News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1892-03-31
MY B0atman'S Alarm.
AN ADVENTURE IN THE BAY OF
NAPLES.
BY SETH CHILD.

Ou Glle dlUeTuOOIO Ol J une I'll, 1Cf0,
as my journal tells me, | returned
from Pompeii, and was set down
upon the Strata di Toledo at its
Junction with the Strata di Santa
| Lucia, in Naples. The day had been
excessively warm, and during a ride
around the base of Vesuvius | had
suffered; but the heat had not been
the only source of discomfort-far
from it. The carriage-road of the
time of which | write-there were no
railroads then in that country-was,
for the most part, bed OF volcanic
ashes. Can you conceive the result
ofriding over such a road in a hot,
dry day of midsummer? The feat
had been accomplished in a cloud of
dust so thick that objects upon the
roadside were invisible through its
opacity, while for insinuating tenaci-
ty of affiiction Icould only liken it to
the plaques of Egypt.
The junction of the two streets
mentioned above is very near to the
royal palace, and l had directed my
coachman to leave me there that |
might visit the palace gardens; but
when | came to see myself in the clear
light-tO see my garments of dark
blue loaded with dust til | they looked
like the working garb of a miller's
mani shrank from the gardens, and
hurried away to my hotel. After
supper with the influence of the dust
still upon my lungs, | felt that an
airing on the water would do me
good; and with this end in view |
made my way to the quay, where !
selected boat and a bOatman for
my expedition. The boat was a very
neat little affair, with lug sail and
a "driVer;' and the bOatman was
good-looking, genial, and stout
enough for q gladiator
The sun was sinking into the waters
of the far Off-sea as we put out from
the landing, and the moon, almost
full, was rising over the slope of YES
uvius. The boatman, at my request,
took a seat amidships to leeward,
while [ disposed of myself in the
stern-sheets, and took the helm.
Very shortly after we had left the
shore the sun was gone and the moon
revealed itself more clearly. The
breeze, just fresh enough for comfort,
set steadily in from the Mediterra-
mean, and taking it upon our star
board beam we stood to the south
ward. Away We went, bounding
cheerily over the grateful pillows, and
at length the walls of the city were
lost in the distance and the bold
rocky crests of Capri loOmed up
oh Df I Of 70
own whim- should have kept on
and rounded the grand old rock, even
though it had taken all night; but
while | was quietly shifting the fresh
breeze, and watching the ripping
waves as they danced in the moon
beams, the bOatman sprang aft and
seized the tiller from my hand and
showed it hard down.
My first movement, upon this I'M
expected interference, was to draw
the double-barrelled pistol from my
pocket and place my thumb upon
one of the hammers.
"Hold, signOr!" cried my compan-
ion. He pushed me further away,
and when he had brought the boat
around upon the other tack, with
her nose pointing for Naples, he ad-
ded: "Put up your pistol-you may
need it ere long"
"Need !" said /. "For what? ?"
"Look there" he replied, pointing
over our weather quarter.
Hooked in the direction indicated,
and saw for the first time that a
stranger was approaching us from
seaWard. 1t was a boat much heav-
ier than ours, as / could tell by the
noise she made in plOwfng through
the water and by her spread of can
vas, and l could also detect that she
was sailing much faster than we
were.
"A pleasure party from the city,"
| suggested, rather hoping than be
lieving that my skipper was eager
for q race.
"There is no pleasure-bOat in the
bay like that, signOr."
"A fishermaTY said |.
Fishermen don't sail like that,
s;gnor."
"Then what is it ?" ] asked, begin
ING to feel serious, not to say
alarmed.
81 believe" replied the bOatman,
sit is one of those Campanella rapti;
and if he gets hold of us we may as
well offer up our prayers and say our
own masses"
knew that my companion was an
old habitue of the bay, and that he
understood the signs better than |
did; and when | had thus gained this
explanation the reader may be as
sured that the effect upon my anticl-
pations was by no means pleasant.
These rapti, as he called them, had
often heard of as blood thirsty, ra-
pacious wretches, who haunted the
rocky coast of Point Campanella, de-
scending thence upon such passing
craft as they thought worth plum
dering and with which they dared to
cope.
Wewere at least a dozen miles from
the city-a sail of nearly two hours
while our pursuer was not over
quarter of mile astern, and gaining
rapidly upon us at that. The asser-
ton of my boatman had become to
me q reality, and every nerve in my
frame was strained to its utmost
The deep ploughing of the mysteri-
GUS chaser grew more and more dis
tinct, and | could see the crest of
white foam which her bows threw off
to leeward.
"Will they fire into us?" asked,
gathering myself into a narrower
compass with the thought.
"They never fire." replied my COM
panion, casting an uneasy glance