The preparations to show the ensign, which caught the quick and
understanding glance of Ghita, and which had not escaped even the duller