The Pirate City: An Algerine Tale Read online

  Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

  THE PIRATE CITY, BY R.M. BALLANTINE.

  A Tale of the Pirates of the City of Algiers, and their Defeat by theBritish Navy.

  The Time of the Action is about 1817.

  The Pirate City--by RM Ballantyne

  CHAPTER ONE.

  OPENS THE TALE.

  Some time within the first quarter of the present nineteenth century, alittle old lady--some people would even have called her a dear littleold lady--sat one afternoon in a high-backed chair beside a cottagewindow, from which might be had a magnificent view of Sicilian rocks,with the Mediterranean beyond.

  This little old lady was so pleasant in all respects that an adequatedescription of her is an impossibility. Her mouth was a perfect study.It was not troubled with anything in the shape of teeth. It lay betweena delicate little down-turned nose and a soft little up-turned chin,which two seemed as if anxious to meet in order to protect it. Thewrinkles that surrounded that mouth were innumerable, and each wrinklewas a distinct and separate smile; so that, whether pursing orexpanding, it was at all times rippling with an expression of tenderbenignity.

  This little old lady plays no part in our tale; nevertheless she meritspassing introduction as being the grandmother of our hero, a Sicilianyouth of nineteen, who, at the time we write of, sat on a stool at herfeet engaged in earnest conversation.

  "Grandmother," said the youth in a perplexed mood, "why won't you let_me_ go into the Church instead of brother Lucien? I'm certain that hedoes not want to, though he is fit enough, as far as education goes, andgoodness; but you know well enough that he is desperately fond ofJuliet, and she is equally desperate about him, and nothing could bemore pleasant than that they should get married."

  "Tut, child, you talk nonsense," said the old lady, letting a sighescape from the rippling mouth. "Your father's dearest wish has alwaysbeen to see Lucien enter the Church, and although Juliet is our adoptedchild, we do not intend to interfere with the wishes of her uncle theabbot, who has offered to place her in the convent of Saint Shutemup.As to you taking Lucien's place,"--here the mouth expandedconsiderably--"ah! Mariano, you are too foolish, too giddy; betterfitted to be a sailor or soldier I should think--"

  "How!" interrupted Mariano. "Do you then estimate the profession of thesoldier and sailor so low, that you think only foolish and giddy fellowsare fit for it?"

  "Not so, child; but it is a school which is eminently fitted to teachrespect and obedience to foolish and giddy fellows who are pert to theirgrandmothers."

  "Ah! how unfair," exclaimed Mariano, with assumed solemnity; "I give yougood advice, with gravity equal to that of any priest, and yet you callme pert. Grandmother, you are ungrateful as well as unjust. Have I notbeen good to you all my life?"

  "You have, my child," said the little old lady; "very good--also rathertroublesome, especially in the way of talking nonsense, and I'm sorry tofind that although your goodness continues, your troublesomeness doesnot cease!"

  "Well, well," replied the youth, with a sprightly toss of the head,"Lucien and I shall enjoy at least a few weeks more of our old life onthe blue sea before he takes to musty books and I to the stool of theclerk. Ah, why did you allow father to give us a good education? Howmuch more enjoyable it would have been to have lived the free life of afisherman--or of that pig," he said, pointing to one which had juststrayed into the garden and lain down to roll in the earth--"what happyignorance or ignorant happiness; what concentrated enjoyment of thepresent, what perfect oblivion as to the past, what obvious disregard ofthe future--"

  "Ay," interrupted the little old lady, "what blissful ignorance of thedeeds of ancient heroes, of the noble achievements of great and goodmen, of the adventures of Marco Polo, and Magellan, and Vasco de Gama,over whose voyages you have so often and so fondly pored."

  "I see, grandmother, that it is useless to argue with you. Let us turnto a graver subject. Tell me, what am I to bring you from Malta? Asthis is in very truth to be our last voyage, I must bring you somethinggrand, something costly.--Ah, here comes Juliet to help us to decide."

  As he spoke a pretty dark-eyed girl of nineteen entered the room andjoined their council, but before they had gone very deep into thequestion which Mariano had propounded, they were interrupted by theentrance of the head of the house, Francisco Rimini, a strong portly manof about fifty years of age, with a brown, healthy complexion, grizzledlocks, a bald pate, and a semi-nautical gait. He was followed by astranger, and by his eldest son, Lucien--a tall, grave, slender youth oftwenty-three, who was in many respects the opposite of his brotherMariano, physically as well as mentally. The latter was middle-sized,broad-shouldered, and very powerful, with short curly brown hair,flashing eyes and sprightly disposition--active as a kitten, and rathermischievous. Lucien was grave, gentle, and studious; elegantly ratherthan powerfully formed, and disposed rather to enjoy fun by looking onthan engaging in it. Both brothers, as well as their father, possessedkindly dispositions and resolute spirits.

  "Mother," said Francisco, "let me introduce to you my friend SignorBacri, a merchant who goes in my vessel as a passenger to Malta. Hedines with us to-day; and that reminds me that you must hasten ourdinner, as events have transpired which oblige me to set sail two hoursearlier than I had intended; so please expedite matters, Juliet."

  The stranger bowed with Oriental dignity to the little old lady, and,seating himself by her side, entered into conversation.

  Bacri was a middle-aged man of magnificent appearance. From the cast ofhis features it was easy to perceive that he was of Jewish extraction,and his proportions might have been compared to those of the ancientenemy of his nation, Goliath. Like Saul, he was a head and shouldershigher than ordinary men, yet he evidently placed no confidence in hisphysical strength, for although his countenance was grave and hisexpression dignified, he stooped a good deal, as though to avoidknocking his head against ceilings and beams, and was singularly humbleand unobtrusive in his manners. There was a winning softness, too, inhis voice and in his smile, which went far to disarm that distrust of,and antipathy to, his race which prevailed in days of old, andunfortunately prevails still, to some extent, in Christendom.

  With the activity of a good housewife, Juliet expedited the operationsof the cook; dinner was served in good time; Francisco, who was owner ofhis vessel and cargo, as well as padrone or captain, entertained Bacriwith accounts of his adventures on the sea, which the Jew returned inkind with his experiences of mercantile transactions in savage lands.Mariano drank in all that they said with youthful avidity, and thelittle old lady's mouth rippled responsive, like the aspen leaf to thebreeze; while Lucien and Juliet, thus left to themselves, had no otherresource than to entertain each other as best they could!

  Then the adieux were said, the voyagers went down to the port, embarkedon board their good ship--a trim-built schooner--and set sail with afair wind.

  "I wish I saw them all safe back again!" said the little old lady, witha sigh.

  Juliet said nothing, though she echoed the sigh.

  Meanwhile the schooner leant over to the breeze, and ere night-fall leftthe shores of Sicily far behind.