Transcriber's Note There is some arcane and inconsistent spelling. The dialect, spellingand punctuation have been preserved as far as possible. Obvious typographical errors have been altered, for example where a wordwas duplicated or a letter duplicated around a hyphen. Hyphenations havebeen made consistent. AN OLD SAILOR'S YARNS. BY N. AMES. AUTHOR OF "MARINER'S SKETCHES, " &c. &c. &c. Extremum hunc, Arethusa, mihi concede laborem. _Virgil. _ NEW YORK: GEORGE DEARBORN, 38 GOLD STREET. MDCCCXXXV. * * * * * Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1835, by GEORGE DEARBORN, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. * * * * * WILLIAM VAN NORDEN, PRINT. CONTENTS. * * * * * MARY BOWLINE. . . . . . . 15 OLD CUFF . . . . . . . . . . 53 RIVALS . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 MORTON . . . . . . . . . . . 95 PIRATE OF MASAFUERO . . 329 PREFACE. Mr. Buckingham, noticing the "Nautical Reminiscences" in the NewEngland Magazine, says, no author ever stopped at the second book; andhe very gravely proceeds to recommend that my number three should savormore of the style of Goldsmith or Washington Irving. I should have noobjection whatever to writing like either of these distinguishedauthors, _if I could_; but as the case is, I must be content to write aswell as I can. The whole article in Mr. B's magazine bore no faintresemblance to a dose of calomel and jalap, administered in atable-spoonful of molasses, in which the sweet and the nauseous are soequally balanced, that the patient is in doubt whether to spit or toswallow. I was, however, exceedingly flattered with the notice bestowedupon me by this literary cynic, as he was never before known to speakwell, even moderately, of any author, except natives of Boston, orprofessors in Harvard University. "Morton" is founded upon an old tradition, now forgotten, but wellknown when I first went to sea, of the exploits of some of ouradventurous and somewhat lawless traders in the Pacific. A number of thecrew of one of these smuggling vessels were taken in the act, and, aftera hasty trial, ordered to be sent to the mines. The route to their placeof condemnation and hopeless confinement lay near the coast. A largeparty of seamen landed from two or three ships that were in theneighborhood, waylaid the military escort, knocked most of them on thehead, rescued the prisoners, and got safe off without loss. The storysays nothing of female influence or assistance, but knowing it to bemorally impossible to get through a story without the assistance of alady, I pressed one into the service, and took other liberties with theoriginal, till it became what peradventure the reader will find it. Manystories are told of the skirmishes, or as sailors call them, "scrammidges, " between our "free-traders" and the guarda-costas indifferent parts of the Pacific. In particular, the ship D----, ofBoston, is said to have had a "regular-built fight" with a guarda-costaof forty-four guns, that retired from the action so miserably mauled, that it is doubtful to this day whether she ever found her way back intoport. An old sea-dog who was on board the D----, furnished me with manydetails of the proceedings of our merchantmen on the coasts ofCalifornia, and Mexico, some thirty years since, but most of them haveescaped my memory. I have inadvertently, in one or two instances, called the inhabitantsof Mexico, South Americans. The fact is, there is scarcely a perceptibleshade of difference in manners between the Chilians, Peruvians, andMexicans; there is none in their language, dress, or religion; andsailors, who pay but little regard to arbitrary divisions of continents, are in the habit of calling all the quondam possessions of his MostCatholic Majesty, that border upon the Pacific, by the general name ofSouth America, upon the same principle, I presume, that they call thewhole of that ocean the "_South_ Sea, " though they may be at that verymoment anchored in Sitka, or cruizing in the chops of Behring's Straits. "The Rivals, " is built upon a strange story that was quite current amongour men-of-war's-men some years ago, but I am unable to give any furtheraccount of the hero of _their_ story than the reader will find in theconclusion of mine. There seems to be no doubt that the stranger wasobliged to fly on account of a fatal duel; and sailors, who cannotconceive of a duel between two gentlemen, as they somewhat ironicallycall them, unless there is a woman in the case, have accordinglyattached one to the quarrel that compelled the unfortunate officer totake shelter on board an American national vessel. "Old Cuff" is a sketch from real life. He was a petty officer in theservice at the same time with me, and notwithstanding his rambling life, was a man of good education and strong mind. His life was a strikingillustration of the truth of the proposition that "there is no romancelike the romance of real life. " He proposed to me to take minutes of hisadventures, which were extremely interesting, but before I couldcommence operations I was myself made a petty officer, and removed to astation in a part of the ship where I but seldom saw him, and the shipwas soon after ordered home. The reader need be neither a wizard nor a witch to perceive that "MaryBowline" is a creation of my own brain, and is of course defective, andwill disappoint. But if it is true that "Bacon, Butler, and Shakspearehave rendered it impossible for any one after them to be profound, witty, or sublime, " it is equally true that Scott, Irving, and othershave rendered it impossible for any one to be equally entertaining, interesting, or amusing. I hold, however, to another maxim, that "he isa benefactor to mankind who furnishes them with innocent materials forlaughter and delight, " a maxim that did not come exactly "ex cathedra, "but is full as profound, and correct. If I have been so fortunate as tocontribute to, or become the cause of innocent delight, I shall thinkthat the "Forecastle Yarns" have not been written in vain. It was objected to my two former works that they contained strictures, and remarks, upon what are commonly called orthodox principles. In thepresent volume, I have studiously endeavored to steer my footsteps clearof the tender toes of every religious sect except the Catholics; whom, in imitation of the Protestant clergy and laity all around me, I havehandled without mittens whenever I could get a chance. I cannot close without repeating that if I have succeeded in helping tomake "The wheels of life gae down hill scrievin', Wi' rattlin' glee, "-- I shall feel more gratified than if I had squared the circle, or drawnup a tariff that, like Shakspeare's barber's chair, should fit allparties. N. A. _Providence, October 1, 1833. _ P. S. More than a year ago the following pages were written and preparedfor the press, under the title of "Forecastle Yarns, " but a gentlemanconnected with the New York Mirror took a fancy to that title, andimmediately appropriated it to himself with the most genteelindifference as to the prior right of another. In consequence, I havebeen obliged to adopt a new name. The "Pirate of Masafuero" was writtenafter the above preface was prepared. "Old Cuff" has already been beforethe public in the columns of the first and only number of a newmagazine[1] that expired for want of patronage, and support, having justsurvived long enough to give ample proofs that it deserved thepatronage, and support, that were denied it. The very favorable noticethat the Evening Star took of "Old Cuff, " is proof positive that it ismuch higher than "fair to middling;" and if it is true that "the proofof the pudding is eating the bag, " (and the reader will consider "OldCuff" as the bag, ) I think it follows that the pudding now set beforehim cannot be a bad one. _November, 1834. _ [Footnote 1: American Spectator and National Magazine. ] * * * * * MARY BOWLINE. * * * * * MARY BOWLINE. CHAPTER I. "Nautaeque, per omne Audaces mare qui currunt, hac mente laborum Sese ferre, senes ut in otia tuta recedunt, Aiunt. " HORACE. Captain Robert Bowline, a retired sea-captain, occupied a snug littlefarm in the town of B----, one of the many pleasant villages on thecoast of New England. He had followed the sea for many years, acquiredconsiderable property, married, and had a family. When he had attainedhis forty-fifth year, a relation of his wife died, leaving her heiressto a very handsome estate, part of which was the farm aforesaid. Inconsequence of this event he was easily persuaded by his wife, whom hetenderly loved, to retire to private life, and leave the "vexed ocean"to be ploughed by those who had their fortunes to make. They retired totheir farm, when the first act of the old Triton was to pull down theantique house that had been erected "about the time of the old Frenchwar, " and build another more "ship-shape, " and congenial to the tasteof a sailor. The dwelling itself was not, indeed, externally differentfrom any other of the snug-looking and rather handsome two-story housesof substantial farmers, &c. In New England; but its internal economy wassomewhat nautical, containing numerous "lockers" and "store-rooms. " Itsfront gate-posts were composed of the two jaw-bones of an enormouswhale; the fence was of a most fanciful Chinese pattern; and directly infront of the house was erected that never-failing ornament of a sailor'sdwelling, a tall flag-staff, with cap, cross-trees, and topmast, complete; the last, always being kept "housed, " except upon the 4th ofJuly, 22d of February, &c. At the foot of the flag-staff, "hushed ingrim repose, " was an iron six-pounder, mounted upon a ship gun-carriage, ready for service, whenever any national holyday required its voice. Thehouse fronted the sea; a most superb view of which it commanded, but wasat the same time screened from its storms in great measure by beingflanked by noble old elms, and a fine orchard, which almost entirelysurrounded it; while in the rear the ground swelled into a thicklywooded hill of moderate height. The ground in front sloped gently downto the water's edge, at the distance of half a mile from the house, butto the left gradually rose into a high point, or headland, terminatingin a rocky cliff that strode far out into the sea, and formed theharbor. The family of the old seaman, at the time he took possession of his"shore quarters, " consisted of himself, wife, and daughter Mary--therest of his children having died young. As we have no particular concernwith the events of his life from that period to Mary's twenty-firstyear, we shall only observe that during that time he had the misfortuneto lose his wife. Mary Bowline was a young lady, confessedly of the greatest beauty in thelittle town of B----, and for many miles round; a trifle above themiddle stature, sufficiently so to relieve her figure from theimputation of shortness; or, as she was a little inclined to be"fleshy, " or "embonpoint, " as our refined authors call it, from what issometimes called "stubbidness;" her eyes were of deep celestial blue;her hair, a dark brown, and her complexion, notwithstanding hercontinual rambles along the beach in her girlish days, of exquisitepurity. Her education, I grieve to say, had been most shamefullyneglected; her mother, though a most exemplary woman, both as aChristian and a member of society, had never tied her up in afashionable corset to improve her figure, nor sent her to a fashionableboarding school to improve her mind; the consequence was that she knewnothing of the piano, --Virgil seems to have had the gift of prophecywith regard to this part of modern education, when he said or sang, "Stridente stipula miserum _disperdere_ carmen, "-- and was equally ignorant of that sublime and useful art, working lace;she had no further idea of dancing than had been beat into her head, orrather heels, by the saltatory instructions of an itinerantdancing-master--I ask pardon, "professor"--who, with a bandy-legged dogat his heels, and a green baize bag under his arm, paid an annual visitto the town, to instruct its Thetises in the "poetry of motion;" an aptillustration of the "_Bacchum_ in remotis" choreas "rupibus Vidi docentem Nymphasque discentes, " of Horace, with the alteration of a word; said fiddler having "forswornthin potations" very soon after the commencement of his capering career. In the "serene and silent art" she was, however, truly fortunate; theclergyman of the place, a most amiable and intelligent man, and, to thecredit of his amphibious parishioners, loved and esteemed with theutmost fervor and unanimity, added to his other accomplishments no meanskill as a draughtsman; an art, that he had full leisure to practise;one of his parochial duties, that of visiting the sick, being a mereshadow; for your fisherman, with his wife and his little ones, is butseldom on the doctor's list, and when he "files off, " generally does itwithout beat of drum or flap of banner. He was a constant visiter at thehouse of Captain Bowline, whither he was attracted by the fascinationof the seaman's stories of foreign parts. Charmed with the dawningbeauty of the lovely little Mary, he readily undertook to give herbetter instruction than she could have obtained at the town school, towhich he added drawing. Her mother had amply instructed her in the moreuseful and homely arts of cooking, sewing, knitting, &c. And she hadeven taught her to spin; for she lived before the establishment of any, or many, of those institutions for the increase of illegitimatechildren, ignorance, immorality, suicide, seduction, murder, &c. --I meancotton factories. The comparatively affluent circumstances of her familyhad, however, rendered it unnecessary for her to practise this lastaccomplishment. With all these charms in her own person, and right inher father's strong box, it is not to be wondered at that the lovelyMary Bowline had suitors in abundance; but the only one that seemed tohave made any impression upon her light heart, was a young seaman by thename of Kelson, who had now attained his twenty-seventh year. Thomas Kelson was the son of poor parents, indeed it would have beenextremely difficult, if not impossible, to have found a family in thewhole town of B---- that could be called wealthy. He had followed thesea from early life, and had always returned home during the intervalsof his voyages, at which times he had improved his education under theinstructions of the clergyman aforesaid. His acquaintance with Mary hadpassed by a very natural transition from intimacy to affection; he wasthe constant companion of her rambles, and when she chose an aquaticexcursion his sail-boat was always ready. To her father his company wasalways acceptable; the old seaman had none of the pride of "moniedaristrocracy;" he saw no harm in his daughter placing her affections, and bestowing her hand and fortune, upon a young man who was fast risingto respectability and wealth, in precisely the same steps by which hehad himself ascended, commencing as cabin-boy and ending as master andpart owner; he lived on a part of the coast that lay entirely out of thetrack of "refinement, " if indeed she had then begun her march. Accordingly things were permitted to go on just as though consent hadbeen asked and obtained; the young couple walked together, sat together, and Kelson being "free of the house, " talked together upon almost everysubject but love. Was there to be a fishing or sleighing party, or anexcursion into the neighboring woods, Tom Kelson was invariably and byquiet agreement Mary Bowline's escort; was there a ball, no one, "louting low with cap in hand, " solicited, or thought of soliciting, thehonor of her company; that felicity was always supposed to be reservedfor Tom Kelson; still, with all this constant and close intimacy, theyoung seaman had never talked of love, never offered himself as ahusband, and Mary, the gay and light-hearted Mary, had never, as theNew England saying is, "thought a word about it. " Had Kelson suddenlypresented himself to her with "Mary, shall we be published next Sunday?"she would have answered "Yes;" without the slightest hesitation; northought her assent worth the trouble of a blush or a simper; and such, Ibelieve, will be found the case in most of our country courtships. Captain Kelson, for he had attained that title some time previous, hadbeen on _terra firma_ some months; partly for want of a vessel, butchiefly in compliance with the earnest entreaties of the lovely Mary, who was terrified at the thought of his again encountering the frightfulcalamity that had so nearly proved fatal to him on his last voyage. Onhis return from St. Petersburg with a full cargo, he had experienced atremendous gale near the Grand Banks, during which his vessel was struckby lightning and consumed. After undergoing most dreadful sufferings intheir boats, the exhausted remnant of the crew were most providentiallypicked up and brought safe home. In consequence of losing his vessel, the owners had received him with coldness, as is invariably the case, asthough a deep loaded brig, lying-to in a gale of wind, could dodge aflash of lightning! I have known many a good seaman kept "lying out" ofa vessel for months, merely because the owners had thought proper tosend him to sea in a _craft_ whose bottom had "dropped out, " as the seaphrase is, as soon as she had encountered bad weather. Captain Kelson had accordingly remained on shore from April, tillSeptember; the time when we have thought proper to commence our story;during which period he contrived to kill time quite agreeably infishing, shooting, surveying the harbor, and last but not least, inpaying continual attention to the fair Mary. He had one day made a visitto Captain Bowline's house, and had accompanied him in a ramble overpart of his farm. During their "cruize, " the old sailor had detailed hisplans for the season, and gradually extending his views, announcedcertain arrangements and alterations as about to be carried intoexecution "when Mary gets married. " When Mary gets married! the wordspassed like the shock of a galvanic battery through the mind of theyounger seaman; he soon took leave, and as he strolled, unconscious ofthe direction his feet were taking without admitting his head into theircounsels, down towards the narrow strip of white sand beach at the footof the headland already mentioned, her father's words, the last that hedistinctly heard or recollected, continued to sound in his ears-- "When Mary gets married! well, she must get married some time or other, and who will it be?" he said to himself, suddenly stopping short. "Sheseems to prefer me at present, but I know that when I am at sea sheappears to favor Sam Ingraham, or Ben Bass, just as much. Yet whyshould she be so anxious to have me stay on shore to avoid an accidentthat may not occur again in a century, if I should live so long, unlessshe does really prefer me to all others? I will certainly try to findout the state of her feelings towards me the first opportunity, and ifshe refuses me, I will never set foot in B---- again. " With this chivalrous determination he visited his lovely and allunconscious mistress the next day, but the fair lady was busyironing. --"I shall see her again this evening, " thought he, as he turnedslowly towards the town; and see her that evening he did. They rambledout towards the cape, or promontory, almost invariably the scene oftheir summer evening walks; for lovers, after one or two strolls over aparticular portion of ground, regard it as almost sacred; there are athousand sweet recollections connected with every step--here they havepaused to admire some particular feature in the prospect--under thatspreading tree they have stood together in silence, busy with their ownpeculiar thoughts; and this walk is seldom, if ever, changed--it isalmost like inconstancy to each other to propose a different route. They had reached the high bluff, and were seated, as usual, upon asolitary block of granite, which, had they lived in heathen times, theymight have worshipped as the ancient and much respected god Terminus. Mary, who had hitherto had the conversation almost entirely to herself, suddenly noticed her lover's abstraction. "Why, what's the matter with you, Thomas?" "Nothing; I was only thinking, Mary. " "'Thinking, Mary!' well, do speak to Mary once in a while. I believe, "she continued, after a pause, and with a faltering voice and feeling offaintness that she could not account for, "I believe you are in love, Thomas. " She had heard that day that Captain Kelson was making furiouslove to a sea-nymph in B----, the daughter of one of the richestinhabitants. "So I am, sweet Mary, most desperately so. " "I know it, sir; I heard it all this morning; I wish you joy, " gaspedthe poor girl. "Heard of it all! good heavens, Mary, what do you mean? it is you, myown dearest girl, that I love; who else _could_ you think of?" as hespoke he held both her hands in his and clasped them earnestly. "I heard, " faltered poor Mary, "I was told that--that it was--JaneWilson, O, Thomas!" and sinking her glowing cheek upon his shoulder, sheburst into tears. Kelson, inexpressibly delighted by this unequivocal testimony of herlove, prest her to his bosom, and hastened to explain to her that thesole object of his seeking an interview with her that evening, was tomake known his affection; that his silence and reserve were owing to thedeep interest he felt in the issue of that interview; that his visitsto Captain Wilson's were solely on business; that he scarcely saw hisdaughter Jane at any one of them; and a thousand other things. What astupid, asinine creature is a lover, _before_ the ice is broken, andwhat an eloquent, inspired animal, _after_ the _explosion_! A lover mayretire to his closet, and spoil a whole ream of paper with "ravenlocks, " and "eyes' liquid azure, " and "sweet girls, " &c. Such an epicurecreature as Natty Willis will befoul you a quire of foolscap beforebreakfast in that way--but let a stranger see the same lover in presenceof his idol, and he would think that he was then to apologise for anassault and battery with intent, &c. The walk home was the pleasantest they had ever enjoyed--both were toohappy for conversation. They decided, however, before they parted, thatit was altogether unnecessary to communicate to Captain Bowline what hadtaken place. "He has understood all along what was the state of yourfeelings, " said Mary, "and I am sure has always regarded you withpaternal kindness. " CHAPTER II. O! a most dainty man! To see him walk before a lady and bear her fan! LOVE'S LABOR LOST. The next day, as the old seaman sat by a front window smoking his pipeafter dinner, he suddenly started up with the exclamation of "Hey!what--what the devil have we here? Mary, love, hand me the glass--amariner adrift on a grating, by the Lord Harry!" The object that called forth this animadversion, and broke a delightfulday-dream that Mary was indulging in, now appeared in sight, havinghitherto been hidden by a thick clump of trees, that bounded the oceanprospect towards the right. It was a small sail-boat, with three men inher, that, at one moment directly before the wind, and the next, "allshaking, " seemed rapidly approaching an extensive mud flat, that formedone side of the harbor, and towards which the flowing tide and freshbreeze seemed to be fast drifting her. "There they are, hard and fast! and on their beam ends, too, by thepiper, " continued the veteran, and as he witnessed this lastcatastrophe, he sprang from his chair, forgetting in his charitableintention of hurrying to their assistance, that they were more than halfa mile off, and in full view of the town. "There is a boat going to them, pa, " said Mary, slightly blushing as sherecognised at the mast head of a very handsome, fast sailing boat, ablue "burger, " with a large white M. In it, the work of her own fairhands. "Aye, " said the veteran, reseating himself, "aye, there goes Tom Kelsonin your namesake, Mary; they'll get off with a ducking, and it willserve them right. Yes, " continued he, applying the glass to his eye, "there goes two of them ashore through the mud, like a couple ofpup-seals. " Kelson managed his boat with great skill, so as to approach the wreck, on board which still appeared one person half overboard, and apparentlyalmost exhausted by his violent struggles to disencumber himself fromthe wet sail, and by anchoring immediately to windward, and carryingaway cable, reached the boat and rescued the unfortunate man from asituation that was exceedingly uncomfortable if not dangerous. The othertwo, by dint of swimming, wading, and wallowing through the mud, reachedthe shore, which was about three hundred yards distant. As soon as he had ascertained that the man on board the wreck wasrescued, the old seaman, "on hospitable thoughts intent, " hastened tothe village to obtain intelligence and render assistance. It wasevening when he returned to his snug dwelling, and then he wasaccompanied by a tall, slight made, very fashionably dressed young man, whom he introduced to his daughter as Mr. Millinet, of New York. Mr. Millinet, or as he usually designated himself, George FrederickAugustus Millinet, Esq. , was a "dry goods merchant, " _par excellence_, in Broadway, who having a little more cash on hand than he had everpossessed before, made an excursion to New England, with the charitableintention of civilizing and astonishing the natives. His debut was, however, rather unfortunate; B---- was his first "land-fall" afterquitting the high road from New York, towards the east. Fancying that asail-boat in a sea-way, was as easily managed as a Whitehall skiff, offthe Battery; he had "put to sea, " in company with two little amphibiousurchins that he had hired for the occasion, and who desired no bettersport. They immediately perceived the ignorance of their commander, andbegan to play tricks upon him, as man-of-war's men do upon an ignorantand tyrannical midshipman. These pranks had terminated more seriouslythan they expected, and, fearful of punishment, they had betakenthemselves to the water and made their escape. Mr. Millinet being somewhat annoyed by the sly jokes and grave humor ofmine host, of the hotel, concerning his misfortune, and the giggling ofthe waiters and chamber-maids, gladly accepted Captain Bowline'sinvitation, and was soon seated at his hospitable and well loaded table, for the old tar put no great faith in tea and bread and butter forsupper. The knight of the yard-stick had, however, gulped down too muchsalt water, and been too seriously frightened to feel much appetite, andhe retired to bed early. The next morning he made his appearance atbreakfast, over which the fair Mary was presiding, and which might haveexcited an appetite in the gastric region of the most confirmeddyspeptic. There were bass and tautaug fresh from the water; oysters indifferent forms, broiled, stewed, fried, &c. ; a noble ham, into whichthe stout seaman plunged his flashing carving-knife, and hewed it inpieces, as Samuel did Agag, in the valley of Gilgal; there was broiledham, beef steaks, mutton chop, eggs, cheese, butter, honey, hot cakes; apile of pilot-bread-toast a foot high, ditto untoasted, coffee, tea, andchocolate. To all this good cheer, their fashionable visiter paid butsmall respect, and the old commander, having pressed him to make himselfat home, and help himself, attacked his own breakfast with vigor, feeling at the same time no small contempt for a man whose stomach couldbe so effectually unhinged by a simple capsize, and thorough ducking. The vender of tape and calico, seemed to feast his eyes, if not hisappetite, by gazing on the lovely countenance of his young hostess; andafter some slight hesitation, commenced talking to her of theatres, andballs, and assemblies, and fashionable intelligence in general; butBalaam's ass, if she had marched into the room and commenced an orationin the original Hebrew, or Chaldee, or Syro-Phoenician, or whatevermight have been _its_ vernacular tongue in which she formerly addressedher master, could not have been more unintelligible. The old gentlemanmade an attempt to drive a conversation, and asked a few questionsrelative to foreign politics, the state of navigation, and commerce, inNew York, &c. ; but finding his auditor as ignorant as though he hadproposed a case in middle latitude sailing, he dropped him altogether. He remained in the family three or four days, during which, hisattentions to Mary were incessant, but managed with such fashionabletact as not to be annoying. She was exceedingly amused by his consummatevanity and self-conceit; that seemed to make up the greater part of hischaracter. His descriptions of society and manners in the commercialemporium, though not altogether intelligible to his fair auditor, werenew and amusing, and in spite of the contagious effect of her father'scontempt, and the troubled looks of poor Kelson, she could not helplistening to him with complacency. It was evident to every body but Marythat the retailer of ginghams was most seriously smitten with her, asmuch so, that is to say, as his idolatry of himself left him capable ofbeing with any person. And so it proved, for in less time than she hadany idea that it was possible to go to and return from New York, backcame her Broadway beau. Mary opened her large blue eyes in mostunaffected astonishment, as he came up to the door at which she wasstanding, equipped for a walk with Kelson. She made no scruple ofconsigning him to her father and continuing her walk. The old manreceived him, of course, with politeness, and after a shortconversation, his visiter who seemed much embarrassed, observed that hewas desirous of entering the holy state, and then went on to give anaccount of his prospects, expectations, possessions, references, hopes, fears, anxieties, &c. The seaman listened with attention to the wholecatalogue, mentally exclaiming, "what the d--l does all this mean?" "In short, sir, " said he of Broadway, "I have seen no young lady whoseems so well calculated to make a man happy as your lovely daughterMary; and if you have no objection, I should be happy to be permitted topay my addresses to her, if her affections are not already engaged. " The old sea-dog, who had been rubbing his chin during the latter part ofhis visiter's harangue, observed that "his daughter was indeed a finegirl, and he (Mr. Millinet) had not and could not say any more good ofher than she deserved; that as to her affections being engaged, he didnot pretend to bother his brain about an affair that did not concernhim, trusting that the girl had good sense enough to make a properchoice; that with regard to paying his addresses to her, he might sheeralongside as quick as he liked--he would without doubt find her atquarters and all ready for action; and finally that he, her father, would not interfere to thwart her wishes in so important an affair asthe choice of a husband, for, " (he repeated, with an internal chuckle asthe thought crossed his mind, that his favorite Tom Kelson was beyond adoubt the man of her choice, ) "Mary knew what she was about, and had witenough to make a judicious choice. " This speech, an exceedingly long one for him, was listened to with greatsatisfaction by his fashionable guest, who thus armed with the father'sconsent, as he regarded it, never dreamed of the possibility of anydifficulty on the daughter's part, and looked upon the whole affair assettled. In the mean time Mary, regardless of her victory over the heart of herNew York visiter, was quietly pursuing her evening walk with Kelson, towhom she had made known the presence, in the vicinity, of his rival. Herlover heard the intelligence with a feeling of dissatisfaction that hecould not exactly define--he had unbounded confidence in his Mary'sconstancy and love just at that present time, but, like most men, he hadrather a mean opinion of woman's constancy in general, and could notavoid applying the general rules that he had formed for himself, to mostindividuals. He dreaded the effect of an assiduous and sustained attackupon Mary's inexperienced mind, from a dashing, fashionable lover, whoheld out to her acceptance all the charms and glitter of a life of ease, and splendor, and dissipation. His uneasy sensations were by no meansquieted by his companion's gaiety, who having at once surmised, orpretended so to have done, the object of the Gothamite's visit, promisedherself much amusement from his wooing. On their return to the house, they found the new visiter quietlyinstalled in the parlor, and waiting their, or rather her, return. Inhigh glee with the flattering prospect before him, he completelymonopolized Mary's attention, and eventually put to flight theoverpowered and mortified Kelson, who left the house with a heavy heart. For at least a week Mr. Millinet kept the field; he was Mary's constantcompanion, whether sitting quietly at home or walking out; and Kelson, finding it almost impossible even to speak to her, prudently kepthimself out of the way, well knowing that Mary would soon miss him, ifshe had not already, and eagerly seek an interview; nor was he wrong inhis conjecture. Calling at her father's house one Sunday morning, hefound her seated in the parlor waiting for meeting time. In the courseof conversation he asked her jestingly, though with a beating heart, "what she meant to do with her new lover?" "I don't know, " said she laughing, "he says that he has my father'spermission to make love to me, and he seems determined that thepermission shall not become a dead letter for want of use. " "Your father! I had no idea that he had given his consent. " "My father, Thomas, has given me free permission to do as I please inthe affair of choosing a husband. " "Certainly, " said poor Kelson, construing this last speech into sentenceof death to _his_ love. "And I have already acted as I pleased, " continued the lovely girl, holding out her hand to him. It was impossible to mistake the meaning of the last words and theiraccompanying action, and the delighted seaman certified his fullintelligence and gratitude upon her lips. "I believe this fellow, my sweet Mary, has made me almost jealous andquite foolish; but, seriously, what do you mean to do with him?" "Why, the creature can't stay here for ever, and if he offers himself tome, I shall say 'No, ' in as plain English as possible. " Mr. Millinet soon after made his appearance, and attended CaptainBowline and his daughter to meeting, to the no small surprise of thegood folks of B----, who, regarding him as the favored lover of MaryBowline, could not help expressing their regret that she should haveslighted Captain Kelson, and accepted "that tape-measuring son of ab----. " What a pity that sailors, and seafaring people at large, can seldom ornever give vent to their indignation without at the same time attackingthe parentage of the object of their resentment. This is decidedly anorientalism; and I have observed in another place that sailors resemblethe Orientals in their fondness for tropes and figures. The mostopprobrious epithet that a Persian can make use of, when in a passion, is to call his antagonist "a dog's uncle. " No other degree of canineconsanguinity is considered so degrading. The retailer of dry goods dined at the house of Captain Bowline, andattended the family to church in the afternoon, but excused himselfimmediately after the service was over and returned to the town. Kelsonmade a visit to the house of the old seaman just at dark, and onentering the usual sitting-room he found it unlighted, and occupied onlyby Dinah, the black girl, who, arrayed in what the old captain calledher "go-ashore bib and tucker, " was probably awaiting the arrival of herwoolly-headed suitor. The old gentleman had gone out visiting, as heusually did on Sunday evenings, and Mary was in a little back parlor, where she usually sat in her father's absence, and which was the wintersitting-room of the family. Kelson had been in the house but a very fewminutes when he saw his rival approaching the front gate. With all thatpropensity for mischief that characterizes sailors on shore, heimmediately formed, and proceeded to put in execution, a plan for thetorment and vexation of his antagonist of the yard-stick. He promisedthe sable handmaid of his Mary a half dollar, if she would personate hermistress for a few minutes, which he imagined easily enough done in thedark, and instructing her "to behave prim and lady-like, " went in questof the boy Jim, whom he stationed in the entry to open the door for Mr. Millinet, and show him into the front parlor, and then went to the roomwhere the fair lady herself was sitting. She was just on the point ofcoming to the front room with a light, having heard his well-known voiceand step, but he easily engaged her in conversation; and when, atMillinet's knock, she was rising to see who it was, he as easilydetained her by the assurance, that it was "nobody but her New Yorksweetheart. " Every thing favored the mischievous plans of the seaman:Millinet never suspecting that any female but the mistress of the housewould presume to seat herself in the front parlor, and feeling moreoverthe darkness and solitude of the room peculiarly favorable to courtship, seated himself by the side of the supposed Mary, and immediatelycommenced making love in pretty "rapid" style. Finding that the ladyanswered only in monosyllables, and seemed more than usually affable, heventured to take her hand and gently squeeze it. He was at firstsomewhat startled at the hardness and roughness of the palm, but soonrecollected that the country ladies in New England were in the habit ofmilking their cows, making butter and cheese, &c. , and said to himself, "Never mind, when she is Mrs. Millinet her hard palms shall be wellrubbed with pumice-stone and milk of roses, till they are as soft as anylady's in Broadway. " Enraptured by the gentle pressure with which the "black lily" returnedhis amorous squeeze of her hand, he ventured to raise it to his lips, and imprint a kiss upon the short, thick fingers. At this critical andrapturous moment the door flew open, and the real Mary entered, bearinga lighted glass mantel-lamp in each hand. With a profound curtesy sheplaced her lamps upon the mantel-piece, and gravely asking pardon forher intrusion, flew into the room which she had just left, and whichimmediately echoed with her laughter, lively and joyous, but mostunfashionably loud, hearty, and prolonged. The sable _fair_ one made herescape at the same time, and received from Kelson double what he hadpromised her. Mary, however, as soon as she had recovered her gravity, joined her new suitor, but all her hospitable attentions were lost uponthe discomfited Broadway merchant, who soon took his leave, overwhelmedwith shame and mortification, nor did he sufficiently recover himself torenew his visits for two or three days. When he did again visit herfather's house, Mary, who thought the joke carried far enough, treatedhim with more than usual attention, by way of apology for her untimelyand mortifying mirth, so that by the expiration of the week he hadentirely recovered his spirits, his self-conceit, his vanity, and histalkativeness. CHAPTER III. You are now within a foot Of the extreme verge; for all beneath the moon Would I not leap upright! KING LEAR. Shortly after this mad prank of Kelson's, Mr. Millinet invited Mary towalk out one lovely evening, to which she gladly assented. They tooktheir way towards the "Whale's Head, " a name given by the inhabitants ofB---- to the high bluff already mentioned, that formed the eastern sideof their harbor, from its real or fancied resemblance to the nose, or tospeak more scientifically, "noddle-end, " of a whale. A path descendedobliquely from the upper part of the cape down to the beach at its foot. The whole cape and the land adjacent were comprised in the estate ofCaptain Bowline, who kept the paths in good repair, and had been atconsiderable pains, when he first took possession of the farm, to renderit perfectly safe and passable, for the convenience of the fishermen, who were in the habit of digging clams on the narrow beach at the footof the hill, and fishing among the sunken rocks at the extreme point. For the whole length of the path the hill was extremely steep, but notperpendicular, and covered with short dried grass, which made thesurface so slippery, that it afforded an apt illustration of Virgil's"facilis descensus Averni;" for though any one might accomplish adescent safely enough by dint of holding on to the few shrubs andbushes, and sliding occasionally, no animal but a cat, a goat, or amonkey, could ascend, if it was to save his life. Near the middle of thepath it was crossed by a deep gap, or ravine, caused by the constantwearing of a small spring of water that trickled down the face of thecliff, and which was generally swollen by the melting of the snow, or byoccasional heavy rains. The beach, or rather marsh, at the foot of thehill, where the little rivulet joined the sea, was so soft and boggy, asto be utterly impassable. Across this ravine, which was known by thename of the "Devil's Gap, " Captain Bowline had caused a narrow bridge, of two planks in width, to be built, protected on the outside by a lightrailing. On the side next the hill, it was sufficiently guarded by thecrooked branches of a knurly and scrubby oak tree, that grew on the veryedge of the ravine. Down this path the fair Mary and her suitor directed their steps. Theywandered along the beach as far as the point, the New Yorker in fullchat and high spirits, and Mary's attention almost entirely occupied bya distant boat that seemed to be engaged in fishing, and which sherecognised, notwithstanding the distance, to be her namesake, the Mary, belonging to her lover Kelson. Their walk occupied them till nearlysunset, when Mary suddenly recollected that the tide was flowing, andwould soon entirely cover the narrow beach that they had just passed. Bydint of walking fast, they reached the foot of the path before the beachwas covered by the tide, and commenced their ascent just as the sun wentdown. In the mean time, heavy black clouds began to muster in the north-west, announcing the approach of a thunder shower, and reducing the eveningtwilight to less than half its usual duration. Large heavy drops of rainwere soon felt and heard, rattling in the few straggling shrubs andbushes, accompanied by short gusts of wind. Mr. Millinet, who wasconsiderably alarmed by these indications of a violent shower, and whotrembled for the safety of his new Broadway hat, and Broadway coat, hurried on with the most uncourteous and unlover-like disregard of hisfair companion, who was too much accustomed to take care of herself, tobe at all incommoded by his neglect. They reached the "Devil's Gap, " andthe lover strode on most rapidly; he was just upon the middle of thelittle bridge, when being startled by a sudden bright flash oflightning, he stumbled, and in the dread of falling off, laid violenthold upon one of the branches of the scrubby oak on the other side, recovered himself, and passed on. The oak, that had long since beenpartially undermined by the water from the spring, and which CaptainBowline had determined to remove before it did any damage, gave waybefore the violent pull of Millinet. Mary, whose feet were already uponthe planks of the bridge, alarmed by the rattling of the loose earth andstones that fell from under the roots of the tree, ran hastily back. Thenext instant, the tree, with a ton or two of earth attached to itsmatted roots, came thundering down, sweeping away with it the bridge, and a large portion of the path beyond it. In the mean time, shortviolent showers, of but four or five seconds in duration, with equallyshort and violent gusts of wind, induced the Broadway gallant toincrease his speed; he had indeed heard a loud crash, but it is no morethan bare justice to him to say that he mistook the noise for thunder. Poor Mary was thus completely insulated--it was impossible to go back, for the beach was long since covered by the rising tide--to climb up thehill was exceedingly difficult, if not absolutely impossible to anactive man--to go forward was of course out of the question--there wasevery appearance of a cold, driving October storm of wind and rain, towhich she must necessarily be exposed, with no additional clothingexcept a shawl, till the tide had ebbed sufficiently to leave the beachpassible, and then the walk round the point was full three miles. Inthis dilemma, far from any human habitation, and exposed to the nightwind, which now began to blow extremely chilly, poor Mary seated herselfupon the bank and wept bitterly. After the lapse of a few minutes, shebecame more composed, and most fervently and earnestly commendingherself to Divine protection, she endeavored to shelter herself as muchas possible from the wind; for the rain had now ceased, and the cloudsbreaking away towards the south-west, gave indications of a clear, cold, frosty autumnal night. Relief was, however, much nearer than she expected. Her father, alarmedat her non-appearance, and the threatening looks of the weather, salliedforth in quest of her. He had gone but a few rods, when he met Mr. George Frederic Augustus, with his pocket handkerchief tied over hishat, and his coat buttoned up to the chin, "striking out, " as sailorssay, like a man walking against time. "Holloa, " he shouted, "you Mr. What's-your-name! where the d--l have youleft Mary? a pretty fellow you are to convoy a lady, to bear up beforethe wind as soon as the weather looks misty, and leave her to shift forherself! not but that the girl is a d--d sight better able to take careof herself than you are to take care of her. " All this was said inperfect good humor, the old tar taking it for granted that his daughterhad "made a harbor, " as he expressed it, in one of the neighbor'shouses. But the abrupt question had startled Millinet, and he answered with muchconfusion and hesitation, "I--really, sir, I thought, --I am sure thatis--I thought she was close behind me--she certainly was a few minutessince. " Captain Bowline, muttering an inverted blessing upon his fashionableguest, pushed on towards the path over the cliff. He was soon joined byKelson, who had come in from fishing but a few minutes before, and who, hearing of Mary's walking out upon the beach, had immediately hastenedto her father's house. He too had seen the hero of Gotham; but thatgentleman, not deeming it wholesome to hold much conversation with menof so little refinement and fashion as Bowline and Kelson, whenirritated, had made the best of his way towards B----. Mary's father and lover accordingly hurried on, stopping at the house ofold Haddock, the fisherman, who lived near the upper end of "Jade'sWalk, " as the hill-path was called, where they furnished themselves witha lantern, a coil of rope, and sundry other articles that they deemednecessary. Old Haddock and his two "boys, " great two-fisted fellows oftwenty and two and twenty years of age, also accompanied them. They soonarrived at the Devil's Gap, where they beheld the ruin caused by thefall of the tree. For an instant a thrill of horror ran through thehearts of two of the beholders; the idea that the object of their searchand solicitude had been swept away by the fall of the bridge, andcrushed in its ruins, or smothered in the mud and water at the foot ofthe hill, occurred instantly to both of them. From this state of agony and suspense, they were soon relieved by thesilver voice of =Mary= herself, calling from the further side of the gap, "Here I am, dear father, don't attempt to come to me, the path is allcarried away on this side, and it is impossible for you or any one toget to me. Wait till the tide has gone down, and I will walk round tothe point. " The sight of the dear girl in safety only stimulated them to greaterexertions; the old fisherman and one of his boys departed to their houseto procure a long plank, while Kelson and the other young man returnedto the top of the hill, and, by sliding and supporting themselves by thebushes, safely descended to the spot where stood the lovely wanderer. She was so overjoyed to see them, and so completely chilled through, that she could scarcely speak. Kelson immediately stripped off his coat, and insisted upon wrapping her in it; and the young Triton, followingthe brilliant example of one whom he respected so much as CaptainKelson, doffed his "monkey-jacket, " and with hearty but rough kindnessforcibly enveloped her feet and ancles in its fearnought folds. In a short time the other two fishermen arrived, bearing on theirshoulders a long plank. An end of a rope was then thrown to Kelson, bywhich one end of the plank was hauled across, and firmly bedded in thebank. Its passage was then rendered secure by double "life-lines" oneach side; and Mary, supported by her lover and the young fisherman, safely reached the other side, and was pressed, sobbing with joy, to herfond father's bosom. The whole party then returned towards CaptainBowline's house, where the old fisherman and his two sons were liberallyrewarded, and treated with a good supper. The next morning a messenger arrived from the village, bearing a notefrom Mr. George, &c. Millinet, in which he attempted to excuse hisbehavior the preceding evening. Mary declined opening it, however, andcontented herself with sending word by the bearer that the writer neednot give himself any further trouble on her account, an answer that wassufficiently intelligible. But the old commander shouted after themessenger, "Tell that lubberly _yoho_[2] that if I catch him within acable's length of my house, I'll break every d--d bone in histailor-built body. " This threat was duly reported to the crest-fallen vender of pins andbobbin, who settled his bills, and accomplished his escape, with aslittle parade and as much expedition as possible; a movement that excitedfull as much conversation as his first appearance and intimacy inCaptain Bowline's family; and while one party were confident that he hadonly gone to New York to make preparations for his marriage, and anotherwere equally sure that Mary had, in nautical parlance, "given him hiswalking ticket, " the story of the accident and Mary Bowline's narrowescape at the Devil's Gap came out, with suitable additions andembellishments, and of course the whole affair wore a different face atonce. Old Haddock, the fisherman, was seized upon one evening in aship-chandlery and grocery store, that was the usual Rialto of theloungers in B----, and rigorously cross-questioned. The man of hooks andlines hitched up his trowsers, and proceeded to enlighten his audienceas follows:-- "Why you see that 'are New York chap and Miss Mary took a stroll downJade's Walk as it might be about five o'clock in the arternoon, P. M. Asthe newspapers say. Well, they went down Squaw Beach, and so clean awayout as fur as the pint; and when they was coming back, and got to thefurder eend of the walk, the Yorker he kinder shinned up to her, and shedidn't like it, for I knowed all along she meant to have Captain Kelson. Well, one word brought on another, till finally he conducted himself ina very promiscuous manner, and she told him to go 'long about hisbusiness, or she'd tell Captain Kelson of his doings. Well, that madehim just about as mad as a hoe, and so when they come to the Devil's Gaphe kinder kicked away one eend of the bridge, and then turned to andhauled down that 'ere scrub oak that growed clost to the bridge, so'sfolk mought think 'twas done by accident; and so there the poor gal wasleft by herself till old Captain Bowline and I and my two boys andCaptain Kelson, come there and rigged a kind of trumporary bridge like, and got her safe over, and that's the whole consarnment of the matter asfar as I know any thing on't. " This account of the affair, coming from an eye-witness, was consideredauthentic, being full as correct as the stories of eye-witnessesgenerally are. Mary at first attempted to contradict it, but finding herefforts fruitless, prudently determined to let the story die a naturaldeath, which it soon did; a tremendous gale of wind and a shipwreck onthe Whale's Nose having in less than a week most effectually turned thecurrent of conversation into another channel. Mr. Millinet reached New York in safety, and solaced himself for hisdefeat in New England by attention to his pretty person, and his prettycustomers, balls, assemblies, and billiards; in process of time made afashionable failure, a fashionable marriage, and commenced businessafresh. To the questions of his acquaintance respecting his excursion"down east, " he was shy and reserved; evading all questions on thesubject by declaring that he had passed his time very pleasantly whilehe was in New England, but that the people had some very peculiar andodd notions of things. In process of time the story of his repulsereached New York with all its embellishments. Some of his friends wereexceedingly shocked at the idea of his having made an attempt upon thelife of a young lady, for such seemed the tenor of the story; but thosewho knew him best fully acquitted him of any thing of the kind, inasmuchas he had not courage sufficient to offer violence to a hen andchickens. A true version of the story soon after came out, and Mr. George Frederic was compelled to undergo the ridicule of all hisacquaintance. Mary Bowline became Mrs. Thomas Kelson on "Thanksgiving-day-night, " asthe New England folks call it, on which joyful occasion the flagstaffwas rigged "all a-tanto, " and the colors kept flying from eight o'clockin the morning till sunset; according to the regulations of the navalservice, and were also hoisted the next day. It was a leading article in Mary's consent to the marriage, that herhusband should give up going to sea, which he and her father contendeddid not include or contemplate his probably making a coasting "trip, " ifbusiness required, and Mary at last consented to admit the exception. The bridge at the Devil's Gap was substantially repaired, and was oftenvisited by Mary and her husband; and Jade's Walk was long celebrated asa favorite evening stroll when the weather permitted, not only withyoung lovers, but even with "old married fudges, " as young ladies whoare husband-hunting very politely call them. [Footnote 2: Yoho, an animal, probably the ourang-outang, in whoseexistence sailors are firm believers, and of whose courage, intelligence, cunning, malicious and mischievous disposition, they tellwonderful stories. The word seems to be a corruption of Dean Swift's"Yahoo. "] * * * * * OLD CUFF. * * * * * OLD CUFF. "Qualia multa mari nautæ patiuntur in alto!" VIRGIL. What Yankee man-of-war's-man is there, ashore or afloat, who has "helpedUncle Sam, " any time between the beginning of the "long embargo, " andthe year 1827, who does not know or has not heard of Old Cuff? His realpatronymic appellation is nobody's business;--perhaps it would puzzlehimself to give any account of it: nor is it worth while to inquire howthe name of Cuff, generally bestowed upon the woolly-headed andflat-nosed descendants of Ham, should be given to a white man; and asfor the _prænomen_, as the Romans would call it, of "old, " it is wellknown to all my short-jacketed readers, that it seldom has, in "seadic. " or nautical language, any reference to antiquity on the part ofthe bearer thereof; but is merely a familiar or affectionatedistinction; as the commander of a merchantman, although perhaps undertwenty years of age, is invariably called the "old man, " by all hands onboard. Old Cuff, when I knew him, was just turned of forty, and was, of course, of venerable standing; as it is I presume, well known to every body thata sailor's life does not average much more than forty years, fromexposure, hardships, and privations. Though not stricken in years, according to the usual signification of the phrase, Old Cuff hadcertainly _lived a great deal_, and had seen a great deal, there beingscarcely a habitable corner of the world that he had not visited, or ofthe private history and internal economy of which he could not relatemany anecdotes; so that he might, without arrogance or vanity, haveassumed to himself the proposed motto of the Jesuits: "Quæ regio in terris nostri non plena laboris!" He commenced his career as cook and cabin-boy on board a "horse-jockey;"one of those vessels which carry horses, mules, and other cattle to theWest Indies; a title bestowed upon them by sailors, who are very much inthe habit of indulging in that figure of speech called by rhetoriciansmetonymy; in this instance applying the genuine name of all Connecticutmen, and some Rhode Islanders, to a fore-topsail schooner, orhermaphrodite brig, as the case might be. He was next, by a sort ofmetamorphosis, or rather metastasis, not uncommon with those of "steadyhabits, " a travelling tin-pedler; and his adventures and hard bargains, during a visit or two to the western and southern states, might provehighly entertaining to my readers, had I not seen some twenty or thirtyof them lately going the rounds of the newspapers, which Old Cuff hasoften very gravely assured us, in our "quarter watches" in the main-top, were actually perpetrated by himself. By a transition still easier, andperhaps more natural, from a tin-pedler he transmuted himself into anitinerant preacher, and from conscientious motives endeavored to repairthe injury he had done to the pockets of his customers with hiswhite-oak nutmegs, horn gun-flints, and bass-wood cucumber seeds, bysupplying them with pure unadulterated orthodox Calvinism, fresh fromthe Saybrook Platform. Nor did he confine his usefulness to beating the"drum ecclesiastic;" during the long winters in the country, he "keptschool, " as it is somewhat perversely called; whereas, in nine cases outof ten, it is the school that "keeps" the schoolmaster. But "the sow that was washed returned to her wallowing in the mire;" andin like manner Cuff left off steering the souls of sinners through thetemptations and sorrows of this wicked world, or the infant mind throughthe intricacies of a--b ab, and once more betook himself to steeringvessels across the ocean. He went to sea as mate, and shortly after asmaster, of a merchantman. He was chiefly employed in the West Indiatrade. It has been said, that all, or nearly all, the Americans taken on boardpiratical vessels in the West Indies and parts adjoining, are natives ofNew-England; and it is gravely stated as a reason, that in consequenceof the immense trade between that section of the Union and thoseislands, and the neighboring parts of the main land, that are the chiefscenes of piratical depredation and resort; the crews of the New-Englandvessels trading, and occasionally smuggling, in bye-ports, becomegradually and imperceptibly acquainted with those of piratical vesselsfrequenting those bye-ports and obscure harbors, for the purpose ofrefitting their vessels or disposing of their plunder; and that theseacquaintances ripen into intimacies, that terminate in a strong cordwith a running noose in the end of it. The deduction is perfectlylogical, and it only remains to substantiate the premises; and these, Ifear, may be proved, in but too many cases, to be based upon too solid afoundation to be overthrown by all the incredulous writhings of nationalpride. Be that as it may, the atrocities of Gibbs and others haverecently proved, that total depravity is approached as nearly by thenatives of New-England as by any of our Christian brethren. In process of time the subject of our narrative grew tired of stowingmolasses, feeding horses, or throwing them overboard, and "dodging" fromisland to island, and entered the naval service of the United States. The vessel to which he was attached was stationed in the West Indies, and had been on her station but a very short time, before that scourgeof no small portion of the western world, the yellow fever, made itsappearance on board. Our navy certainly was not then under so goodregulations as at present. The medical department might perhaps bealmost as good then as it now is, or rather as it was when I was in theservice; the disgracefully penurious compensation allowed our navalsurgeons rendering their station contemptible and degrading in theestimation of medical men of any pride or ability. Besides this, thesick at sea can never receive assistance from female attendance; foralthough some may deem it altogether imagination, there _is_ somethingso soothing to the sick or wounded man in those thousand nameless actsof kindness that none but woman can think of, and none but womanperform, that, after one or two visits from the doctor, the patientfeels wonderfully inclined to dispense with his further attendance: nay, when languishing on that bed from which he is doomed never to rise, hispillow is softer when arranged by woman's hand; his parched and clammylips seem to recover their healthy freshness when woman administers thecooling draught. When I die, grant, kind Heaven! that the last earthlysound that murmurs in my "death-deafened" ear may be the kind, soothing, pitying voice of woman. When this worn-out hulk, strained fore and aftby exposure and hard service, its upper works crank with vexations anddisappointments, shall be hauled up high and dry upon the lee-side ofdeath's cove, may the last that "shoves off" from alongside be woman--Icare not whether wife or stranger. In addition to the want of proper attention, a sick sailor is invariablyan object of contempt and disgust to his officers: they cannot forbearregarding with contempt a man who is reduced to mental and bodilyimbecility by a disease that _they_ do not and perhaps never did feel:his pale, emaciated, and squalid appearance excites disgust. I have madethese remarks to illustrate what, on the authority of Old Cuff, tookplace on board the U. S. Ship----. Owing to the negligence or imbecility, or both, of the medicaldepartment on board, little or no provision was made for the sick. Theylay about on the forecastle or the booms, and the dead were collected, sewed up in their hammocks, "ballasted, " and hove overboard, everymorning before the decks were washed, that is, between day-break andsunrise. This duty was generally performed by the master-at-arms andship's corporal, familiarly called throughout the service "Jack Ketchand his mate;" but in this particular ship, and for the time being, theyreceived the more apposite title of ship's "turkey buzzards. " I ought tohave mentioned, that in obedience both to naval etiquette and thesuperstitious feelings of the sailors, the burial service of theEpiscopal Church was regularly read over the result of the ship's turkeybuzzards' researches above or below deck. Old Cuff, who had been on shore with a watering party, where he had madea pretty heavy libation of new rum, came on board at sunset; but havinga somewhat confused recollection of the "bearings and distances" downthe fore-ladder, he wisely concluded to set up his tabernacle for thenight upon the boom. Long before midnight he perceived the symptoms ofthe cruel disorder that had so fearfully thinned the ----'s complement. His distress increased every moment--he earnestly begged for a draughtof water, but in vain, and before daylight he became insensible. In duetime all hands were called; the resurrection-men commenced theirexamination, and receiving no intelligible reply to a sound kick uponour hero's ribs, the ship's corporal laid hold of him by the heels, anddragged him into the gangway, where the two functionaries declared him"dead enough to bury, " and forthwith reported progress to that effect tothe lieutenant of the morning watch. "Very well, " said the officer. "Young gentlemen, have a couple of eighteen-pound shot got up; pass theword, there, for the sail-maker's mate. Boatswain's mate, call all handsto bury the dead. How many are there?" "Only one, sir. " "Very well. TellMr. Quill to bring his prayer-book on deck. " The corpse was soon inclosed in its canvass coffin, with the shotattached to the feet. The captain's clerk commenced the funeral servicein a hurried, monotonous tone, and had nearly got to the fatal "wetherefore commit his body to the deep, " the signal for launching, whenthe ceremony was interrupted, and the officers and crew horrified by aviolent struggle of the supposed defunct, accompanied with angryejaculations. "What the devil are you about? Let me out, let me out; d--n your eyes, Iain't dead yet;--cut away your thundering hammock, and I'll let you knowwhether I'm dead or not. This is a pretty how-d'ye-do, to be giving afellow a sea-toss before his time has come. " Half a dozen jack-knives were at work in an instant upon the stitches ofthe hammock that inclosed the dead-alive--their owners being in theireagerness utterly regardless of the risk of amputation to which theirhaste subjected Old Cuff's nose; who, having burst his cerements andshaken himself, was conducted below to the doctor. Death, however, had not yet done with him. His next cruise was in thePatriot service. Nothing very particular took place, till being sentwith a party "cutting out, " as it is technically termed by seamen--thatis, capturing and bringing out vessels lying at anchor in an enemy'sport, he and several of his party were made prisoners, and, according tothe murderous system of warfare going on between the Spanish royalforces and the insurgents, ordered to be shot. No great formality wasever used on these occasions, (the Catholic Church, of course, withheldher consolations from heretics, ) and their preparations were nearlycompleted, when several dragoons dashed into the "plaza, " bloody withspurring, fiery red with haste, announcing that the rebels wereadvancing in great force from the interior. The intelligence proved tobe correct, but the executing party did not wait to ascertain that fact;they scampered off instantly, leaving the prisoners bound. The Patriots, of course, set them at liberty, and Old Cuff was thus rescued a secondtime from an "untimely grave. " (By the way, I never saw any person, however old and infirm, who was willing to admit the grave "timely, " atany age. ) After many wanderings and adventures, he entered another Patriot vessel, cruising off the mouth of the river Plata. After making some captures, they were one day suddenly surprised and completely hemmed in by aSpanish squadron, consisting of a frigate and four or five other smallervessels. Finding escape impossible, the commander of the Patriot brig, an Englishman, determined to defend himself to the last extremity, atthe same time using every exertion to escape, of which the swift sailingof his vessel held out some hopes. These hopes were, however, frustrated, in consequence of the brig losing several important spars, and being soon rendered almost a complete wreck. In this crippled andunmanageable condition, she drifted upon a small, low, island, at nogreat distance, but still kept up a fire from such of her guns as couldbe brought to bear, or rather such as she had men enough left to work, for, by this time, full two thirds of her crew were killed orwounded. --Finding it impossible to save his vessel, the commander, whowas dreadfully wounded, and fast bleeding to death, recommended to thewretched survivors of his brave crew to save themselves by swimming. OldCuff and eight or ten others, being all who were able or willing to trytheir chance, accordingly took to the water, and reached the islandsafely, Cuff himself being severely wounded. The island was very low, scarcely rising six feet from high-water mark, and completely coveredwith a species of wild vine, that, finding neither trees nor rocks tosupport it, had formed a perfect cover to the whole island, by twistingand interweaving its branches with each other, so as to form a vegetablecarpet sufficiently firm and close, in nearly all parts, to support theweight of a man. Between this singular roof and the ground was a spaceof two or three feet, and within this space the unhappy seamen secretedthemselves, not with the hope of escaping, but deferring the fate thatthey were certain awaited them. Accordingly, the Spaniards, after havingboarded the wreck of the brig, and, according to custom, murdered thewounded and mangled the dead, landed a large party to complete thehorrid tragedy by murdering the few unfortunate men whom they had seenswim to the island. These savages ran about the island, which it doesnot seem was more than a couple of acres in extent, yelling like wildbeasts, and thrusting their swords and boarding pikes down among thevines, with the hope of piercing some of the objects of their revenge. One of them, who appeared to be an officer, stood for some minutesdirectly over and upon Old Cuff, and while giving directions to his men, repeatedly thrust his sword down through the sheltering vines. Theweapon passed once between his arm and body, and once through hisclothes, slightly grazing his side. His agony during these moments washorrible. To be dragged out, and murdered by inches, or stabbed to deathwhere he lay, not daring to move, though the pressure of the wretch'sweight who stood upon him was so painful, that he could scarce forbearcrying out. Such seemed his inevitable fate. But he was doomed toundergo still greater agony. One of the unfortunate men was discoveredand dragged out within a few yards of him. The incarnate demons were afull hour murdering him, stabbing and hacking him with their pikes andcutlasses in parts of the body where wounds would be exquisitely painfulbut not mortal. The shrieks of the unhappy man were dreadful, the moreso, as every one of his companions expected every moment to share hisfate. The approach of night at length put an end to the dreadful scene, and the disappointed hell-hounds returned to their ships. The next morning, the Spanish squadron sailed round the island, pouringupon every part of it discharges of grape and canister shot, that provedfatal to several of the unfortunate men concealed upon it. They alsolanded again, and attempted to set fire to the vines and dry grass, butprovidentially without much effect. They continued, however, toblockade the little island for two days longer, when they werecompelled, by bad weather, to stand out to sea. Having ascertained thatthe Spanish murderers were gone, the miserable remnant of the brig'screw ventured from their hiding-places, almost exhausted with hunger, thirst, and terror. The main land was in possession of the Patriot, orBuenos Ayrean troops, but was more than two miles distant; and theyconsequently had no alternative but to swim to it; which theyaccordingly attempted, being extremely apprehensive that the Spaniardswould return. The passage across the straits was long and tedious; andtheir hopes of ultimate success for a long time doubtful. When abouthalf way across, one of their number declared that he was too muchexhausted to go any farther, and after a few words of encouragement fromhis companions, suddenly exclaimed, "good bye, " and sunk for ever. Therest, five in number, succeeded in reaching the shore, just at sunset. After wandering about a mile, they came to a sort of farm-house, themistress of which was employed baking bread. Delirious with hunger, three of them tore the half-baked bread from the oven, and devouredlarge quantities of it. They all died in horrible agonies beforeday-break. The other two, more prudent, or having arrived at that pointof starvation, at which pain had ceased, ate nothing but such light foodas was provided for them by the humane Buenos Ayreans. In a few daysthey were quite recovered from the effects of such prolonged hunger, andmade the best of their way towards the city of Buenos Ayres. Here OldCuff found several Republican officers, by whose influence he obtained acommission as lieutenant of artillery. But, not altogether liking theland service in the first place, and having moreover ascertained thatthe Republic of Buenos Ayres, like that of the United States of America, was not willing to vouchsafe any thing but hard knocks, and no pay, tothose who stood by her and supported her, in her fierce struggle forindependence, he very deliberately disrobed himself of his regimentals, laid aside his epaulets, tore up his commission, and returned in amerchantman to his native country. Not long after his return, he enteredin the United States service, and it was then, that I first saw him. Hewas made captain of the main-top before sailing, and I was, myself, shortly after, stationed in the main-top likewise. On the passage out to the Pacific, and when nearly in the latitude ofCape Horn, we, that is to say, a midshipman, Old Cuff, and thirteen men, were all very comfortably asleep in the main-top, the weather beingremarkably mild for that high latitude. It was the middle watch, frommidnight to four in the morning; Cuff was lying athwart-ships, orcross-wise of the top, and near the fore part of it, where there were notopsail nor topmast-shrouds to prevent a fall. There was, indeed, a"life-line" from the first topmast-shroud, on each side, to thecap-shore amidships, but it was breast high, and of course afforded nosecurity to a man who was lying down. My head was pillowed upon OldCuff's side, the midshipman's head was on my breast, and the rest of myearthly tabernacle was occupied as a bolster by as many of the quarterwatch as could get near me. About two o'clock, I was suddenly awoke bythe abduction of my living pillow, and the consequent collision of myhead against one of the top burton-blocks. At the same time I heard awhizzing noise, like a rope running swiftly through a block, but none ofus took much notice of it; the midshipman growled some at my fidgetingabout while fixing another pillow, but the absence of the captain of thetop was not perceived. At seven bells, or half past three, themidshipman of the quarter deck hailed, "Main-top there! answer yourmusters, in the main-top. " "You had better keep awake in that main-top;" thundered the lieutenantof the deck, through his trumpet, "you have lost one of your numberalready by your sleeping. " All this was "Hebrew Greek" to us, but in a short time the sentry at thecabin door "reported" eight bells; the larboard watch was called, thewheel, look-outs, and tops relieved, and the mystery of the loss of "oneof our number" fully explained. "What did you heave Old Cuff out of the top for?" said the first one ofthe larboard watch, whose head came through the "lubber's hole. " "When did Old Cuff, fall from aloft?" said the next that ascended to the"sky-parlor. " "Old Cuff is done for, " said the third that came up. "He has broke his back-bone short off;" said a fourth, with his jacketover one shoulder. "Yes, and four of his ribs to boot;" added a fifth, who was determinedthe story should not want particulars. "The doctor says he won't live till morning, " said a sixth, who had notyet hove in sight, speaking below the top, as Hamlet senior's ghost doesunder the stage. By this time, the whole of the alarming intelligence was fairlyexpended, the remaining eight, who made up the sum total of the quarterwatch, having no farther particulars of consequence to communicate, thefirst six who came up having already broken every bone in poor OldCuff's body, and "abridged his doleful days" to boot. By dint of crossquestioning, we made shift to ascertain, that about two o'clock, or fourbells, Old Cuff had rolled away from under my head, and over the topbrim. Fortunately he fell across the fore-topmast studding-sail tack, which broke two of his ribs and his fall, and thence he had gentlycanted over, and alighted upon the quarter-deck hammock-nettings, nearlyknocked overboard the half-asleep main-topman who was perched up thereas a look-out. He recovered, however, in two or three weeks, in spite ofthe doctor's prognostication. Upon our arrival at Valparaiso, a similar accident happened to him, that, taken in connexion with the first, formed what newspaper folkscall "a singular coincidence. " A considerable portion of the town, orcity, or whatever it may be, of Valparaiso, is built upon and amongseveral high, rocky, precipitous cliffs, to which sailors, time out ofmind, have given the names of fore, main, and mizen tops. It is, perhaps, another singular coincidence, that the name "main-royal, " thatbelongs of right to the highest sail in a ship, is applied to the lowestpart of said respectable sea-port. The "main-top" is the favorite resortof sailors, but I cannot say much in praise of the moral virtues of thedenizens of said main-top. They do, indeed, enjoy a better prospect anda purer air than their fellow citizens, whose location is somewhatnearer the level of the sea, so that their physical elevation gives themmany advantages that serve to compensate them for what they lack throughmoral debasement. The part of the main-top that fronts the bay, is asheer precipice of two hundred feet; but on another part, it is simplytoo steep for any animal but a monkey to make a highway of. Down thispart Old Cuff, who was ashore on liberty, and who likewise had his "beeraboard, " contrived to trundle himself, and was picked up as dead in thestreet below. He, however, recovered from this tumble as speedily as hedid from the other, having received but little damage, except some halfdozen cuts and bruises in the countenance, which he held in but lightesteem, being by no means vain of his beauty. I do not recollect that hemet with any more accidents of consequence during the cruise. Hereturned to America in the frigate, and I have since been told that hehad received a gunner's warrant, in consideration of his long, and, inhis way, faithful services and many wounds; for I believe he had beenwounded in almost every naval engagement during the last war. * * * * * THE RIVALS. * * * * * THE RIVALS. In the neighborhood of Genoa, there lived some years since an oldgardner, who, by dint of most unwearied industry and great skill in hisvocation, had acquired sufficient property to enable him to purchase thefarm that he had hitherto occupied as a tenant. His name was PietroMorelli. He had no family but an only child, his daughter Bianca, at thetime of our story in her nineteenth year, and who assisted her father insuch branches of his occupation as were not inconsistent with her sex. Bianca Morelli possessed all that peculiar beauty for which hercountrywomen are celebrated; namely, regular Grecian features, a clearbrunette complexion, a profusion of raven black tresses, and soft, languishing, and most intelligent black eyes. Her form was tall, slender, and graceful, while her disposition was amiable and gentle asher face was lovely. The beautiful Bianca was well known, and admired bymost of the inhabitants of Genoa; and her sweet face and modestdeportment were always, with them, irresistible inducements to purchaseher fruits and flowers, when she accompanied her father to market, orvisited the city alone. It so chanced one day, that a party of Austrian officers, who hadrecently been quartered in Genoa, rode out to old Morelli's house, toenjoy what was to them both a luxury and a novelty;--eating fruit freshgathered from the trees and vines. --Old Morelli was by no meansambitious of this honor; he was too firm a friend to his degraded, butstill redeemable country, to desire any intimacy with the militarymyrmidons of her Austrian despot; so that, notwithstanding the grave andcorrect moral deportment which is said to be the general characteristicof the Austrian officers, and of which he was aware, he saw theirapproach to his humble dwelling with a vague feeling of distrust andanxiety. Among his military visitors was General Baron Plindorf, one of those"gallant militarists" that abound in all standing armies; whose soleemployment, during the "piping times of peace, " and in the course of asoldier's unsettled and rambling life from quarters to quarters, seemsto be, to abuse the rights of hospitality, by carrying disgrace andinfamy into every domestic circle to which they can by any means obtainadmittance. It ought to be a source of pride to my countrymen, that theyare more of a marrying people than the English or French, and do notregard women in the same degraded light as a gambler does a pack ofcards, that are to be shuffled and played with for a while, and thenthrown away. Our naval and military officers are rather remarkable fortheir readiness to form matrimonial connexions; while on the other hand, our young men who are educated to the law, physic, or divinity, neverthink of "setting up for themselves, " till they are "accommodated, " asBardolph says, with a wife, whom the three learned professions regard asindispensable as Starkie on Evidence to the first; a pocket case ofinstruments, or Dawes' Midwifery, to the second; or a Brown'sConcordance, or Calmet's Dictionary, to the third. Such characters as I have alluded to, it would seem, are extremelycommon in the British army; and it is to be presumed that they are notless plentiful in the armies of the European powers; though it does notappear that the community at large gain wisdom and caution from themournful experience of their neighbors, but rather the reverse; for, ifwe may believe their own writers, the footsteps of a regiment, movingabout through different country quarters, are marked by more incurableevils, and more true horrors, than the march of an invading army througha hostile, and resisting country. It has been said of the Turkish army, that they are far more formidable to their friends, than to their foes;if any dependence can be placed in those numerous writings, professingto be descriptions of English manners, that find their way across theAtlantic, the same may be said of that portion of the British army thatis on the "home station. " Baron Plindorf was an unprincipled libertine, cold, selfish, andunfeeling. He was eminently successful too in his diabolical enterprise, although there was nothing prepossessing in his person or in hismanners; but he had the reputation of being irresistible, and of coursehe was so; for, whatever may be the reason, it is a most lamentablefact, that to be called a professed rake, and reputed father of somehalf dozen illegitimate children, is a man's most irresistible passport, and powerful recommendation to the good graces and smiles of the fairsex at large; every woman is instantly eager to call into exercise thatfascinating treachery that ought to doom its possessor to public infamyand detestation. The next most powerful introduction to female favor, isto be a widower or a foreigner; though the latter is almost uniformly"brought to bay, " in a few months after marrying in this country, by awife and some eight or nine children from "over the water;" the verynext foreigner that comes over _alone_, is snapped up in the sameway--but enough of this. He saw and admired Bianca, as Milton's devil saw and admired Paradise, with the prospective determination of destroying its calm happinessforever. There was one of old Morelli's visitors, how ever, upon whom the lovelyBianca's beauty, modesty and grace, had made an impression of a fardifferent kind. This was the young Count Altenberg, acknowledged on allhands to be the most accomplished gentleman, and most amiable andestimable young man, in that division of the Grand Duke's army. FredericCount Altenberg, was the son of Rudolf, of Altenberg, an officer of highrank, who had served his country faithfully, but ineffectually, inopposing the headlong progress of the blood-stained Corsican. The oldCount had, within two years, been gathered to his fathers, and his titleand estates had descended to his only son, then in his twenty-thirdyear. At an early age Frederic had received a commission as captain ofcavalry, but as every body knows that promotion is slower in the army ofhis Tuscan highness than in that of any other European power, he stillremained a captain of cavalry, and probably would do so unto his dyingday. It was his determination, as soon as he returned to Florence, toresign his commission, and retire to his paternal estates in Germany, but "diis aliter visum est, " the fates had decreed otherwise. Anindulgent and fond father had spared no pains nor expense in educatingthis his only child, and that child had amply repaid his care. Educated most carefully in the strictest principles of the Christianreligion and morality, generous, brave, and humane, he was, when hearrived to man's estate, the _beau ideal_ of a man of honor, and agentleman. By neither of these terms, do I mean that fashionablepersonage whose god is himself, who would seduce his friend's wife orsister, or strip him of his last farthing at a gaming table, and thenshoot him through the head, by way of making amends; or who scrupulouslydischarges all gambling and betting debts; utterly neglecting those ofthe poor tradesman, or industrious mechanic, but the "justum et tenacempropositi virum, " of the Roman satirist, the man of strict integrity, and immoveable principles. Frederic had long since formed adetermination, that as soon as he could clear himself from the army, hewould most seriously incline himself to the search of a wife. Althoughconsidered by his fair-haired countrywomen as lawful game, and moreoveras one who was well worth securing, he had hitherto escaped any veryserious affection of the heart. The beauty of Bianca, so unlike what hehad been accustomed to, had charmed him; her unaffected modesty hadcommanded his respect; and when he left her father's house, hedetermined that it was absolutely necessary to his comfort, to see heragain. Accordingly the next evening, and the next, and many succeedingevenings, saw him riding towards old Morelli's cottage; and he had longbeen convinced, from what he saw of Bianca, that he had at last foundthe woman who only of all her sex could make him happy; which isprecisely what every man thinks when in love for the first time, andalters his mind in less than a twelvemonth. Nor was the gentle Biancainsensible to his evident partiality for her society; she detectedherself repeatedly, without being willing to acknowledge it, wishing forevening--disappointed, if the sky was overcast, or the weatherrainy--fluttering with hope, and joy, and indescribable emotion, at thesight of every distant cavalier, or at the sound of every horse's hoofupon the road towards the city. The warm blush, the speaking smile, thesparkling eyes, of both the lovely Bianca and the young soldier, wouldhave been sufficient to convince the most casual observer that thereexisted the most decided case of a _serious affection of the heart_. Ofcourse old Morelli's eyes had long before seen and made due report tohis mind, as to what was the true state of his daughter's and the youngnobleman's affection. Ever anxious for Bianca's happiness and welfare, and still more so now that she had attained that age when female beautyis both mature and fully developed, while at the same time it has allthe freshness and rosiness of youth, he became exceedingly alarmed andagitated at the too obvious state of the lover's sentiments. He soughtand soon obtained an opportunity of speaking to him, and Frederic was atthat moment anxious to see the old man, and putting to him thatquestion, which, whether addressed to the fair one in person, or to herpa and ma, is always embarrassing; always makes a man look, and feel, and act, very much like a fool; and when answered in the affirmative, is not unfrequently the forerunner of most sincere and heartyrepentance. In fact, repentance being so often the consequence ofmarriage, (it is gravely asserted by some of the old fathers, ) is in ourmind reason why Catholics regard it (that is, the marriage, not therepentance) a sacrament, "because it produces repentance, which is astep towards grace. " I am so far a Catholic, as to admit mostcheerfully, that it is a holy state, and that there is no text inscripture more true, than that "it is not good for man to be alone;"still if I was about entering that holy state, I am sadly afraid that myfeelings would be wholly uninfluenced by any hopes of approaching anynearer towards a state of grace, not even over the thorny path of theconsequent repentance. "Signior Count, " began old Morelli, as soon as he had ascertained thatthey were alone, "you cannot suppose me ignorant of the cause of yourfrequent visits to my poor house, or that as a father I am soindifferent to my daughter's happiness as to see it without extremeanxiety. " "I was about speaking to you on the same subject, " said Frederic, hesitatingly, "I have already told you that it is my fixed determinationto leave the army, and retire to peaceful life on my own estate. Butalthough my fortune is princely, I feel it would be valueless withoutyour lovely daughter. Signior Morelli, I love Bianca; I have made noattempt to conceal it from you; were my intentions dishonorable, do younot think that I would endeavor to hide them from a father's eye? Doyou take me for the bold, hardened libertine that would trample underfoot a father's hospitality to accomplish his daughter's infamy? Youwrong me, Signior, if you do; but I cannot believe that in your disliketo my country, you believe all her children base and unprincipled. " "Nay, my young friend, I believe nothing of that detestable charactercan be laid to your charge. But consider for a moment the immensedistance between you. You are an Austrian nobleman of high rank and ofancient family, and Bianca, on the other hand, can boast of nothing buther good name and unsullied character. " "And does not virtue outweigh all worldly titles and distinctions in theestimation of every rational and virtuous mind? Your lovely daughter'svirtues are far superior to my empty titles or immense wealth. Inaccepting me as a husband, she would confer honor, not receive it. Shedescends to my level; I do not and cannot rise to hers--the gain, thehonor, the advantage, of such an alliance would be mine. " "You are an enthusiast, Count; your passion has gotten the better ofyour judgment; that you love my daughter _now_ I am perfectly willing toadmit, but that your affection for her will sustain the shock of theridicule of your associates, or the contempt and neglect with which yourproud and titled kindred and countrymen will treat such a wife, whomthey regard so infinitely beneath them, I very much doubt. Matchesbetween people so widely separated by difference of rank, howeverarbitrary and absurd those distinctions may be, can never produce aughtbut unhappiness. " The Count was, notwithstanding the reasonableness of old Morelli'sobjections, as politely obstinate as young lovers are to old fathers, when those old fathers condescend to reason with them instead ofresorting to the more usual and summary process of turning them out ofdoors, and forbidding their daughters to hold any farther communicationwith the dear rejected. In a subsequent conversation with his daughterhe found that both parties were nearly in the same situation; Biancawith many tears confessing her love for Count Altenberg. There seemedthen but two chances to escape from this state of embarrassment, namely, either to consent to Frederic's offer of his hand, or to send hisdaughter to an aged relative at Padua; which last plan was liable to somany objections that, after ruminating upon it for two days, he gave itup, and permitted the lovers to enjoy each other's society, thoughwithout giving a direct consent to their union. In the mean time the libertine Plindorf was plotting destruction to thefair Bianca. He well knew that such a woman was not to be carried by theusual attacks of flattery and money; which last, whether administered inthe form of rich and dazzling presents, or simply by itself, is almostuniformly found irresistible by old and young women, according to theirtastes or situations; his plan was therefore necessarily more deeplylaid than any he had heretofore practised. It was accordingly with amingled emotion of pleasure and anxiety that he watched the progress ofthe attachment between the two lovers. Although he feared that herattachment might prove too strong to be easily shaken, he still hoped tobe able to involve them in embarrassments, and then, under the guise offriendship and pretence of assisting them, further his own unprincipledviews. The impetuosity of the young nobleman, and certain circumstancesthat he could not foresee, brought the affair to a crisis bothunexpected and disastrous. The Baron walked out one afternoon towards old Morelli's cottage, without any fixed object, for the unequivocal dislike that Bianca alwaysmanifested towards him, had determined him to cease his visits to herfather's house, and make his approaches with the utmost caution. Heapproached a retired spot near the house, where the lovers frequentlystrolled to enjoy each other's society. Bianca had also wandered therein the hope of meeting Frederic. She was occupied gathering flowers, andarranging them in a nosegay, when a rustling among the bushes attractedher attention. She hastily advanced towards the spot, exclaiming"Frederic!" when the Baron, the man whom of all others she most hated, and, for some undefinable reason or other, feared, stood before her. "Fairest Bianca!" said Plindorf, advancing, "let me not alarm you, although I am not the person you seemed to expect; let me hope that thepresence of a friend and well-wisher to both parties is not disagreeableor terrifying. " Bianca, exceedingly alarmed at the sudden apparition of one so odious toher, had sunk down upon a rude seat. The Baron approached, and takingher passive hand, seated himself by her side. Mistaking the cause of herquietness, he ventured to press her trembling hand to his lips, andattempted to pass his arm around her waist. The terrified girl suddenlysprang from him with a loud shriek, and attempted to fly; the Baronagain caught her hand, and endeavored forcibly to detain her. At thatmoment the Count Altenberg suddenly stood before them, his eyes flashingwith rage. "Villain, " he exclaimed, as soon as his passion would give himutterance, "deceitful, cowardly scoundrel! take that"--striking him aviolent blow, and at the same time unsheathing his sword. The Baron was ready in an instant, but as soon as the Count felt hisweapon clashing against that of his antagonist, he became at once cooland composed. Not so Plindorf, he dashed at his more youthful opponentwith a fury that had well nigh brought the combat to a speedy and fatalissue, and compelled Frederic to exert his utmost skill. The peculiardanger of his situation, and almost certain death or remediless disgracethat awaited him, even if victorious, for having struck his superiorofficer, were present to the mind of the young officer in gloomy andterrible colors; but it was too late to retract. The fury of the Baronthrew him off his guard--he received a mortal wound, and fell dead. Theunhappy survivor stood for some seconds gazing upon the inanimate formbefore him; and as the features, after being convulsed for a little, settled into the iron stiffness of everlasting sleep, he uttered a deepsigh, and unconsciously moved away from the spot. At this moment Bianca, recovering from the stupor into which the terrible scene had thrown her, earnestly enjoined him to fly. "There is no time to be lost, " said the agonized girl; "fly at once tothe sea-side--go on board any vessel that is about sailing--in a fewdays, I doubt not, this unhappy business will be hushed up. " "And where shall I fly?" said the Count; "where shall I go from_him_?"--indicating the slain nobleman by a movement of his hand--"doyou know what I have done? I have in one moment sentenced myself todeath; or, what is worse, to disgraceful and infamous privation of allmy honors and rank. " "No, no--there is yet time--go immediately on board the Americanman-of-war in the harbor--they dare not search for you there. " With many entreaties and tears, she prevailed upon him to take measuresfor his safety; and with a lightened heart saw him, from the windows ofher father's house, reach the water-side uninterrupted; saw him leavethe shore in a little skiff, when the intervention of other objects hidhim from her sight. The two officers were missed that evening. The dead body of theill-fated Baron was soon discovered; for many had seen him going towardsold Morelli's cottage; but no traces of Count Altenberg have ever beendiscovered. Morelli and his daughter underwent a rigid examination; theformer could throw no light upon the mysterious disappearance ofFrederic, but Bianca, the pure-minded Bianca, unreservedly related allthe circumstances. The examining officers forwarded an elaborate andcircumstantial report of the case to Vienna, accompanied by an earnestpetition in behalf of the absent Count. The Emperor laid the affairbefore a select council of old and experienced officers, who, after duedeliberation, and weighing the excellence of Altenberg's characteragainst the depravity of his slain antagonist, suggested the expediencyof pardoning the offender. Proclamation was accordingly made to thateffect, but without success. The unhappy Bianca lived to experience, in all its bitterness, that"hope deferred that maketh the heart sick" and eventually breaks it. She died in less than two years after the flight of Frederic, a victimto a disorder that has no place in the catalogue of nosologists, and isnot recognised as a malady; though it is as incurable and consignsalmost as many victims to an untimely grave as consumption, with whichit is very frequently confounded--I mean a broken heart. She was buried, according to her dying request, in the little arbor that Frederic hadassisted her to erect and adorn, and where she had passed those mostdelightful moments in human existence, the days of the first love, andfirst courtship, of two young, affectionate, and virtuous beings. Blessed moments! that occur but once in the dreary threescore years andten, and fade away before we have time to enjoy them, and we only becomeconscious of their existence from the certainty that they are gone forever. * * * * * Several years ago, and, if I am not much mistaken, just after the peaceof 1815, an officer, in full Austrian uniform, came on board one of ourfrigates then lying in the harbor of Genoa. From the richness of hisregimentals, and a cross and ribbon in his button-hole, it was evidentthat the stranger was of high ancestral and military rank. It so happened that he came on board just at "grog time, " (four o'clock)in the afternoon; and during the interesting moment that sailors arediscussing their whiskey--the whole Holy Alliance, with aids and primeministers and protocols, might come on board, and balance Europe, orupset the scales, just as unto them seemed good, expedient, or politic, without attracting any attention from these short-jacketed philosophers;unless indeed some straggler from the upper deck might come below, andcasually inform his messmates, that "there was a whole raft of sogerofficers on the quarter-deck;" for be it known to all concerned, that theword number is seldom or never used by nautical philologists todesignate things numerable, it is always "a _raft_ of women, " "a raft ofmarines, " &c. I could easily go on to show that the word "raft" is agood phrase, and peculiarly applicable to women and marines; but I mustresist the temptation of convincing the public, that sailors are asdeeply versed in the mysteries of their mother-tongue, as many of thosewho stay ashore all their life-times, and make dictionaries. The day after the arrival of this military stranger, it was ascertainedby the crew, that there was a supernumerary on board by the name ofWilliams; for it is as impossible for the commander and officers of aman-of-war to keep a secret in the cabin, as it is for twelve "good menand true, " locked up in a jury-room. The new-comer seemed to have freeaccess to the cabin, and was treated with much respect by the officers, but it was soon observed, by the seamen, that he never went on shore. Inthe course of a few months, he was put on board a homeward-bound ship:and when the crew of the frigate returned to America, they saw himagain in New York, abandoned to intemperance. When on a cruise in the Pacific, the crew of one of the light vessels ofthe squadron were transferred to the frigate that I was on board of;their time of service having expired. Among them was Williams; and fromhis shipmates I learned the above particulars. In person, he was aboutfive feet eight or nine inches high, and extremely well made. With therest of the schooner's people, he had been on shore on liberty, where hehad been continually intoxicated; his face was in consequence bloated, and his eyes bloodshot and swollen. I further understood, that he would get drunk whenever he had anopportunity, and when intoxicated he was completely insane. He was alsosubject to fits of temporary derangement, independent of the insanityproduced by excessive drinking, when he was both furious and dangerous;and it was always necessary, on such occasions, to confine him in irons. He was also represented as being extremely reserved, and refusing toanswer any questions respecting himself, whether addressed to him byofficers or seamen; that he spoke with fluency all European languages, on which account, he was extremely useful as an interpreter, both on thecoast of Peru and Chili, and on that of Brazil; that he was a first rateswordsman, either with the small-sword or sabre, and a dead shot withpistol or musket. During his short stay on board the frigate, he had one of his temporaryfits of insanity, probably induced by excessive intemperance, ifintemperance admits of superlatives, while on shore. He suddenly startedup from a gloomy, stupid reverie, and ran about the decks like a wildbeast, striking and knocking down, every one he met; then all at onceplunging down the main-hatchway, he attempted to get possession of oneof the boarding cutlasses, but fortunately they were well secured in theracks over the guns, to prevent them from falling down with the motionof the ship. Before he could make a second and more regular attempt, hewas secured, put in irons, and placed under charge of a sentry. Had hesucceeded in arming himself, he would have made bloody work on thequarter-deck, towards which it seemed evident he was steering his course;the uniforms of the officers, and marine guard, probably calling up tohis diseased imagination, and memory, scenes of by-gone days connectedwith or the remote cause of his present insanity. The officers seemed tobe so far acquainted with his history, as to feel compassion for hismost wretched situation; for, as he manifested no symptoms ofderangement the next morning, except his usual deep melancholy, he wasdischarged from confinement, to the great astonishment of the ship'scompany; for though the discipline on board was as mild as it could beconsistent with the preservation of good order, and perfectly free fromthat tyranny that but too many of our navy officers thinkindispensable, they certainly were not accustomed to seeing such quietjail deliveries. Williams afterwards re-entered on board the same vessel that he camefrom, and I lost sight of him of course, as our frigate was on the pointof quitting the station to return home. He has, in all probability, longere this, reached the grave towards which he seemed to be hurrying, withall the speed of intemperance and insanity combined. * * * * * MORTON * * * * * MORTON. CHAPTER I. Bel and the Dragon's chaplains were More moderate than these by far: For they, poor knaves, were glad to cheat, To get their wives and children meat; But these will not be fobb'd off so, They must have wealth and power too; Or else with blood and desolation They'll tear it out o' th' heart o' th' nation. -- HUDIBRAS. Notwithstanding the success of the many daring and lawless adventurerswho visited the Pacific Ocean, or "Great South Sea, " as it is called inthe maps and travels of the period, and who reaped many a golden harvestthere, about the time of the first James and Charles of England, thecoasts washed by its waves were but seldom visited, and its watersseldom ploughed by any other keels than those of discovery ships formany years. Chili, Peru, Mexico, and California, after having beendefinitively ceded to the Spanish crown, constituted an El Dorado, whosegates could only be opened by a formal declaration of war. Spain wasgenerally considered by the other European powers to have a double rightto South America, namely, that of discovery and conquest; and after anineffectual struggle to wrest the golden prize from the grasp of itslegitimate possessor, England, and the rest of the "high contractingpowers, " acquiesced in her possessing it, the more readily because theywished the same kind of title should be acknowledged in their own case. Accordingly discovery and conquest have, to this day, been considered asgood and lawful titles, and a sort of deed of conveyance, on the part ofthe natives, to their discoverers and conquerors of all and sundry theirlands and landed estates, together with their goods and chattels, whenof any value. His Most Catholic Majesty, then, finding his claim to the New Worldfully established, set about civilizing his new conquest in goodearnest, and sending out swarms of priests, backed of course by themilitary portion of the secular arm, with glory to God on their lips, and hatred to his creatures in their hearts, with the sword in one handand the crucifix in the other, soon convinced the unhappy natives oftheir damnable heresies. Their simple religion was destroyed, millionsperished by the sword or the tender mercies of the Holy Inquisition, andas many more in the mines; and civilization and religion kissed eachother, and rested from their labors of love. This was the most received method of converting whole nations at once, then in vogue--we Protestants of the present day are far more humane; weonly distribute among the newly discovered nations of the earth, rum andCalvinism, gunpowder and the venereal disease, and with these powerfulagents our missionaries and merchants, have succeeded in causing Dagonto bow down before them--over all the civilized world. New Holland seemsto be the only uncivilized part of this watery ball, but New Hollandholds out no temptations to the missionary; the inhabitants are a littletoo cannibally given, and martyrdom is altogether obsolete; besides, itis doubted by our soundest theologians whether Christianity was everintended for a people so brutal and debased. Spain, at the time I refer to, was renowned in arts and in arms; hercommerce extended from the East to the West Indies, and she was for atime one of the most powerful of the kingdoms of Europe. Her priests, finding the New World a land overflowing, not exactly with milk andhoney, but with what in all ages and in all countries is consideredinfinitely better, gold and silver, and abounding in every thing thatcould pamper the pride and gratify the sense, founded churches andmonasteries, while her viceroys built cities and forts, and SouthAmerica became the richest jewel in the diadem of His Catholic Majesty. To secure this jewel entirely to himself seems to have been his chiefanxiety, and accordingly all foreigners were rigidly excluded from itssea-ports, and although the "Assiento, " or contract for supplying thecolonies with African slaves, was enjoyed successively by the Englishand French, both of whom successively abused it by smuggling immensequantities of their respective manufactures into those colonies, theduty of supplying them with European merchandise was carried on finallysolely by means of register ships, as they were called, Cadiz being theonly European port where they were permitted to load and discharge. The whaling ships were only permitted to procure supplies, or "recruit, "as our unctuous brethren of Nantucket call it, at certain fixed andwell-fortified ports. Still even these managed to carry on quite arespectable business in the smuggling way, especially with the ports ofMexico and California. But a new flea was about getting into Don Diego's ear--the peace of1783, while it added an infant giant to the catalogue of earthly"principalities and powers, " also liberated from the fetters ofcommercial, as well as political restraints, a people active, restless, daring, prying, and enterprising to the last degree; a people whoseskill in navigation and swift-sailing vessels rendered them absolutelyintangible to an enemy that took occasion to chase them, while theircourage, when they thought proper to "stand to it, " as dame Quicklysays, made them dangerous antagonists. This the reader probably"guesses" must be brother Jonathan, and he guesses about right. The samespirit of restless curiosity that prompts a cat, when she sets up herEbenezer in a new house, to examine every portion of it, from cellar togarret, seemed to have possessed our grandpas more strongly than it doesus of the present age. This national character of ours is owing doubtless to our having beenplaced by the hand of Heaven in an immense unexplored region, and was nodoubt much increased by the spirit-stirring scenes of the revolutionarywar, which beheld our "old continentals" one day ferreting out thelong-tailed Hessians from the woods of Saratoga, and another "doingbattle right manfullie" on the plains of South Carolina. While they of the land service were pushing their advanced posts to thefoot of the Rocky Mountains, our seamen were carrying our stripedbunting into every portion of the navigable world. Such were the peoplewhose arrival in the Pacific the Spanish commandantes and viceroysawaited with no small fear and trembling. They knew vaguely that we hadjust come off victorious from a long, fierce, and bloody struggle withpowerful England, and while they consigned us pell-mell to the devil, as"malditos Americanos, " they doubted whether we had the additional claimto go there upon the strength of being heretics. The captains of theguarda-costas redoubled their vigilance, and sailed in chase of not afew albatrosses and whale-spouts, such was the zeal that animated them. I should have described these redoubtable crafts, the guarda-costas, before--they were armed vessels of different classes, varying from lightfrigates down to mere gunboats, and were distributed along the coasts toprotect trade, and prevent smuggling. When however these formidable strangers did arrive, the readiness withwhich they conformed to the numerous, and in most cases vexatious, portregulations, their quiet behavior on shore, and the many novelties andluxuries that they freely distributed to the port officers, completelyblinded them to the instinctive disposition to trade that characterizesmy beloved countrymen, especially the New Englanders, who were the firstto carry our flag into the Pacific, as they were also the first todisplay it in Europe. I have made these long-winded and apparently uncalled-for remarks partlyto show my learning, but chiefly in conformity with the fashion of theday, that requires that every story, long or short, should be ushered inby at least one chapter of prefatory remarks. I do not intend to be sounreasonable; but before this my first chapter is finished, shall givemy readers an idea of my purposed principal scene of operations. If then, the reader will turn to the proper map, he will find in aboutthe latitude of twenty-one north, Cape Corrientes; and not far from thisthree islands, called Las Tres Marias; the Three Marys, that is, sonamed after the three Marys of the New Testament. Geographers, when they make maps, seem to start with the notion thatthere must be a certain number of islands, &c. Inserted in each map; andwhen they have located the larger and more important ones within fifteenor twenty degrees of latitude and longitude of their proper places, which is as near as they commonly come to the truth, they proceed todistribute the remainder according to their own taste. In compliancewith this fashion of theirs, they have laid down upon all modern maps, especially those that are called the best, and in nearly the latitudethat I have above mentioned, and longitude that I have not, namely, about one hundred and fifteen west from Greenwich Observatory, a littleisland which they call Revalligigedos. I have passed twice over the spotwhere this little island with the big name "stays put, " in all maps bythem, and have conversed with many whalemen and others, who, takencollectively, have sailed over every square inch of salt water in thatplace, and none of them have seen it. So too, they have studded theocean off Cape Horn so thickly with islands, that a landsman wonders howa ship of any size can manage to squeeze through into the Pacific. Ihave passed that cape three times, and have been working to windward offthem some weeks, but although we always kept a bright look-out for iceislands and strange vessels, we never, to use a vulgar expression, saw"hide or hair" of these supererogatory islands. But to return; in a direction nearly east from the Three Marys, thereader will find, on most maps, a small river, called by the Spaniards, in their usual style of bombast, El Rio Grande, or the Great River;though the identical legs that I now stand upon have waded across it atlow water, and, except cutting my foot with an oyster-shell, there wasnothing very remarkable in the exploit. At the mouth of this mightystream is an island on which stands the town of St. Blas. The Spaniards, as it is well known, when they discovered America, christened every cape, bay, mountain, river, island, rock, or shoalafter some saint or other, but the learned are somewhat puzzled to knowwho this St. Blas can be. In my poor opinion, the difficulty is easilyenough got over--the word Blas is only a corruption of Blast, andaccordingly we shall find that St. Blast, properly so called, is neithermore nor less than our old friend Æolus, of the heathen mythology, smuggled into the calendar, who, being the god of blasts and puffs, might well be canonized under the name of St. Blast, without doingviolence to the tender consciences of the good Catholics. In this way, according to Dean Swift, Jupiter became Jew Peter, and by a naturaltransition, _Saint_ Peter. Whether he is right or not, one thing iscertain, that sundry temples, of which the veritable Jupiter has been"seized in fee tail, " I think lawyers call it, from time immemorial, have quietly become "St. Peter's churches, " to the great edification ofthe Christian world, and incredible advancement of religion and piety. The island, upon which St. Blas is perched, slopes off gradually to theeastward, but to the south and west descends in a sheer precipice of twoor three hundred feet in height. The town was taken and retaken severaltimes during the sanguinary war of the Mexican revolution. The last timeit was in the hands of the royalists, they compelled all the maleinhabitants, and, report says, not a few women and children besides, that they suspected of favoring the Patriot cause, to leap off thisprecipice. Soldiers were stationed at the foot of the cliff, to despatchthose who reached the bottom with any signs of life. This piece ofinformation I had from a widow who kept a shop in the _Plaza_, and whoalso told me, "with weeping tears, " that her husband was one of thenumber who took the fearful leap. Rather on the north-west side, the hill is surmountable by a zig-zagpath, up which a loaded mule can climb with some difficulty. On thewest, or seaward, side, is a strip of flat land, of considerable width, on which formerly stood the royal arsenal, rope-walks, and warehouses, the ruins of which were standing in 1822, when I visited the place. Onthe western extremity of this level land is a small village, called, asusual in such cases, the Porte, or landing place. The bay, which is afine harbor, sweeps far to the eastward, when the land, trending away tothe southward, with a slight inclination westerly, becomes lost in thedistance. The more immediate, or inner, harbor, is formed by a point ofland opposite the Porte, on the southern extremity of which is abattery, formerly of considerable dimensions, and strength, but sincesuffered to decay, and is much reduced in effectiveness. It was intendedto command the harbor and anchorage; but with Spanish artillerymen, amile offing, and reasonably good weather, a ship would be as safe fromits fire, for three months at least, as though she was all the while inLondon Docks. At the distance of two or three miles from the usual anchorage, andforming an excellent leading mark for the bay, is Pedro Blanco, or theWhite Rock, of two hundred feet height, perfectly precipitous andinaccessible, and resembling a huge tower, rising abruptly from the sea. Taken altogether, the bay of St. Blas forms a very beautiful prospect, with the Andes in the back ground, which, with their "Meteor standard to the winds unfurl'd, Look from their throne of clouds o'er half the world;" its white sand beach, fading gradually away to the south and east, itstown roosting on its barren rock, and indistinctly seen; its low landscovered with a luxuriant growth of lime and other trees; and lastly, byway of seasoning, its moschetoes and sand-flies. CHAPTER II. A knight he was, whose very sight would Entitle him mirror of knighthood. HUDIBRAS. Tropical climates have certainly one advantage over all others, that isnot to be held in light esteem. They have rainy and dry seasons, thatare exclusively rainy and dry. During six months, or nearly as long, thewindows of heaven stand wide open, by night and by day, and the liquidblessing descends upon the thirsty earth beneath "in one lot, " asauctioneers say; while on the other hand, the dry season has its greatand manifold advantages and pleasures. With us in the temperate zone, asgeographers call it, I suppose, for want of another name, a man does notthink of riding twenty miles without India rubbers, a great coat, boots, and an umbrella, to say nothing of an entire change of raiment, if he isa prudent, cautious old bachelor, or widower; and even then he is aslikely to get a ducking as to have fine weather. During a tropical dry season, on the contrary, a journey of two hundredmiles may be safely undertaken, without any of these encumbrances; withtwo or three clean shirts, a man may scamper about for months, like aRoman light-infantryman, "impedimentis relictis, " unless he should be soill advised as to carry his wife and children with him. Throughout the rainy season, many diseases arise, and make greatdestruction among those who remain on the sea-coast; those who canafford it, retreat to the more salubrious mountain regions, while, asaforesaid, those who stay behind, being generally the poor, theworthless, and the useless part of the community, fall victims to thenumerous diseases generated by the excessive rains, and the then swampycondition of the country. This annual purgation of society, is perhapsanother blessing of a tropical country. I know of more than onecommunity, whose moral, and in some measure physical health, would in mymere mortal and short sighted notion of the fitness of things, be vastlybenefited by the visitation of an energetic, wide sweeping epidemic. Human society is very like a grate full of ignited anthracite coal, those parts of it that have lost their combustibility, and becomeworthless, are constantly filtering down through the bottom of thegrate; and so in society, those individuals, who are daily falling froma state of grace in the eyes of their fellow-worms, either as regardsfashion, or property, or reputation, go to swell the number of theoutcasts from the ranks of "good society;" a convenient phrase that hasrecently been invented, and signifies the speaker's own particularfriends and acquaintances, though he and they may be at that verymoment getting out stone on Blackwell's Island. So you see, reader, thatit is fore-ordained, for I am a good deal of a fatalist, that one of theingredients of civilized society should be a certain proportion of poormiserable devils, such as you and I both know. It was just at the close of the rainy season, when Nature lookedinfinitely better and fresher for having her face washed, though she hadbeen six months about it; the air seemed purer and more healthful, andthe sky looked clearer and of a richer blue, for the half year'sdrenching; it was at this particular time of the year, that we havethought proper to raise the curtain, and introduce the reader into thebusiness part of the story. It was between ten and eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the land breezehad done blowing, and the usual interregnum of calm, previous to thecommencement of the sea-breeze, had taken place--the broad bay lay likea huge mirror, varied indeed by the long and regular undulations of theswell from the main ocean, which, though perhaps sufficient todiscompose a landman's stomach, would not affect that of a sailor, whowould probably testify under oath, that the water was "just as smooth asa mill-pond. " The pelican, that grave and contemplative bird, sat on therocks near the water's edge, with his neck coiled up and stowed away insome recess in his capacious crop, the fish forgetting, or sailed onlazy wings across the bay, to seek some sequestered spot to doze awaythe time, and digest his huge breakfast--the graceful white crane ofMexico was wading about, flapping her wings, to drive the small fishinto shoaler water, where she might pick them up at her leisure--thegaudy Spanish ensign, resembling three flannel petticoats, two red andone yellow, hung lifeless by its staff, as though said petticoats hadjust got through a hard day's washing--a soldier, with a paper segar inhis mouth, was lounging backwards and forwards on that part of theparapet of the battery next the sea, while another, his counterpart, was"doing military duty" in the same soldierly manner on the quay opposite. I may as well explain to the reader now as at a future time, that everycollection of houses in South America, however small, has an open spacein the centre, called the Plaza; and an American Spaniard could no moreconceive of a town or village without such plaza, than he could form oneof Mr. Locke's abstract ideas of a horse, which ceases to be an abstractidea the moment it becomes invested with a body, head, legs, mane, tail, saddle, bridle, belly-band, or crupper. In the plaza of the Porte before mentioned was a multifariousassemblage: the barrack for a captain's guard, with the arms of theguard piled in front of it, formed one side, and the others were boundedby the quay or different buildings; a detachment of idlers were sunningthemselves, and engaged in relieving each other from certain troublesomecompanions, that _invariably_ infest the clothes and hair of allSpaniards and Russians, from the king to the beggar; jackasses, boys, and dogs occupied the rest of the square, and were differently engaged. At this moment a sergeant ran into the square, exclaiming, "elCommandante!" The military guard fell into their ranks at the tap of thedrum, the idlers and boys took up a strong position in one corner, thejackasses were cudgelled into a retreat, while the dogs, like the pigsin New York, being free of the city, provided for themselves. A momentor two elapsed after these preparations had been made, when a party ofmounted officers dashed into the square at full gallop, as the SouthAmericans always ride. The guard presented arms, the dogs barked theircongratulations, and the party, having lighted fresh segars, walked downto the quay, directly opposite which lay an old dismantled Spanishfrigate, and moored alongside her was a schooner, whose formidablelength of main boom, and raking masts, announced her both a clipper anda Yankee. She was indeed an American schooner, that had been taken"flagrante delicto, " in the very act of smuggling, for which she wascondemned, and her crew sent to the mines. Such was the jealousy of the"authorities, " that they unshipped the rudder, and unrove the runningrigging, for fear she might go to sea of her own accord, and resume hersmuggling voyage without the assistance of human agency. The party whom we have left smoking on the wharf, consisted of themilitary commandant, or governor, of St. Blas, Don Gaspar de Luna, DonDiego Pinto, the commander of a guarda-costa of eighteen guns, that layin the offing, and which, to the most unpractised eye, bore about thesame resemblance to an English or American man of war of the same class, as an old, worn-out jackass does to a handsome, high spirited, wellgroomed race-horse. The rest of the group was made up of young officers"of no mark or likelihood, " and with whom we have nothing to do, withthe exception of Don Gregorio Nunez, a dashing young cavalry officer, related to the viceroy, report said his natural son, and report said toothat he was soon to marry the lovely niece of the governor; but thedestinies were altogether of a different way of thinking. His charactermay be despatched in a few words--he was a vain coxcomb, his whole soullay in his gorgeous uniform, and he had a mortal antipathy to any thinglike duty. Don Gaspar de Luna, the redoubted governor of St. Blas and its"dependencies, " bore the rank of colonel in the Spanish army. He hadseen some service, having been present at the memorable siege ofGibraltar, that excited first the astonishment and then the ridicule ofall Europe--astonishment at the immensity of the armament prepared, andridicule on account of its inefficiency, in wasting years before theplace without doing any thing. An advanced party commanded by DonGaspar, then a captain, had the good fortune to get soundly thrashed bya sallying detachment from the garrison; and the king of Spain was sodelighted that _something_ had been done, that he promoted the fortunatecaptain to a colonelcy. In early life he had been in America with his regiment, where he hadmarried a native Peruvian woman, by whom he had two daughters. In personhe was about the middling height, and so far resembled an ellipse asthis, that his transverse diameter nearly equalled his conjugate, or, inplain English, he was about as broad as long. He prided himself not alittle upon being a "Castiliano, " or genuine old Spaniard, andprofessed, and probably felt, the most implacable hatred to allheretics, especially English and Americans; but it was evidently anabstract feeling, for the moment a vessel of either nation arrived, which happened very often during the dry season, and the commandersbegan to make those little presents that they always found it for theirinterest to make, his orthodox zeal began, like Bob Acres' courage, "toooze away through his fingers. " Although in the main a kind and indulgent father, his affections werecentred in his niece, of whom we shall have occasion to speak more atlarge, whom he preferred to his daughter, and with good reason. He wasfond of punch, such as he used to find in plenty and perfection on boardthe strange ships, and which he could drill none of his household intothe art and mystery of making, except his niece; fonder of flattery, andcompliment, and salutes, from the heretical captains; and perhapsfondest of all of invitations to dine on board such ships as seemed tohold out hopes of good cheer. When a foreign vessel arrived, one wouldthink, from his parade and flourish, that he expected an invasion; butit was all show. He was fond of telling long stories, and of sittinglong over the bottle, foregoing the usual luxury of the _siesta_, or napafter dinner, to enjoy the greater one of drinking; but, although hiscapacious stomach would contain an incredible quantity of wine, no onecould say that he had ever been seen "the worse for liquor. " The duties of his station were but trifling; for, although St. Blas wasa royal naval depot, the commanders of his majesty's ships almostinvariably preferred Callao, on account of its vicinity to the viceregalcourt at Lima. Any other person would have pined to death in such aremote and solitary corner of the earth, without society and withoutemployment; but Don Gaspar was one of those peculiarly constitutedindividuals, who, having neither the faculty to communicate or receivenew ideas, are as happy and contented in one place as another. He hadcome down to the water side at full gallop, and at the imminent risk ofhis neck, in consequence of a report, that a large, armed English ship, that was known to be on the coast trading, was approaching the Bay ofSt. Blas. The nautical commander, Don Diego Pinto, was a man of upwards of sixtyyears of age, who had grown grey in the navy of Spain, without seeingany service of consequence. He had followed one of the viceroys, to whomhe was recommended, to Peru, and the viceroy thought he had sufficientlydone his duty to his _protégé_ by appointing him to the command of aguarda-costa of eighteen guns, stationed at St. Blas, and including inher cruising ground St. Josef, Mazattan, and the entrance to the Gulf ofCalifornia. His prey was good, and his duty was light; but all his hopesof promotion were cut off by being stationed at what was generallyconsidered the "ultima Thule, " the very extremity of the navigableworld. The Yankees, to be sure, scorned any such fanciful restrictions, and hadlong since penetrated to Nootka Sound and Behring's Straits, "thehunters of the mighty whale;" but then the Yankees were a very singularand peculiar race, and nobody in their senses cared to imitate them intheir wild, and sometimes lawless, rambles over the face of theocean--lawless, I wish to be understood, no farther than in sometimesforgetting to inquire, in a strange port, whether there was anycustom-house there or not, and in most ports conceiving it to be theduty of the collectors of the customs to come on board and secure theduties, and if said collectors did not bear a hand and attend to theirbusiness, why then Jonathan, who is always in a hurry, was apt to landhis cargo without the knowledge and without the leave of thecustom-house officers. Don Diego's hatred to heretics and foreigners, unlike that of theillustrious governor, was cordial and sincere, and by no means a generalor abstract principle--he hated every individual as heartily as he didthe whole species. He would never accept or even reply to an invitationfrom an English or American commander; and in the case of the Americanschooner already mentioned, he had treated the crew with such savagebarbarity, that, but for the interference of Don Gaspar, they would haveperished from starvation and ill treatment. He was by no means afavorite guest at the governor's house; the ladies of the familydetested him, not so much for his cruelty, for they heard but little ofthat, but for his morose and churlish disposition, and, perhaps morethan either, on account of the general belief that his wife, a lovelywoman, and much younger than himself, had fallen a victim to hisunkindness and cruelty. Women, the dear creatures, have an infinitely larger share of _esprit ducorps_, if I may so call it, or rather a community of feeling, than men. Nothing will ruin a man's character and good name among the females ofhis acquaintance so soon or so effectually as the reputation of illtreatment or unkindness to his wife, while the men would think butlittle or nothing of it. Women think, and feel, and act most correctlyand justly, and in a manner that does them infinite honor, upon thissubject; indeed, I am fully convinced, that on most questions of socialmorality, the feelings of women are more pure and right than those ofmen. But they have a thousand ingenious methods of making known theircontempt and detestation of the cowardly scoundrel that would raise hishand against one of their sex, and every method cuts like a two-edgedsword. I have known, and do at this moment know, many men who haveendured the contempt and hatred of their fellow-_men_ with the moststoical indifference--they went on hated and despised to the grave, butthey made money at every step, and they cared for nothing else; but Inever, in all my life, and in all my wanderings--and I have nottravelled about this watery ball, nor so far through life, with my eyesand ears shut--I never knew a man who did not wince and writhe under thehatred and contempt of the other sex. I am not a profound believer ininnate ideas, if they are such ridiculous ones as metaphysicians talkof--namely, that two and two make four, and such sort of nonsense--but Ido believe in certain innate principles and feelings, that govern ourthoughts and actions as powerfully and irresistibly as instinct impelsthe brute creation; and that one of those principles is an innate desireto please and secure the good opinion of the opposite sex, born withevery man and woman, or at least developed, more or less strongly, invery early childhood, and that too without any instruction or hint fromothers. While the party stood on the quay, puffing their segars with all thegravity and silence that was becoming their rank and birth as officersof his Catholic Majesty and natives of old Spain, a subaltern officerapproached, and, with abundance of parade and obsequiousness, informedthe governor that there was a ship in the offing, becalmed at that time, but apparently bound in. The officer proceeded to inform him farther, that there were two American ships at St. Josef, one at Monteny, andthat a fourth had been seen the day before at sea, standing to thesouthward. His excellency, though not particularly indignant at the ideaof his principality being visited by a foreign vessel, thought proper toappear "brimful of wrath" at the intelligence. "Ah! those accursed and heretical wretches! they swarm upon this coastas thick as sand-flies. " "And should be destroyed by the same means, by fire, " growled his navalassociate; "they should be burnt at their anchors wherever they arefound; for if they have not already been guilty of any violation of thelaws, they very soon will. " "Signor Pinto, " said the more humane and considerate governor, "you areto recollect that our gracious sovereign is on terms of peace and amitywith this new people, who have lately come into existence, and who seemto be driven by the devils to wander abroad, instead of passing theirlives peaceably at home. We cannot therefore treat them as enemies; andeven when taken in violation of the laws, they must be heard in theirown defence. " This grave rebuke rather mortified him of the marine department, and hewas for a few minutes sulky, which the governor perceiving, and notwishing to offend him, again addressed him. "But come, signor, cheer up. I know the sight of that schooner alwaysmakes you feel unpleasantly; you cannot forget how she misled you onedark night, and well nigh decoyed your ship ashore, by setting adrift alight in a tub. " This was but cold comfort to the redoubtable sea-officer, who was by nomeans fond of hearing the anecdote of the lantern in a tub repeated oralluded to; and he was about making an angry answer, when the sight ofthe schooner brought to his recollection that he had finally capturedher, and had enjoyed the fiendish pleasure of abusing and maltreatingher crew, and that, to crown his triumph, he had seen them set out forthe mines. Poor man! he did not know, what indeed was a kind of statesecret, that the viceroy, not wishing to embroil his sovereign in anunpleasant quarrel, or, as he was about returning to old Spain, wishingto leave behind him a character for clemency and humanity, had orderedthem to be set at liberty, and they had actually embarked at Acapulco onboard an English South Sea whaler. This had taken place a full yearprevious; and while the vindictive Spaniard was chuckling over theirfancied sufferings "many a fathom deep" in the damp and unhealthygalleries of a silver mine, the objects of his hatred were jogging alongcomfortably towards London, with a full ship and light hearts. In reply to the governor's "quip modest, " he merely growled outsomething about zeal in discharging his duty, and anxiety to preventsmuggling, to which the governor replied, "There is no danger of these foreigners smuggling, while they are sostrictly watched by his majesty's ships and faithful soldiers. I wish, signor, you would go out with your ship, and bring this stranger in; Ido not like to see him hovering about in this suspicious manner. " "It is impossible to go out, now that the sea-breeze is just settingin, " said the naval officer, who had no more idea of working out with ahead wind, than he had of flying, though the bay is open enough for thechannel fleet to beat out in order of battle. While this question was in agitation, an officer crossed in a skiff fromthe battery, and informed Don Gaspar that the sea-breeze had set inthe offing, and that the stranger had hauled by the wind, and wasstanding off shore; further, that she was an American whaleman, that hadprobably pursued her huge prey close in shore. Don Gaspar was somewhatdisappointed at this intelligence. "I almost wish she had come in, " said he, in a low tone, "for, hereticsas they are, and damned to all eternity as they certainly will be, (forwhich blessed be the saints, ) it cannot be denied that the puncho, orpontio, which they make, is most refreshing and delicious in this warmweather. " But as the Yankee manifested no symptoms of coming in to anchor, andthereby give him a chance for his glass of punch, he yielded to thesuggestion of Don Gregorio, his aid-de-camp; and having lighted freshsegars, they mounted their horses, and rode back to San Blas. CHAPTER III. A lady So fair, and fastened to an empery, Would make the great'st king double. CYMBELINE. The family of Don Gaspar de Luna consisted of his wife, whom we havealready noticed as a native of Mexico, and two daughters, Antonia andCarlota, who were rather pretty for Creole girls, and, like thegenerality of Creoles, especially when one half is Spanish, extremelyignorant and vulgar in their language and manners; the last trait beingsomewhat characteristic of the Spanish-American women, if we may believetravellers, to which I may add my own somewhat limited observation. Theyare, however, by way of amends, more civilized and sociable in theirbehaviour to strangers, and much more intelligent, than the men. The lovely niece of the governor, the orphan daughter of his brother, made up the list of his family. As we have no great concern with the oldlady and her two daughters, we have mentioned them first, in order toget them out of our way; but as the fair Isabella will make some figurein our pages, we can do no less than devote a chapter, or part of achapter, to giving some account and description of her, moreparticularly as she differs, _toto coelo_, from her cousins, morally, and, in many respects, physically. Isabella de Luna was the daughter of Signor Anastasio de Luna, the onlybrother of Don Gaspar. He was an eminent merchant of Cadiz, who, havingfound it necessary to go to London on business, had afterwards found itequally necessary to remain there for some time, to attend to hismercantile affairs. Here he became acquainted with a Miss Campbell, aScotch lady of about thirty years of age, very beautiful, but poor. Herfather had been taken prisoner at the defeat of the Pretender's army atCulloden, in which army he was an officer, and immediately executedwithout a trial, by the blood-thirsty and infamous Duke of Cumberland. Her mother died of grief a few months afterwards, leaving her an infant, and the sole surviving member of a proscribed and ruined family. She wastaken, from mere compassion, by a distant relation of her father, andcarefully brought up in the Protestant faith, her parents having beenCatholics. When about twenty years old, she accompanied her relation to London, andhad resided there some years, when she was introduced to and captivatedSignor Anastasio, and after a long courtship, and considerablereluctance on the part of the lady, because the lover was at leastnominally a Catholic, she became his wife. They lived long and happilytogether, for whether Anastasio's religious opinions had undergone anychange or not, by associating so many years with Protestants, he neverinterfered with his wife's religious creed or devotions, and permittedher to educate, in the Protestant faith, their only child Isabella. I would advise all husbands to do likewise, in some measure; that is, ifthe wife thinks proper to perform her devotions in a Pagan temple, aMahometan mosque, a Jewish synagogue, or a Christian church, why, lether, and welcome, unless the husband is particularly anxious to get intohot water, and commit suicide upon his domestic happiness; for nothingso effectually disturbs the tranquillity of a family, as open oppositionof religious creeds. Women become religious, in the every-dayacceptation of the word, from any motive rather than a conviction of thetruth or reasonableness of any particular creed. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to define the motive that carries women into thepale of any particular church. I have heard of an old lady, who was veryanxious to be permitted to carry her knitting-work to meeting, "becauseit was such a _steadiment_ to the mind. " Perhaps joining the church hasthe same effect upon women in general. I have seen so much discomfort infamilies from conflicting religious opinions, that I cannot help hopingthat the destinies will so contrive it, that my wife, if they ever meanto send me one at all, shall be a member of the Episcopal church. Thereis about that church, what attaches to no other sect, a sort ofdignified reserve, that never breaks out in four-day meetings, revivals, or any other similar ebullition of fanaticism and absurdity. When Isabella was in her fourteenth year, her father returned to hisnative country, taking his family with him, having given up hismercantile business, and retiring from it very wealthy. The priests, asmight have been expected, were soon around him, like sharks around aslave-ship, all eager to discover, in his conversation and manners, thecontamination of heresy, with which they took it for granted he wasinfected, from having dwelt so long among those obstinate and perverseheretics, the English; but Anastasio was too well acquainted with humannature, and with the ways of the world, to be thrown off his guard. Hegave most munificently to the church; and, in spite of all theirattempts to place Isabella in a convent, as a boarder, succeeded inretaining her under the immediate care of her excellent mother. In making this arrangement, he was much assisted by a priest, whom hehad formerly been acquainted with, and whom he now took into his family, as father confessor. In short, by the judicious management of prettylarge sums of money, that he was able to spare, in less than a yearafter his return to Spain, Anastasio de Luna obtained the character of agood Catholic, who had kept fast the integrity of his faith, during along residence among heretics. As for Madame de Luna, after havingdelivered her over in trust to the devil, the clergy gave themselveslittle or no concern about her; though her liberal charity, and themildness and sweetness of her disposition, made her friends of all whoknew her. Many a saint, of the present day, holds his character forsanctity by as slight a tenure, as Anastasio did his as an orthodoxCatholic; and many a modest, unpretending female, has been, like Madamede Luna, regarded as an infidel, and a vessel of wrath, for not soundinga trumpet before her, in the exercise of unassuming virtues. In about three years after his return to his native country, Anastasiodied, bequeathing a large sum to the church, not from any violentpartiality to the Catholic faith, but in order to secure peace to hiswife and daughter. His widow intended to return to England; but herhealth was failing rapidly, and in a little more than a year after herhusband's death, she followed him to the grave, with her last breathenjoining upon her daughter never to part with the faith in which shehad been educated, and never to marry a Catholic, unless she was sure ofthe purity and goodness of his morals. This might seem illiberal in her;but there is no accounting for the prejudices of people, especially uponreligious subjects. After her mother's death, Isabella had no alternative left, but to takerefuge in the family of her uncle, Don Gaspar, who had already showngreat fondness for her, and who received her with great cordiality andaffection. In this family she was permitted to do much as she pleased;her gentle and amiable disposition soon won the warmest affections ofher aunt and cousins, and her time passed agreeably, except that she wassometimes teased by the reverend clergy to enter a convent, and to"dedicate herself to God;" but as the young lady thought she could serveGod to better purpose out of a convent than in one, she civilly declinedtheir polite invitations to shut herself in a dungeon. The same priest who befriended her father, extended his kindness to thedaughter. He was a very influential clergyman, secretly of very liberaland enlightened views, on the subject of religion; but, not perceivingany pressing necessity for giving his body to be burnt, he had thoughtbest to keep his religious notions to himself. He might very easily have"gained a martyr's glorious name, " if he had only been one of those "Stubborn saints, whom all men grant To be the true church militant;" but he was not; and, besides, martyrdom is not near so fashionable as itwas during the time of the Roman emperors, when one saint insisted uponbeing crucified heels uppermost; and another, who was very comfortablybroiling on a gridiron, sung out to be turned, when he thought he wascooked enough on one side. _Our_ clergy are a grave, serious, set ofmen, who scorn such mad pranks; they have no idea of sufferingmartyrdom, or any thing else, if they can help it. I believe there havebeen no martyrs since the commencement of the nineteenth century, exceptMr. Wolff, who was bastinadoed by the Pacha of Egypt, for interferingwith what did not concern him, and some ten or a dozen missionaries, that would not do something the Cochin-Chinese bid them, and were, inconsequence, made shorter by the head. The good priest interposed his good offices, and influence, inIsabella's behalf, and gave her instructions in such branches ofeducation as he thought were suited to her sex. But, in about a yearafter her mother's death, Don Gaspar received his appointment, asmilitary commander of St. Blas, which, as I have already observed, wasthen a royal depot and arsenal; and, though but seldom visited bySpanish men-of-war, because there were but very few, besidesguarda-costas, in the Pacific, was a place of considerable importance. Isabella cheerfully accompanied him to America; for, though neithergiddy, nor thoughtless, all places were alike to her, provided she couldbe always surrounded with her uncle's family, with whom she enjoyedquiet happiness. In the priests of Mexico, she saw nothing but ignorance, sensuality, bigotry, and indolence, nothing calculated to shake her faith as aProtestant, or cause her to forget her mother's first injunction; whilethe foppishness, frivolity, insolence, ignorance, and pride, of the men, by whom she was surrounded, most effectually protected her from theremotest thought of disobeying the second. The men, on the other hand, regarded her with the coolest indifference; accustomed to admire theblack eyes, and hair, and colorless complexions of the Spanish andnative, or Creole, women, varying from a sort of dirty cream color, to adeep and beautiful copper, Isabella's rather lightish brown hair, blueeyes, fair complexion, and cheeks rosy with health and cheerfulness, hadno charms for them; and, while her cousins had lovers, or danglers, bythe dozen, Isabella found herself, to her infinite satisfaction, completely deserted and neglected, by all the starched and pompous foolsthat visited her uncle, during a stay of some months in the city ofMexico. She had, on the arrival of the family at St. Blas, contrived to employher time in cultivating such female accomplishments as her mother hadinstructed her in, and was, at the time we introduce her to the reader'snotice, in her twentieth year. In person, she was about the mediumheight of women, or, perhaps, a little below it; and would be called, inNew England, rather a small woman. Her form was exceedinglywell-proportioned and beautiful, although, what may seem incredible, ithad never been cramped, crushed, and distorted, by tight lacing, ofwhich her mother had a very reasonable horror; and, in consequence, hermovements were free, graceful, and unconfined. I know very well that the idea of a lady's form being beautiful, unlessmoulded by corsets into the form of a ship's half-minute glass, will bescouted as absurd and impossible; but to the ridicule that such aproposition must necessarily excite, I can oppose my own observation, leaving antiquity, with its faultless statues and sculptures, to shiftfor itself. The Hindoo women, of whom I have seen hundreds at oncebathing in the Hoogly, of all ages, from childhood to decrepitude, haveextremely fine forms, when young, that is from twelve to twenty-two orthree, at which period they have all the marks of old age. As they bathewith only a single thin cotton garment, which, when wet, sticks close totheir bodies, and developes their forms most completely, any body thatvisits Calcutta can satisfy himself of the correctness of this fact, andyet they tolerate no sort of confinement whatever about the person. Isabella's face was of an oval form, with an exquisitely delicate andfair complexion; when her features were at rest, the expression wasquiet and serious, rather bordering upon the pensive, a cast ofcountenance that she inherited from her mother; but her smile wasexceedingly attractive, with an air of frankness and innocenceattending it, that made it perfectly fascinating. Her eyes were of adeep blue, that, in conversation or when any emotion agitated thetranquillity of their owner, were extremely lively, animated, andsparkling. Her eyebrows were very delicately traced, slightly curved butnot arched, as poets and others rave about--I never saw a pair thatwere, on forehead male or female, except among the Chinese, and _they_, in consequence, looked like--no matter who--nor can I imagine how archedbrows can be beautiful. It was not the fashion, forty years since, for girls to cut off theirhair and sell it to a barber for fifty cents, and then give ten dollarsfor a set of artificial curls, nor was it fashionable in Mexico to wearfalse hair; if it had been, nature had been so bountiful to Isabella inthat beautiful ornament and pride (it ought to be) of a woman, that shecould save the expense by the arrangement of her own luxuriant tresses. Her temper was mild, and by no means easily ruffled; her disposition wasgentle, humane, amiable, and cheerful, though seldom or never breakingout into extravagant gaiety. Like all young ladies of her age, who havemuch unemployed time on their hands, and I believe the same remark willapply to young men similarly situated, she had experienced a void, awant of something in the heart, that she felt acutely enough, but couldneither describe nor account for; that peculiar feeling that certainlyis not love, but a symptom of the wish to love and be beloved; it isthat state of the heart when the affections go forth, like Noah's dove, and finding no object on which to repose, return weary and dejected totheir lonely prison. It is an old adage, that "when the devil finds a man idle, he sets himto work;" when love finds a heart unoccupied, he soon finds it a tenant, for it always has been, is now, and always will be true, that "Love is a fire that burns and sparkles, In men as nat'rally as in charcoals. " Isabella, almost without knowing it, and without the faintest suspicionof the real state of the case, gradually neglected and ceased to takepleasure in her usual occupations; her books, her music, her needle, andher flowers, all seemed to be equally tiresome and unpleasant. While inthis unhappy state of ennui and loneliness of feeling, peculiar to theyouthful days, or some portion of them, of both sexes, when the mind, like Hudibras' sword, "Eats into itself, for lack Of somebody to hew and hack, " she was thrown into unspeakable grief and consternation, by her uncleone day proposing to her to receive and encourage the addresses of DonGregorio, as her future husband. To her passionate tears and entreaties to be spared such a dreadfulcalamity, that she declared was infinitely worse than death, the old Donreplied, that it was natural for a girl to be frightened at the idea ofleaving a comfortable home, to become the mistress of a family; that heonly wished to provide for her, and see her well settled in life, thatthe proposed husband was handsome, rich, and connected by blood with theviceroy; and also urged many other reasons "too numerous to mention. " Toall which, the weeping and agonized girl replied, as soon as her unclewas out of breath, and she had an opportunity of speaking, "But, my dearuncle, you know his character, and why, oh! why, will you sacrifice me, whom you have always treated with so much affection and kindness, to onewhom every one knows to be a fool and a coward?" The Don was somewhat startled by this appeal. He was certainly awarethat Isabella was perfectly right in so calling her proposed lover, whohe knew was both a silly coxcomb and a despicable coward, but it wasaltogether past his comprehension how his modest, retiring, gentleniece, had found out two such very important points in the character ofa man, whom he had noticed she seemed to avoid more than any one whovisited his house. But after a few days, seeing that her dejection wasextreme, that her appetite and animation had failed, and she was sinkingunder the weight of her grief, and being likewise severely rated by thewife of his bosom, in a curtain lecture, he relented, and callingIsabella to him one morning, with many expressions of fondness, bade hercheer up, for though he wished to see her well married, he would by nomeans force her inclinations, and she should please herself in thearticle of matrimony. This intelligence soothed and consoled her, and the rosy hue of healthonce more revisited her sweet countenance; her eyes once more sparkledwith much of her wonted animation and cheerfulness, but still there wasa shade upon her mind amounting almost to sadness; her uncle hadunmasked his battery, and she felt that she was doomed to muchpersecution, on what, under existing circumstances, was to her a mostpainful subject. But the destinies, that manage matrimonial affairsinfinitely better than free agents, were busy on her behalf. CHAPTER IV. "Why, " said the knight, "did you not tell me, that this water was from the well of your blessed patron, St. Dunstan?" "Ay, truly, " said the hermit, "and many a hundred pagans did he baptize there; but I never heard that he drank any of it. Every thing should be put to its proper use in this world. St. Dunstan knew, as well as any one, the prerogatives of a jovial friar. " IVANHOE. It was nearly six months after the warlike and portentous visit of thepuissant governor to the Porte, when he was roused one morning byintelligence, that an American whale-ship had arrived in the night, andwas then at anchor just within Pedro Blanco. He immediately commenced, in his usual style of vaporing and flourish, as though this Yankee ship, arriving without his knowledge and consent, had compromised the welfareof the Spanish monarchy. Before his zeal had half done effervescing, asergeant brought word that the captain and first officer were at hisusual place of transacting business, or _bureau d'office_, and wished tosee him. This piece of information had by no means a sedative effect. Here was a heretic, not only stealing into the bay, like a thief in thenight, but carrying his impudence still farther, by insisting upon aninterview, and that too out of business hours, with the representativeof His Most Catholic Majesty, by the grace of God, King of Two Spainsand the Indies. However, he very graciously sent word, that he would attend to them in afew minutes; and having drank his chocolate, he proceeded to his office, where he found waiting for him a grave elderly man, and a handsome youngone. The American captain could speak no Spanish, but the young mancould fluently, and he immediately proceeded to inform his excellency, that the parties who had ventured to intrude upon his valuable time, were Captain Hazard, commander of the American whaling ship Orion, andhimself, Charles Morton, first officer of that ship; that the ship wasfilled with oil, and bound home; that they were out of wood, short ofwater, and desirous of obtaining fruit, vegetables, fresh and saltprovisions, and live stock, previous to their commencing their long andtedious passage towards home; and, finally, that trusting to thewell-known kindness and humanity of his Excellency General de Luna, theyhad presumed to anchor in the outer harbor, till they had obtained hispermission to move further in shore, and to purchase their supplies. The old hero of Gibraltar was delighted: he had heard himself calledgeneral, and "vuestra excellencia" half a dozen times at least; and thattoo by a gentleman, whose modest deportment and language convinced himof his seriousness. He instantly acceded to their request, and would, atthat moment perhaps, have given them his house, if he thought theycould store it away on deck, or get it down the main hatchway. Still itseemed as if there was something lacking on their part; and he was soonset at ease. The two Americans communicated for a moment, when the youngman, in polite and set phrase, gave the wished-for, and expected, invitation to the governor and his family to visit and dine on board theOrion, the next day at twelve o'clock; for sailors, and some others, stick to the primitive and convenient habit of dining in the middle ofthe day--fashionable people, I believe, don't dine till to-morrowmorning. The parties then separated, mutually pleased with each other; theAmericans at having their request so easily and cheerfully granted, andthe old Castilian in high glee with the prospect before him, of a gooddinner, plenty of punch, and plenty of wine. Being gifted with olfactorypowers equal to Job's war-horse, he smelled, not a battle, but a dinner, afar off, or within thirty divisions of "old Time, the clock-setter's"dial. The Orion was indeed the American whaleman in sight when the governorvisited the waterside, and was then coming in, but just as thesea-breeze commenced, the look-out at the masthead reported a largeschool of sperm whales in the offing. Although the want of vegetablesand fresh provisions did grieve him sore, yet want of oil did grieve himmore; and accordingly, Captain Hazard, whose ship was but little morethan half full, commenced beating out towards his huge game, which ledhim away from the land and to the northward; where, in a little morethan five months, he had made up his quantum of oil; and preferring St. Blas to Monterey, or St. Josef, he made the best of his way thither. The governor, having notified his womankind of the whale-catchingcaptain's invitation, proceeded to hold grave and high communicationwith Father Josef, his ghostly counsellor, and the keeper of hisconscience. Father Josef was a priest, turned of fifty; and, like most of theSpanish American clergy, who are turned of fifty, and are of any thinglike fair standing for sanctity, was somewhat rotund about the abdominalregions, and of an apoplectic appearance; that is, his head was firmlyplunged down, and imbedded between his shoulders, without being plaguedwith the intervening isthmus of neck, which is so expensive to modernfashionable ladies and gentlemen, being considered by one sex as a partof the body expressly created to hang neck-laces, gold chains, and lacepelerines upon; and by the other, as intended merely as a place oflodgment for the stock and shirt-collar. This priest's nose and cheeksbore a large and bountiful crop of, what are sometimes called, "thefruits of good living;" indeed, his parochial duties were not of a kindcalculated to mortify the flesh; and as his church was well endowed, andhe received many presents from the wealthy members of his flock, it wasnot a matter of wonder, that he enjoyed such creature-comforts as lay inhis way; and the Catholic clergy are generally possessed of a sufficientdegree of modest asurance in taking possession of them. In dispositionhe was mild, and good-natured, (fat people generally are;) was muchattached to the governor's family, and possessed great influence overhim. He was, over and above all, a man of considerable learning andintelligence: spoke English quite passably; and, as a proof of goodtaste, we add, that he was the only masculine biped, who visited DonGaspar's house, who really understood, and rightly appreciated, Isabella's beauty of person, and intellectual character. As it was wellknown that the governor placed great confidence in him, all who had asuit to the civil or rather military potentate, in the first place madeinterest with the ecclesiastical one; and this was soon perceived andimitated by the commanders of foreign vessels, from whom he receivedmany presents. This was the clergyman whom the governor now summoned toa council. "Father, " said he, when the priest made his appearance and bestowed hisbenediction, "you are doubtless aware of the arrival of an American shipin this harbor, and that I and my family have been invited on boardto-morrow. " Father Josef bowed in the affirmative. "I am not sure that I am doing right, " resumed the Don, "in acceptingsuch invitations, as it throws me into the society of heretics sooften; and you know we cannot touch pitch without defilement. " "We cannot indeed handle pitch without being defiled, but in the line ofduty. " "But duty does not call me there. " "Nay, but hear me, my son; duty requires that you should see that hismajesty's laws against unlawful trading are not violated. " "That is very true. " "And there can be no better opportunity of ascertaining the realcharacter of these foreigners than by a personal visit. " "A most just observation, father. " "Therefore, make yourself easy on the score of its sinfulness, for thereis none in it. " "I don't see how there can be, " said his excellency, who was thinking ofthe future punch and dinner. "If I can assist you farther--" "Oh, true! you will accompany us to-morrow?" "Most cheerfully. " "And now, father, I wish to consult you upon another subject. You knowthat it is my wish to marry my niece to Don Gregorio Nunez. " "You have said something of this before. " "And she is most obstinately opposed to such a union. " "I can easily conceive it, " said the priest drily. "He is rich and well connected. " "Riches and rank do not charm all women. " "It is my wish to see her well married. " "The woman that marries Don Gregorio is not necessarily well married;besides, I believe you know his character. " "I think I do. " "That he is a fool. " "He is certainly rather weak in intellect. " "And a coward. " "I cannot deny it. " "And a coxcomb. " "He is certainly very vain of his high birth and of his rank in thearmy: young men are apt to be in such cases. " "You would not consent to his marrying one of your daughters?" "No; I have other views for them. " "And yet you profess to love your niece as affectionately as yourdaughters. " "You know I do, father. " "And loving her as you profess, you are striving to render that niecemiserable for life by uniting her with one whom you admit to be a fool, a coward, and a vain fop. " The old Don, whose intellectuals were none of the brightest, had gothimself, without perceiving it, completely into a _premunire_, by theSocratic mode of reasoning adopted by his more skilful antagonist, whoat parting once more addressed him:-- "Take my advice, Signor de Luna, and leave your niece to herself on thissubject: a young female heart cannot be made, like one of yoursoldiers, to march and countermarch at the word of command; it is, besides, of very frail materials, and, when once injured or broken, cannever be repaired. The happiness of one so dear to you as your niece, may be destroyed forever, by forcing her into a match she detests; butit will then be too late to repair your fault, and it will always be toyou a subject of the bitterest regret and unavailing remorse. " With these words he departed. But the governor, although convinced bythe priest's arguments, and set into profound meditation by his lastwords, was one of those people, of whom we see so many at every step wetake through life, who ask advice when they need it, are convinced ofits soundness when given, and yet, though their natural good senseassents to dispassionate reasoning, return to their old, foolish, absurd, and ruinous opinions and intentions. Don Gaspar, therefore, although convinced that he was a fool, and anunfeeling relation in attempting to force his niece into a marriage withsuch a worthless puppy as he readily admitted the proposed lover was inevery respect, continued to adhere to his original intention, which hethought best, however, to defer for a time. CHAPTER V. There is as weighty reason For secresy in love, as treason. Love is a burglarer, a felon, That at the window-eye doth steal in To rob the heart, and with his prey Steals out again a closer way. HUDIBRAS. The morning of the day appointed for the visit to the ship Orion rose aspure, and clear, and beautiful, as though no party of pleasure wasintended, but not more pure, and clear, and beautiful, than the weatheralways is during the dry season of tropical climates, which, with thecool and refreshing sea-breeze, is one of the delights of those climatesthat I forgot to particularise in its proper place. With us of thetemperate section of this round world the case is altogetherdifferent--the day appointed a week beforehand for a party of pleasurebeing almost invariably rainy, blowy, haily, snowy, drizzly, foggy, cold, uncomfortable, villainous weather; or else so hot that the mereact of breathing is too much for feeble human nature--and this, too, whether the party is made for sailing, riding, rambling about in thewoods, or even for dancing, or tea-drinking, or whist-playing in a warm, comfortable room. This is, perhaps, one reason why geographers call ourpart of the globe the temperate zone; because all our proposed andanticipated pleasures, that depend in the slightest possible degree uponthe weather, are sure to be tempered and qualified by some unexpectedbotheration on the part of the weather. The party from the shore accordingly arrived alongside the Orion abouteleven o'clock in the forenoon, without accident by sea or land. Thegovernor was in high spirits and full regimentals; Madame Governor wasas stately, dignified, and bejewelled, as became a lady of her stationand rank; the two daughters sparkled with gems and fluttered with silks, thinking of the impression they were to make upon the officers of thestrange ship; the priest, in sacerdotal dignity, and with his weightgiving the boat three streaks heel to starboard, sat hoping somecontingency might take place that would elicit a present from the Yankeecommander; the young officers, but three in number, including, ofcourse, the military aspirant to the fair Isabella's hand and fortune, thought of but little or nothing except their pretty persons and dashingregimentals. Isabella, who expected no pleasure from this party of pleasure, but thereverse, as it would compel her to be for some hours in the company of aman she had so much reason to detest, sat in the stern sheets, with thefat clergyman directly in front, and forming an impenetrable rampartagainst the impertinent gallantries of the coxcomb Gregorio. She woreno jewels or ornaments, and from her pensive and serious expression ofcountenance, might have passed for an Athenian tribute-maiden whom theannual ship was about to carry to the den of the Minotaur. An arm-chair of capacious and old-fashioned dimensions, its ponderouswood-work carefully hidden by the American ensign, the _fly_ of whichwas to serve as an envelope for the feet and ancles of the ladies, wasstrongly slung and lowered into the stern sheets of the governor's statebarge, a _craft_ containing nearly as much timber as a fishing schooner, and about as burdensome. Mr. Morton, the first officer of the ship, anda remarkably handsome man, now came over the side into the barge, toarrange the ladies for their aeronautic excursion, safer than Durant's, for their car was slung with strong hemp not dependent upon a bag ofinflammable gas. As a matter of course, he tendered his services to theold lady first, who, though she had been _whipped_ in and out of as manyships as any English dragoon-horse during the war of the Peninsula, thought proper to curvet and prance, and show as much skittishness as amule embarking at Hartford, or Weathersfield, or Middletown, for a tourof duty at Surinam or Demerara. She was, however, hoisted in withoutaccident, and received on deck by Captain Hazard and Mr. Coffin, thesecond officer, with much politeness. The two young ladies were the nextin order, and accomplished their flight successfully. Isabella lastlytook her seat in the chair without trepidation or affectation of alarm. Morton's eyes had already done hommage to her superior beauty; but hewas too busy with the other ladies to notice her any farther than as themost lovely of the female visitors. He now remarked the pensiveexpression of her lovely countenance, and it excited in his heart anundefinable and uncontrollable interest. We have already said thatIsabella inherited her mother's beauty, which had not one of the usualcharacteristics of a Spanish female countenance; and it was thispeculiarity that struck the young seaman forcibly, and probablyincreased the interest he felt towards her, and the curiosity to knowsomething more of her history, as he had only understood vaguely thatshe was Don Gaspar's niece. There is a peculiar phrase, or rather word, that I have leftunexplained, and concerning which I will now proceed to enlighten theterrestrial and unenlightened reader. I spoke of whipping the ladiesinto the ship. The whip, then, consists of a tail-block on the mainyard-arm, with a sufficient rope rove through it, and a similar purchaseon the collar of the main-stay. One end of each of these ropes is madefast to a stout arm-chair, covered generally with the ship's ensign, with the loose part of which the lady wraps her feet. The other ends arein the hands of careful, steady seamen. The lady, being arranged andfixed in the chair, with a "breast-rope" from arm to arm, (of thechair, not of the lady, ) is hoisted up by the yard-whip till she hasapproached the zenith sufficiently to go clear of the waisthammock-nettings, when the stay-whip is hauled upon, carrying her in ahorizontal direction over the gangway, when both whips being lowered, she is disentangled of her "wrappers and twine, " and received in thearms of a lover, a husband, or a brother, as the case may be. Ladies andgentlemen, whose curiosity on the subject of whips is still unsatisfied, will find their theory demonstrated and illustrated by a diagram in"Enfield's Natural Philosophy. " I have known the somewhat startling nautical command, "Get the whipready for the ladies, " blanch many a fair cheek with sudden and mostcauseless alarm. It cannot be denied that we "gentlemen of the ocean"have singular names for things; but every thing at sea must have a name, or there would be no getting along. I have only farther to remark on this subject, that horses areinfinitely more tractable in taking on board a ship, than ladies; forthe moment the horse perceives his feet are clear of the ground, hebecomes perfectly quiet and passive; whereas, the lady is always quietwhile a handsome young officer is arranging the flags, &c. About herfeet; but as soon as she is fairly in the air, she begins to scream, andkick, and bounce about, to the imminent risk of her bones; and just atthe time when common sense and instinct teach the quadruped to keepperfectly still, women, who have but little common sense in such cases, and no instinct at all, are the most intractable and restless. Morton followed the last lady, namely, Isabella, and, as he stepped overthe gangway, was accosted by his brother officer. "What a thundering pretty girl that last one is!" "She is the governor's niece, " said Morton. "You may tell that to the marines, " said Coffin; "I'll be shot ifthere's as much Spanish blood in her veins as would grease the point ofa sail-needle. " "They say so ashore, " said Morton. "I don't care what they say; I'll believe my eyes before the bestSpaniard among them. " "Who knows, " said Morton, "but that infernal soldier, that's buzzingabout her, may one day be the husband of that sweet girl?" "There's no knowing, " said Coffin, yawning; "but you and I, Charlie, can't marry all the pretty girls that are like to have fools forhusbands. " As this conversation went on, the mates had walked aft, and were closebehind Isabella, who stood by the companion-way, while the governor, andhis lady, who was not far behind him in corporeal dimensions, wereaccomplishing their descent into the lower regions. "That rascally soldier, " said Morton, "wants nothing but a tail to makehim a full-rigged monkey, and that lovely girl is about to be sacrificedto him. " "Poor girl!" said Coffin; "it's bad enough to marry a sojer, any how;but to marry such a critter as that is going it a little too fine. " Poor Isabella, who had heard and properly understood every syllable oftheir conversation, was exceedingly affected. She had heard a person, whose appearance and manners approached her _beau ideal_ of a gentleman, expressing, in warm and energetic language, the liveliest compassion forher, and guessing (for she could not imagine how he could know withcertainty) her exact situation, and manifesting an apparently sincereand hearty interest towards her. Although her uncle had forborne totrouble her upon that hateful subject, after he had first proposed it, she knew his disposition too well to regard the reprieve as anabandonment of his original design. As she turned away to conceal her emotion from her cousins, herstreaming eyes encountered those of Morton. The young seaman was shockedand alarmed at her tears, though he had not the most distant suspicionthat she had understood a word that had been said. Her beauty had firstattracted his notice--it was so un-Spanish, and so nearly resemblingthat of New England ladies; the pensive expression of her countenancehad excited a lively interest and curiosity towards her; but her tears, the evidence of that "secret grief" that the heart, and only the heart, knoweth, had called up all the sympathies of his heart. I believe there are few men, who deserve the name, that are proofagainst a woman's tears, and there are few such men, who, when theyperceive a woman, especially a young and beautiful one, oppressed withgrief, anxiety, or distress, do not feel an irresistible impulse toassist and relieve her. It may be objected that I have made my hero fall in love at first sight. To this I answer that I cannot spare time to lead him step by stepthrough all the crooks and turns of the bewitching passion; secondly, love is _not_ like the consumption; people do not go gradually into itby a beaten road, every foot of which is marked and designated by itsappropriate and peculiar symptoms. "Nemo est repente vitiosus, " saysJuvenal--nobody becomes completely depraved all at once; very true, butfolks certainly do, to my certain knowledge, fall in love all at once, and that is doubtless the reason why they are said to _fall_ in love. Love is like the Asiatic cholera; a man is suddenly laid flat on hisback, with all the marked and violent symptoms, when he thought all thewhile he was in perfect health. "Love, " says Corporal Trim, "is exactlylike war in this, that a soldier, though he has escaped three weekscomplete o' Saturday night, may nevertheless be shot through the hearton Sunday morning. " In the third place, a man, who for two or threeyears has seen nothing in the female form more attractive than thecopper-colored beauties of Asia, the South Sea Islands, and the wholewestern coast of America, or the ebony _fair_ ones of Africa, is mostastonishingly susceptible when once more restored to the society ofladies of his own complexion, and of more refinement than those we havementioned. I have had the ineffable pleasure of testing the truth ofthis theory more than a dozen times in my own person. If any gentlemandoubts the fact, I can only advise him to banish himself from femalesociety, in a man-of-war or whaleman, for three or four years. If hedoes not fall in love fifty times a month, when he returns, he is eithermore or less than human, and, in either case, I should wish to remain astranger to him. The whole party were now "under hatches, " and examining the wonders of awhaleman's cabin. Morton had attached himself to Isabella, and, as hespoke the Spanish language fluently, and, what was more to the purpose, was impelled by an irresistible feeling to entertain and amuse her, soondrew her into conversation, and was astonished and delighted with hergood sense. He had visited different parts of South America before, andhad seen enough of the women to perceive that they were excessivelyignorant, superstitious, and vulgar. He was therefore not a littlesurprised to perceive in Isabella's conversation marks of a cultivatedand polished understanding. The rest of the party had gone into the steerage to examine some ofthose curious specimens of whalebone work, in the fabrication of whichwhalemen employ so much patience and time, during their long and oftenunsuccessful voyages. As Isabella and Morton stood together by the cabintable, the lady opened a bible that was lying there, and seemed for amoment or two engaged in reading it. "Do you understand that?" said the seaman, still speaking Spanish. "Yes, " she replied, in English, "my mother was a Scotchwoman, and aProtestant. " "Good heavens! then I am afraid--I am sure--that--in short, I believethat something was said before you came below, that must have beenunpleasant--that, indeed, could not but hurt your feelings. " Isabella was extremely agitated, and turned away her head. "What would I not give, " continued he, in a low voice, "what would I notsacrifice, to be able--to be permitted, to assist you in any way. " He stopped, scarcely knowing what he said, or hardly knowing whether hehad spoken at all. The poor girl raised her swimming eyes insupplication. "For heaven's sake! drop this subject; if my uncle knew that you hadspoken thus to me, he would carry me back immediately. " "But tell me, dearest lady, tell me, is there no way in which I can beof service to you?" "No, no, no, leave me; if you have any regard for me, leave me. I thankyou for the interest you have shown for me; but it will avail nothing. " The tone of extreme dejection, and melancholy, in which she pronouncedthese last words, almost drove Morton beside himself. He was completelybewildered with conflicting emotions--a young and beautiful woman, lovely in person and in mind, and, what made her irresistible to anunsophisticated, warm, generous, and feeling heart, inaffliction--affliction that seemed more remediless, because notunderstood by one, nor communicated by the other. From this situation of mutual embarrassment, they were relieved by theentrance of one of the young ladies, who came to call her cousin intothe steerage, to see the wonders already alluded to. Luckily, Carlota, although a good-natured girl, and fond of her cousin Isabella, was notremarkably keen-sighted, or she must have noticed the agitation andembarrassment of both parties. In the meantime, Mr. Coffin, who had a large share of a particular kindof shrewdness, had noticed that his friend seemed inclined to enjoy thesociety of Isabella uninterrupted; and, to assist that manoeuvre asmuch as possible, engaged the young officers with some tremendous toughfish stories, in which he was ably supported by one of theboat-steerers, a Portuguese, who spoke Spanish, as a matter of course, and helped out his officer, when his imperfect knowledge of thelanguage brought him to a stand still. So he managed to hold them, asjackasses are held, --by the ears, --till he saw his companion and theyoung lady come into the steerage, when he broke off somewhat abruptly, in the middle of a very tough yarn, leaving the gentlemen of the swordto guess at the catastrophe. As the party stood around a chest, upon which these whalebone toys, andother curiosities, were displayed, Antonia dropt a bouquet from herbosom. As Morton picked it up, and returned it to its fair owner, hemade some remark upon the beauty, and fragrance, of the flowers. "Are you fond of flowers?" said the young lady. "Yes, very. " "That I can answer for, " said Coffin; "he is always, when on shore forwood, water, or pleasure, in search of rare flowers, and shells. It iswell there are no such things at sea, or we should never have taken asingle whale--and then he paints those he finds so beautifully. " "What! _he_ paint flowers! a _man_ paint flowers! Santa Maria! who everheard of such a thing!" echoed the two young ladies. "And why not, my children, " said the fat priest, laughing; "do youladies think you have an exclusive title, and right, to all the elegantaccomplishments?" "I do not doubt, " said Coffin, "that Signor Morton would be proud toshow the ladies his drawings. Come, Charlie, " he continued, in English, "you shall not keep your candle under a bushel any longer--you seeyou're in for it, and you may as well submit with a good grace. " So saying, he led the way to the cabin, where the drawings were paradedupon the table. They were certainly very beautiful; for to a fondnessfor the "serene and silent art, " Morton added a natural taste for it, which he had ample leisure to cultivate, during his long voyages. Afteradmiring them for some time, Madame de Luna gave the artist a cordialinvitation to visit their house, and garden, a mile or two beyond thetown; in the latter, she assured him, he would find some rare andbeautiful subjects for his pencil. Morton was exceedingly gratified bythis kindness, and said, in a low voice, and in English, to Isabella, but without looking at, or apparently addressing, her, as she stood nexthim, "Then I shall have the happiness of seeing you once more. " CHAPTER VI. Love's power's too great to be withstood By feeble human flesh and blood. 'Twas he that brought upon his knees The hect'ring kil-cow Hercules; Transform'd his leaguer-lion's skin T' a petticoat, and made him spin; Seiz'd on his club, and made it dwindle T' a feeble distaff and a spindle. HUDIBRAS. The dinner on board the Orion, which was not served up till one o'clock, by the way, as Captain Hazard wished to be more than usually genteel, was excellent, and was preceded, and followed, by copious libations ofpunch; after which the wine was set on table, and the veterans, that is, the military, the nautical, and ecclesiastical, part of the company, proceeded to discuss it, "in manner and form. " The governor, as was hiscustom on such occasions, told interminable stories of the siege ofGibraltar, during which, his hopeful nephew elect enjoyed a verycomfortable nap, and even Father Josef nodded occasionally. The ladies had made their escape, as soon us dinner was finished; andMorton, on the watch, like a cat to steal cream, was on the alert, assoon as he perceived their intentions, and accompanied them on deck. Tohis great satisfaction, none of the Spanish officers made any attempt toleave the table; for, as the old Don had just got fairly under weighwith one of his campaigning stories, they were afraid to treat him withso much disrespect, and, of course, hazard their hopes of being invitedto attend him again upon a similar party. Accordingly, Morton had thepleasure of enjoying the society of the ladies, without interruption, and found many opportunities of saying a few words to Isabella. In this, he was again much beholden to the skilful manoeuvring of his messmate, Coffin, who was already higher in the good graces of the mother anddaughters than Morton, who, though a handsome man, had not so much ofthat dashing, off-hand, sort of gallantry as the other; and which goesan incredible way with most ladies. Morton had seen more of the polite world, and was better educated, andmore refined in his manners, than Coffin; but, besides being, at thattime, wholly engrossed and engaged by a particular object, he had thatpeculiar kind of modesty, or diffidence, that does a man so much injurywith the other sex; who, though they pretend to prize modesty so highlyamong themselves, abominate it as unnatural, absurd, and affected, inmen; while the pert and obsequious fluttering of a fashionablewater-fly, which is always received with a smile, is generally moreprized, and rewarded more bountifully still. There is, however, someconsolation in the thought, that repentance always overtakes, andpunishes, the silly woman who has allowed herself to be so fatally"pleased with a rattle;" she perceives, after marriage, that she hasgiven herself irrevocably to a thing "of shreds and patches. " There is a certain sort of little attentions, that ladies generallyexpect from our sex, and a skill and adroitness in showing which makesno inconsiderable part of a modern gentleman's education. I have knownmany young men, who could not write two consecutive sentences, withoutcoming to an open rupture with orthography, grammar, or common sense, orall three, if it was to save their well-_stocked_ necks from the halter, or their souls, (what of that commodity they have, ) from Satan's grip, but who stood very high, and, doubtless, deservedly so, in theestimation of the fair sex, simply from their skill and precision ingoing through a certain routine of little trifling acts of politeness. As far as ladies are concerned, politeness appears to consist chiefly ina man's putting himself to more or less inconvenience, or exposinghimself to danger, on their account. With regard to the last, I do notknow but I could acquit myself to advantage, partly from the peculiarrecklessness that is acquired at sea; and partly because facing danger, in the protection of the weaker sex, is both the duty of the stronger, and the stronger generally can do it with less embarrassment, thanperform those innumerable, nameless, attentions, already alluded to. Icannot say, however, that when walking out with ladies, I have feltpeculiarly desirous of the apparition of a mad bull, a ghost, or thedevil, to give me an opportunity to show my courage; but I think it iscertainly easier to most men to expose themselves to danger, in theservice of a lady, than to perform acceptably, and without awkwardness, those little acts of politeness, that, in the present state of society, ladies are somewhat rigorous in exacting. I have passed the very creamand flower of my life at sea, that is, from nineteen to thirty-two, andnow, "in these latter days, " begin to feel myself very much like a fishout of water. How often have I "sailed into the northward" of a fairlady's displeasure, for neglecting to assist her into, or out of, acarriage! never dreaming, "poor ignorant sinner" that I am! that theascent up the steps of a coach was attended with any more perils, thanthat of the stairs that lead to her bed-room; or that a girl, perhapstwenty years my junior, glowing in the full bloom of youth, health, andsprightliness, and with a step as light and elastic as Virgil's Camilla, required the assistance of such an old weather-beaten beau as myself. How often have I been pouted at by the ripest, rosiest, lips in theworld, for omitting to wait upon their owner home, on a dark, stormy, evening, and half a mile out of my way, simply because I preferred thecompany I was with, to the half-mile _heat_! I do not know that I haveever felt very desirous of living my life over again; but I confess Ishould like to go back, say, to the age of three or four and twenty, merely to take a few lessons in the graces, and then "jump the life tocome, " as far as where I am now, namely, _thirty or forty_. By Mr. Coffin's management, Morton and Isabella were much of the timetogether, and both instinctively avoided any allusion to painfulsubjects. He described to her the various implements used in thewhale-fishery, gave her a short account of the voyage, and of thedifferent parts of America, and of the islands in the Pacific, that hehad visited; and, in short, exerted himself to please and entertain her, and was successful. When in the society of those we love, and from whom we are soon toseparate, perhaps forever, how much we can manage to say in a littletime! how earnestly do we strive to render delightful those moments, perhaps the last that we are ever to pass with those friends! Dr. Johnson says, the approach of death wonderfully concentrates one'sideas; so does the approach of the hour of parting. Isabella heard herself, for the first time, for many years, addressed inthe language of respectful politeness, and unassuming common sense; thepictures of refined, polished, and enlightened, society, drawn in thefew excellent English authors her mother had left her, seemed realizedand presented to her eyes, in all the richness of life. She did notstop to analyse, or try to explain to herself the peculiarly delightfulfeelings that occupied her mind; though if she had been left alone forfive minutes, her own good sense would have told her it was love: thatpure, unalloyed, unreflecting, ardent, _first_ love, that, like thewhooping-cough and the measles, we never have but once; though somepatients have it earlier in life, and more severely, than others. Ladies will never admit, and never have admitted, from the time thestone-masons and hod-carriers struck work upon the tower of Babel, (forwant of a circulating medium of speech, that would be taken at par byall hands, down to the present Anno Domini, 1834, and twenty-second ofOctober, ) that any of their sisterhood ever fell in love "at sight, " asbrokers call it, or that her eyes influenced her heart. With regard tothe female, who, in early life, takes up the "trade and mystery" of afashionable belle, _ex officio_ a coquet and a flirt, this is in somemeasure true; for I have observed, that very beautiful women of thatdescription, who have had at their feet wealth, and talent, andeloquence, and virtue, generally "close their concerns" by marryingsots, fools, gamblers, rakes, or brutes; they seem to choose theirhusbands as old maiden ladies do their lap-dogs; which are invariablythe most cross, ugly, ill-tempered, filthy, noisy, little scoundrels, that the entire canine family can muster. But their practice is atvariance with their profession. It is physically and morally impossiblethat women, whose chief strength consists in external appearance andshow, should hold in light esteem external appearance and show in oursex; and, if they are not guided by their eyes in the choice of theirlovers, I should like to know what the d--l they are guided by; for in acompany of feather-pated girls, the chief object of ridicule is thepersonal defects of their male acquaintance. Time, that stands still with married men, and sometimes with oldbachelors, flies with lovers; and the sun's "lower limb" was dipping inthe haze, that skirted the western horizon, when the steward came ondeck, and informed the ladies and gentlemen that coffee was ready, and, accordingly, they descended into the cabin. After this refreshment, preparations were made for going ashore. Morton and Coffin ran on deck, to get the whips ready; and the former, calling his own boat's crew aft, had his boat lowered down from the quarter-davits, and brought to thegangway, while the governor's bargemen were lighting fresh segars. Witha few words of explanation to the second officer, Morton sprang into hisboat, and, in a few minutes, Isabella and her two cousins were safelystowed in the stern-sheets. The bowman obeyed the command, "shove off;"the swift boat, impelled by five strong-limbed seamen, flew like aswallow across the bay, and reached the landing-place at least tenminutes before the cumbrous barge of his excellency bounced her broadnose against the side of the quay, and recoiled, like a battering-ram. Morton improved the time he was on the shore with the ladies, by payingmore attention to the governor's daughters than he had done heretofore, and easily succeeded in entertaining them. They repeated their mother'sinvitation to the young seaman to visit their house, declaring they hadnever seen any foreign gentleman that spoke such pure Spanish; that theAmericans were much more polite, and respectful, and hospitable, andobliging, than the English; and concluded, by wondering why, if theUnited States were so near Mexico, it should take six months to go fromSt. Blas there. To all which Morton made the appropriate replies; and, when the rest of the party were assembled, assisted the ladies to theirhorses, renewing to Isabella, as he adjusted her in the saddle, hispromise to call at her uncle's house the next day. As this promise didnot cause the young lady to "jump out her skin" or saddle, it is highlyprobable that she did not perceive any great harm in it; nor did itoccur to her then, or when consulting her pillow at night, that sheviolated female propriety, by answering, simply, and somewhatemphatically, "I hope you will. " On their ride homeward, the party were loud in their praises of theentertainment of the day, their eulogies being directed to differentparts of the entertainment according to the different tastes of theindividuals performing the concert; for instance, the young ladies madehonorable mention of the politeness and attention of the "dos pelotoshermosos, " the two handsome mates; the old lady chanted the praises ofthe china ware, and table linen, and the knives and forks--all of themluxuries at that time in South America; the governor eulogized thepunch, and Father Josef the dinner; the young officers were in raptureswith the wine, in which they were joined by the civil and ecclesiasticaldignitaries in grand chorus. Perhaps there never was a party of visitorsthat left their entertainer's house, whether riding at anchor in port, or standing on hammered granite "underpinning" on shore, better pleasedwith what they had had, or in better humor or spirits. CHAPTER VII. Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again. I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins, That almost freezes up the heat of life. ROMEO AND JULIET. Isabella arose at her usual hour the next morning, and after breakfastwalked into the garden, from a sort of unacknowledged hope and wish thatshe might soon be joined by the young American, who had occupied herthoughts, both sleeping and waking, since she had parted with him on thebeach the evening previous. At the sound of every horse's feet shestarted, and her heart beat quicker. But he came not that day, and asevening approached, her disappointment became almost insupportable; shetried to frame excuses for him; he had never been to the house; perhapshe had, by a very natural mistake, gone to her uncle's house in town, instead of that where she now was, and which was rather more than a milefrom St. Blas, and whither the family came regularly to lodge, thoughthey spent most of the time at their town residence; perhaps he wasdetained on board by his duties; or he might be sick. "And why, " said the weeping girl to herself, "why should I wish to seehim again? Alas! I have already seen him too often, for my future peaceof mind. He is going home to his parents, his relatives, his friends, his home, and perhaps to his wife;" and this last thought crossed hermind with a feeling of peculiar anguish; "but no, when he spoke of hisfriends and parents, he said nothing of his wife; but he is going, andin a few short months he will forget that he has ever seen me, or thatsuch an unhappy being has ever existed. " With these painful and self-tormenting reflections she passed theevening, and much of the night; but youthful hope, that cheers the heartwith flattering and deceitful promises, never sufficiently well definedto resemble certainty, but always brilliant; hope, whose elasticityraises the sinking heart, soothed and composed her spirits, and she sankinto sound and refreshing slumbers, to wake to a brighter and moreflattering day; but at the same time, to sink deeper and moreirrevocably into that bewitching, bewildering passion, whose existenceshe could not now avoid acknowledging. As she was sitting in the garden the next day, she was suddenly startledby the approach of her two cousins in full chat, and close behind them, Morton. Isabella seemed rooted to her seat, the light swam before hereyes, her tongue was paralyzed, and her limbs were unable to raise orsupport her. The young seaman approached, and in broken, incoherent, andunintelligible accents, attempted to express the delight he felt atonce more seeing her. Perhaps, if the two cousins had been out of theway; he would have acquitted himself better, perhaps not so well. "Ironsharpeneth iron, " saith Solomon; "so doth a man the countenance of hisfriend. " It may be so in some cases, but I doubt whether any man canmake love so glibly, so off hand, before half a dozen spectators, especially females, as he can "all alone by himself;" on the other hand, there is something absolutely awful in being alone with a pretty andmodest woman, and being compelled to "look one another in the face, "like the two bullying kings of Judah and Jerusalem. It is much like"watching with a corpse, " a ceremony derived, I believe, from theorientals, and still prevalent in good old New England. The parties were soon relieved from their embarrassment; the twocousins, after asking a thousand questions, and only waiting to hear twohundred and fifty of the answers, bounced off into the house, leavingthe two lovers, for such they were now most decidedly, to the luxury oftheir own thoughts and conversation. We have no time, inclination, norability, to describe the steps by which they advanced from mereacquaintance to the can't-live-without-each-other and hopeless state ofdeep and incurable love. Perhaps Morton was not grieved or angry when it was declared, after athorough survey by Captain Hazard, Coffin, and himself, to beabsolutely necessary to procure a new foremast and bowsprit for theship before she sailed--the first being rotten, and the other badlysprung. As Captain Hazard placed the most implicit confidence inMorton's capacity to purchase and superintend the making of therequisite spars, the latter, to his great joy, was requested to takecharge of the shore department. By this arrangement his opportunities ofseeing his beloved Isabella occurred several times each day. Though there had been no formal declaration of love between them, theywere each conscious that they loved and were beloved in return; the mostunreserved confidence existed between them, and Morton, who felt mostkeenly for Isabella's unpleasant situation, had repeatedly hinted at thehappiness she was sure to enjoy in a more favored country, if she wouldleave her uncle's house, and take passage in the Orion for New England. She affected, at first, not to understand him; but when it becameimpossible to avoid perceiving his meaning, she only answered, "No, no--I cannot--I dare not;" but the answer was always accompanied with asigh and a tear; and as from day to day he informed her of the progressthe ship made in her repairs, her negative became fainter and lessresolutely expressed. Owing to the necessity of making some repairs in his country residence, the governor and his family had latterly resided altogether in St. Blas;and as the puppy Don Gregorio watched with a suspicious and malignanteye, the frequent visits of Morton, the lovers had generally met at thehouse of Dame Juanita, the front of which was occupied as a shop, with alittle parlor back of it, to which Isabella had access by passing out ofthe gate in the rear of her uncle's house, without going through thestreet. With all the glowing eloquence of young love, and hope, and confidence, Morton detailed to her the thousand and one schemes that his fertileimagination suggested; Isabella could see but one hideous feature inthem all--the dreadful fate that awaited him if unsuccessful. "Listen to me, " said he one day to her, as she had been urging to himthe terrible risk he encountered--for she seemed to have no eyes for thecertain immuring in a convent that awaited _her_--"listen to me, dearestIsabella; the ship is now nearly ready; she will sail in three or fourdays at farthest, and will sail at ten or eleven o'clock at night, totake advantage of the land-breeze. I will have my boat at the quay, andhorses here in town; in the dusk of evening, and with a little disguise, you will not be recognised; there is no guarda-costa here now, andbefore the sun rises we shall be out of sight of land, and beyond thereach of pursuit. " She made no reply, but sat pale as marble; the images of her kind andaffectionate aunt and cousins, and even of her much-feared but stillmuch-loved uncle, floated before her eyes, and seemed reproaching herwith unkindness and ingratitude; while, on the other hand, her fancypainted her the wife of the man she loved, and without whom she feltlife would be wretched: she saw herself surrounded by enlightened andpolished society, such as her sainted mother had graced before her; shesaw herself moving in a new sphere, and fulfilling new duties: thenimagination placed before her bewildered mind the sinfulness ofdeserting the station in which Heaven had placed her. She sighed deeplyas she almost determined to refuse, when a glimpse of her abhorredlover, Don Gregorio, caused a sudden and violent revulsion of feeling, and to Morton's repeated entreaties, "speak to me, dear Isabella; sayyes, love, " she at length murmured a scarcely audible or articulateconsent. The delighted seaman caught her in his arms, and pressed kissafter kiss upon the lips of the struggling, blushing girl. "Remember, love, " said he, as they parted, "be punctual here threenights hence. I will have horses ready at the end of the street, andbefore day dawns you shall be safe. " There was still one thing to be done, and that was to obtain the consentof Captain Hazard, who, though an excellent, kind-hearted man in themain, had some rather old-fashioned notions of propriety, especially inoutward form, and would, as Morton knew full well, have very seriousobjections to advance against such a mad scrape; but he trusted to thefondness of the good old seaman towards him, and his own upright andhonorable intentions, to overthrow all the veteran's scruples. CHAPTER VIII. On the morning of the day that the above arrangement was made by theparties concerned, Captain Hazard observed that Morton had despatchedhis breakfast very hastily, and was on deck, waiting for his boat's crewto finish their meal, long before the Captain and Mr. Coffin had shownany symptoms of pausing in their discussion of salt beef, coffee, andpilot bread. "What can be the matter with Mr. Morton lately?" said the old seaman tohis second officer; "he was never so fond of going ashore anywhere else, and now here he's off and into his boat, like a struck black-fish. " "Why, I some expect, " said Coffin, "there's a petticoat in the wind. " "The devil! who?" "Well, I rather guess it's that pretty blue-eyed, English-looking girl, that came on board with old Don Blow-me-down, when he first came inhere. " "Ah! I recollect her. I thought Morton seemed to take a shine to her. " "They say she's Don Strombolo's niece. " "They may tell that to the marines; she don't look no more like the reston 'em than the devil looks like a parson. " "I don't know" said Coffin gravely, "how the devil looks; but they sayhe can put on the appearance of an angel of light, and I don't see why'taint jist as easy for him to put on a black coat, and come the parsonover us poor sinners. " "Well, well; she's a sweet pretty girl, and looks kind o' as though shewasn't over and above in good spirits. " "Well, now; I some guess I know a little something about that. " "Why how the d---- did _you_ come to make yourself busy?" "Why, you see, there's an old woman keeps a _pulparia_[3] close to theold Don's rookery. " "Hum! so, Mr. Sam Coffin, when you're cruising for information, youoverhaul the women's papers first and foremost. " "Why you see, Captain Hazard, if you ask one of these men here a civilquestion, all you can get out of the critter is that d--d 'quien sabe, 'and blast the any thing else. " "Can sarvy! why that sounds like Chinaman's talk; what does it mean?" "It means 'who knows, ' and that's the way they answer pretty much allquestions. " "Well, what was't you was going to say about the girl?" "Well, the old woman told me the girl's mother was an Englishwoman. " "I told you she wasn't clear Spanish--and being a girl, so, why shetakes altogether after the mother. " "And the old woman said furdermore, that her mother wasn't a Catholic;she was a what-d'ye-call-'em. " "A Protestant, I s'pose you mean. " "Yes, yes, a Protestant--that's it. Well, you see, her mother did notdie till this girl, her darter, was nigh upon sixteen years old, andit's like the old lady eddicated her arter the same religion she wasbrought up in herself. " "Aye, now I begin to see into it all. " "Well, so you see, as nigh as I can make out, for the old woman wouldn'ttalk right out--only kept hinting along like. " "Hum! a woman generally can _hint_ a d--d sight more than when shespeaks right out. " "Well, so it seems this Isabella, being half English and wholeProtestant, won't exactly steer by their compass in religious matters. " "Poor girl! poor innocent little creature!" "Well, I got a talking 'long with the old woman, and, arter a good dealof trouble, I got hold of pretty much the whole history about this 'eregirl. So she told me, amongst other things, that the girl's unclewanted her to marry one of them officers that was aboard that day. " "Which of them?" "That thundering cockroach-legged thief, that was copper-fastened withgold lace and brass buttons chock up to his ears, with a thunderinggreat broadsword triced up to his larboard quarter and slung with brasschains. " "Ah! I recollect him. " "And so do I, blast his profile. He cut more capers than the third mateof a Guineaman over a dead nigger, and went skylarking about decks likea monkey in a china-shop. " "I took notice that he looked marline-spikes at Mr. Morton for paying somuch attention to the girl. " "Aye, that he did; but I worked him a traverse in middle latitude, sailing on that tack. I got him and the rest on 'em into the steerage, and Mr. Morton and the girl had a good half hour's discourse tothemselves in the cabin. " "I should be sorry to have Mr. Morton try to engage the poor girl'saffections; and if I thought he had any improper intentions towards her, I would go ashore immediately, and speak to the old governor about it. " "Well now, Captain Hazard, I guess there isn't no danger on that tack. Mr. Morton may go adrift now and then among the girls, and where's theman that doesn't? No, no; Charlie Morton isn't none of them sort thatwould gain a poor girl's affections only to ruin her. No no; he's toohonorable and noble-spirited for such a rascally action as that. " "Well, I am of your opinion. So now, Mr. Coffin, we'll set up ourfore-rigging for a full do; for we must sail Wednesday evening, right orwrong. " "Ay, ay, sir. " When Morton returned to the ship at night, he hastened to lay beforeCaptain Hazard the history of his love, and his plans for bringing it toa successful crisis, declaring that his intentions were strictlyhonorable, and that the lady might easily pass upon the crew as apassenger. The old seaman heard him to an end, as he urged his requestwith all the fervor of youthful eloquence and love; and, havingscratched his head for a while, as if to rouse himself, and be convincedthat he was awake, replied: "A queer sort of business this altogether, my son; I don't exactly knowwhat to make of it--what will your father say to your bringing home ayoung cow-whale, in addition to your share of the oil?" "Make yourself easy on that score, my dear sir; I know my father wishesto have me quit going to sea, and marry. " "Yes, but is not a wife, brought into your family in this way, liable tobe looked upon as a sort of contraband article--run goods like?" "I am not much afraid of that, on my father's part, " said Morton; "andif, " he continued, laughing, "if the grave old ladies of myacquaintance find fault, I can quiet them in a moment, by quoting theconduct of the tribe of Benjamin, in a similar situation, by way ofprecedent. " "Ah, Charlie! your scheme, I am afraid, is all top-hamper, and noballast; wont the enemy give chase? I am sure that Don--Don--what's hisname, that young officer, more than suspects your good standing in theyoung lady's affections: wont he alarm the coast, and put the old folksup to rowing guard round her, so that you can't communicate? Ay, that hewill. " "Trust me for that, sir; if I cannot weather upon any Spaniard that everwent unhanged, either Creole or old Castilian, I'll agree to go to themines for life. " "Don't be too rash, my dear boy; though the Spaniards are onlycourageous behind shot-proof walls, and when they number three to one, they are deceitful as well as cruel; and, if their suspicions are onceexcited, they will murder you at once, and her too, poor girl! and thinkthey are doing God service, because you are both Protestants. " "I can only repeat, trust to my prudence and management; I have too muchat stake to hazard it lightly. " "Then remember, Charles, we sail Wednesday evening: it will bestar-light, but not too dark to see your way. I will defer sailing tilleleven o'clock, if that will suit your schemes. " "It will exactly; or if you sail the moment I return, so much thebetter. " With these words, they separated--Morton, overjoyed at the completion ofhis preliminary arrangements, all night, like Peter Pindar's dog, "lay winking, And couldn't sleep for thinking. " The appointed day at length arrived; but the destinies, who had hithertospun the thread of the two lovers' fate as smooth and even as awhale-line yarn, now began to fill it full of _kinks_. Well did theancients represent them as three haggard, blear-eyed, wrinkled, spiteful, old maids, who would not allow any poor mortal to live or diecomfortably, and who took a malicious pleasure in disturbing "the courseof true love. " The inexorable Atropos brandished her scissors, and atone snip severed the thread asunder. Daring the night there had been a tremendous thunder-squall, and themorning showed huge "double-headed" clouds, mustering in different partsof the horizon, and, apparently, waiting some signal to bid themcommence operations; others, dark and suspicious looking, but of a lessdense consistence, were seen scampering across the firmament in alldirections, like aids-de-camp before a general engagement; theland-breeze had been interrupted by the night-squall, and the wind, whatlittle there was, blew from every point of the compass but the usualone; the shags, that tenanted the top of Pedro Blanco, seemed unusuallybusy, as if anticipating a change of weather; and, in short, every thingannounced that the delightful, salubrious, dry season had come to anend, and the empire of continual rain, and drizzle, and cloud, and mud, and putrid fevers, and rheumatism, and every thing disagreeable, hadcommenced. Still the day was delightful after ten o'clock, and theweather as clear as ever. Morton had seen these indications of the approach of wet weather with nosmall anxiety; he knew full well that the governor and his family wouldpass the rainy season at Tepic, a city about ninety miles from thecoast, or at some of the other large towns, in the more elevated andhealthy regions inland. With Captain Hazard's permission, he hastened tothe town, and to Juanita's house, but Isabella was not to be seen. Afterwaiting for some time, a little girl brought him a short note, simplysaying that she would see him in the evening, but could not before. Withthis promise he was obliged to content himself, and rode slowly back tothe Porte. He was punctually on shore again at sunset, and once morehastened to town, having hired another horse, and directed his boat'screw not to go away from the quay. Having secured his horses at acertain place near the zig-zag descent towards the harbor alreadymentioned, he passed into the plaza, and was struck with consternationand despair, at seeing assembled before Don Gaspar's door, horses andmules in abundance, caparisoned for a journey. In fact, there wasindisputable proof that the family were, in military parlance, on theroute. He hastened to the good dame Juanita's, and, in a few minutes, Isabellaentered the room, and, throwing off, in her distress, all unnecessaryreserve, threw herself weeping into his arms. "All is over, dear Charles, all is lost--I set out to-night for Tepic, and we shall never meet again but in heaven. " "All is _not_ lost, my own Isabella; every thing is in readiness--flythen with me--while your family are in confusion you will notimmediately be missed, and, before an hour passes, you shall be safe onboard. " "No, no; I dare not, I cannot. " To all his entreaties she seemed deaf, positively refusing to consent toescape with him; but whether from fear of being overtaken, or frommaidenly timidity, it would be, perhaps, difficult to decide. At last, Morton, who was nearly beside himself with disappointment and vexation, relapsed into a short and stupified silence. "Isabella, " said he, at length, and with composure that startled her, "reflect for one moment upon your situation; you know your uncle'stemper; you know he is not a man that will easily give up any of hisplans--this is your only chance for escape from the fate you dread; donot then reject it. " She only answered with tears, and continued to repeat, as ifmechanically, "I dare not; no, no, I cannot. " Morton was silent a fewmoments, when a sudden ray of hope enlivened his gloomy reverie. "Hear me, dearest; there is one, and only one, chance left yet. If youruncle urges you to marry, entreat him for one year's delay. Before thattime expires, I trust to be here again. Vessels are constantly fittingout from the United States to this part of the world--if such a thingcan be effected by mere human agency, I will be on board one of them, ifnot, I both can and will purchase and fit out a vessel myself. Promiseme then, my love, that you will use all possible means to defer anymatrimonial schemes your uncle may form for at least two years. But Itrust, if my life and health are spared, that, before half that time hasexpired, I shall be here, to claim your first promise. " "I will, I will, dear Charles; I will not deceive you. I know my uncleloves me, and will grant me that delay. And now we must part; I shall bemissed, and I dare not stay a moment longer. For heaven's sake, keep outof sight of--you can guess who I mean. " A parting scene between two lovers had always better be left to theimagination of the readers; because the author, unless he is gifted withthe power of a Scott, a James, an Edgeworth, or a Sedgwick, is sure todisappoint the reader, and himself besides. My reader must thereforedraw the picture, and color it, to his or her own peculiar taste, andfancy an interchange of kisses, locks of hair, rings, crooked sixpences, garters, or any thing else that constitutes circulating medium or_stock_ in Love's exchange market. The Orion had dropped out to the roads, and, with her anchor a shortstay-peak, her topsails sheeted home but not hoisted, and her whole crewon deck, waited only for her first officer. Between nine and ten o'clockthe sound of approaching oars was heard, but in a moment the practisedears of Captain Hazard and his second officer perceived that theadvancing boat pulled very leisurely. "Poor Charlie is coming off empty-handed, " said Coffin. "Yes, I was afraid the bird had flown, or the enemy was alarmed. I amsorry for it from my very heart, for he will be low spirited all thepassage home. " "Well, I aint so sure about that--I've always found salt water a sartaincure for love. " "I dare say you have, Mr. Coffin; but love is like strong grog, itoperates differently upon different constitutions and dispositions. " "Well, I s'pose that's pretty nigh the case. A good, stiff glass ofgrog, in a cold, rainy night, makes me feel as bright as a new dollarfor a while, but then it soon passes off. " "I am afraid poor Morton's love is too deep-seated to be worked off bysalt water or absence. But here comes the boat--hail her, Mr. Coffin. " "Boat ahoy!" "O-ri-on. " "Are you alone, Mr. Morton?" said the captain in a low voice, as thatgentleman came over the side. "Yes, sir, but not without hopes another time. " The two officers then descended to the cabin, and Morton explained thecause of his failure, and expressed his determination to make anotherattempt as soon as possible after his arrival in New England. CaptainHazard insisted upon his turning in immediately, to recover from thefatigue and anxiety he had undergone during the day, and to hisremonstrances laughingly observed that he was not in a proper state ofmind to be trusted with the charge of a night-watch, and that Robinson, the oldest boat-steerer, should take his place. Coffin earnestlyrecommended a glass of hot punch, as "composing to the nerves;" but thepatient declined, though he permitted Captain Hazard to qualify atumbler of warm wine and water with thirty drops of laudanum. The topsails were now hoisted aloft, the topgallant-sails set, and theanchor weighed; and, with a fresh breeze off the land, the first officersound asleep and dreaming of "the girl he left behind him, " a press ofsail, and the starboard watch under the charge of Mr. Coffin, spinningtough yarns on the forecastle and calculating the probable amount oftheir voyage, the stout Orion left the Bay of St. Blas at the rate ofeleven geographical miles per hour. [Footnote 3: Pulparia, a small shop, generally pronounced_pulparee_. --_Diabolus Typographicus. _] CHAPTER VIII. _Alexander. _--They say he is a very man _per se_, And stands alone. _Cressida. _--So do all men, unless they are drunk, sick, or have no legs. TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. Charles Morton, whom we have somewhat abruptly introduced to ourreaders, and exhibited for two or three chapters, without muchexplanation, was the only surviving child of a wealthy merchant in oneof the sea-ports in the southern part of Massachusetts. He had receiveda liberal education, as a collegiate course of studies is at present, and in many instances most absurdly, called. Morton could, however, laya just claim to be called liberally educated. He went to college withoutcontemplating to pursue either of the three learned professions, butmerely to acquire a more intimate acquaintance with the classics, history, belles lettres, and mathematics, than it was then supposed hecould obtain elsewhere. People begin to think differently at the presentperiod, and have a faint sort of notion that a boy can become qualifiedfor the every day duties of life, or for practice in the threeprofessions, without having received a diploma from a college, exclusively controlled in all its attitudes and relations by oneparticular sect of religion, or passing four years of "toil and trouble"in another university, where he is kept wallowing and smothering in thedarkness of metaphysics or the more abstruse and _higher_! branches ofmathematics; both sciences as utterly useless to him in any situation oflife as a knowledge of the precise language that the devil tempted Evein, and which some ecclesiastical writers have laboured to prove wasHigh Dutch. I have been several times to different parts of the EastIndies, and on more than one voyage have kept a reckoning out and home, assisted in taking lunar observations and those for determining the timeand variation of the compass, and without knowing any more of algebra, fluxions, or conic sections, than a dog knows about his father. After Morton had had the sacred A. B. "tailed on" to his name at a grandsanhedrim of solemn blacked-gowned fools, sagely called a_commencement_, because a youngster there _finishes_ his studies, hefelt a strong desire to visit "the round world and them that dwelltherein, " and, like many New England youth, not only then but within myown observation and time, and before the signature of the august"præses" was dry on his sheep-skin diploma, was entered as an undergraduate in a college of a somewhat different description--theforecastle of a large brig bound on a trading voyage up theMediterranean--a school not one whit inferior to old Harvard itself formorality, and one where a man, with his eyes and ears open, mightacquire information fifty times more valuable than any that could bedrilled into him at any learned seminary whatever--a knowledge, namely, of the world and of human nature. This habit, if it can be called one, of exchanging the quiet of acollege room for the bustle and privations of a sea-life, is not near soprevalent now as it was several years since; and yet I have known manyinstances, and have repeatedly met, in merchantmen and men of war, menwho have received a collegiate education, and have known one case, onboard of an English line-of-battle ship, the Superb, of a dissentingminister, a foretopman, who could clear away a foul topsail-clewline, orexplain an obscure passage in Scripture, with equal facility andaddress, and was both a smart seaman and a smart preacher: "As some rats, of amphibious nature, Are either for the land or water. " It is a pity our professional men do not travel more, especiallyclergymen, who, though generally learned men, are not deep in theknowledge of their own species. Of course I do not apply this remark tothe Methodist clergy; as their vagabond life makes them but too wellacquainted with the weaknesses of one portion of the human race, whilethe alarming and arbitrary dominion they thereby acquire over the minds, bodies, and estates of both sexes, is beautifully illustrated in thetrial, not many years since, of a reverend gentleman of oil of tansyand hay-stack celebrity. Morton's first voyage was rather a long one, but it introduced him tothe most interesting portion of the world, the nations bordering uponthe Mediterranean, while his knowledge of the Latin language was of nosmall advantage to him in acquiring a knowledge of the Spanish andItalian--an advantage that he certainly did not think of, when he wasplodding through Virgil and Horace, Cicero and Tacitus. He returned fromhis first voyage a thorough practical seaman, and more than tolerablyacquainted with European languages. He rose in his profession, and mightat the time we introduced him have commanded a ship; but a sudden desireto go at least one whaling voyage seized him, and a whaling heaccordingly went. In person Morton was above the middling height, someinches above it, in short he had attained the altitude of five feeteight inches--my own height to a fraction. Like most young men born inNew England, and who choose a seafaring life, his frame had acquired arobustness and solidity, his countenance a healthy brown, his chest adepth, and his shoulders a breadth, that are each and allconsidered--and with justice--by the present generation, as irrefragableproofs and marks of vulgarity. But folks thought otherwise thirty yearssince, and, however incredible it may appear, there are actually now inexistence a great many painters, sculptors, anatomists, and perhaps asmany as a dozen women, who persist in thinking that a human being looksmuch better as God made him, after his own image, than as the tailormakes him, after no image in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, orin the waters under the earth. Forty years since, ladies did not bytight lacing crush and obliterate all symptoms of fulness in the frontof the bust, nor did gentlemen stuff and pad their clothes till theyresemble so many wet-nurses in coats and breeches. It was the established rule with novel-writers, and that until verylately, to represent their heroes as tall grenadier-looking fellows, never _under_ six feet, and as much above as they dared to go, and keepwithin credible bounds. "Tall and slightly but elegantly formed, " wasthe only approved recipe for making a hero. So that a black snakewalking erect upon his tail, provided he had two of them, or anold-fashioned pair of kitchen tongs, with a face hammered out upon theknob by the blacksmith, would convey a tolerably correct idea of theproportions of the Beverleys, and Mortimers, and Hargraves, of a certainclass of novels. Sir Walter Scott, Mr. James, and most of the bestwriters, have disbanded this formidable regiment of thread-paper giants, and we now see courage, manly beauty, talents, wit, and eloquence, reduced to a peace-establishment size, instead of those long-splicescoundrels, that used to go striding about our imaginations, like Jackthe giant-killer in his seven-league boots, kicking the shins andtreading on the toes of every common sized idea that came in their way. It was also considered indispensably necessary, that the heroine shouldbe "as long as the moral law, " and accordingly we heard of nothing but"her tall and graceful figure, " "her majestic and commanding height, "&c. &c. Let those who prefer tall women take them; for my part, I wishto have nothing to say to such Anakim in petticoats: conceive theembarrassment and confusion of a common sized bridegroom compelled, before a room-full of company, to request his Titan of a bride to beseated, that he might greet her with the holy kiss of wedded love! Onthe other hand, it was by no means unusual to represent the heroine as amere pigmy; so that the lovers whose destinies we were interested in, might be represented by the following lines from an old sea-song, which, for the benefit of musical readers I beg leave to observe, is generally"said or sung" to the tune of "The Bold Dragoons:" "He looked like a pole-topgallant-mast, She like a holy-stone. " Thank Heaven! the taste for this species of writing has "had its day, "and we have something better in the place of it. Bulwer has indeed triedvery hard to compel the public to admire murderers and highwaymen, andour own dear, darling Cooper, the American Walter Scott, has held up foradmiration and imitation sundry cut-throats, hangmen, pirates, thieves, squatters, and other scoundrels of different degrees, showing hispartiality and fellow-feeling for the kennel; and, if he had not atlast, as we say at sea, "blown his blast, and given the devil his horn, "would have managed to set the whole female portion of theromance-reading community to whimpering and blowing their noses over thesorrows of Tardee and Gibbs--the wholesale pirates and murderers, theloves of Mina--the poisoner, the _trials_ of Malbone Briggs--thecounterfeiter, or the buffetings in the flesh that Satan was permittedto bestow upon the old Adam of that god-fearing saint, Ephraim K. Avery. The hero of a novel of the by-gone class was always and _ex officio_ aduellist; and though the best English writers err against morality andreligion in following this absurd track, it may be urged in extenuationof their offence, that duelling is generally considered in Europe aspart of a gentleman's education and accomplishments, and in this countryto refuse a challenge brands a man with everlasting infamy, though thecrime is held in the most profound speculative abhorrence, and everystate has a whole host of theoretical punishments, never inflicted, forthe violation of its equally theoretical laws, that are daily evaded, outquibbled, or broken, with impunity. Morton's countenance we have taken the liberty to describe elsewhere. His disposition was naturally cheerful and mild, his temper even, andnot easily provoked. Although somewhat inclined to taciturnity, yetwhen drawn out to converse upon any subject he was acquainted with, hewas naturally fluent, and in his language pure and correct. He was auniversal favorite with the youth of both sexes in his native town, and, during the intervals between his voyages, was always in demand when aThanksgiving ball was contemplated, or a sleigh-ride, or a "frolic, " asall such parties of pleasure were and still are called in New England. At sea he was always beloved, by both officers and seamen, for hisnautical skill and good-nature. Notwithstanding the confinement that hisduties made unavoidable, he had managed to make himself acquainted withmen and manners, and, during the many leisure hours that those engagedin the whale-fishery always find, he had amused himself withdrawing--for which he possessed a natural talent, reading, and keeping asort of memorandum of different occurrences and his reflections upon thehabits of the different nations he visited, --and was, in short, one ofthose somewhat rare but still existing prodigies, a well educated, wellinformed gentleman with a hard hand and short jacket, many individualsof which nearly extinct species of animals I have had the singular goodfortune to fall in with during my voyage through life. CHAPTER IX. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo--without his roe, like a dried herring. O flesh, flesh! how art thou fishified! ROMEO AND JULIET. Upon his return to his dear native town, Morton was received by hisfather with his usual quiet affection; for old Mr. Morton was one ofthat nearly obsolete school of parents, husbands, and members ofsociety, that do not think their duties in either relation require anysounding of trumpets, and who are of opinion that those who feel mostdeeply and sincerely religion, Christian charity, or human affections, are generally people who seldom make any parade of either. This sectseems to be very nearly extinct, or at least their leading principles, Ihave been told, are exploded from the creeds of modern saints; but as myacquaintance with modern saints is, thank God, very limited, I cannotvouch for the fact. It was not long after Morton's return, when the young people of his ownage and standing began to perceive an alteration in his manners, andthat he, who was a leader in their gay parties, was now a moping, stupid, silent, dull creature, without any of his former animation andgaiety. The young ladies took it for granted that he was in love; andas it was evident that he was not in love with any of them, why ofcourse some nymph in the Pacific had stolen his heart; and as, moreover, they had no idea of the existence in that remote and unknown quarter ofcreation of any females more fascinating than the amphibious andlascivious damsels of the Sandwich Islands, (to convert whom from theerror of their ways, more missionaries have been sent out, orvolunteered their services, than to all the rest of the "poor ignorantheathen" put together, ) or the ladies of the North West Coast, who smelltoo strong of train-oil to comprehend the truths of Christianity, orrather of Calvanism, which is altogether another affair, and who are inconsequence left in their original and antediluvian darkness. Impressed with this idea, and feeling both grieved and mortified that soexcellent a young gentleman as Charles Morton should give himself up tosuch an absurd and, in their estimation, unnatural passion, the youngladies of New Bedford determined to tease him out of it; much upon thesame principle as the Roman emperors endeavored to suppress theChristian religion by exposing its professors to wild beasts: the wildbeasts grew fat upon Christians, and Christianity grew fat and strongupon persecution. Perhaps if the diademed tyrants had treated it withindifference, the effects would have been otherwise. Whenever poor Morton was met in company, he was always the object ofridicule to these lively and well-meaning young ladies. "Pray, Charles, do tell us something about this lady-love of yours;what's her complexion?" "How much train-oil does she drink in the course of a day?" saidanother. "Or how much raw shark serves her for a meal?" asked a third. "Does she wear a spritsail-yard through the gristle of her nose?" said afourth. "Or a brass ring in her under lip?" said a fifth. "Is she tattooed on both cheeks, or only on one?" said a sixth. Such was the peculiar style of banter to which he was sure to besubjected, whenever he went into company; and in a short time heabstained from visits, and devoted his time to perfecting himself in hisnautical studies, and making diligent inquiries after vessels boundround Cape Horn. If ever you noticed it, madam, a man in love does notrelish jokes at the expense of his idol. "Ne lude cum sacris, "ecclesiastically rendered, signifies, do not make fun of the clergy; butamong lovers it means, do not speak of my love with levity or contempt. I remember when I was in love for the third or fourth time--I was thenstudying trigonometry and navigation--my passion being unable to expenditself in sonnets to my mistress's eyebrow, I gave way to geometricalflights of fancy, and took the altitude of every apple-tree andwell-pole in the neighborhood, and made my advances to _her_ upon theprinciples of traverse sailing. Nor was old Mr. Morton unconscious of the great alteration in his son'sbehaviour while at home, so unlike any thing he had ever observed beforein him, and he saw the change with no small pain. "The poor boy cannot have fallen in love, " said the senior to himself;"there is nothing more amiable than a copper-colored squaw, beyond CapeHorn. " One Saturday evening, the old man, being comfortably installed in hisleather-cushioned arm-chair, with his pipe and pitcher of cider (formerchants, forty years since, drank cider at a dollar the barrel, instead of London particular Madeira at five dollars the gallon, and theconsequences were--no matter what), commenced the conversation: "Ahem! well, Charles, my son, do you intend going to sea again, or wouldyou prefer commencing business ashore? You are now at the age when mostyoung men think of settling down for life. Let's see--you arefive-and-twenty, are you not?" "Five-and-twenty next month, father. " "Aye, true; well, it's strange, now I can never recollect your agewithout looking into the bible there. I recollect, now, it was so stormythat we did not dare to carry you to the meeting-house, and so ParsonFales christened you in this very room. " "I wish, " said Charles, speaking with difficulty, "I wish, my dear sir, to make one more voyage round the Cape as soon as possible, and then Idon't care if I never see a ship again. " "Well, that's strange enough; why, what have you seen in that part ofthe world so very enticing?" "Enticing, indeed!" said the young man, springing from his chair, andhurrying across the room in agitation; "something that I must possess, or die!" "Why, what a plague--why, what's got into the boy?" said the oldgentleman, dashing down his pipe; "you haven't got be-devilled afterthose island girls, like a young fellow that I knew from Boston, who gotso bewitched after the copper-skinned, amphibious jades, that his fatherwas finally obliged to locate him there, as a sort of agent. " "O! no, no, no! she is as white as my own mother, well born, welleducated, and a Protestant, " said the son, hurrying his words upon eachother; for he felt that the ice was broken, and saw the old gentleman'scountenance lengthening fast; "oh, father, if you could but see her--ifyou but knew her--" "Hum, " quoth pa, "I dare say that sixty and twenty-five would agree to acharm on such a subject; but pray, how the deuce came this well born, well educated, white, protestant damsel in the Pacific, where the devilhimself would never dream of looking for such a phenomenon?" "It is a long story, " said Charles. "If that's the case, " said the senior Mr. Morton, "you had better stepdown cellar, and draw another mug of cider. " So saying, he replenished his pipe, and disposed himself in an attitudeof calm resignation. As our readers are already acquainted with thehistory of the rise and progress of young Morton's love, we shall say nomore of his narrative than that towards the close of it, his father wassurprised out of his gravity, and ejaculated the word "d--nation!" withgreat emphasis, at the same time, flinging his pipe into the fire, andexclaiming by way of sermon to his short and pithy text, "Why the d--l didn't you bring her with you, you foolish boy?Why, you have no more spunk than a hooked cod-fish! You'llnever see her again, if you make fifty voyages round the cape;she's in a nunnery by this time, or, what is more likely, married to that Don What-d'ye-call-him. " Charles could only repeat his conviction that neither event had takenplace, and his firm reliance upon Isabella's constancy. "Fiddle-de-dee! A woman's constancy! I would as soon take Continentalmoney at par!" was his father's reply. Their conversation on this interesting topic was protracted to a latehour, when they retired, the old gentleman to--sleep as sound as usual, and Charles to yield himself most unreservedly to the illusions ofsanguine, youthful hope and love--that love that one never has _very_severely but once in his life; for love is like a squall at sea; theinexperienced landsman sees nothing alarming in the aspect of theheavens, and is both astonished and vexed at the bustle and hurry, the"thunder of the captain and the shouting;" but when it comes "butt-eendforemost, " he suffers a thousand times more from his fears than theoldest sailors. After one has become acquainted with the disorder, hecan distinguish its premonitory symptoms, and crush it in the bud, orlet it run on to a matrimonial crisis. For my own part, I can alwaysascertain, at its first accession, whether it is about to assume achronic form, or pass off with a few acute attacks. CHAPTER X O for a horse with wings! CYMBELINE. Morton's low spirits and anxiety, on his return home, arose entirelyfrom his having ascertained that there was no vessel then fitting outfor the Pacific, except whalemen; and as their route always depends uponcircumstances, and can never be calculated beforehand with any degree ofcertainty, he declined several advantageous offers in them. A few daysafter the eclaircissement with his father, he learned to hisinexpressible joy, that there was a ship fitting out at Salem for whatwas in those days somewhat facetiously denominated a "trading voyage;"that is, an exclusively smuggling one. To Salem, then, he hastened, furnished with most ample and satisfactoryletters of introduction and recommendation. He waited upon the owners ofthe ship, and was by them referred to Captain Slowly, then on board. Atthe very first glimpse of this gentleman, he felt convinced that therewas no chance for a situation on board. Captain Slowly was one of thosemahogany-faced, moderate, slow-moving, slow-speaking, slow-eatingpeople, that one occasionally meets with in New England, who are thevery reverse of Yankee inquisitiveness, and never answer the mostordinary question, not even "What o'clock is it?" in less than half anhour; men who, in short, as they never ask any questions themselves, think it not worth their while to answer any. We have been several timeshorrified by such people, and our fingers have always itched to knockthem down. "Good morning, Captain Slowly, " said our friend Morton. The captain, hearing himself addressed, went on very deliberately withthe examination of a jib-sheet block that he held in his hand, turningit over and over, and spinning the sheave round with his finger, muchafter the manner of a monkey, with any object he does notunderstand--as, for instance, a nut that he cannot crack--and at lastreplied, "Morning. " "I understand, " said Morton, almost mad with impatience, "that you arein want of a first officer; or at least, so says Mr. ----. " Captain Slowly, having cast the stops off a coil of running rigging, themain-top-gallant clewline, that lay at his feet, and fathomed it fromone end to the other, examining all the chafed places with greatattention, answered with, "Was you wanting to go out in the ship?" "Yes sir, " said Morton, who saw what kind of a dead-and-alive animal hehad to deal with, and was determined to have an answer from him, if hebeat it out with his fists; and though his heart revolted at the barethoughts of passing at least a year in the same ship with such a stupidcreature, yet it seemed to be his only chance for reaching the coast ofMexico in season; "yes sir, and the owners have directed me to you; theyknow that I am very desirous of going out in the ship, and they approvevery much of my recommendations and certificates. My name is CharlesMorton; I am the son of old General Jonathan Morton, of New Bedford; Iwas out last voyage with Captain Isaiah Hazard, of Nantucket, in thewhaling ship Orion; I am perfectly well acquainted with the west coastof South America, from Baldivia to St. Joseph, and up the Gulf ofCalifornia; I am about five-and-twenty years of age, and have been threevoyages as mate of a vessel; for further particulars, I beg leave torefer you to the papers in my pockets; I am somewhat in a hurry, andshould feel very much obliged if you would let me have your answer asspeedily as possible. " Captain Slowly, who had never heard an oration of one quarter part thelength addressed to himself before, seemed for a few minutes completelybewildered. At last, after drawing a prodigious long breath, heejaculated, "Well, I declare, I never. " Morton, having waited a reasonable time to give the man a chance torecover his scattered faculties, at last asked, "Well, Captain Slowly, what do you think of it? shall we make a bargain?" The captain was now completely startled out of his half existent state, and began to talk and act like a man of middle earth; that is, he beganto ask questions. "Well, let's see; you say you was 'long of old Captain Isaiah Hazard?" "Yes; are you acquainted with him?" "I've heard tell on him. Let's see, where do you belong?" "To New Bedford; are you much acquainted down that way?" "Some. " "Perhaps, then, you may know my father, old General Morton?" "I've heard tell on him"----A pause, during which Captain Slowly took afresh chew of tobacco, and Morton looked at his watch with greatimpatience----"Well, let's see; what kind of a time did you have on't'long with old Captain Hazard?" "Very good. " "Make a pretty good v'y'ge?" "Middling: thirty-two hundred barrels. " "Well, I declare"--another pause--"well, let's see. Calculate to goround that way again?" "Yes; and that's what I have called to see you about: the owners approveof me, and have sent me down to you, and I wish you would give me ananswer. " "Well, I expect I'm supplied with both my officers. " "I thought that was what you was coming to. Good morning, sir. " "Won't you step down below, and take a little so'thing?" "No, I thank you;" and Morton walked away, cursing him by all his gods. After satisfying himself that there was no chance for him in Salem, hereturned to Boston. Lounging about the wharves the next day, he wasattracted towards a fine, large, new ship that was setting up her lowerrigging. He drew near, to examine her more closely. Her guns were lyingon the wharf, as were also her boats and spare spars. From the number ofmen employed, and the activity with which their operations were carriedon, it was evident that the ship was to be off as soon as possible. Morton stepped on her deck: an elderly man, with a fine, open, manlycountenance, expressive of great kindness of disposition and goodness ofheart, was superintending the duty. Morton was about to address him, thinking to himself, "This is no Captain Slowly, " when the senior gavehim a nod, accompanied by that peculiar half audible greeting thatpasses between two strangers. "You have a noble ship here, sir, " said Charles, by way of starting theconversation. "Yes, she is--so, nipper all that; Mr. Walker, you're getting thatmainmast all over to starboard--yes, yes; she's a fine ship, that'scertain. Your countenance seems familiar to me, and yet I can't tellwhere 'tis I've seen you. " "I belong to New Bedford; my name is Morton. " "Morton! what, old Jonathan Morton's son?" "The same, sir. " "Why, d--n it, man, your father and I were old schoolfellows--and areyou old Jonathan Morton's son?" "Yes, sir; I have followed the sea ever since I left college, and am nowlooking for a voyage. " "Well, perhaps we can suit you; times are pretty brisk just now, and youwill not be obliged to look long or far--and are you Jonathan Morton'sson?" After a short explanatory conversation, a bargain was made. "And when will you be ready to commence duty?" "I am ready this moment, " was the answer of the impetuous young man. "No you are not. Don't be in too big a hurry; take your own time;" andthey parted, mutually pleased with each other; Morton treading upon air, and very much disposed to build castles and other edifices in thatunquiet element. Reader, if thou art a sailor, thou canst understand and appreciate thepleasure mixed with pain that fills and agitates the heart when thouhast unexpectedly obtained a voyage to thy liking. It is then that ideascome thick and fast into the mind, treading upon each other's heels, and climbing over one another's shoulders; the parting with much-lovedfriends; the anticipated delights of the voyage, seen through thatbewitching, multiplying, magnifying glass, the imagination; the prideand delight that fills a seaman's breast as his eyes run over thebeautiful proportions and lofty spars of his future home; all thesefeelings are worth, while they last, an imperial crown. But soon comesthe reality, like Beatrice's "Repentance with his bad legs:" badprovisions, bad water, and not half enough of either; ignorant andtyrannical officers; a leaky, bad-steering, dull-sailing ship; thevexatious and harrassing duty of a merchantman, where the men aredeprived of sufficient sleep, for fear that they should "earn theirwages in idleness, " and of a sufficient supply of wholesome food, lestthey should "grow fat and lazy. " Such is the theory and practice of mostNew-England merchants: it was different forty years since, and theoutfit of the good ship Albatross had an eye to the comforts of the crewas well as the profits of the owners; for merchants then thought thatthe two were inseparable--the march of intellect has proved the reverse. Although, as I have already taken occasion to observe, Fortune ispeculiarly hostile to lovers, yet she is sometimes "a good wench, " andso she proved herself, at least for a time. The passage of the Albatrossfrom the cradle of liberty and aristocracy to Valparaiso was unusuallyshort, considering that vessels outward bound at that period made aregular practice of stopping at Rio Janeiro, whether in want of suppliesor not. She was singularly fortunate, likewise, in crossing the "horselatitudes, " not being becalmed there much over a week, a period hardlylong enough to call into proper exercise the Christian virtues ofpatience and resignation. Her passage into the Pacific was shortened by another fortunatecircumstance: Captain Williams was an adventurous as well as a skillfulseaman, and having a steady breeze from the north-east, he ran boldlythrough the Straits of Le Maire, and thus shortened his passage perhapsby a month; for ships have been known to be four months off Cape Hornbeating to the westward, and after all obliged to bear up and run forBuenos Ayres for supplies. CHAPTER XI. Behold The strong-ribb'd bark through liquid mountains cut, Bounding between the two moist elements, Like Perseus' horse. TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. It was on a fine Sunday morning, in the month of December, 179-, thatthe oblique beams of the sun were reflected back by the snow whitecanvass of a stately ship of about six hundred tons, that with a fairwind, a good breeze, and all sail set, was steadily pursuing her course, somewhat east of north. She was in, or about, the latitude of eighteennorth, and one hundred and fifteen degrees west of Greenwich;consequently, she was in the Pacific Ocean, and not far from the westcoast of Mexico. The north-east trade-wind, which is generally almostdue east, was sufficiently _free_ to allow her to carry her starboardstudding-sails, under which she flew gracefully and swiftly on herappointed course. The weather, as usual within the limits of either trade-wind, wasextremely beautiful and mild; the heat, that on shore in the samelatitude would have been excessive, was moderated by the refreshingbreeze. Indeed, it has never been my lot to find such lovely weather inany other part of this round world, as we meet with through the wholecourse of the trade winds. The long, regular swell, so peculiar to thatpart of the ocean, gave the noble ship a peculiarly easy, rollingmotion, extremely grateful to a seaman, as the regularity and length ofthe swell is a certain indication of a continuance of good weather. Asshe lifted her huge bows above the foaming, sparkling wave, her brightcopper, polished by dashing so long and so fast through the water, flashed in the sunbeams like burnished gold; at the same time, hertemporary and partial elevation above the surface, revealed a sharpnessof model below the water's edge, that at once accounted for the gracefuland majestic swiftness of her motion. The whiteness of her canvass, andher bright-varnished sides, sufficiently indicated her to be a Yankee, without the trouble of hoisting the "gridiron. " Her stern "flared" a great deal; that is, its outline formed a veryacute angle with the horizon, which was the fashion of building shipsforty years since. It was ornamented with a great profusion of carvedwork, some of which was hieroglyphical, to a degree that would havepuzzled Champollion; but over the centre were two figures in bas-relief, that could not well be mistaken, inasmuch as the sword and scalesplainly indicated that the one on the starboard side was Justice, whilethe cap on the point of a lance "seemed to fructify" that her companionwas no other than Miss Liberty. Liberty goes bare-headed now--our rulers, wisely reflecting that she isupwards of fifty years old, and has arrived at years of discretion, haveordered her to leave off her child's cap. There are among us those whothink that the stripping will go further, and that, in a short time, shewill be as bare as Eve. The noses of both goddesses had been knocked off shortly after theycondescended to mount guard on the stern of the good ship Albatross, inconsequence of coming into frequent collision with the gunwale of thejolly-boat, as she ascended and descended to and from her station at thestern davits. At her quarter davits, on each side, hung one of thoselight, swift, and somewhat singularly shaped boats, called whale-boats. Eight iron nine-pounders on each side, thrust their black muzzlesthrough their respective ports, and gave her, in spite of herbright-varnished sides, a warlike appearance. The upper part of her cut-water was fashioned into a scroll, like thevolute of an Ionic pillar, forming what is called, by naval architects, a "billet head;" and which, for its neatness and beauty, is verygenerally adopted, both in national vessels and merchantmen. Nor was thebow without its share of hieroglyphics; on one side were displayed abee-hive, a bale of cotton, and a crate of crockery; and on the other, aglobe, an anchor, a quadrant, and a chart partly unrolled. Her royals were set flying, a technicality that I shall not attempt toexplain; she had no flying-jib, nor any of those pipe-stem spars thatare got aloft only in port, to make a ship look more like the devil thanshe otherwise would, and are always sent down and stored away when shegoes to sea. Ships, forty years since, carried no spars aloft but suchas were stout enough to carry sail upon, in fair weather orfoul--sliding-gunter sky-sail masts, and other useless sticks, were asmuch unknown to ship-builders and riggers, as railroads and steam-boats. Sitting upon the weather hen-coop, attached to the companion, or entranceto the cabin, with spectacles on nose, and a well-worn bible on hisknees, sat an elderly man, the commander of the ship. He was tall, andvery strongly built; long exposure to the weather, in every variety ofclimate, had bronzed his countenance, and given him an older look thanhis real years would have done under other circumstances; but at thesame time, long exposure to the weather had hardened his frame, andstrengthened his constitution, points of some importance forty yearssince; so that his chances for a long life were much better than thoseof a man of forty, especially one of modern date, who had never allowed"the winds of heaven to visit his face too roughly. " His age was, inshort, about sixty. His countenance, notwithstanding the rude andungenteel manner with which the winds and the weather had treated it, was indicative of much good-nature and benevolence of disposition. Heraised his head from time to time, looked aloft at the sails, occasionally addressed a word or two to the mate of the watch, who waswalking fore and aft the quarter-deck, and then resumed his reading. In the weather mizen-shrouds was a remarkably handsome young man, offour or five and twenty, busily engaged in hanging out to air his"go-ashore" clothes; a very common Sunday morning occupation at sea, when the weather is fine. Apparently the sight of his gay garments hadcalled up a train of ideas of a very varied and checkered hue, to judgefrom the different expressions that flitted across his fine manlycountenance, at one moment shaded with anxiety and doubt, at anotherbright with hope and joy. In height he was about five feet eight or nineinches, strongly and compactly built, but far too stout and athletic, too broad-shouldered and thin-flanked, to pass muster as an exquisite inBroadway; as his form, though anatomically perfect, a model for astatuary, and considered very fine by the ladies of his acquaintanceforty years since, would be altogether out of date at the present day. His countenance, of an oval form, and shaded by rich, curling, chesnuthair, from exposure to the weather, had acquired that healthy brownthat ladies do not dislike in a young man's face, though they carefullyeschew any thing that will in reality or imagination produce it in theirown lovely physiognomies. It may be a mere old bachelor's whim of mine, but it always has appearedto me that ladies who have had the advantage of mixing much in society, and seeing something of human nature, are _not_ peculiarly partial tothat effeminate fairness of complexion that many fashionable gentlemenare so careful to preserve, when they have it by nature, or, when naturehas been unkind, to obtain by artificial means; so that Dogberry'saxiom, that "to be a well-favored man is the gift of fortune, " is notaltogether absurd. At any rate, I have seen many a "cherry ripe" lipcurled with an expression of irrepressible scorn when the owner of thelip was accosted by one of these very fair, delicate-skinned gentlemen. Girls just let out of a boarding-school generally run mad after theseanimals; but ladies who have gone through one or two husband-huntingcampaigns, are not to be taken in by such painted butterflies: they verywisely conclude that a man who takes such a reverend care of hiscomplexion worships none but himself, and of course he will have nodevotion to spare to his wife. But to return to the gentleman we have left dangling in the starboardmizzen-rigging of the ship Albatross: his countenance was indeedsomewhat tanned, but his forehead was as clear and white as ivory; itsbreadth and openness gave an expression of frankness and candor to hisface, --so that, taken altogether, his physiognomy, though not regularlyperfect, was exceedingly prepossessing. The second officer, who was walking the deck, being the officer of thewatch, was also a very good-looking young man, with large blackwhiskers, and was two or three years younger than his messmate in therigging. His frequent stoppages at the caboose-house, to confer with thecooks, indicated the second mate, who is always, for some reason orother, a sort of "Betty, " or "cot-quean, " as Shakspeare calls it, continually quiddling about the galley, to the annoyance of the doctor, as the ship's cook is generally called. About the after-hatchway were seated the gunner and sailmaker, bothengaged patching old clothes, --while the old carpenter, like thecaptain, was reading the bible, --and the armorer was lying flat on hisback, and singing. A very pretty boy of fourteen, an apprentice to thecaptain, was playing, or in sea language "skylarking, " with a hugeNewfoundland dog. I might as well complete the _rôle d'équipage_ of thegood ship Albatross, by observing that Mr. Jonathan Bolton, M. D. , thesurgeon of the ship, and Mr. Elnathan Bangs, the supercargo, wereneither of them on deck. Perhaps they were engaged with theirbreakfasts, or their toilets, or their devotions, or their studies, or--in short they were below. Just forward of the mainmast were what a painter would call the deepershades of the picture, for there the black cook and his equally sableadjunct, the cook's mate, held their vaporous and dish-washing levee;while forth from the cloudy sanctuary occasionally pealed a burst ofobstreporous laughter, that the most unpractised hearer might swear camefrom the lungs of a negro, without the trouble of invading theirpremises for further evidence. Upon either of these culinary worthies, to use the somewhat hyperbolical language of sailors, "lampblack wouldmake a white mark. " I cannot avoid taking occasion to remark here, that sailors, like theorientals, are exceedingly addicted to the use of tropes and figures ofspeech, to similes and metaphors. In fact, if any gentleman was aboutcompiling a treatise on elocution, I would recommend to him to pass ayear or two on board one of our men of war, where he would daily hearspecimens of eloquence, known and unknown to exclusively terrestrialorators, whether in the halls of Congress, at a public dinner-table, oron a stump. There is the _narratio_, or anecdote, or sometimes the _longyarn_; the _aprosiopesis_, or sudden pause, very powerful when in goodhands; the _apostrophe_, or addressing an absent person as though he waspresent; the _obtestatio_ and _invocatio_, two different modes ofinvoking the gods celestial or infernal; and lastly, the _simile_, orcomparison, in which sailors are a thousand times more fruitful thanHomer himself. The steward--who came up with the breakfast-dishes, &c. , or "dog-basket, " as it is called by them of the forecastle--was athought lighter skinned than the cooks. The crew were lounging about the forecastle and weather gangway; somewalking fore and aft, with their hands in their jacket pockets, somewashing or mending their clothes, and some stretched out in the sun, chatting and laughing in utter disregard and carelessness of whatto-morrow might bring forth, and most literally obeying the divinecommand, to "take no thought of what they should eat, or what theyshould drink, or wherewithal they should be clothed. " The crew mustered forty-four in number; for forty years since, shipsthat traded to the coast of California, or any part of His CatholicMajesty's American possessions, or to the North West Coast, calculatedupon a brush, either with the guarda-costas or the savages, before theirvoyage was up, and accordingly went well manned and armed. A group of ten or a dozen were collected around the fore-hatch, whereone of their number sat reading to them the twenty-seventh andtwenty-eighth chapters of Acts--two favorite chapters with seamengenerally, not that they contain any peculiarly glad tidings of greatjoy, but because they give a sort of log-book account of almost the onlynautical transactions of moment recorded in holy writ. The reader, like all who are so unfortunate as to be persuaded to readto a company, was perpetually interrupted by some one of his auditors toask a question, or make a comment. He had, however, this advantage overthe ill-starred wight who essays to read to a party of ladies, that hestopped and asked as many questions, and made as many remarks andcomments, as any of his auditors. The reader, after a few verses, describing St. Paul's voyage, came tothe eighth verse of the twenty-seventh chapter: "And hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called the Fair Havens, " &c. ; when old TomJones, the boatswain, an old English man-of-war's man, who was lying onhis breast across the weather end of the windlass, interrupted: "Now, as to all them places you've been reading about, I never heard ofnone on 'em before, except Cyprus, and I've been cruising off there in afrigate; but your Sea lashes and Pump fill ye (Cilicia and Pamphylia), Inever heard on in all my born days; and as for Fairhaven, why every bodyknows that's right acrost the river from New Bedford; though how thed--l they got there so soon I don't see, unless so be Paul worked amarricle, and it's like enough he did, to let the rest on 'em know whatkind of a chap they'd got for a shipmate. " "Nevertheless, " continued the reader, at the eleventh verse, "thecenturion believed the master and owner of the ship more than thosethings that were spoken by Paul. " "Well, now I don't see no great harm in that, " said one of the audience;"Paul was nothing but a kind of Methodist parson, goin' about andpreachin' for his vittles and drink, and whatever folks was a mind togive him; so 'taint likely he knowed any more about a ship than anyother minister. " "Yes, but you know he was a saint, " said the reader, "and could foretellthe weather, aye, a year aforehand. " "Could he, faith?" said another, "then I wonder he did not make hiseternal fortin making almanacs. " "But what is a centurion?" asked a third. "Centurion?" said old Jones, "why she's a sixty-four gun ship; I've seenher often enough at Spithead, but I forget now whether she was in thefirst of June[4] or not. " "Then I 'spose she was convoying the craft that Paul was in, " observedanother blue-jacket. This knotty point being satisfactorily cleared up, the reader proceeded:"And when the south wind blew softly, supposing they had obtained theirpurpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. " "Now you see, " said the boatswain, "just so sure as you have gentlebreezes from the south'ard, you'll have a thundering Levanter at theback of 'em. " "Yes, yes, " said a tar, "I know that to my sorrow. I was up the Straitslast v'y'ge, 'way up to Smyrna and Zante, arter reasons, [5] and weketch'd one of these thundering Levanters, and was druv 'way to h--ll, away up the Gulf of Venus (Venice); yes, I've been boxing about the Archof the Billy Goat[6] 'most too long, not to know a little so'thin' aboutthe weather there. " The reader continued: "But not long after, there arose against it atempestuous wind. " "There, " said Jones, "didn't I tell you so? I knowed you'd have a realsneezer in a varse or two. " "Called Euroclydon, " continued the reader, finishing the verse. "What! avast there! overhaul that last word again. " "A tempestuous wind called Euroclydon, " repeated the reader. "Well, you may call it a Rock-me-down, but I say the regular-built nameon't is Levanter; but then I s'pose them thunderin' printers puts in anything they're a mind to. " The reading proceeded without much more interruption, except that thehonest tars, who had been up the Mediterranean, were not a littlepuzzled by the strange names of places, and could not imagine what partof the world the saint had got into. "About midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country;and sounded, and found it twenty fathoms; and when they had gone alittle further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. " "Egad, I should think they was drawin' nigh to some country prettythunderin' fast too, when they shoalened their water so quick, fromtwenty to fifteen faddom. " "Then fearing lest they should have fallen upon rocks, they cast fouranchors out of the stern, and wished for day. " "Four anchors out of the starn!" shouted the boatswain, "what the h--wasthat for?" "Why, you see, " said the reader, "they used to bring up by the head orstarn in them days--it didn't make a ropeyarn's odds which--they didn'tknow no better. " "But four anchors out of the starn, " continued the man-of-war's man, "why, d--it, the very first sea would onhung the rudder, if she waspitching into it, and knock the whole thunderin' starn-frame into_smithareens_ in a quarter less no time. " "Now you see, " said one of the audience, "I've a notion that the craftin them days was built with goose starns, like a Dutch galliot. " "May be, " said another, "she had all her anchors stowed aft, to bringher down by the starn. " "But four anchors out of the starn!" murmured the still perplexed TomPipes, "I wonder what old Lord Howe, or Admiral Duncan, would have said, if they'd heard a first leftenant give out such orders in a gale ofwind. " "Why, there couldn't have been no sailors aboard the hooker, or theywould have let go one anchor first, and if that didn't bring her up, then another, and so on; but letting all four anchors go at once rightunder foot, is what I call a d--d lubberly piece of business, let whowill do it, whether St. Paul or St. Devil, and I don't believe theycould get insurance on the craft in any insurance office in the UnitedStates. " "Yes they could, and I'll tell you why; if a ship goes ashore with ananchor on her bows, the owners can't recover no insurance; but if theskipper will swear that all his anchors were down, and good cablesclinched to 'em, he can get his insurance. " "Yes, but there's a thunderin' sight of odds betwixt letting go youranchors in a ship-shape, sea-man-like manner, and bundling 'em alloverboard at once in such a lubberly way as that you was readin' about. " The reading proceeded, leaving the law question respecting insurance"open for discussion" at some more appropriate season. Much indignationwas expressed by the round-jacketed audience at the thirty-secondverse: "Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let herfall off. " A vast deal of satire was expended upon "the thunderin'troops, " of all classes, periods, and nations, the whole clinched andconcluded by a remark from the boatswain: "Aye, sojers, and pigs, and women, is always in the way, or else alwaysin mischief, aboard a ship, more 'specially in bad weather. " The reading afterwards progressed without much interruption, except atthe fortieth verse: "They--hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and madetoward shore, " and then only to remark, "Aye, she was a schooner, orelse a morfredite brig, and they was goin' to beach her; she'd steeredbetter if they'd sot the foresail too. " The eleventh verse of the twenty-eighth chapter gave occasion forquestion and explanation. "And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which hadwintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. " "Sign!" said Tom Pipes, "what does that mean?" "Why, her figure-head, I s'pose, " said the _questionee_. "Yes, but, d--n my buttons, there's two on 'em. " "Well, I s'pose they fixed 'em as the Dutchmen does De Ruyter and VonTromp, put one on the knight-heads and t'other on the rudder-head. " "Ay, that indeed. " The reader went on to the fifteenth verse: "And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us asfar as Appii-forum, and The Three Taverns; whom when Paul saw, hethanked God, and took courage. " "Took courage?" said old Tom; "I don't know who the d--l wouldn't takecourage with three taverns all in sight at once. I wouldn't wish abetter land-fall if I'd been cast away. " "That there Happy afore 'em must have been a jovious kind of a place, "observed a seaman, "to judge by the name on't; and then them threetaverns so handy--a fellow might shake a foot, and have a comfortableglass of somethin' whenever he took a notion. " All further reading and commentary was suddenly put a stop to, by one ofthose occurrences that frequently take place at sea, and cause so muchbustle and hurry as is very apt to frighten passengers. The good shipAlbatross was neither thrown on her beam-ends by a sudden squall, forsqualls are not fashionable in the trade-winds, nor did she strike upona rock, for there was none sufficiently near the surface; but still, fora few minutes every thing seemed to be uppermost, and nothing at hand, like the contents of a lady's travelling trunk. One of the crew, who had been for some time lying on his breast on theweather cat-head, crooning over some interminable "love-song aboutmurder, " suddenly surceased his singing, raised himself up, and cast aneager and hurried glance ahead of the ship, shouted "Fish ho!" at thevery top of his lungs, sprang from the cat-head, and ran down thefore-scuttle. In an instant all was commotion and hurry. Captain Williamsthrew down his bible with most anti-christian and unorthodoxcarelessness, and hurried to the forecastle, shouting, "A bottle of rumfor the first fish;" the premium always offered formerly, though Ibelieve it is getting out of date now, and not only the first fish, butall the fish caught, are seized and confiscated "for the benefit ofthose whom it may hereafter concern, " namely, the "cabin gentry;" theclaims of the captors being waived, set aside, and overruled. The twomates soon followed their commander, "armed and equipped, " the one withthe graves, (a sort of harpoon for taking smaller fish, ) and the otherwith a large reel of fish-line and hooks, baited with salt pork--thecommentators on the two last chapters of Acts broke up their conference, leaving St. Paul and the centurion in comfortable quarters at The ThreeTaverns; their reader carefully stowing away his bible in the bows ofthe long-boat before he joined the groups of fishermen on and about thebows--the great dog Pomp, so named after the illustrious Roman, Pompeythe Great, and not after the allegorical personage to whom WillShakspeare so earnestly recommends physic, came galloping forward andascended the heel of the bowsprit, where he stood whining, and yelping, and wagging his tail, exceedingly delighted with the animation andexcitement of the scene; and looking up, from time to time, in the facesof those nearest him, with an expression that said, as plain as mereexpression can speak, "Why the plague don't you catch some of them?"Even those two privileged idlers, the doctor and supercargo, made shiftto get on deck, yawning and stretching themselves. In the mean time, one of the most active seamen, who was perched uponthe jib-boom end, fishing with a bait made of a piece of white duck cutinto a "swallow-tail, " hauled up a huge albicore, whose struggles hadwell nigh thrown him overboard; but a dozen pair of eager hands wereready, the fish was safely deposited in a bag, and passed on board, andthe bottle of rum was secured to the legal claimant. The sprit-sailyard, bowsprit, and cat-heads were crowded with fishermen, and in halfan hour there were nearly seventy fine, large fish flouncing andfluttering their last on the forecastle of the Albatross. The cooks at the galley, who had quietly prepared the usual Sundaydinner, which, forty years since, was generally the same for cabin orforecastle, namely, flour pudding, called at sea, "duff, " and salt beef;the cooks did by no means contemplate this addition to the ship's billof fare with complacency or delight. They foresaw that there would befried fish, and broiled fish, and boiled fish, and fish stews, and fishchowders, and fish sea-pies; in short, there would be no end to thecooking of fish, till the fish were all eat up. They were not long keptin suspense on that subject. Mr. Walker, the second officer, approachedtheir smoky temple-- "Doctor, is the beef for the people in the coppers?" "Yes, sar, I put 'em in at three bell. " "Well, take and out with it, and get your coppers ready to make achowder for all hands; and you, Peter, come down in the steerage withme, and I'll give you some pepper and onions, and the rest of thecombustibles. " "Yes, Massa Walker, I come ereckly. Dam fish! I wish all fish in 'aworld dead; den 'spose 'a want fish, let 'em eat cod-fish and tatoe. " With this pious ejaculation, which he took care not to give utterance totill Mr. Walker was out of hearing, he followed that officer down theafter hatchway, while his helpmate, grasping his tormentors, proceededto transfer the half-boiled "salt junk" from the coppers to a tub, andmake preparations for a dinner of a more savory and agreeabledescription. [Footnote 4: June 1st, 1794, Lord Howe's victory over the French fleet, off Ushant. ] [Footnote 5: _Quasi_ raisins. --_Printer's Devil_. ] [Footnote 6: The sailor probably meant the Ionian _Archipelago_; theygenerally mistake the word as it stands in the text. --_P. D. _] CHAPTER XII. All hands! bring ship to anchor, ahoy! BOATSWAIN'S MATE. In the meantime Isabella had suffered her full share of persecution. Shortly after the family had retired from the coast to the vicinity ofthe city of Tepic, where Don Gaspar had an estate, he had urged her toaccept Don Gregorio before their return to St. Blas. The tears andentreaties of the unhappy girl had, however, so far mollified him thathe consented to put it off some time longer. A severe fit of the gout, during which Isabella attended him with the most assiduous andunremitting affection, had also operated as a powerful auxiliary to herwishes. Pressing her affectionately to his bosom one day, the oldgovernor declared his unwillingness to part with her; and, "upon thishint she spake, " and easily obtained from him a promise not to troubleher with any matrimonial schemes till she had completed hertwenty-second year, and even then, if she felt disinclined to the holystate, she should be at liberty to retire to a convent. As she was notyet twenty-one, she regarded this reprieve as equivalent to a fullrelease, and awaited anxiously the return of the dry season. It came atlast, and the family returned to St. Blas. Several American ships, whalemen and others, visited the port forsupplies, and for the purpose of a little private speculation, withwhich the custom-house was not troubled. Dame Juanita's shop, beingrather the largest in St. Blas, and possessing, moreover, the additionalattraction of her own buxom countenance, and that of a pretty daughterbehind the counter, was visited daily by the mates and crews of theseships; and of them she inquired, by direction of Isabella, concerningthe officers of the Orion, without success for a long time, till at lastthe mate of a trader declared that he knew Mr. Morton very well; thatwhen he saw him last he was engaged fitting out a ship bound round CapeHorn; and that she was, in all probability, on the coast at that moment, and would most probably soon visit San Blas. This intelligence operated like a cordial upon Isabella's spirits; hereyes were constantly directed towards the western horizon; every sailthat appeared, caused the utmost trepidation and eager hope; and whenthe distant sail proved to be some coasting vessel, or the guarda-costa, that was prowling about continually, her disappointment was keen andpainful. Her cousins laughed at the perseverance with which she watchedthe harbor; and, fearful of exciting suspicions, she afterwards onlylooked out upon the blue expanse of ocean when alone. At last, one lovely morning, just after the sea-breeze had commencedblowing, a white speck was seen in the horizon, that rapidly increasedin size, till in two hours it was plain to all eyes that it was a largeship, and many thought a man of war. Various were the speculations as toher object, and still more so as to her nation; for coming directlybefore the wind, her colors could not be seen. As she approached the anchorage, her light sails were taken in andfurled, with a despatch very unlike the manoeuvres of a merchantman, and which confirmed the opinion of her being a man-of-war. Presently aflash of red flame and cloud of thick, white smoke issued from herstarboard bow, followed by a corresponding one from the other side, andrepeated alternately, to the number of twenty-one; but the fourth flashwas distinctly visible to those on shore, before the roar of the firstgun came booming over the water, awakening the thousand echoes thatslumbered in the hills and woods about the city. The ship, having now reached her intended berth, slowly emerged from her"sulphurous canopy, " that the light breeze had kept wrapped around her, like a veil; and, clewing up her topsails, gracefully swept roundtowards the westward, as if intending to go out to sea again; and, inthe evolution, a large, bright-colored, new American ensign floated uponthe gentle breeze from her mizen gaff. She remained stationary for aninstant, when the anchor was dropped, and the sails furled; and themachine, that but half an hour before, "Walked the waters like a thing of life, " now lay upon their bosom a dark, motionless, inanimate mass. CHAPTER XIII. As an owl that in a barn Sees a mouse creeping in the corn, Sits still, and shuts his round blue eyes, As if he slept, until he spies The little beast within his reach; Then starts and seizes on the wretch. HUDIBRAS. The salute of the Albatross was duly returned from the battery, and theentire _posse_ of idlers in the port, or little village at thelanding-place, which is rather more than two miles from the town of St. Blas, were collected at the pier to see what manner of men herwhale-boat contained, as she pulled swiftly in towards the shore. Abouthalf way between the ship and the shore the whale boat was met by thatof the harbor-master; the crew of the former tossed their oars out ofthe water, and held them upright in token of respect, while, at the sametime, the officer in the stern-sheets arose and raised his hat. Thisrespectful behavior was by no means lost upon the military dignitary, who listened with great affability to the stranger's account ofhimself--namely, that he was first officer of the ship Albatross, ofBoston, commanded by Captain Israel Williams; that she had put in forsupplies of wood, water, and fresh provisions; that she was bound toCanton, and sundry other particulars of minor consequence; Mr. Mortonnot deeming himself bound in honor or honesty to inform saidharbor-master that it was the intention of the captain and officers tosmuggle certain cases of silks, cloths, and linen on shore without his, the said harbor-master's, privity or consent. As soon as the strange ship had anchored, Don Gaspar mounted his horseand galloped through the plaza towards the landing-place, at theimminent risk of his own neck, and compromising the sublunary welfare ofa swarm of children that were basking in the hot sand in utter defianceof parental authority and of all passengers, bipedal or quadrupedal. Notlong after he had gone, Isabella threw her veil over her head, andtripped, with a palpitating heart, towards Dame Juanita's house, whichshe entered by a back passage well known to herself, and sat down in thelittle room behind the shop. In a moment the good dame made herappearance, her face literally shining with pleasure. "I have seen him, senorita! I have seen him and spoken with him. " "Seen him! seen whom?" gasped Isabella, but blushing rosy red at thesame time. "Ah, senorita, you know whom, " said Juanita, "that handsome Americanthat you used to meet here a year ago nearly. " As the young lady sat with her back towards the shop-door, and wasbesides eagerly drinking in all Juanita's news, she did not perceivethat a man had entered the room. A gentle voice that thrilled to herheart pronounced her name; she turned, uttered a shriek, and fellfainting into the arms of Morton. Excessive joy did, in ancient times and in one or two instances, provefatal; but I suspect that the world has grown more wicked, or the humanheart less susceptible, for I doubt whether there is any body now alivewho has ever experienced a sufficient degree of pleasure at once to domore than agitate the nerves for a few minutes. Isabella soon recovered her senses, partly from the effects of coldwater sprinkled upon her face by the tender-hearted Juanita, and perhapsthere might be something reviving in a soft kiss that the young seamancould not avoid dropping upon her lips as he supported her in his arms. I have already intimated my incompetency to describe a parting scenebetween two lovers, for reasons then specified: a tender meeting isliable to the same objections. Such things should always be left to thereader's imagination; for it is ten chances to one if the author'sdescription pleases any body, not even himself. After the first emotions of meeting had subsided, Isabella informed herlover of her uncle's promise, and that she was free from all persecutionwith regard to Don Gregorio. Morton, on the other hand, communicated toher all that had passed between his father and himself. "So that yousee, dearest Isabella, if you had consented to go home with me as Iurged, we might at this moment be comfortably seated at my father'sfire-side. In the mean time, Captain Williams knows how I am situated, and will give the most effective assistance to my plans. We shallprobably be detained here for two or three weeks, and I shall have dailyopportunities of seeing you. " Time flies with lovers, and they had been nearly an hour inconversation, when Juanita put them in mind of its lapse, and urged thedanger of Isabella's staying away from her uncle's house any longer. They separated with a thousand promises to meet again. In a day or two, Captain Williams had made arrangements for disposing ofthe remnant of his cargo, in a quiet way, to certain merchants who arealways and every where to be found, ready and willing to evade theexactions of the custom-house. One branch of the river empties into the north-eastern, part of the bay, from which the slope up to the plaza on the summit of the hill isgradual. The point formed by this branch and the bay is covered with athick growth of limes and other trees, through which winds a scramblingsort of path, passable by mules, and but very seldom used. After windingthrough the trees and bushes, and up a steep hill, that farther to theleft, or westward, becomes an abrupt precipice of two hundred feet inheight; it emerges in an obscure and narrow street on the eastern sideof the town. The Albatross's launch was sent every night, under the command of one orother of the mates, with a cargo of goods, which were landed near thetermination of the above-mentioned winding path, and loaded upon mulesthat were always ready, concealed among the bushes, to be brought out atan appointed signal from the boat. It would be difficult to select aplace better adapted for the peculiar purpose; unguarded andunsuspected, nobody had ever dreamed of any smuggling attempt being madethere. This plan of landing cargo had been carried on with equal secrecy andsuccess for many nights, till nearly all was discharged. In the meantime, information had been conveyed to the commandant, by some personwho had accidentally seen the boat one night engaged in discharging herprecious freight, and the mules loading on the beach. In consequence ofthis intelligence, orders had been issued to the officer commanding thetroops at San Blas, to march a strong party to the place, and secure allmerchandize and persons found there. Part of this behest was executed tothe letter; the remainder Jupiter dispersed into thin air. Mr. Morton, with six hands in the jolly-boat, came on shore at the usualtime, bringing all the remainder of the cargo, which was hardly enoughto load two mules. Every thing was landed and loaded upon the muleswithout interruption, excepting a small package containing silkhandkerchiefs, when suddenly a low whistle was heard in the bushes. "What is that?" said Morton, who held the aforesaid package in hishands. "Santa Maria!" exclaimed the muleteers, springing upon their horses, andputting them and the mules into rapid motion; "vienen los soldadosmalditos, " the d--d soldiers are coming; the signal was repeated, and inan instant soldiers rushed from different parts of the adjacent bushes, and surrounded the whole party. So sudden and complete was the surprise, that the seamen, though standing in the edge of the water, wereintercepted and made prisoners. Morton, as soon as he perceived thatflight and resistance were equally out of the question, hailed the twomen in the boat that was lying a few yards from the shore, and orderedthem to make the best of their way to the ship--an order that wasacknowledged by the customary "ay, ay, sir, " and obeyed by hoistingtheir lug-sail, which, filled by a fresh land-breeze, soon carried themout of danger. He, with the remaining four men, were made prisoners. Whether the soldiers were not used to acting against cavalry, or thoughtthe prisoners of more consequence than the merchandise, is doubtful; themules and their drivers got off safe, although several shots were firedat them as soon as their retreat was perceived. Ascertaining that there was nothing more to be got on the field ofbattle; for it was indeed one, as one of the sailors, feeling somewhatrestive under the tight grasp that the corporal laid upon his collar, had bestowed upon that humble candidate for military honors a slap inthe face, that caused him, in the Nantucket dialect, to "blow blood;"the guard took up their line of march through the wood with their fiveprisoners. On their melancholy route towards the town, the commandingofficer of the party, mindful of the politeness and attention with whichhe had been treated by Mr. Morton, behaved to his prisoners with greatkindness, and endeavored to console this officer by representing thatnothing had been found that would or could be deemed sufficient toconvict them of any attempt to violate the laws of the province; thatthe escape of the mules was a favorable circumstance, as they hadcarried off whatever might have otherwise appeared as evidence againstthem, whether merchandise or men; which last, with the treacherypeculiar to Spaniards, and more universally inherent in the mixed breedof the colonies, would compound for their own safety by implicatingtheir employers; that the governor was a gentleman, and a man of kindlyfeelings, and that he would undoubtedly pass over what had occurred thatnight without the exercise of any greater severity than perhaps theimposition of a moderate fine; with sundry other and similar topics ofconsolation, suggested by kindness and sympathy. But Morton's mind wastoo confused and agitated by the events of the evening, to allow him tomake much reply or to pay much attention to the consolations of theofficer; he longed to reach the guard-house, where, in the solitude andsilence of the prison, he might have time and opportunity to arrange hisideas, and reflect upon his melancholy and apparently hopelesssituation, and correspond, if permitted, with his commander, and withone other. "But no, " he thought, after the lovely image of Isabella had presenteditself to his mind, "no, she will not dare to visit me, or exert herselfin my behalf--and why should she? it would but expose her to suspicion, and me and these poor fellows to greater rigor. " He knew but little of the strength of woman's love--her devotedness, heracuteness, and energy and activity, in contriving and executing plansfor the relief or comfort of her loved one in affliction. His fourcompanions in misfortune, with all that philosophical indifference tocalamity and danger that characterizes seamen, after expending anincredible number of strange curses and sea jokes upon their captors, stretched themselves upon the stone floor of the "caliboza, " or prison, and were soon sound asleep; and Morton himself, fatigued in body andharrassed and bewildered in mind, soon lost all consciousness of hisunhappy situation in deep and prolonged slumber. Having lodged his prisoners in the guard-house and given orders thatthey should be treated with all kindness, the officer waited upon thegovernor, and reported the proceedings of the night. His excellencylooked rather blank at learning that none of the goods had been secured;but having complimented the officer upon his vigilance and zeal, heretired to rest, feeling all the pride and self-gratulation of a littlemind, after having done a very little action. He did indeed feelsomewhat anxious as to the effect the intelligence might have upon theladies of his household, who had been projecting another visit to theAmerican ship, being the fourth that had already taken place; but hefinally determined, as the only course left him, to ensconce himselfbehind the intrenchments of his dignity, and to merge the urbanefeelings of the hospitable gentleman in the awful gravity of the dog inoffice. Besides, he hoped that his vigilance and severity on the presentoccasion would be a sweet savor in the nostrils of his august monarch, and that promotion would follow as an affair of course; and he droppedasleep, fancying himself Lieutenant-General Don Gaspar de Luna, Knightof the most noble order of St. Jago de Compostella, and Governor-Generalof the island of Cuba or St. Domingo. CHAPTER XIV I'll follow him no more with bootless prayers. MERCHANT OF VENICE. The old Don, on rising the next morning, found all his womankind"overwhelmed with grief" in consequence of the news of the capture andimprisonment of the American seamen, and prepared to assail him withprayers, petitions, and tears, as soon as he made his appearance. Invain he tried to assume the governor, and to look and act dignified; hehad not, either in appearance or manner, or even language, so "much ofthe Roman" in him, as a certain other potentate who shall be nameless;the persevering ladies followed him, and gave him no rest; and perhaps, by their pertinacity, drove him to declare, in his vexation, that it washis fixed and settled resolve to inflict upon his prisoners theextremity of the law's indignation. In fact, the tribulation caused inthe governor's family by the unhappy events of the past night, hadreached to an extravagant and general height; for even the wife of hisbosom remonstrated in no very gentle terms against her lord's severity;so that his poor excellency found the gubernatorial chair asuncomfortable a seat as though its cushion had been stuffed with pins. He made good his retreat as quick as possible to his usual place ofofficial business, or _bureau d'office_, but there new trials awaitedhim; for the very first person he saw there, and evidently waiting forhim, was Captain Williams. Isabella, in the mean time, had not yet risen; her sleeping thoughts hadbeen too delightfully occupied with visions of happiness, and her wakingreveries had so engaged her with day-dreams of prospective felicity, that she was not conscious of the lapse of time. She had just commenceddressing, with the assistance of a favorite servant, a native Mexicangirl, when her weeping cousins rushed into the chamber in an agony ofgrief. With voices choked and interrupted by sobs and tears, it was someminutes before they could make their poor cousin comprehend themelancholy truth, with the gratuitous addition that the prisoners wereto be shot the next morning in the plaza, and directly in front of thehouse. Having communicated all they knew, and all they had invented, they retired to spread the intelligence, to collect more, and to removethe furniture in the front chamber, for the more convenient witnessingthe execution of the next morning. Isabella, when left to herself, neither screamed, nor went intohysterics or tears; she sat still and motionless in the chair, intowhich she had sunk when the dreadful truth was made known to her; shebecame deadly pale, her temples throbbed, her breathing seemedoppressed, the light swam before her eyes, she uttered a convulsive sob, and, to the terror of her faithful and sympathising attendant, fellsenseless upon the floor. The Indian girl, with great presence of mind, though sorely frightened, dashed water in her face, loosened herclothes, and practised all those modes of relief, better understood byladies than described by me. The unhappy young lady at length recovered, and, with the assistance of her attendant, threw herself upon the bed, and gave way to a flood of tears, to the relief caused by which, and hersubsequent repose, we must for a time leave her. Captain Williams saluted the governor, as they met, with a countenancepartaking of anger as well as sorrow; and, without much circumlocution, proceeded to state his business, and interceded most warmly in behalf ofhis men in confinement. But the old Don, before whose mind visions ofpromotion and honors were floating, was in no humor to grant petitionsof any kind, much less one, the acceding to which would overthrow allhis air-built castles; and he steadily refused to listen to thewarm-hearted old seaman's arguments, urged with all the fervency ofalmost paternal affection for both Mr. Morton and his seamen. Unable tooppose or refute the arguments of Captain Williams, proving theinnocence of the prisoners, or, at least, the veniality of theiroffence, if guilty, and the unreasonable disproportion between the crimeand the punishment; wearied by the perseverance of the petitioner, andconvinced, though unwilling to own it, by his arguments;--convinced, too, that he was making a very ridiculous figure in the eyes of hisofficers and several merchants who were present, he did, as allobstinate and pig-headed people do when they find themselves in thewrong, and see that they are making themselves contemptible: that is, heplunged still deeper into the wrong, by giving the good old seaman aharsh refusal to his prayer. At this unexpected and ungentlemanly rebuff, Captain Williams suddenlybecame calm and silent, and, a moment after, left the office. Those whowere present thought they saw in the stern, determined expression of hiscountenance grounds for apprehension and alarm; having the mostextravagant opinion of the desperate and daring courage of theAmericans, they looked to see the ensuing night signalized by somedesperate attempt on the part of the seaman, to release his companionsfrom imprisonment. Their apprehensions were confirmed in a space of timethat seemed impossible to have enabled Captain Williams to reach hisship, by seeing the Albatross, under jib and spanker, slowly standing tothe westward, and again anchoring full half a mile farther out to seathan before; not, to be sure, out of reach of the guns of the battery, but at such a distance as to render it extremely problematical whether_Spanish_ artillerymen would be able to throw a shot within half a mileof her, especially in a star-light night. This movement of the ship alarmed the governor not a little; for he knewthat the guarda-costa was absent on a cruize, and it was doubtful whenshe would return, and that there were but thirty soldiers on duty at thebarracks, the rest having recently been drafted into the interior, towage war against certain straggling, light-fingered gentry, known inthat part of the world by the general title of "monteneros, " orhighlanders, being analogous in their habits and manners, and confusedideas of _meum_ and _tuum_, to the highland cattle-stealers of Scotland. In this dilemma, the governor's heart began to relent--he thought thathe was carrying his severity too far. On retiring to his house to dinner, he was met by a message from hisniece, requesting to see him in her chamber, being too unwell to meetthe family at noon. Thither his Excellency ascended with reluctant stepsand slow, like a child called from his play to be whipped and sent tobed. He found his niece reclining upon a sofa, pale, languid, andevidently much agitated. She rose to receive him with her accustomedaffection, and the old Don seated himself by her side. "Isabella, my love, you appear to be distressed; what is the matter, child?" "Dear uncle, my cousin Antonia tells me dreadful news. " "Dreadful news! what is it, dearest?" "She tells me, " said Isabella, shuddering and gasping for breath, "that these unfortunate Americans areto be put to death to-morrow morning. " "Poh, poh! what nonsense! you know as well as I do that the law gives meno such power. " "But, dearest uncle, why should they be punished at all? nothing isproved against them, nothing is found about them that indicates guiltyintentions, " for, notwithstanding her indisposition, she had learned allthe facts of the case from her gossip, Juanita, and the officers thathad called in the course of the forenoon, "I have heard all theparticulars, and confess that I see no reason why they deservepunishment at all. " "You know nothing at all about the matter, child. They have been seen, at other times than last night, landing boxes and bales at the sameplace. " "Are you quite sure that it was not some other persons?" The governor paid no attention to this question, which he had neverdreamt of asking his informer. "Besides, if these are pardoned, other offenders will plead theirinnocence, and refer to the case of these men as a precedent. No, Isabella, I cannot, I dare not do it; they must abide by theconsequences. " "Then if their lives are to be spared, what is to be done with them?" "I shall write to the Viceroy, and keep them confined till I receive hisinstructions as to their future destiny. " "And that, " said the young lady, in a faint voice, "will be worse thandeath! O think of it, dear, dear uncle. " "You take too gloomy a view of the case, " said Don Gaspar, kissing theforehead of the lovely suppliant; "the Viceroy may pardon them, but Idare not--You plead in vain, " continued he, as he saw she was about tospeak; "were they my own sons, they should undergo the sentence of thelaw for their misconduct. " Fearing to excite her uncle's suspicions by too great urgency, Isabellachanged her battery-- "At least, let them be used kindly--let them have plenty of good foodand wine. " "Certainly, dearest little niece, " said the governor, delighted to findthe most formidable and irresistible of his female assailants solukewarm in the cause of the prisoners, "and you shall be theirprovider. " "Me, uncle? well, I own I should wish to visit the prison occasionally, to see that they are comfortable. " "You shall whenever you please, " said the Don, rising, and going toIsabella's writing desk; "there, there is an order, signed by my ownhand, that will admit you whenever you please. " So saying, he retired. CHAPTER XV. I know that a woman is a dish for the gods, if the devil dress her not. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. A writer, evidently a Frenchman, in the British or some otherEncyclopædia, under the article "Man, " draws a very ingenious contrastbetween the two sexes, which is correct enough in its generalprinciples, but exceedingly erroneous in many very important points. Speaking of the different behavior of men and women, under the pressureof grief or calamity, he says, "Woman weeps--man remains silent--womanis in agony when man weeps--she is in despair when man is in agony. " Mr. Philosopher, you are a goose. It is obvious that you have drawn yourconclusions from your observations of Frenchmen exclusively, who aretheatrical and affected from the cradle to the grave. "Woman weeps while man remains silent. "--True; she gives vent to herfeelings by weeping, and her full heart is tranquillized by her tears, which seem not only to relieve and refresh the swollen and burning eyesof the body, but to render those of the mind more clear andpenetrating. What, for instance, was the language and sentiment of MaryQueen of Scots, when Rizzio was murdered in her presence? "I will dry upmy tears, " said the high-spirited descendant of the Stuarts, "and thinkof revenge. " Man's remaining silent is not always an evidence offortitude or resignation; it may be stupidity and want of feeling, orgloom and sulkiness; a disposition to find fault with Divine Providencefor visiting him with affliction. "Woman is in agony when man weeps. " Absurd! her tears have relieved heragony. Like the elastic and pliable willow, she has yielded to the stormof grief, and her buoyant spirit rises comparatively uninjured from theconflict. "Woman is in despair when man is in agony. " It is said that thedifference between a fool and a madman is, that the fool draws wrongconclusions from correct principles, and the madman correct conclusionsfrom erroneous principles. I leave my readers to judge under whichdenomination the author quoted comes. There is but one step in hisclimax that approaches the truth, and he has drawn a series of wrongconclusions from that. The concurrent testimony of a host of writers, both moralists and historians, goes to establish the fact, that, underthe pressure of remediable misfortunes, women have infinitely greateracuteness and quickness of perception of means of relief--morepromptness, energy, and courage in carrying them into execution, thanmen. "Hope the deceiver" retains possession of the heart of woman long, long after man has hanged, shot, or drowned himself in despair. Isabella was certainly almost overcome by the melancholy intelligence, when first communicated; but weeping and the repose of the morning hadtranquillized her, and the facts that she had ascertained had given herfresh courage and hopes. Not daring, however, to urge her uncle too farat that time, as she saw he was out of humor, she was still determinednot by any means to regard one, nor two, nor twenty refusals asdecisive; but, if he could not be "carried by boarding, " to blockade himinto compliance. Her uncle's order for her admittance to the prison, shedetermined only to use occasionally, and as circumstances pointed out, for fear of exciting suspicion; but to reserve it as a sort of sheetanchor for the perfection of a half-formed scheme that was alreadyagitating her brain. Under pretence of merely ascertaining that the prisoners were suppliedwith all the comfort that their situation would admit, but in reality tocommunicate with her lover, she visited the prison that very day. Shefound the prisoner, who was already heart-sick of the confinement, independently of its probable termination, walking listlessly up anddown the passage leading to the inner prison, which was both spaciousand airy; for, as before observed, his excellency had so far relented asto direct that the prisoners, during the day, should be permitted toenjoy the air. His surprise at seeing her was extreme--not that hedoubted she would make an attempt to see him, but he considered it ahopeless one. She met him with tranquillity, almost cheerfulness. "Thank heaven!" he exclaimed mentally, "there is some hope of once moresnuffing fresh air; that sweet girl would never be so composed unlessshe had some plan in her mind for my delivery. Isabella, dearestIsabella, tell me, for heaven's sake, how have you managed to get intothis place, that every one else is so anxious to keep out of? Has theold Don dismounted from his high horse? He has been polite enough tomake me a morning call, but I am afraid he does not intend to allow meto return it. However, as long as he permits you to follow his example, I hope that I shall be enabled to bear the disappointment with becomingresignation. " "Hush, hush! how can you talk so giddily, when you know not what may beyour fate?" "Why, hanging is not a favorite Spanish punishment, so I suppose he willhonor me so far as to expend a little powder and shot upon me. " "O, Charles! Charles! be quiet, for heaven's sake. Tell me, what did myuncle say?" "Say? why, he scolded a good deal, said that I had heretofore behavedvery decently, and that he was very sorry to see me here. " "He has written to the viceroy, to know what he is to do with you. Myuncle, with all his faults, is an angel of mercy, compared with thatcold-blooded, bigoted, cruel man. I have read somewhere that it iswritten over the gates of the infernal regions 'Let all who enter hereleave hope behind. ' Let all who fall into the hands of that haughtynobleman, whether innocent or guilty, leave hope behind too. He isgoverned entirely by his priests, and the very circumstance of yourbeing a Protestant, however harmless, and found in his dominions, wouldbe sufficient to make you an object of hatred and vengeance. " "Well, all that may be; but recollect my country will not tamely permither sons to be dragged to foreign prisons, without knowing wherefore. " "You cannot suppose that your country will plunge into a war for yoursakes?" "No, no, my love; she would be a fool if she did; but there is a set offellows called ambassadors, that often do more with their tongues thanten thousand good fellows can with their bayonets. But tell me, if youknow, where is the ship? what says the good old Captain Williams to thescrape?" "The ship has moved farther out, and he has been on shore twice to-dayto intercede for you, but without effect, though my uncle has so farrelented as to order you all the comforts that you wish. " "I should be obliged to him, then, for the comfort of walking out ofprison. " "When the ship moved out of gunshot, " continued Isabella, withoutnoticing what she thought his artificial gaiety, "there was someapprehension that Captain Williams intended to make some desperateattempt to release you; but he has been on shore since, and had aninterview with my uncle, and the alarm has subsided. " "Well done! that is the best thing I have heard this long time--a wholegarrisoned Spanish town thrown into consternation by a single Yankeemerchantman! upon my word, I shall entertain a more exalted opinion thanever of Spanish courage. " Isabella permitted him to indulge his national vanity, when she againurged that his situation was but little short of desperate, unless hewas speedily relieved from it. "I know, I know that my head is in the lion's mouth, and how it is to begot out I know not. If I could see Captain Williams--perhaps a goodround fine paid to his high mightiness might open these doors. " "I will write to Captain Williams myself, " said the young lady, "perhapssomething of that kind might be done. In the mean time, whenever youhave any wine or other provisions, of which I will see that there shallbe no lack, make a point of sharing it with the guard; and, by allmeans, " she added, in a lower tone, "see that the sentry is neverforgotten. " "Ha! oho! I see the whole affair--there are never but five men on dutyhere at night. " "Rash, hot-headed creature! there will be no occasionfor such madness. Even if you should escape from prison, and reach yourship in safety, which would be next to impossible----" "Well, what?" said Morton, observing that she was silent. She raised hereyes, swimming in tears. "I understand you--dear, dear Isabella, do you think I would leave thiscountry without you? No, never. " "Then remain perfectly quiet, attempt nothing, do nothing of yourself. In the mean time, " continued she, rising, "do not abandon yourselfeither to hope or despair. " With these words she left the prison. CHAPTER XVI. As cannons shoot the higher pitches The lower we let down their breeches, I'll make this low, dejected fate Advance me to a greater height. HUDIBRAS. Captain Williams, immediately upon his landing on the morning after theevents related in the last chapter had taken place, was met at the Portby a woman of rather ordinary appearance, who put a letter into hishands, and retired without speaking. The letter was written in a woman'shand, but without signature, and was as follows: "SIR:--A friend of Mr. Morton is making every possible exertion to deliver him and his companions from imprisonment. That friend entreats that you would do nothing rashly, or that may give cause of alarm or suspicion to the governor or garrison, or to any of the inhabitants. If you will call this evening at the shop of dame Juanita Gomez, in the plaza of San Blas, a person will meet you there, and explain more fully the friendly intentions of the writer. " The honest seaman, after mature deliberation, came to the conclusionthat the writer of this anonymous epistle could be no other than thefair Isabella, of whom he had heard Morton speak so often; and heresolved to attend to its directions most strictly. Accordingly, as apreliminary step, he thought best to reconnoitre the plaza as soon aspossible, that he might make no unpleasant mistakes in the dusk ofevening. While at St. Blas, he had another interview with the governor, andendeavored to ascertain the intentions of that dignitary with regard tothe destination of his prisoners. The governor, however, seemed toregard that as a state secret, and declined making any but a veryevasive answer. As some amends for his severity, he condescended to giveCaptain Williams full permission to visit the prisoners, of which theveteran immediately availed himself. The kind-hearted old seaman wasdeeply affected, as he held Morton in his arms with all the affection ofa fond father-- "That ever I should live to see my old school-fellow Jonathan Morton'sson in such a situation, and not be able to help him, "--were the firstwords he was able to articulate. Morton endeavored to calm him, byrepeated assurances that he felt no apprehension; that he had no doubtthat a certain friend was busy in projecting a plan for theirdeliverance. It was some time before he was sufficiently composed toconverse. "Have you tried the old Don with a few doubloons?" asked Morton. "No, d--n him, I never thought of that; I can't get a word of commonsense or common civility out of the old mule. " "I believe if he had taken the boat-load of goods when he took us, thathe would have been more willing to listen to you. " "Ah, very like; the old fox missed the goose, and he is venting hismalice upon you in stead. But, my dear boy, I don't exactly know how togo to work to offer a bribe. Damme, I could land thirty men this blessednight, and pull this old rookery down, and get you all out that way; butas for bribery, it is a devilish dirty piece of business, to make thebest of it; besides, I tell you, I don't know how; if I did, I would tryit, as dirty as I think it. " Morton, could not forbear smiling at the old man's unwillingness toemploy a piece of machinery, at the present day so indispensable in ourgovernment throughout all its branches; he assured him that nothing wasmore simple; it was only to wait upon the Don in private, and requesthis acceptance of either cash or certain valuable merchandize, thatwould be attractive in the sight of the governor. "There are mysilver-mounted pistols, and curious East India dagger, and my rifle, that all might be thrown out as baits to begin with;"--it was all invain; the blunt old seaman still persisted that bribery, or any thingthat approximated it, was but a dirty affair after all; and that, although he would leave no plan untried to effect the liberation of theprisoners, there was a moral contamination attached to the mode proposedthat he neither could nor would submit to. True to his appointment, Captain Williams, soon after sunset, repairedto dame Juanita's shop, with the location of which he had previouslymade himself acquainted. He was introduced by that worthy old lady intoher back parlor, if a little apartment ten feet square, with a clayfloor and no windows, deserves so dignified, or rather so _comfortable_a title; and in half an hour a female, closely veiled, entered the room. Notwithstanding her disguise, the old seaman had tact enough to perceivethat his companion was young and graceful, or in more modern language, genteel, while the silvery music of her voice, as she addressed him, convinced him that she could be no otherwise than beautiful. "Are you, " said the lady, in a hesitating, tremulous voice, "are you thecommander of the American ship in the bay?" "I am; and you, senorita, are the lady who wrote me the note that Ireceived this morning?" "Yes, I--that is, I sent you a note requesting to see you. " "And you are the generous, devoted, and true friend that takes such alively interest in the fate of my friend and officer, and his companionsin prison and misfortune?" "I am--I am, " replied the lady hurriedly. "And you are, in short, " continued the commander, rising andrespectfully offering his hand, "you are the lady Isabella de Luna?" "I cannot deny it, " said she in a faint voice. "Then, madam, you see before you one who is acquainted with your story. Nay, never hang your head for shame; Charles Morton is worth any woman'slove. I am here ready with hand, heart, and head, to second any andevery plan that you may propose, to effect his escape. " The lady remained silent for a few moments, then placing her small handin the broad, hard palm of the old seaman, replied, "I know that I canput the most implicit confidence in you. I have heard from others--whyshould I deny it? Mr. Morton has told me often, that, next to hisfather, he regards you with affection and esteem as his dearest andtruest friend. " "And he shall never be deceived in old Israel Williams, I can tell himthat, nor shall you, my dear young lady. " "I have but little time to spare, " said the young lady, with increasingtrepidation, "and my communication must be brief, as my plan is simple. To-morrow night, at ten o'clock, Captain Williams, let your swiftestboat be at the place where Mr. Morton and his companions were taken, andlet her wait there until day-break. It may not be in my power to effectmy object to-morrow night; but let not one nor two disappointments deteryou from repeating the experiment. In the mean time, be on shoreto-morrow as though nothing was in agitation; avoid exciting anysuspicions by either words, looks, or actions; and be assured, that, ifthe plan for the rescue of the prisoners fails, it must be from someaccident that can neither be foreseen nor prevented. " The commander of the Albatross having promised to follow all thesedirections to the letter, they separated; he to return to his ship witha joyful heart, and Isabella to reconnoitre the prison previous toretiring to her uncle's house. She passed the guard-house at a slow pace and at such distance as toavoid observation, but sufficiently near to ascertain that all theguard, four in number besides the corporal, were wrapped up in theircloaks and stretched out sound asleep upon the stone floor of theguard-room, which was lighted by a large clumsy lamp sufficiently toallow her to see its interior. The sentry at the door, who was slowlypacing backwards and forwards with a paper segar in his mouth, was theonly one awake. As she bent her steps homeward, she perceived some one approaching her, in the very direction that she was going, with an uncertain, falteringfootstep that denoted considerable intoxication. To avoid him she turnedto the right with the purpose of making a circuit; but, before she hadgone ten yards with that intention, she perceived that the stranger hadquickened his pace and changed his direction, coming directly towardsher. Exceedingly alarmed, she turned short round and ran, and in amoment perceived that her pursuer was likewise running, and rapidlygaining upon her. Fear lent her speed, and with the swiftness of ahunted deer she flew across the plaza towards an open space, terminatedat its further extremity by the precipitous cliff that the town is builtupon, and which we have mentioned more than once. Her intention was toturn quickly round the corner of a house that stood within four feet ofthe edge of the cliff, and gain another street; or, if there were noother means of escape, to take refuge in the house of a poor widow, oneof her pensioners, and obtain a guide and protector to her uncle'shouse. Her pursuer was no other than her self-constituted lover, Don Gregorio. He had dined that day with a party of officers, and had dipped ratherdeeper into the bottle than, to tell the truth, he was often guilty ofdoing. He suspected that Isabella was in the habit of visiting theprison; but as she was generally accompanied, in all her rambles, by oneor both her cousins, he had thought nothing more of the circumstance. But now he was convinced that she was just returning from, or going to, a nocturnal appointment with the prisoner Morton, who had always been anobject of his hatred, and in an instant his jealousy was in fulloperation. The cliff, towards which he was now approaching, was undefended by wall, fence, or barrier of any kind. My readers have doubtless seen somethingsimilar in their lives; that is, a nuisance that has acquired such avenerable character from its antiquity, that it seems a species ofsacrilege, a sort of violation of municipal privileges, to remove orrepair it. Such, for instance, in city or country, is a gap in thestreet or road, large enough to swallow a brace of elephants at once:the inhabitants become acquainted with its localities; and, wiselyconsidering that, as it is _every_ body's business, of course it is_no_ body's business, to repair it, leave it "open for the inspection ofthe public" for a twelvemonth at least; and if any unfortunate strangertumbles in and breaks his neck, on a dark night, it is ten chances toone that the jury of inquest return for a verdict, that "the deceasedcame to his death in consequence of intoxication, " although he may bethe most abstemious water-drinker that ever the sun shone upon. Suchwas, ten or eleven years ago, to my certain knowledge, the cliff of SanBlas. Maddened with jealousy, and rendered incapable of commanding hismovements by intoxication, the unhappy Don Gregorio was whirled, by theimpetuosity of his own motion, far over the brow of the hideousprecipice. One dismal yell of mortal agony broke the stillness of night, and the next moment his body was heard far below, crashing among thebushes and loose stones at the foot of the cliff. Fainting with horrorat the dreadful sight, though ignorant of the person of the victim, Isabella sank upon the ground, and it was some minutes before sherecovered sufficiently to rise. When, at length, she was somewhatrestored, she turned towards her uncle's house with feeble steps andslow, frequently stopping to lean against the walls of the houses; shetottered into the room where the family were assembled, and sanksenseless upon the floor. Her relatives, exceedingly terrified, administered restoratives, and conveyed her to her own chamber, where, when she was somewhat composed, she informed her anxious friends thatshe had been pursued by an intoxicated person, and was extremelyterrified, and begged to be left to her repose, which she assured themwas all she required. Having obtained all the information they werelikely to, her kind and inquisitive cousins left her, after compellingher to swallow a composing medicine. She awoke in the morning perfectlyrefreshed; the horrid scene that she had witnessed the night beforeseeming rather like a terrifying dream than a mournful reality. Before she left her chamber, a man, with his jaws standing ajar withhorror, called upon the governor, and requested to speak with him inprivate. He then informed his excellency, that as he was ramblingthrough the woods at the foot of the precipice, he had found the deadbody of an officer, who had evidently fallen from the cliff above; thatit was so frightfully mangled by the fall, that no vestiges of humanitywere recognizable in the countenance, or in the body; but that, fromthe peculiar fashion of the regimentals, he was almost sure that it washis excellency's aid-du-camp, Don Gregorio Nunez. Alarmed by thisintelligence, the governor despatched a servant to that officer'squarters, who soon returned with the intelligence that he had not beenthere since the morning of the preceding day. Further inquiry among hisbrother officers informed him that he had left their company the eveningbefore about ten o'clock: that he had been drinking freely, rather morefreely than usual; and that they had not seen him since. Having commanded the attendance of two or three officers and as manysoldiers, the commandante proceeded to the spot, guided by his firstinformant, and was convinced, as soon as he saw the crushed andmutilated mass, that it was no other than his unhappy officer. Havinggiven orders for transporting the body to town, he returned to hisfamily, who, although aware, from his abstracted and pensive manner, that something had happened to discompose him, forbore to ask anyquestions--a line of conduct which, by the way, we would most earnestlyrecommend to all wives and daughters. Isabella's mind was too muchoccupied with her own thoughts to notice the silence and melancholy ofher uncle; she ate nothing, but her aunt and cousins attributed her wantof appetite to the fright of the preceding evening; as her eyes mettheir kind and anxious looks, and she thought of her determination toquit them forever, she could not restrain her tears; but rising hastilyfrom the table, she took shelter from observation and questioning in herown chamber. CHAPTER XVII. ---- I did compound A certain stuff, which, being ta'en, would cease The present powers of life; but in short time, All offices of nature should again Do their due functions. CYMBELINE. Shortly after the sea-breeze had set in--that is, between eleven andtwelve o'clock--a sail was discovered in the western horizon, standingin for the land; which sail the commander of the Albatross, in a shorttime, made out, with the help of his glass, to be the guarda-costa, tohis no small vexation and disappointment. She stood in, however; butinstead of anchoring as usual, in what may be called the outer harbor, she ran close in to the landing-place, furled her sails, and then, toCaptain Williams's great relief, sent down her fore-yard, stripped it ofthe sail and rigging, and launched it overboard. Two boats, full of men, were soon seen towing it ashore, the spar having been "sprung" in one ofthose sudden and violent "flaws" of wind so peculiar to high andmountainous coasts. All this was extremely gratifying to the commander of the American ship;in the first place the Venganza (for that was the warlike name of thisredoubtable man-of-war), by lying so far up the harbor, was out of theline between the Albatross and the point where it was intended to send aboat that night; and secondly, the absence of so indispensable a spar asthe fore-yard would render pursuit impossible. Captain Williams went on shore in the afternoon, and met the old Don, who treated him with great condescension, and even hinted at theprobability of his making another visit to the Albatross, to which hintthe seaman replied as politely as could be expected. It was nearly nightwhen he once more entered dame Juanita's shop, from which he took theliberty to despatch a message to Isabella. She appeared in a fewminutes, and hastily assured him that the prospect of success wasbright, and that nothing existed at that time that threatened to defeattheir plans. As soon as he returned to his ship, he made preparations for gettingunder way as speedily as possible; the bower anchor was hove up, and theship rode by a light kedge, there being then but little wind or tide;the gaskets were cast off the topsails, and their places supplied withropeyarns, which would break as soon as the "bunts, " or middle of thesails, were let fall; the chewlines and other running-rigging wereoverhauled; and every other plan for making sail upon the ship asexpeditiously and as silently as possible, was adopted. The crew of theAlbatross performed all these different acts of duty with silence andalacrity. Although their commander had not communicated his plan tothem, they knew by instinct that something bold and daring was to beattempted that night for the rescue of their favorite officer, and theirfour messmates; and their hopes of a brush with the "Don Degos" weremost keenly excited. They were assembled on the forecastle, holding"high dispute" and conjecture upon the course about to be pursued. "Now if I was the old man, " said one of the younger seamen, "I tell youwhat I would do. I would jest land as many of us as could be spared, with cutlasses and boarding-pikes"-- "And pistols, " interrupted another. "No; d--n your pistols; they make too much noise; they're all talk andno cider; besides, they miss fire half the time; and before you getready for another shot, Don Dego has his thundering baggonet right inyour g--ts; and then where are you?" "Now you may all of you, " said an old seaman, "you may all of you justpipe belay with your jaw-tackle-falls. Captain Williams knows what he'sabout, and you'll know before morning what he's up to. You'd better takea fool's advice, and catch a cat-nap before you're called away. Theboats a'n't histed up, and when did you ever know 'em in the water afterdark since we've been lying here?" So saying, the veteran disappeareddown the fore-ladder. "There goes old Jemmy Bush, starn foremost down the fore-scuttle, likea land-bear going into his hole. " "Well, " said another smart, active young seaman, the favorite of thecrew; "I shall take old Jemmy's advice, and go and get forty winks in myhammock. If there's more or less of us sent on this expedition, wesha'n't be called away till ten or eleven o'clock, when all the Degosare asleep, and there's nothing awake in the town but fleas and cats. " The proposition for sleeping prevailed, and the groups on the forecastlebegan to disappear, when the voice of the second mate was heard: "For'ard there!" "Sir, sir, " answered half a dozen eager voices at once. "Who has the anchor watch?" "Bill Thompson and Sam Hughes, sir. " "Go in the boats alongside, and see that they have their fullcomplement of oars; and see, too, that the masts and sails are on boardall of them. " "Ay, ay, sir. " "Do you hear that, my sons of brass?" said old Jones, the boatswain, "that looks as if there was going to be wigs on the green beforemorning. " We must now leave the marine department for awhile, in order to attendto exclusively terrene concerns. As night closed, Morton could not avoidfeeling extreme anxiety; Isabella had not visited the prison since theday previous, nor had she sent any message. Doubts the most annoyingpossessed his mind--at one time he thought she had been detected in herschemes for his rescue; then that her courage had failed, and she hadabandoned him to his fate; or that her affection for her relatives hadovercome her love for him. He had partially made known to his fourfellow-prisoners his hopes of relief, cautioning them against sleeping, but enjoining upon them to keep perfectly quiet. It was now past nine o'clock; and, with mingled feelings ofdisappointment, grief, and anger, he was just resigning all hopes, whenthe sentry at the door challenged. The next moment a person dressed in along, loose cloak stood before him, whom he immediately recognized ashis loved Isabella. "I have brought you some supper and some wine, " said the young lady, addressing him, as usual upon similar occasions, in Spanish; "I ought tohave come before, but it was impossible. " So saying, she set her basket upon the stone bench, and, in so doing, whispered Morton: "Every thing is ready; be patient, and be guided by me. " "But how are you about to manage these fellows? it will take all nightto get them drunk, if that is your plan; for your soldiers, it cannot bedenied, are extremely temperate, and will seldom do me the honor toempty more than a single bottle among the whole five. " "Hush, hush; I have a surer way than mere wine. " As she spoke she drew from her bosom a phial, containing a dark liquid. Morton started back in horror--(he thought he saw, in the composed andlovely countenance of the beautiful being before him, the cold-blooded, deliberate, practised assassin--) "Good God! Isabella, is it possible? never, never will I owe my life andliberty to such abominable, such cowardly means!" "Dismiss your suspicions, " said Isabella, turning pale and trembling;"they are unworthy of you, and wholly unmerited by me. Not to save_your_ life, which I value as I do my own, would I commit mur--the crimethat you suspect. This phial contains a simple opiate, not half sodangerous or disagreeable as the laudanum and camphor of your ship'smedicine chest. The sleep produced by it is speedy and deep, and lastsfour or five hours. " Observing that Morton still looked distrustingly, she continued, withstreaming eyes-- "Dear Charles, if you doubt me still, I will swallow the whole; itsoperation will not take place before I reach home, and will only causelong, deep sleep; but, in that case, your hopes of escape are cut off_forever_. To-morrow, or the next day, at farthest, you are to be sentto the capital"--her tears choked her utterance. "Dearest Isabella, " said Morton, taking her hands in both his, andpressing them to his bosom, "forgive my cruel suspicions, but I own youstartled me exceedingly. " "Leave all to my management, and in half an hour all will be well. " In the mean time the seamen had "boarded" the basket, and spread itscontents upon the stone bench, that did triple duty as a bed, a seat, and a table, as occasion required. The soldiers roused themselves at thegurgling sound of the wine, as it was decanted into cups made of thelarge end of an ox's horn, scraped thin, and capable of containing apint or more. Isabella dexterously poured the contents of the phial intoa cup, which was filled with wine, and Morton, taking it in his hand, approached the corporal with a nod of invitation. After holding it tohis lips for some time, as if taking a deep draught, he passed it to thecorporal; that officer, touching his cap _à la militaire_, drank andpassed the horn, according to South American custom, to his comrades. The prisoners and Isabella watched its circulation with most painfulanxiety, and soon had the felicity of beholding it turned bottom upwardsover the mouth of the sentry at the door. Another bottle was opened, andpoured, unobserved by the soldiers, into another cup, which, beinghanded to the sailors, was almost immediately passed back again, "a bodywithout a soul. " Another cup, medicated like the first, was prepared, and the prisoners, apparently busied with their supper, awaited withtrepidation the effect of the medicine. After the lapse of fifteen or twenty minutes, which seemed as many hoursto the prisoners, the corporal betrayed palpable symptoms of somnolency. He had seated himself with his back to the wall, and his feet towards asmall fire that was kept burning in the middle of the guard-room everynight, to drive away the moschetoes, and had commenced a song, in a lowvoice. The first stanza he managed very respectably; but, before he hadhalf finished the second, both the air and words seemed strangelyderanged; his head sank upon his breast, and he snored repeatedly, instead of singing; he made an effort to arouse himself, uttered thatejaculation common to all ranks and both sexes of Spaniards, but whichis too gross to be written, and, stretching himself at full length uponthe floor, was sound asleep in an instant. His three comrades were notslow in following his example; wrapped in their _ponchos_, or SouthAmerican cloaks, they "took ground" around the fire, and were soonasleep. The sentry at the door, after two or three times stumbling over his ownfeet, and as often dropping his musket out of his arms from meredrowsiness, came into the guard-room to light a segar, which heeventually accomplished at the imminent risk of pitching head foremostinto the fire. He resumed his station at the door, but was too sleepyto walk on his post; he seated himself on the stone bench, the butt ofhis musket resting upon the ground between his feet, and the muzzleleaning against his shoulder; the lighted segar dropped from his mouth;he leaned his head against the door-post, extended his feet and legs, and in a few seconds his nasal organ, in strains like the nocturnal songof one of our largest bull-frogs, gave notice that he was "absentwithout leave" to the land of Nod. Isabella now arose, and, motioning to the prisoners to remain quiet, tripped backwards and forwards through the guard-room, to ascertain thatthe soldiers were asleep. Having satisfied herself on this point, shebeckoned to them to follow her. In passing through the guard-room, Morton as well as his companions felt a strong inclination to possessthemselves of the arms of the guard, which were piled in one corner. Their fair guide however entreated them to desist; but one of theseamen, in attempting, to use his own language, to "unship" one of thebayonets, made so much noise with the muskets, as alarmed himself aswell as the rest; and the whole party sallied out unarmed. Near the door they were met by another person, that alarmed theprisoners exceedingly; but it proved to be Transita, Isabella's Mexicanservant, loaded with two "sizeable" bundles; for the annals ofelopements, from the earliest ages down to the present day, have notrecorded a single instance of a lady's running away from "cruelparents" or cross husband without the accompaniment of a sufficientquantity of baggage; nay, I have heard of one young lady whoaccomplished a most perilous descent from her chamber window into thearms of an expecting lover, and returned for her favorite lap-dog, atthe most imminent risk of detection and close imprisonment at the handsof her "ugly, old, cross papa. " Transita, like her mistress, was dressed in boy's clothes, a disguisethat so effectually imposed upon the four sailors, that in a whisperedconversation between them it it was decided that the two "younggentlemen" were the sons of the merchant to whom the cargo had beensold. Keeping close to the side of the plaza, the whole party advancedswiftly and silently without meeting a human being, and turned down theopen space where Don Gregorio had met his horrid fate. As the dreadfulscene rose to Isabella's memory, she could not repress a faintexclamation of horror, and hurried with increased speed down the narrowpathway on the edge of the cliff, to escape from the hideousrecollection. Just as they were emerging from their narrow and crookedpath into the street that terminated in the blind passage through thewood, they were startled by the regular, heavy tread of soldiers, apparently approaching them. It was a small patrol of a corporal andthree men from the barrack at the water side, but who were not connectedwith the guard in the plaza. As they drew nigh, the party stoodperfectly still, except that one of the tars drew forth his jack-knife, and another picked up a moderate-sized stone, observing in a whisperthat if they came too nigh, he would try which was the hardest, aSpaniard's scull or that "ground nut, " as he designated the stone whichhe held in his hand. The soldiers, however, passed on without seeingthem, and in a few seconds their footsteps became inaudible. CHAPTER XVIII. "She is won: we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur; They'll have fleet steeds that follow, " quoth young Lochinvar. MARMION. The liberated seamen once more pushed forward, no longer guided byIsabella, who had got as far as her knowledge of the place extended, andwere again, in nautical language, "brought up all standing. " A priest, returning from the death-bed of one of his flock, saw them gliding alongsilently and in "Indian file. " His head being full of good wine, death, the devil, &c. , and the place enjoying moreover the reputation of beinghaunted, his imagination magnified and multiplied the seven fugitivesinto a legion of devils, with horns, tails, and fiery breath complete. Under this impression he began to thunder forth a Latin form ofexorcism: "In nomine sanctæ Trinitatis et purissimæ Virginis, exorcizovos! Apage, Satana! Vade retro, diabole!" &c. &c. In such abominably badLatin, that a devil or a ghost of the least classical taste would haveincontinently fled to the Red Sea, without waiting to hear anothersyllable of the formula that sent him thither. The bawling of the priestawoke several of the neighbors, and sundry night-capped heads wereprotruded from the windows of the nearest houses; but the proprietors, catching a glimpse of the objects of the priest's alarm, and not caringto play bo-peep with the devil, closed and barred their casements, andbetook them to their beads. The party glided on in the same swift, silent pace; but the hindmostsailor, irritated by the continued vociferation of the priest, andstumbling at that moment over the carcase of a dog that had given up theghost a few hours before, seized it by the hind leg, and flung it at theholy man with such true aim and force, as brought him to the ground. Luckily the monk swooned away with terror at this unexpected buffetingin the flesh from Satan, and his noise was consequently stopped. Thenext moment the party plunged into the bushy path, and were instantlylost to the view of the inhabitants, if indeed any were looking afterthem. Advancing swiftly along the rough path, and losing their way two orthree times, they at length heard the light dash of the surf upon thesand-beach; but, to their no small alarm, they also plainly heard, fromtime to time, the low hum of voices, though their language was notdistinguishable. Fearing the worst, Morton advanced alone toreconnoitre, notwithstanding Isabella's earnest entreaties not to beleft alone. Moving slowly and cautiously towards the point whenceproceeded the voices, the soft sand rendering his footsteps inaudible, he approached as near as he durst, and listened for some minutes withthe most fixed attention, to catch a word that would indicate thecharacter and nation of the speakers, but in vain; and he was on thepoint of returning to his friends in despair, when he plainlydistinguished the exclamation, "d----n my eyes, " uttered by some one atno great distance from where he stood. No Sontag or Malibran everwarbled a note that contained a hundredth part of the sweetness andmusic that was comprised in that simple and unsophisticated ejaculation;it decided in an instant, and beyond all possibility of doubt, who andwhat was the speaker. His joy was inconceivable, and he could scarcerefrain from giving vent to it in a loud shout. Returning immediately, he communicated the joyful intelligence to his friends; and the wholeparty, with light hearts and rapid steps, advanced towards the beach. Just as they stepped from the shade and covert of the bushes, a pistol, the bright barrel of which glittered in the star-light, was presented toMorton's breast; and the holder thereof, in a grum voice, commanded himto "stand!" "Heave to, and let's overhaul your papers, " continued the speaker, whowas immediately recognized, by the voice, as Jones, the boatswain of theAlbatross. "Hush, hush, don't speak so loud; 'tis I, 'tis Morton--Jones, is thatyou, my old boy?" "God bless you, Mr. Morton, it is you indeed--I thought 'twas a raft ofthem thundering sojers bearing down upon us. I've been lying to, underthe lee of this 'ere bush, for this two hours or more, waiting for you. " The parleying between their "look-out ship, " as they called Jones, andthe strangers, attracted the whole party of the Albatross to the spot;and Morton, to his surprise, found himself and his companions surroundedby at least thirty well-armed men. His friend Walker, the second mate ofthe ship, advanced, and testifying the sincerest affection, welcomed himonce more to liberty and the company of his shipmates. Kind greetingsand hearty welcomes were given by the seamen, in their blunt, straight-forward way, and not a few jokes were passed upon the fourliberated tars by their light-hearted messmates. "I say, Tom Wentworth, how much _grub_ did the Don Degos allow you? arat a-piece, or the hind leg of a jackass among the four of you?" "Ay, " said another, "and Sundays they had a jackass's head stewed in alantern, and stuffed with sogers' coats. " "Yes, " said a third, "and green-hide soup three times a week. " "Seasoned with brick-dust and pig-weeds, " said a fourth, "by way of redpepper and cabbages. " "Well, never mind what they've had, " said old Tom Jones, interposing, "one thing's sartain, they ha'n't had any steam, that's jist as clearas mud. " "You're idle there, old Tom Pipes; we've had as much good wine as wecould lay our sides to. But howsomever, if you've got any white-eye inthat black betty that you're rousing out of your pea-jacket pocket, Idon't much care if I take a drop. " "Poor children!" said the boatswain, "they've been kept this whole weekin a snug, warm _caliboose_, and they'll catch cold if they're out inthe night air. " So saying, he offered his junk-bottle of New England to Morton, whodeclined it, and it was then passed to his four fellow-prisoners, whotook a long, deliberate, steady aim at the stars through it insuccession. By this time the two whale-boats and yawls, that constituted theflotilla of the shore party, were hauled as close to the beach as theshoalness of the water would permit, and the embarkation commenced;Morton carrying the fair Isabella in his arms, and depositing her in thestern-sheets of the swiftest of the boats, in which he found ample storeof boat-cloaks and pea-jackets to protect her from the night air andheavy dews. Her attendant, Transita, was about following her mistress, when Tom Jones, who had no suspicion that there were more than one"young gentleman" concerned in effecting the escape of his shipmates, or about taking passage in the ship, laid his huge hand upon hershoulder, exclaiming, "Halloa! shipmate, where are you bound to, if the wind stands?" "What are you about there, Jones?" shouted Morton from the boat, "she--he, I mean, is to go off with us. Take him through the surf. " "Ay, ay, sir; come, Mr. She--he, just get upon my shoulders, if youplease; come, bear a hand before it snows--there, stow yourself away inthe starn-sheets--there, that's the time of day--shove her bows off, Sam, and jump aboard--so, pull round your larboard oars--now give waytogether. " Their oars being all muffled, they glided, silently and swiftly, towardsthe offing, edging away a little to the south, or farther side of thebay, to avoid the possibility of observation from the shore. They hadproceeded swiftly for some minutes, and had passed the point on whichthe battery stands without speaking a word, when the silence was brokenby Morton, -- "Where is the ship, Jones? do you see any thing of her?" The boatswain desisted rowing, and, holding his head down as near thewater as possible, looked long and anxiously to the western horizon. "I don't see her, " said he, "unless that's her, here on our starboardbow. " "No, that's the rock. " By this time the other boats had come up, and all agreed that nothingcould be seen of the ship. After a brief consultation, it was decidedthat their safest plan was to continue rowing to the westward, and thatthey would be sure of seeing the ship at day-break; whereas if daylightfound them in the bay, they would most assuredly be seen, and chased bythe boats from the shore. Isabella, whom most powerful excitement had supported from the prison tothe point of embarkation, had since then, reclining on the stern-sheetsof the boat, and supported by her lover's arms, been in a state ofstupor and silence; her thoughts were in a complete whirl, almostamounting to delirium; the kind and soothing voice of Morton shescarcely heard, and she only awoke to consciousness during the shortdeliberation just mentioned. In an agony of terror at the doubt anduncertainty that she heard expressed around her, she uttered the wildestexclamations, and struggled with Morton and her attendant, whoendeavored in vain to pacify and sooth her. With unspeakable anguishMorton witnessed, for half an hour, the confusion of her intellects, till at length she sunk down exhausted, and wept bitterly. At thismoment a voice from the yawl that had gone ahead, shouted, "There sheis!" "Where, where?" asked a dozen eager voices. "Right ahead. " Every eye was instantly turned in that direction, and, to theirunutterable joy, they saw, at the distance of about a mile, the light ofa signal-lantern. Every oar was most vigorously plied, and in a fewminutes the headmost boat was greeted with "Boat ahoy!" from CaptainWilliams--"Albatross, " was the reply, and the boats dashed up to the leegangway and fore-chains. Isabella, whose buoyant spirit had recovered its spring when she saw thedanger was over, was assisted up the side by her lover and two or threeof the most careful men. As soon as Morton stepped upon deck, he wascaught in the arms of his commander, who was inarticulate from emotion. Morton, quietly disengaging himself, presented his fair deliverer. Theold seaman folded her in his arms, and kissing her cheek, drew her armunder his, and conducted her to the cabin, whither they were followed byMorton. Under the superintendence of the second mate and boatswain the boatswere now hoisted up and secured; the ship wore with her head to thewestward, all sails set, and hot coffee, beef, bread, cheese, &c. Provided liberally for the "shore party;" after which the watch was set, the deck "relieved" by Captain Williams, and the Albatross, with herwhite wings expanded, flew rapidly on her course before a fresh easterlybreeze. CHAPTER XIX. Master, let me take you a button hole lower; do you not see, Pompey is uncasing for the combat? What mean you? you will lose your reputation. LOVE'S LABOR'S LOST. The rising sun the next day beheld the good ship Albatross, under theimpulse of a very gentle breeze, gliding towards the west; the Andes, over which the sun was darting his levelled beams, were distinctlyvisible. The flapping of the topsails against their masts, the patteringof the reef-points, and the smoothness of the water, indicated anapproaching calm. "Go aloft, one of you, " said Morton, who was the officer of the morningwatch, "go aloft, and see if you can make out any sail astern of usunder the land. " The seaman who obeyed this order, after _roosting_ for fifteen or twentyminutes on the main royal yard, came down and reported that he could seenothing; but that the sun shone so brightly on the water that, if anything was within the range of sight, the reflection of the sunbeamswould render it invisible. Morton could not repress a vagueapprehension that there was some vessel in chace, though it would havesorely puzzled him to give his whys and wherefores. After having pointedhis glass for the fiftieth time towards the eastern horizon, withoutseeing any thing but smooth water and the dim, blue, cloudy-lookingmountains, the man at the wheel notified him that it was "eight bells, "or eight o'clock. Having gone below to compare the watch in the cabinwith the half-hour glass in the binnacle, he returned to thequarter-deck and called out, "Strike the bell eight--call the watch. " The bell was struck, and one of the watch on deck, after a preliminarythumping with the large end of a handspike upon the forecastle, vociferated down the fore scuttle, "All the starboard watch, ahoy! Rouse out there, starbowlines--show aleg or an arm!" This last phrase designates the manner in which "turning out" of ahammock is accomplished, which hammock, a person unacquainted with suchkind of sleeping accommodations, would never dream contained a live man, until one or the other of the aforementioned limbs was protruded. In afew minutes the wheel was relieved, and the crew were clustering aroundthe galley with their tin pots, joking, and laughing, and shouting"scaldings!" as they hurried forward with their respective allowances ofhot coffee. In the mean time the quarter-deck received an accession of company. Mr. Walker came up the companion-way, gaping and rubbing his eyes, andcarrying his jacket on his arm. With a short "good morning!" to Mortonhe threw his jacket upon the hen-coop, proceeded to the lee gangway, drew a bucket of water, and commenced his morning's ablutions. CaptainWilliams next came on deck, and immediately looked round upon theweather with a troubled and disappointed air, for it was now almostquite a calm. Mr. Edwards and Dr. Bolton followed him--not that they hadany business on deck, or cared much about leaving the cabin or theirrespective state-rooms oftener than was necessary; but it is not, or wasnot, in my sea-going days, esteemed genteel for passengers, or any other"idlers, " to stay below while the steward was occupied with the mysteryof arranging the breakfast-table. Lastly, and to the surprise of thewhole company, Isabella, as lovely as the morning, and dressed in theproper habiliments of her sex, ascended the companion-ladder. She wasgreeted with paternal affection by the veteran commander, and withsparkling eyes and a silent pressure of the hand by Morton. She receivedand replied to their congratulations and compliments with crimsonedcheeks and downcast eyes. The supercargo and doctor, who had, with mostcommendable delicacy, kept out of the way the night before, were nowintroduced, and after a few minutes of general conversation, thesteward informed Captain Williams that breakfast was ready. The whole party, with the exception of Mr. Walker, who was now in histurn "officer of the deck, " accordingly descended to the cabin, wherethey found the table covered with coffee and tea, _minus_ milk; coldsalt beef, cut into slices, of a thickness that would horrify a wholecommunity of fashionable ladies and gentlemen, allowing that soexceedingly vulgar an article of "provent" as salt beef did notpreviously throw them into hysterics as soon as presented to their eyes, but which slices seemed to have been cut with the prospective intentionof filling up that vacuum that Nature, as far as I am acquainted withher, seems to abhor more cordially than any other vacuum whatever; thatvoid space, I mean, that is apt to be found in a healthy human stomachafter a twelve-hour's fast. There was also a broiled chicken for theexpress use and behoof of their fair messmate; fried pork and potatoes;a large dish of fried fish, the produce of a fishing excursion theafternoon preceding; another of boiled eggs; a third composed ofpilot-bread, soaked in hot water, toasted, and buttered; biscuit, butter, and cheese. Breakfast proceeded much as sea breakfasts generally do--that is to say, the company ate heartily: even Isabella, who had sufficient excuse forlow spirits and want of appetite, yielded to the demands of hunger themost unromantic, and, in vulgar language, "spoilt the looks" of thebroiled fowl before her. The meal was drawing to a close, when thesteward came below with information, that Mr. Walker had seen, from themain topmast head, with his glass, a square-rigged vessel right astern, and coming up with a fresh breeze. Captain Williams and Morton exchangedlooks of intelligence, but said nothing; their fair passenger, fortunately, understood not a word of the steward's intelligence; andthe merchant and doctor were of that happy and enviable description ofmen, who, when they sit down to a well-furnished table, seem to adopt, with a slight variation, the sentiment of the poet, "Far from my thoughts, vain world, begone, And let my '_eating_' hours alone, " The two seamen, however anxious they might feel, finished theirbreakfast very composedly, and went on deck without hurry; Mortonrecommending to his fair deliverer to remain below for some time. Inhalf an hour the chace was distinctly visible from the quarter-deck, andfrom the peculiar darkness of the water in that direction, it wasevident that she had a good breeze. It was then that conjectures as tothe character of the stranger were numerous, wild, and contradictory; noone thought for an instant that it was the Venganza, because they hadseen her the day before with her fore-yard down and sent on shore--theidea that there might possibly be found a spare spar in the dock-yardthat would answer _pro tem_. Never, for an instant, presenting itselfto their minds. A few minutes more, however, convinced them that it wasindeed that "terrible ship with a terrible name;" and orders wereimmediately given to prepare for action as silently as possible. Theseorders were obeyed with joyous alacrity. A feeling of romantic gratitudeto their lovely passenger was accompanied by a most chivalrousdetermination to "do or die" in her defence, and these sentimentspervaded the whole ship's company. Added to this exciting cause was thatnatural propensity to strife that Flora Mac Ivor says all men feel whenplaced in opposition to each other, or, as Titus Livius Patavinus hathit, they were "suopte ingenio feroces. " The clews of the topsails were lashed to the lower yard-arms; thetopsail-yards slung with iron chains; round, grape, and cannister shotgot up from the hold; the boarding-pikes taken down from the racks andlaid at hand; the arm-chests unlocked, and their murderous contents ofmuskets, bayonets, pistols, cutlasses, and tomahawks or pole-axesproduced; powder-horns and flasks, for priming the guns, filled andplaced in readiness; rammers, sponges, and priming-wires distributed tothe guns; preventer braces rove, and stoppers for the rigging sent upinto the tops, or placed in different parts of the deck. The carpentergot ready his shot-plugs and top-maul; the armorer examined the locks ofthe fire-arms; the gunner paraded his wads, and opened the magazinebeneath the cabin floor. Morton, to whom Captain Williams had deputedthe charge of the two females, descended to the steerage, attended bytwo or three seamen, and hauled all the spare sails out of thesail-room, with which he formed a small hollow coil in the cable tier. These sails, being formed into long hard rolls and placed upon thecables, formed a rampart that, from its non-elasticity, would moreeffectually check the progress of a round shot than a greater thicknessof oak plank. Having finished the castle, he could not forbear passing into the cabinto see its future occupant. Isabella received him with a blush and asmile. "What is the meaning of all this noise and bustle overhead?" said she. "There is a strange ship in sight, " said Morton, after a pause, "and weare almost sure that she has hostile intentions towards us. " Isabellabecame pale as marble. "It is, in short, the man-of-war that was in St. Blas when we left there. " "Good God!" said the young lady, clasping her hands in agony, "what willbecome of us?" "Do not allow yourself to be overcome with causeless alarm; we shall, ifpossible, run away; but if not, we must resort to certain arguments toconvince her commander and crew of the impropriety and rudeness of theirinterfering in an affair that does not concern them. " "But if we are taken, what will become of you?" "I suspect, dearest Isabella, that you will search in vain through theAlbatross to find a single person, man or boy, that is prepared toadmit the probability, nay, even the possibility, of such a conclusion. We are nominally inferior, but in reality superior, to our antagonist. In the mean time, I have been preparing a place of safety for you andTransita, where it is next to impossible that you should be in the wayof danger. " "But you, " said she, looking at him with tearful eyes. "My life, my sweet girl, is in the hands of Him that gave it; and to Hiswatchful care and boundless goodness I cheerfully and confidingly commitit. " "But if you are taken--such a thing is at least possible. " "Such an event is, as you say, possible. In that case, your Mexicanfriends must be content to work their revenge upon my dead body, for Iam determined that the living Charles Morton shall never become anobject for Spanish vengeance to exhaust its ingenuity upon. But I mustleave you for the present. I will come below again in a few minutes, toconduct you to your citadel. " CHAPTER XX. Some writers make all ladies purloined, And knights pursuing like a whirlwind; But those, that write in rhyme, still make The one verse for the other's sake. HUDIBRAS. Morton and his companions had left the prison a few minutes past teno'clock. It was nearly one when an officer, who was up and passingthrough the plaza for certain good reasons best known to himself, noticed, as he approached the guard-house, that there was an unusualdegree of stillness about it; no sentry challenged as he drew near, andindeed there seemed to be none on post. Surprised at this, he enteredthe porch, or as it is called in New England, the "_pye_-azza, " where hefound the sentry seated, as before described, and snoring most lustily. Him he attempted to awaken by a very summary process; namely, bytumbling him from his seat upon the ground; but so stupified was thefellow with the drugged wine that he had drank, that after utteringcertain unintelligible growlings, he again slept and snored. Passinginto the interior, the officer found the corporal and his "bravecompeers" as sound asleep and as motionless as the enchantedinhabitants of a fairy castle. After bestowing upon them several soundand hearty kicks, without producing any vivifying effects, he perceivedthat the door of the inner room, or prison, was wide open, and the roomitself as empty as--an author's pockets. On further examination he founda basket, the remains of food, three or four empty bottles anddrinking-cups, one or two full bottles, and a phial containing a smallquantity of dark-colored liquid, with the qualities of which he did notthink it prudent to make himself acquainted by experiment upon his ownperson; not possessing a particle of the philosophical courage and zealof Sir Humphrey Davy, who gulped down poisonous gases till it became amatter of astonishment and mystery to his friends, as well as himself, how he contrived to find his way back into this world, after havingstrolled so far beyond its limits. The phial, however ignorant he was ofthe nature of its contents, explained, in connection with the emptybottles, the cause of the death-like sleep of the guard. After deliberating for an extremely short space of time (for when a manhas nobody near to bother him with advice, he makes up his mind withincredible despatch), he concluded that there would be no danger inleaving the guard-house just as he found it, for sundry reasons; in thefirst place, the present circumstances had probably existed some hours;secondly, as there was nothing there for the guard to watch over butthe empty bottles, &c. Said guard might as well sleep as be awake;thirdly--but by this time he was almost at his excellency's door, and itwas hardly worth while to follow any farther a line of reasons thatthreatened to stretch out to the crack of day, if not of doom. Afterabundance of vociferating and thumping, he succeeded in rousing thegovernor from his slumbers, and bringing him to the window, night-cappedand night-gowned "proper, " as the heralds say. His excellency wasthunderstruck at the intelligence, and in a few minutes his householdwas in motion. His two daughters had no sooner learned that the prisoners had escaped, than they hastened to the chamber of their cousin, Isabella, tocommunicate the joyful intelligence. To their surprise and consternationno cousin Isabella was to be found; the chamber was in its usual state, but it was immediately obvious that the bed had not been pressed thatnight by its lovely occupant; one or two of the drawers of a bureau, inwhich she had formerly kept sundry articles of clothing, were open andempty; nor was this all; the doors of a little book-case, that stoodupon a table in one corner of the room, and that formerly containedthirty or forty volumes, were also open, and every volume was gone. This circumstance, which at once convinced the two young ladies thattheir cousin was decidedly deranged in mind, should have been mentionedand explained in its proper place. A fortnight previous to Morton'scapture, Isabella consented to put herself under his protection, andhaving so done, retired to her chamber to deliberate upon the how andthe what she should take with her. Her jewels, that had been left her byher mother, or given her by her uncle and other relatives, werenumerous, costly, and easily portable; but jewels, though they ornamentbeauty, do not keep it warm. Her drawers were next opened, and sundryindispensable articles of dress were selected and set aside; but whileshe hesitated between certain elegant and valuable dresses and othersmore ordinary, that her natural good sense told her were moreappropriate, her eyes rested upon a volume of Milton opened at thetitle-page, on which was written her mother's name by that belovedparent's hand: "My dear mother's books! how could I think of leavingthem behind, or any thing that was ever hers!" She closed her drawersafter having carelessly thrown aside, for "sea-service, " the firstdresses that came to hand--her whole thoughts occupied in devising meansto save what, just at that moment, seemed of vastly superiorconsequence. The books, by Morton's advice, were subsequently carried, two or three at a time, to Juanita's house, and thence by him conveyedcarefully on board the Albatross, and safely deposited in his chest. Having settled this affair so much to her satisfaction, she used thesame means to transport the greater part of her most valuable clothes tothe same place, till the unfortunate capture of her lover made itnecessary to encumber herself and attendant with the remainder, upon thenight of her elopement and their escape. I pride myself not a little in being particular in an affair of suchdelicacy. Some writers wake their heroines at dead of night, drag them, half drest, out of a third story chamber window, lead them through athousand perils by flood, fire, and field, till the mere matter-of-fact, common sense reader is convinced that the poor girls had neither a drythread nor a clean one upon their persons; and no "change of raiment" somuch as hinted at. I scorn so ungallant an action as to compel _my_heroine to make a voyage nearly round the world, or within thirtydegrees of longitude of it, in such a draggle-tailed and sluttishcondition; so that you see, madam, I have made this digression for thesole purpose of setting your mind at ease on the score of Isabella'sgowns, frocks, hose, and those other articles of the "inner temple"whose names I dare not even think of, or whose existence it would beimpolite and indelicate to hint at. The alarming fact of his niece's absence the governor fortunately didnot learn till morning, or rather till late in the forenoon, he havinggone towards the guard-house before his daughters visited their cousin'schamber. When arrived there, Don Gaspar was convinced, by examination ofthe phial, that the soldiers were under the influence of a mostpowerful opiate; and, furthermore, that the prisoners had obtained thatopiate and the wine that it was administered in, from some person out ofthe prison who had access to them; and he immediately vowed vengeancethe most signal and summary against the traitor, offering, at the sametime, a large reward for his, her, or their apprehension. Alas, poorman! he did not know that the traitor was of his own kith and kin, hisown beloved niece. His next movement was to send an officer at full gallop to the Venganza, or rather to the landing place, commanding her captain to despatch boatsto the American ship in the outer harbor, and search for the fugitives. Don Diego Pinto, the commander of the Venganza, who had obtained a sparefore-yard from the dock-yard, rigged and swayed it aloft the night thathe came in, instantly concluded that the escape had been effected by theAmerican captain, and that the Albatross had immediately sailed. Impressed with this idea, he weighed anchor forthwith, and, favored by afresh breeze from the land, was convinced by eight o'clock that morningthat his conjecture was right. How the governor bore the news of his niece's elopement we have neverbeen able precisely to discover, but have understood vaguely that hedisplayed infinitely more warm and tender feelings than he hadheretofore had credit for. CHAPTER XXL. There was an ancient sage philosopher That had read Alexander Ross over, And swore the world, as he could prove, Was made of fighting and of love. Just so romances are, for what else Is in them all but love and battles? O' the first of these we've no great matter To treat of, but a world o' the latter. HUDIBRAS. The breeze that brought the Venganza within sight, was in a very shorttime felt likewise by the Albatross; but it gradually hauled to thesouthward, thereby giving the American the advantage of the wind, orweather-gage. Still it was evident that the Spaniard was the superiorsailer, and that he might, if he chose, soon be alongside; but he seemedto be aware that preparations had been made by the Yankee commander andhis crew to give him a very warm reception. Accordingly he shortenedsail and tacked, with the hope of getting to windward; but in this hewas foiled by the Albatross tacking also, and, in spite of all theSpaniard's manoeuvring, retaining the advantage that the wind gaveher. The crew of the American were all this time quietly leaning on theirguns, and watching the evolutions of their antagonist; and commentingupon every movement with as much composure as though their own ship waslying at anchor in a friendly port, and they were only looking at someship beating into harbor. "That old rattle-trap of a gardy coaster works tolerably well, onlyshe's a month of Sundays swinging her head-yards, and getting herfore-tack down, " said one of the seamen. "You may well say that, " said another, "and the same of his main-yardand main-tack, and jib-sheet to boot. " "Well, you can't blame him for not being in a hurry, " said theboatswain, "he knows what he'll get when he hooks on to the oldAlbatross. When once we get fairly hold on him, I don't ask but half anhour to do his business for him: fifteen minutes to knock away some ofhis sticks, and send him off flanking, and fifteen minutes more tosecure the guns and clear the decks up; and by that time it will beeight bells, and then we'll have our dinner and our grog, and be allready to make sail on our course again. " "There she goes again! helm's a-tiller, jib-sheet's a-rope, and roundshe comes!" "Ready about!" shouted Captain Williams, and the crew flew to theirstations. Both vessels were now heading to the westward; the Venganza, by superiorsailing and frequent tacking, had gained considerably to windward; andit was evident that she would soon be alongside, though to leeward. Inthis situation of affairs, Captain Williams, seeing that flight was outof the question, called all hands aft. "Lie aft there all of you, hurry aft there, men, at once, " repeated theboatswain, adding, in a lower tone, "the old man's going to read us apage out of Hamilton Moore. " The men being all assembled upon the quarter-deck, Captain Williamsadvanced, and thus addressed them: "Men, you see that fellow yonder that is following on after us, and knowwhat he wants. He sails rather better than we do, and I don't see howwe're going to get rid of him; and if we don't want to be plagued withhim any longer, why we must fight him, that's all. I don't suppose thatyou will fight any the quicker or better for my making a speech to you, but I want you should know which leg you stand upon. We are nothing buta merchantman, and I don't suppose you are bound by the ship's articlesto fight unless you see fit, but whether we fight or not, our fate isthe same; if we are such d--d fools as to let that garlic-eatingscarecrow make a prize of us without firing a gun, we shall be sent tothe mines for life; but if we will only stand by each other, I'll bebail that we give him something that he can't eat. Now if you are allagreeable to that, say so, and give three cheers for the honor of theYankee flag, and we'll fix his flint for him before the cook's dinner isready. " This pertinent harangue was received with three roaring cheers, whichwere distinctly heard by the Spaniards, who were thereby convinced thatthe Americans were not the sort of men to be frightened into asurrender; and they, the Spaniards that is, "smelled the battle" by nomeans "afar off, " but, on the contrary, rather nearer their noses thanwas altogether agreeable. By way of commentary to his speech, the Yankee commander called to thesteward to "bring up the case bottle, &c. And the molasses jug, "observing, that; "although he knew that the Albatrosses didn't requireany Dutch courage, the sun was over the fore-yard, and it was grog timein all Christian countries. " Jones, who by virtue of his office was always foremost at "splicing themain-brace, " having compounded a tolerably stiff tumbler of blackstrap, turned to his shipmates, prefacing with the invariable commencement of asailor's toast, "_Here's hoping_ that every shot we fire will make work for the doctoror carpenter. " This pithy "sentiment, " as it would be called at the present day, wasreceived with vast applause; and, having finished their grog, interspersed with similar toasts, the men quietly returned to theirquarters. During this scene Morton descended to the cabin and conducted his faircharge to her Gibraltar in the steerage. Isabella, weeping bitterly, clung to him, and Morton's heart, softened by the tears of one whom heloved so tenderly, seemed divested of all the elasticity of young hopeand courage, and he began to regard the _possibility_ of his beingkilled or taken prisoner as a _probability_; but he resisted thefast-coming weakness, and, pressing her to his bosom, tore himself fromher arms, and hurried upon deck. Isabella was attended and consoled inher retirement by her faithful servant Transita, her "fidus Achates. " I hope my fair and also my classical readers will pardon me for givingthe masculine title and name of a hero of antiquity to a lady's maid;but I could think of no other. History has immortalized Achates as asingle friend, and Pylades and Orestes, and Damon and Pythias, as pairsof attached and inseparable friends; but, alas! neither ancient normodern history has recorded the name of a single female, whosefriendship was sufficiently ardent and pure to become proverbial. Eventhe Helena and Hermia of Shakspeare, whose friendship is so touchinglydescribed by one of them, were not only imaginary creations of thepoet's brain; but, as if to prove the impossibility of friendshipexisting between two ladies, he has made them actually pull caps in thevery first act of the play in which they are introduced. By this time the Venganza had ranged up within speaking distance, andhailed: "Send the prisoners that you brought from San Blas on board my ship. " "We have no prisoners here--we are all freemen, " was the answer. "Send your first officer and the four men that were with him on boardthis ship, or I will fire into you. " "Well, I guess, then, you'll have to fire; for I can't spare eitherofficer or men, " replied Captain Williams drily. "I repeat, for the last time, give up those men, or I will fire. " "Come after them yourself, then, " roared back the irritated Yankee, losing all patience. "D--n my buttons!" said Jones, from the midship or "slaughter-house"gun, "he'd better come aboard starn foremost, then, so's to be all readyfor a run. " Don Diego Pinto, the commander of the Venganza, although a brave man, and one who had "done the state some service, " by no means liked theaspect of affairs. He had had frequent opportunities of seeing the crewof the Albatross, and knew that, with the exception of Captain Williams, there was not a man on board over forty years of age; that they were allstout, active, powerful men, warmly attached to their officers, andliving in perfect harmony with each other; that her guns were of uniformcalibre--namely, nine pounders, and consequently no confusion couldtake place respecting cartridges or shot: on the other hand, he was aSpaniard, the first lieutenant a Portuguese; and the second a Frenchman;of three different nations, and three different dispositions, they neveragreed: he knew, too, that his crew was composed of a few Spaniards, afew Portuguese, and the rest Chilians, Peruvians, and Mexicans, negroes, mulattoes, and Indians, quarrelling and stabbing from morning tillnight; that his guns were of all sorts, from twelve to four poundersinclusive; that, although he numbered eighty on board his ship, thirtywell-armed men from the Albatross would take his ship from him in lessthan five minutes, if they were thrown upon his deck during the action. Under all these circumstances, he felt somewhat loth to commenceoperations, till, after considerable time had elapsed since CaptainWilliams's last angry reply, he took heart of grace, and opened anirregular and harmless fire. "Thank God! he has spoken at last, " said old Jones; "I was afraid hemeant to keep us standing here, like mum-chance in a picture-shop, tillseven bells in the afternoon with our hands in our pockets. " "Keep fast every thing, " shouted the American Captain; "don't fire yet. " "Ay, ay, sir, " answered the captains of the guns with perfect composure. "Jemmy Bush, " said the boatswain to one of his gun's crew, as hesquinted along its side, "I'll bet you as much as you and I can drink, the first port we get into, that I hit that fellow's foremast the firstshot. " "The devil thank you, " said the tar; "'tisn't twenty yards from themuzzle of your gun. " "Starboard your helm--keep her away a little, " said Captain Williams;"stand by--now's your time--fire!--luff! luff again!" "Luff it is, sir, " said the helmsman very deliberately. The double-shotted broadside of the Albatross was followed by threethundering cheers. Her fire, although not exactly a raking one, hadcrossed the Spaniard's deck very obliquely, and the smoke blowing offimmediately, gave the Americans an opportunity of seeing some of theeffects of their shot. Two of the Venganza's foremost guns had beendismounted, and all the men stationed at them killed or wounded; therewere huge gaps in her bulwarks; several of her weather fore-shrouds wereshot away; and about ten feet from the deck there appeared upon the sideof her foremast a large hole, caused by two or more shot striking nearlyin the same place, and tearing off large splinters. There was silencefor a few seconds, interrupted only, on board the Albatross, by thepunching and thumping of rammers, as her crew were busily reloadingtheir guns. Mr. Walker, with the doctor and supercargo, all capital shots, constituted the marines or small-arm men of the ship. The doctor wasnot, however, unmindful of his medical duties; for he had prepared aplace between decks, down the fore hatchway, where he had paraded hismedicine-chest, instruments, and dressings; and, leaving them in chargeof the cook, who acted as surgeon's mate _pro tem. _, he went on deckwith his rifle, and was seen on the quarter-deck, with a case of pocketinstruments tucked into the bosom of his jacket, loading, and firing, and bringing down a Spaniard at every discharge; for, like Apollo ofold, who is represented as a good shot as well as a good doctor, hecould send an enemy to his long home with a rifle-ball, or physic afriend with such success as might thereafter ensue: "Mighty he was at both of these, And styled of war as well as peace. " It has never been our lot to take part in a naval engagement as anagent, and we are thankful for it; for we are convinced, upon stronginternal evidence, of our cowardice; but we have been present at sundrysuch actions, at a safe distance, as a spectator; and, from what we saw, we can venture to assure our readers, that, when two ships or fleets areexchanging their iron salutations, whether at long shot or closequarters, there is nothing peculiarly interesting to a mere spectator inthe scene. Isabella and her attendant had, all this time, remained quiet, butdreadfully frightened as soon as the firing commenced. Finding, afterthe lapse of fifteen or twenty minutes, that no danger had as yet comenear them, they became more composed; the former most earnestly andsincerely imploring Divine protection, both for herself and for thosewho were exposed to danger for her sake. Still she could not avoidlistening eagerly to every voice that was to be heard in the shortintervals of comparative stillness. The action had been now carried on between the two vessels nearly halfan hour, at a distance of about forty yards, when a twelve-pound shotpassed through the Albatross's larboard quarter, and, encountering thesteward's pantry in its progress, made such a fearful jingling with thecrockery ware, tin coffee-pots, and earthen jugs, that, overcome withextreme terror, both females left their city of refuge, and ran hastilyup the after-hatchway ladder, and presented themselves on thequarter-deck. Just as they reached the deck, a shower of grape-shot flewwhistling across the ship, one of which, passing through thehammock-nettings, struck a seaman in the forehead, and scattered hisblood and brains in all directions. He reeled backwards two or threeyards, and fell dead at Isabella's feet. Captain Williams immediatelydrew her away from the ghastly spectacle, and gave orders to carry thebody forward on the other side of the deck. He then attempted to prevailupon her to go below; but she was too much terrified to listen to him, nor did she seem to understand him. After a minute or two, she becamemore composed, and eagerly inquired for Morton. Being informed that hewas on the forecastle and unhurt, and doing his duty like a brave manand a good seaman, she expressed the most lively gratitude to Heaven, and permitted Captain Williams to conduct her to the starboard side, which was farthest from the enemy, and in great measure sheltered fromshot by the long-boat and by the spare spars, &c. Stowed amidships. By this time the crew of the Venganza, as is often the case with cowardswhen driven to desperation, had become perfectly frantic, and alsomutinous. With furious execrations, they compelled Captain Pinto to makea desperate attempt to board the American ship, and decide the action. For this purpose the helm of the guarda-costa was put hard down, and sheimmediately ran on board the Albatross, her bowsprit passing over thatship's larboard gangway, and coming in contact with the fore part of hermainmast, to which it was instantly lashed firmly by Mr. Walker, Jones, and two or three of the nearest seamen. In this state she was exposed toa murderous raking fire of grape and cannister shot, from such of theAlbatross's guns as could be brought to bear upon her. Notwithstandingthis, the Spaniards mustered in considerable force upon and about theheel of the bowsprit and cat-heads, armed with pistols, knives, andcutlasses. The Americans caught up their ten-foot boarding-pikes, andpresented an impenetrable hedge of steel points; but, although his crewwas fearfully thinned by a well directed discharge of canister-shot andbags of musket-balls from the two midship guns of the Albatross, CaptainPinto, at the head of about fifty men, the sole remnant of the originaleighty, persisted in his attempt to board; and five or six of the mostdesperate actually "effected a lodgement, " as militarists call it, inthe main shrouds, where they were instantaneously transfixed by the longpikes of the Yankees, and fell shrieking into the water. At this momentthe doctor, who had hitherto been engaged in dressing the hurts of thefew wounded that thought proper to visit him in his temporary cockpit, hearing the bustle, caught up his rifle, and hastened to the _other_field of his usefulness. "Here, doctor, doctor!" shouted old Jones as soon as he saw him, "here'sa chance for you! here's the Spanish skipper looking as savage as aYankee meat-axe--Gad! if you don't bear a hand, he'll cut his ownthroats, for want of some of ours. " "Where, where?" said the knight of the pillbox, skipping upon a gun. "There, that notomy-looking thief with a sword two fathom long in hisfist. Give him a blue pill, doctor; he looks as though he was billy-us. " The doctor raised his rifle--and Captain Diego Pinto, commander in hisMost Catholic Majesty's navy, slept with his fathers. A heavier sea than ordinary, a moment after this, lifted the Albatross, and forced her ahead: the bowsprit of her antagonist snapped close tothe knight-heads; but, being held by the lashing, the guarda-costa wastowed along, till a blow or two of a pole-axe severed the rope thatconnected the two vessels, and she dropped astern. The desperate andfrantic courage of the Spaniards died with their commander; their firstlieutenant had received a slight splinter-wound in the foot at the firstfire of the Albatross, in consequence of which he went below, and hadnot been seen on deck since; the second lieutenant's orders were notattended to; and all was anarchy and confusion on board. A few minutesafter she drifted from the Albatross, her foremast, already badlycrippled and no longer supported by the bowsprit, fell over the larboardbow, dragging down with it the main topmast. At this the Yankeescheered. The Albatross soon after wore ship, and stood to the westward. Upon mustering the crew, it was ascertained that but one man was killed, and eight more or less wounded; her sails and rigging were much cut up;and the services of all hands were immediately put in requisition, torepair damages, and put the ship in condition to proceed on her voyage. The first intelligence of the victory was conveyed to Isabella by Mortonhimself. As he approached her place of refuge with his head bound upwith a bloody handkerchief, having received a slight wound in the lefttemple from a splinter, she uttered a scream of terror, and it was longbefore she could be convinced that the wound was trifling. As ladypassengers are of no great use on deck when the ship's sails and riggingare hanging about her ears, she was conducted once more below. In the mean time Jones, as he trudged backwards and forwards, thought hesaw something amiss about the galley, which he entered, and a momentafter backed out, exclaiming, "D--n my two-and-twenty top-lights! if this here doesn't beat all mygoing down east!" "What's the matter, Jones? what are you swearing about now?" "Swearing? it's enough to make a minister pull off his wig, and ripright out in the middle of his sarmont!" "Well, what _is_ the matter?" "Matter? why d--n my old shoes, Captain Williams, here is one of thatbloody Don Dego's shot gone right through the galley-door, and throughthe side of the big copper, and knocked all the beef and hot watergalley-west. By the piper that played before Moses when the children ofIsrael danced through the wilderness, I never see such a thing since Ifirst went to sea, and I've seen shot fired afore to-day. And here's mytwo sweet potatoes, " he continued, groping in the coppers with thecook's ladle, "that I popped in just as that fellow come alongside, allknocked to pieces. Here he is, d--n his eyes!" holding out atwelve-pound shot in his ladle; "here's the thundering thief that'sspoilt our dinner, Captain Williams, stowed away in the bottom of thecopper, as snug as a flea in a soger's blanket. The curse of the twelvegeese that eat the grass off o' Solomon's grave upon you!" With thesewords he threw the shot overboard, and turned to Captain Williams with amost rueful countenance. "Well, Jones, it's devilish unlucky I own, but I guess we can make out adinner for to-day, and perhaps the armorer can patch it so that it willanswer till we can get to Canton, " "I hope so, sir, " said Jones, with a deep sigh; "for if we don't haveour reg'lar-cooked grub, we'll all get the scurvy, as sure as thedevil's in London; though for that matter, I've been pretty much allover Lunnun, and never see nor heard nothin' on him, unless so be he'sin the Tower, or the king's palace, or some one of them thunderin' greatchurches; and I've seen about all there was to be seen there, unless itmay be them three places. But in my way of thinking, a ship might a d--dsight better go to sea without a medicine-chist, than without her propercooking-utensils and coppers; because why? if a man don't get hisreg'lar grub, his bowels gets out o' trim, and he gets belly-us, as ourdoctor calls it. " "Well, well, if we can't do any better, we'll burn out the bigpitch-pot, and make a shift with that till we arrive in China. " "Aye, that indeed, so we can. By the hook-block! how our two snow-ballsof cooks will swear! Well, thank God for every thing but bread, andthat we get o' the baker. " So saying, he rolled off towards theforecastle, to superintend the knotting of one of the fore shrouds, thathad been shot away in the engagement. CHAPTER XXII. But now, t' observe romantic method, Let bloody steel awhile be sheathed: And all those harsh and rugged sounds Of bastinadoes, cuts, and wounds, Exchanged to Love's more gentle style, To let our reader breathe awhile. HUDIBRAS. The damages done on board the Albatross were all repaired before sunset;the dead body of the poor fellow that was killed was committed to itswatery tomb with becoming solemnity, and by the next morning thenorth-east trade-wind was blowing fresh and steady, and, as it usuallydoes in both the Atlantic and Pacific, from almost due east. The ship, with booms rigged out and studding-sails set on both sides, dashedswiftly towards the west, rolling almost gunwales under at every motion, and initiating the two females into all the mysteries of sea-sickness. However, in two or three days the sea, that is always heaviest near theland, subsided into the long, regular undulation peculiar to the ocean, properly so called, and Isabella recovered from her sea-sickness, and, by keeping as much as possible in the open air, and walking the deckalmost constantly, assisted at first by the arm of some one of thegentlemen, soon got her _sea-legs_ on. I would substitute some other phrase, if, by so doing, I could makemyself intelligible; but as the case is, it is impossible to mince thematter--fashion has not yet, thank God, invaded the "Dictionary ofSea-Terms;" and ladies, when off soundings, must still be content tohave "legs" like other folks--on shore they may vote it indecent to haveeven "ankles, " for aught I care. Captain Williams, having neither missionaries nor tracts on board, didnot stop at the Sandwich Islands, nor did he even pass within sight ofthem; but holding on his course, on the fortieth day after leaving St. Blas, he saw Cape Espiritu Santo, the southern extremity of the islandof Lugonia, or Lucon, one of the Philippine Islands. Passing through theStraits of Samar, he changed his course to the northward and westward, and steered for Macao, where he arrived six days afterwards. The passage across the Pacific Ocean afforded the two lovers numerousmoonlight quarter-deck walks. Morton, as first officer, had the firstwatch, from eight to twelve, every other night, and on these occasionswas invariably accompanied by his fair bride elect, who, wrapped in acloak or great coat, walked the deck leaning upon his arm; or, seatedupon the hen-coop, listened with interest to his descriptions ofAmerican, or, more properly, New England, scenery, manners, and history;or gazed upon that lovely object, a moon-lit ocean in fine weather. There is something peculiarly soothing in this scene--something in thesoft light of the heavens, and in the dark and dimly-seen ocean, thatinduces a pleasing melancholy, a pensive tranquillity; the low, gentlemurmuring of the waves calms the mind, tranquillizes its angry passionsand boisterous feelings, and brings on those dreamy reveries thatcontemplative people are so fond of indulging. It is then, when the"grim-visaged" ocean has "smoothed his wrinkled front, "--when the windsof heaven are hushed to gentle airs, and the cloudless moon looks downupon the scene, tipping the crests of the lazy waves with silver, --thatthe memory and imagination of the wanderer are busy; it is then that thescenes of childhood and of manhood--the forms of friends, more lovedbecause sundered from them by thousands of miles of water and land--allrise before him in original freshness and beauty. Isabella also proposed to her lover to accompany him in his middlewatch--that is, from midnight to four in the morning--but I grieve tosay, that she proved worse on these occasions than an old man-of-war'sman, not only "standing two calls, " but, in fact, not "turning out" atall. She made some amends, however, by coming on deck at four o'clockfrequently, to witness that splendid spectacle, sunrise at sea, which isparticularly glorious between the tropics, not only on account of theextreme purity of the air, but from the shortness of the morningtwilight; the sun rushing so suddenly from his salt water couch, as tocome "within one" of catching the stars napping. On arriving at Macao, Isabella was doomed to undergo another separationfrom her beloved Morton, whose qualities of head and heart she had hadsufficient opportunities of studying and appreciating during the voyagefrom Mexico, and in the daily and familiar intercourse of amerchant-ship's cabin. As the Chinese eschew the society of foreignwomen even more rigorously than the children of Israel did that of"strange" ones--and, taking this notion of theirs "by and large" inconnection with their laws, and manners, and tastes, we think they areperfectly right--Isabella was consequently landed at Macao, and placedin the care of a venerable and highly respectable Portuguese family, andafter having arranged the means of as regular a correspondence as couldbe carried on in that country, where there are not quite so manymail-coaches and post-offices as with us, she saw with tearful eyes thewhale-boat "shove off, " containing in its stern-sheets Morton, a Chinesecustom-house mandarin, two Chinese pigs, a hind-quarter of Chinese beef, a Chinese river pilot, and sundry baskets of Chinese fowls andvegetables. Macao is beautifully situated upon a small island, near the mouth of theriver Tigris, commanding a fine view towards the sea, and was, when Ihad the fortune to visit it, very clean and neat in its streets and theexternal condition of its houses--a circumstance the more remarkable, asits inhabitants are Portuguese and Chinese, two of the dirtiest peopleon the face of the earth: to these, of course, numerous other nationsand parts of nations may be added; and among them, a very largeproportion of the aristocratic and fastidious English, who preferspitting in their pocket-handkerchiefs instead of the fire-place or thestreet; all the Spaniards; all the French in their houses, and food, andfurniture; all the Dutch in their persons; all the Russians in everything; nearly all the Irish and Scotch; and a very respectable modicumof my beloved countrymen, the Yankees, together with the greater part ofthe natives of the southern states, who, being nursed, brought up, andassociating with negro slaves from the cradle to the grave, _smell_dirty, if they are not. After an absence of about six weeks, Isabella one morning received aletter from Canton, informing her that the ship would commence "working"down the river that day, or, according to the date of the letter, twodays previous, and that she would be off Macao on the second or thirdday from said date. Accordingly she made all necessary preparations foranother and much longer voyage, and after dinner walked down to thewater-side, accompanied by her Portuguese friends. They had been on thelook-out for nearly half an hour, when a large ship hove in sight, evidently from Canton. As she approached, steering apparently direct for the town, she suddenlytacked and stood out to sea, or directly away from it. The party hadalready made out with their glasses that the ship was indeed theAlbatross; but poor Isabella, who had seen, on her passage from Mexico, nothing but fair winds, was exceedingly distressed by this lastunintelligible manoeuvre. Were they actually going away withouther?--the thought was agony. The ship, that was but four miles off whenfirst seen, was now at least eight, and her hull was fast sinking belowthe line of direct vision. Her companions, who had hitherto beenoccupied in silently admiring that most splendid effort of human genius, a ship under full sail, were suddenly startled by an exclamationbetokening extreme anguish from their lovely friend--"They have gone!they have gone!" sobbed the unhappy girl. The most affectionatekindness, and the most earnest assurances that the apparentlyunaccountable movement of the ship was no more than was absolutelynecessary from the direction of the wind, were equally lost uponher--she "would not be comforted. " In a few minutes the Albatross hovein stays (you need not hold your fan to your face, madam), and seemed toapproach the shore as rapidly as she had before receded from it. "Look up, my dear child, " said M. De Silva; "see, your ship is flyingin, and will soon be safely at anchor. " Isabella raised her head from the shoulder of Madam de Silva, andapplying the glass to her tear-dimmed eye, was convinced of the folly ofher grief. They sat down to watch the gallant ship as she rapidlyapproached the "roads. " Before the sun was hid behind the hills in therear of the town, they had the pleasure of seeing the Albatross commencereducing her sails; presently the topsails were clewed up, and the jibhauled down, the ship "rounded to, " her anchor let go, and in a momentthe men were seen clustering upon the lower and topsail yards. A minuteor two afterwards Isabella plainly distinguished, by the help of herglass, the well-known whale-boat sweeping round the ship's stern, androwing swiftly towards the shore. A deep blush announced that the glasshad also informed her who was, in midshipman's language, the "sitter, "the person in the stern-sheets, to wit, and she immediately proposedreturning to the house. Morton, on landing, informed her that the shipwould get under weigh the next morning at day-break, and that it wouldbe most advisable, as the ship could approach no nearer than five milesto the town when beating out of the bay, to go on board as soon aspossible that evening, to which she, of course, assented, and, havingtaken an affectionate leave of her Macao friends, who insisted uponsupplying her with "sea-stores" enough to fit out half a dozen sail ofLiverpool packets, she accompanied Morton to the boat. The next morning at day-break she was startled from her slumbers by theclanking of the windlass-pauls, the voices of the officers, and thetramp of feet over her head; and, in a few minutes after, the rushing ofthe water under the cabin windows, and the "heeling" of the ship, announced that they were under weigh, and dashing out to sea with afresh breeze. The passage home was, like most passages _from_ the EastIndies and China, rather monotonous from the long continuance of fairwinds. Isabella gazed with delight upon the unrivalled scenery of theStraits of Sunda, where spring, summer, and autumn reign perpetually ina sort of triumvirate; the same field, nay, in some cases, the sametree, presenting, at one and the same time, blossoms, green fruit, andripe fruit: infancy, maturity, and decay. She saw, too, in the night thevolcano on the Island of Bourbon, afterwards False Cape and TableMountain, but not the Flying Dutchman, the weather being unfortunatelytoo fine to induce him to put to sea. Next came St. Helena, since sofamous as the cage and then the tomb of that most furious and terribleof wild beasts, a great conqueror. Near the fifth degree of northlatitude, the south-east trade-wind died away, and was succeeded by fourdays of light, variable, "baffling" winds, when the north-east trade setin strong from about east-by-north, its usual point near the equator, and they once more flew joyously on their north-west course. A few"regular built" _Mudian_ (i. E. Bermudan) squalls served to vary thescene, and rendered the strong, steady gale from south-west, thatsucceeded them, peculiarly acceptable. It was just sunrise one lovely morning, near the last of July, whenMorton, who had the morning watch, directed one of the men to go aloft, and "take a look round. " The seaman had gotten no higher than thefore-topsail-yard, when he shouted "land ho!" at the very top of histhroat. "Where away?" "Broad on the larboard bow. " "What does it look like?" "Low, white sand-beach. " "Cape Cod, by the mortal man that made horn spoons and poop lanterns!"said Jones, springing into the fore-rigging. As the sun climbed higher in the heavens, the liquid blue plain appearedthickly studded with the white sails of vessels of all descriptions, andall steering to the westward. There was the majestic ship from India orLiverpool; brigs from the Mediterranean, from Portugal, South America, and the West Indies; schooners from the southern states, with flour, andfrom Maine, with boards; packet sloops from New York, Philadelphia, &c. ;chebacco-boats from fishing on "Georgis;" and schooner-riggedpilot-boats, darting about under jib and mainsail, and boarding everyvessel that carried the star-spangled "jack" at herfore-topgallant-mast head. Nothing could surpass the tranquil life ofthe scene: more than a hundred vessels, of all descriptions, weregradually but rapidly approaching a common focal point, the narrowentrance of Boston harbor, under the impulse of a fresh breeze from thesouth-east, that had not as yet brought forward its accompanying fogs andhaze. The Albatross, her thin masts clothed from trucks to deck withsnow-white canvass, dashed rapidly up the bay, the jack flying at herfore-royal-mast head, passing the low-decked molasses-loaded brigs fromthe West Indies, or the faster sailing topsail-schooners from theChesapeake, inquiring the news, and furnishing matter for speculation totheir crews. On the passage from China to Boston, Morton expressed some impatience, particularly during the prevalence of calms or head winds; but Isabella, like all young ladies similarly situated, was perfectly composed. Why isit, dear dissemblers, that you always _seem_ to enter the holy statewith either reluctance or lukewarm indifference? when every body, withhalf a head, _knows_ that matrimony is the "hoc erat in votis, " thegrand object of all your wishes. Strange! that the laws of femalemodesty should decree it absolute indelicacy for a girl candidly to showher preference for a particular individual before the rest of his sex. Strange! that modern mothers should uniformly caution their daughtersagainst marrying for love, as the most dangerous rock in their voyagethrough life. Solomon could find but four strange things in his day, andthose four I do not care to repeat; if he had lived in these times, hemight find a hundred and fifty connected with a single matrimonialengagement. The Albatross arrived at Long Wharf early in the afternoon; and Morton, having deposited his dear messmate and watchmate in the house of awidowed sister of his father, went in search of a messenger to convey aletter to his father; for, unless I am much misinformed, the mail onlywent at that time once a week to New Bedford. Though not "so terrible old" as I might be, I recollect when a journeyfrom Boston to Providence, a distance _then_ of forty-five miles, occupied three days: namely, the traveller, leaving Boston in themorning, arrived at Deadham about sunset, and "put up" at the "Gaytavern, " or the "Widow Woodward's;" the second _hitch_ carried him toAttleborough; and the third evening saw him snugly seated in thebar-room of the "Old Coffee House, " Providence. But a journey to NewYork, as it was generally supposed that the traveller must "go down tothe sea in ships" part of the way, that is, through Long Island Sound ina sloop, was one of the most momentous events of a long life. Thetraveller "concluded" upon it in the fall, occupied the entire winterand the months of March and April in collecting his dues, paying hisdebts, setting his house in order, and making his will, before theweather was settled. Two Sundays before starting, a note was "put up" in his parishmeeting-house, "desiring prayers, " and early on Monday morning, to besure of reaching Providence before the next Sabbath, he took a weepingfarewell of his wife and family, and turned his horse's head towards the"neck, " and his bereaved household betook them to their chambers, "sorrowing as those that had no hope" of seeing him again. Morton's messenger, spurred on by the hopes of high pay, made suchdiligence that he actually arrived at Taunton the first night, theselectmen of which fair town were so indignant at what they conceivedbarbarous and unparalleled hard driving, that they talked of prosecutingthe man; but it appearing from the report of a court of inquiry ofostlers that the horse did not seem distressed by his day's work, buthad fallen to work upon his oats and hay, they "withdrew their motion. " Old Mr. Morton received the news of his son's arrival with the greatestjoy. He sat out the next day in his own carriage, drawn by two noble bayhorses, and arrived without "let or hindrance" in Boston. He expected tofind Isabella a girl possessed of some considerable beauty, justsufficient to captivate a seaman who for months had seen no women moreattractive than the squaws of the North-West Coast or South SeaIslands; and sailors, under such circumstances, are exceedinglysusceptible, _me ipso testi_; he had made up his mind, too, that shecould be no other than ignorant and ill-bred withal. When, then, herexquisite beauty, her lovely, retiring modesty of manner, free alikefrom affectation or sheepishness, her expressive and eloquent features, all burst upon his view at once, his heart was taken "by storm, "--heclasped her to his bosom, and felt towards her in an instant as warmaffection as though she was indeed his own child. The banns of matrimonywere published immediately, after the manner of the descendants of thepilgrim roundheads, and the marriage solemnized as soon as the legaltime had elapsed; and the happy party took up their abode in old Mr. Morton's house. Morton's female friends and acquaintance at first seemed amazingly shyof the new-comer; but at a "numerous and highly respectable" petticoatedcaucus, a forlorn hope, after repeated declensions of the honor, waschosen to make the first "call. " Their report was so very favorable thatthe newly-married couple were, in less than a fortnight, rather annoyedby too much company. On the passage from Mexico to China, and thence home, Isabella had, invulgar phrase, "taken a liking" to Jones, the boatswain, and formed, what was probably conceived, at that time, the visionary plan ofbreaking him from his intemperate habits. She communicated her scheme toher husband shortly after their marriage, who most cheerfully coincidedin opinion with her. Jones was accordingly sent for, and regularlyinstalled in the family. The eloquent representations of Mrs. Morton, and the promises of her husband and his father, had the wished-foreffect--the old tar consented to "give up grog, " and did so, makingexceptions only in favor of the "glorious first of June, " theanniversary of Lord Howe's victory off Ushant, at which Jones waspresent, the fourth of July, _'lection_ days, Thanksgiving days, and thebirth of Mrs. Morton's first child. This last event took place, by whatmodern editors call a "singular coincidence, " upon the first of Juneensuing; and Jones was sorely puzzled how to "keep up" both days, and, in consequence, got very considerably "corned. " It was, however, hislast offence; he gradually adopted the temperate habits of the family, and continued in them to his death. We have no farther particulars to communicate, except that CharlesMorton was taken into partnership by his father, and became wealthy, andthat his wife wrote a long and kind letter to her uncle, which wasforwarded by the captain of an outward-bound whaleman, who delivered itinto his own hands. The old Don did not answer it, however; andIsabella, in whose heart other affections had taken root, was not, perhaps, much grieved or indignant at his silence; the affection of herhusband, her children, and her friends, soon obliterated all melancholyrecollections. * * * * * THE PIRATE OF MASAFUERO. * * * * * THE PIRATE OF MASAFUERO. CHAPTER I. _Gonzalo. _ Had I a plantation of this isle, my lord, And were the king of it, what would I do? _Sebastian. _ 'Scape getting drunk, for want of wine. TEMPEST. In the Pacific Ocean, and within two days' sail of the coast of Chili, lies the little island of Masafuero, or, as the word is generallydivided by the Spaniards who discovered it, Mas-a-fuero--that is, thefarthest--to distinguish it from Juan Fernandez, which lies nearer themain land, and in sight of Masafuero. Juan Fernandez is well known toall the reading community as having once been the temporary residence ofAlexander Selkirk, the original, or, as grammarians would call it, the_root_, of De Foe's bewitching romance of Robinson Crusoe. Masafuero is, on the contrary, remarkable for nothing more, that I knowof, than being very difficult of access, and overrun with wild goats. Itis situated in the latitude of thirty-three degrees and forty-fiveminutes, south, and eighty degrees and thirty-six minutes, westlongitude; for I love to be particular in all such cases--not that Isuppose my readers care a pin if I had told them it was in thesouth-west horn of the new moon; but all authors, when they put pen topaper, seem actuated by the kind and neighborly spirit of the sagaciousDogberry--namely, to "bestow all their tediousness" upon their readers;and I do not know that I have any prescriptive right--I am sure I haveno intention--to depart from so well-worn a track, or to fly in the faceof so many illustrious precedents. This island is covered, from the water's edge to the summit, with trees, and it is only for the sake of wood that it is ever visited by ourwhalemen, who fell the trees on the brink of steep cliffs, and tumblethem down, by which process they are broken up into sufficiently shortpieces to render their carriage convenient. There are evident traces ofmost tremendous earthquakes visible throughout the island; huge fissuresand rents from the tops of the highest hills to unknown and unexplorabledepths, vast scattered masses of rock that have been shaken down fromthe cliffs, and many other similar appearances, announce that the mostterrific convulsions of nature have rendered Masafuero a very unquietresidence, even to the poor goats, at different times. In its externalappearance, and when seen at some distance, it bears considerableresemblance to the celebrated Isle of St. Helena, and is, like it, exceeding precipitous, and has but one approachable, and not alwaysaccessible, landing-place. Of this last trait in its character I canspeak from experience and most feelingly, having visited the island inthe year 1821, in a small brig, with the intention of getting off ninemen, who had been left there some time previous for the purpose ofcollecting seal-skins, with which the island abounds, as well as withgoats. Our attempt was rendered fruitless by the violence of the wind, which, for the time it lasted, exceeded any thing I had ever seen, except a _typhon_ in the China seas, and _one_ north-wester offNantucket shoals. Some of the men, whom I afterwards saw, informed me that they had, during their abode there, planted sundry garden seeds, such as beans, pumpkin, squash, and onion seeds; but this item of intelligence I lookupon to be somewhat apocryphal; at any rate, I would not recommend toany one, who may chance to visit said island, to save his stomach forany pumpkin pies or baked beans he may obtain from it. There isundoubtedly fertile soil enough for a garden--but then the goats. The island also enjoys the reputation of having once been the rendezvousof a gang of pirates, as a house, that has stood untenanted for anylength of time, is sure to be peopled with ghosts. People seem to thinkit a pity that a tenement should remain unoccupied, so, out of sheercompassion for the proprietor, they stock it with unearthly tenants fromroof to cellar, or like--for, now I am in the humor for comparisons, Imight as well go on--it was like a man who keeps his business to himselfand troubles nobody; his neighbors, knowing nothing about hisoccupations and habits, take it for granted that they are both bad and"contrary to the peace of the commonwealth. " Masafuero had, however, tolerably strong claims to the title of a "denof thieves;" for there could be no doubt that, during the stormy timesthat took place when South America shook off the Spanish yoke and put onfifty worse ones--when there was a revolution once a week, and murderand rapine every hour--many of the human vultures that flocked to theprey, from Europe and this country, made this little island a place ofdeposit for their ill-gotten wealth, and a rendezvous and city of refugefrom the vengeance of some of the short-lived authorities. Thecelebrated Benavidas, a sort of "free companion, " was, as sailors say, "in vogue, " when I first visited the Pacific in 1821; and as he carriedon business both by land and water, there is no doubt that heoccasionally visited both Masafuero and Juan Fernandez. But there were other "land rats and water rats" than Benavidas, who, itmay be interesting to know, died suddenly one day of strangulation, inconsequence of his cravat being tied too tight. Numbers of English andAmerican seamen, at the first breaking out of the revolution, whohappened to be on the spot, realised large sums by privateering, and bystriking certain sudden and bold strokes, _à la Buccanier_, upon therich Spanish towns and richer churches; and as "their sound went outinto all lands, " others flocked to the Pacific for the same purpose. Butby this time the first agony was over: the new government, short-livedand ephemeral as it was, enacted certain wholesome laws, which, as theydid not materially interfere with the political views of the partiesthat successively kicked each other down stairs, were generallypermitted to stand. A navy was organised and plunder was legalised;privateering was placed under restrictions; and, as none of thesebutterfly republics were in existence long enough to take any furthersteps towards paying their seamen and soldiers than promising to, saidseamen and soldiers very naturally betook themselves to their respectiveelements to look for prey. I have often wondered that the problem of ourrevolution was not followed by the same corollary. The two nations mightbe differently constituted--they were not differently situated. Many stories are related of the daring exploits of these freebooters, both on the water and on the land; but there was generally a shade ofdifference in favor of the former, on the score of both courage andhumanity; the "water rats" being almost exclusively English andAmericans, and possessing both qualities by nature so stronglyimpressed, that they could never be entirely eradicated or smothered. The land robbers, on the other hand, were as exclusively nativeChilenos, a mixture generally of Indian and Spaniard--a more detestableamalgamation the earth does not produce--if the devil was to cross thebreed, it would rather improve it than otherwise. One of the mostformidable, most blood-thirsty, and most successful of these pirateswound up his affairs not a great while before I arrived in the Pacific, Jack Ketch being his administrator. CHAPTER II. Virtue? a fig! 'tis in ourselves that we are thus and thus. OTHELLO. James Longford was the eldest son of a merchant in the neighborhood ofNew York, who furnished in his own conduct one of those very rareinstances of a mercantile man contented with what he has amassed, andwilling to retire to private life to enjoy it. 'Tis true that merchantspretend to say, after having heaped up something like a million, thatthey continue in business for the sake of the employment of time andexcitement of mind that it affords, and not for the lucre of gain; "sednon ego credulus illis, " or, in plain English, "they may tell that tothe marines, the sailors won't believe them. " The thirst for gainincreases with its gratification, as I could quote more Latin to prove;and not only does gratification increase the appetite, but it seems to_pucker up_ the heart, and contract the muscles of the hand, for yourvery rich man is almost invariably a very close and avaricious one, except when making public donations to institutions already burstingwith wealth, when they know that their names and sums given will go therounds of the public prints under the head of "munificent donations. "How delicious is flattery, even when thrown down one's throat with ashovel! But they are stingy in another way, that brings with it its ownpunishment--they starve themselves. I know of several of your halfmillion folks, not a thousand miles from where I now sit, whose tabledoes not cost them fifty cents a day, and that too with tolerablynumerous families. I was once ill-advised enough to dine with agentleman of this description, in a sister city, in consequence of hisrepeated and pressing invitations. We had part of a fore-quarter of verysmall mutton boiled, with a small modicum of potatoes; one man couldhave eaten the whole. To be sure, I had a glass of "London particular"Madeira after dinner, if it deserves the name, but as soon as I had doneI made my excuses--"indispensable business--obliged to go out of town, &c. " and fled to an eating-house, where I satisfied what Dan Homeremphatically calls the "thumos edodes, " the madness of appetite, withsomething more to the purpose than lean mutton. Mr. Longford was "none of them sort;"--he retired from business withonly fifty thousand dollars, but with a clear conscience, adjustedbooks, and not a single cent of debt--he never refused his charity todeserving objects, and never signed a subscription paper for theirrelief, --he was never a member of a charitable society, and nevercontributed a cent to the Missionary funds, whether for the Valley ofthe Mississippi or the Island of Borneo, where there are nothing butmonkeys, or Malays as incapable of being christianized as the monkeys. Had he lived at the present time, and in this section of the country, hewould have been prayed _for_ and prayed _at_, at least once a day, andbeen, besides, occasionally held up in the pulpit as a specimen of totaldepravity, and a child of perdition. Yet, with all these defects, Mr. George Longford was a sincerely devoutman, and a most firm believer in the Christian religion, --from aconviction of its truth, not merely because it was the fashion tobelieve it, or because his fathers believed it before him, --and apractical observer of its moral precepts. He read and studied the NewTestament, because it contained a compendium of all his every-day dutiesas a rational and accountable being, and as a member of society, notbecause it was a magazine of polemical divinity and abstruse doctrines. The evening of such a man's life is calm and tranquil; his death isindeed the death of the righteous. James was this man's eldest son;--I cannot say, as novel writersgenerally do, that "in him were centred the hopes and wishes of his fondparents, "--for they were not--they looked for support and comfort intheir old age to their other children. James was a refractory anddisobedient child from the very cradle. It is ridiculous to say that allmen are born alike in dispositions and capacities; the great poet ofnature, from whom I have, as usual, taken my text, says no; and I wouldsooner have a single line from him than folios of ingenious theories andmetaphysical arguments from the profoundest philosophers. I have notmuch faith in innate ideas, but I confess that I have in innatedispositions, both good and bad. James Longford's disposition was most decidedly bad by nature--he wasconstantly, even when a mere schoolboy, in mischief, and that, too, of akind that marked a malicious and cruel temper. His father in vainexhausted kindness and severity, in the hope of subduing this mostunhappy temper; but neither the infliction of punishment, that hedeserved twenty times a day, nor the caresses of the tenderest parentalaffection, appeared to have the least influence in mollifying hisstubborn and morose disposition--he seemed to be one of those whom St. Paul characterizes, in that tremendous first chapter of the Epistle tothe Romans, as being "without natural affection. " Notwithstanding allthese faults, he had naturally a strong mind and good talents; so thatby the time he had attained his eighteenth year he was, at one and thesame time, one of the most ungovernable and ill-tempered boys and bestscholars in Parson Crabtree's seminary of some fifty in number. At this period his father placed him in the counting-room of a wealthymercantile house in the city of New-York. Here his good education andnatural quickness soon procured him the favorable notice of hisemployers, while his constant and active duties seemed to havesmothered, at least for a time, his malicious temper. Before theexpiration of a year he had acquired the good will and confidence of themerchants whom he served; but by this time the pleasures and temptationsof the "Commercial Emporium" had begun to attract his inexperiencedeyes, and his disposition seemed to have taken a new turn. With all the stubborn wilfulness and unfeeling carelessness ofconsequences that characterized his temper, he plunged into all mannerof vicious indulgences; but what seemed to attract him the mostirresistibly, and fix him the most firmly, was a fondness for gambling. The "time-honored" black-legs of the billiard and roulette tables were, however, an overmatch for an inexperienced lad of nineteen, and, asmight have been expected, he was soon stripped, thoroughly "cleanedout. " It was then that the idea of replenishing his pockets from thecounting-room trunk first presented itself to his mind, and, withoutmuch hesitation or compunction of conscience, he took small sums fromtime to time. It is needless to trace his progress more minutely--he finished byforging a check for a thousand dollars, which forgery was subsequentlydetected. Precisely the same "dull round" of vice is trodden, at least once aweek, by the same class of young men. The merchants' clerks arecertainly creatures of no imagination, or they would have struck outsome new way of going to the devil; they evidently have not a spark ofwhat an eminent Irish lawyer called "the poetry of wickedness;" theyuniformly begin with plundering the money drawer, and end with forgingchecks. Mr. Longford was advised of his son's guilt, and the affair wascompromised by his paying the amount purloined. In utter despair theafflicted father placed his degenerate son on board an outward-boundIndiaman, a mode of proceeding often resorted to prematurely, for itgenerally does a boy's business if he is viciously inclined--amerchantman's forecastle is not a school of morality. Sending arefractory child to sea may be an excellent way of getting rid of him, but it is at the same time the most expeditious mode of sending him tothe devil. There is a great deal of talk about "godly captains;" but I never knewone that was not an infernal tyrant, and a most accomplished scoundrel. If you wish to cure a boy of a fondness for the sea, send him a goodlong voyage with a godly captain, and I'll be bail that he comes homeas lean as a weazel, and most thoroughly disgusted at the very thoughtsof a ship. If you merely wish to get rid of him, send him to the coastof Guinea on a trading voyage, or to that Golgotha, New Orleans; a godlycaptain, by working him one half to death, and starving him the other, will put it out of his power to trouble you any more in this world. TheCarmelites and other religious orders were once of opinion that thedevil could be flogged out of the flesh, and for that purpose wore acouple of fathoms of two-inch rope about their loins: godly captainsthink he can be worked out, and so, perhaps, he can; but generally, inthe two places that I have mentioned, he and the vital spark go outtogether. I do not know whether I ought to regard it as a fortunate or unfortunatecircumstance, that the first captain that I sailed with was a "ripper"for swearing and drinking. He was a professed infidel, a first-rateseaman, an excellent scholar, and took more care of the morals of hiscrew than many of those who have prayers twice a day; and ten thousandtimes more of their health, for he would not permit a man to exposehimself for two minutes to the sun or rain in Batavia, and inconsequence did not lose a man. He watched over my moral and physicalhealth with a degree of zeal and tenderness that I have never, for aninstant, experienced since, at the hands of those who call themselves my"friends. " Indeed, the severest scolding he ever gave me, and Iexpected every moment he would knock me down in the street, was forwalking, one deliciously cool morning, from Weltwreden to Batavia, adistance of four miles, when I had a carriage and two horses at mydisposal. Peace to his ashes! I have lived to see the grave close in successionover many of the few friends that I ever had. When I wandered aboutLondon streets, barefoot and half-naked, in the dead of a hard winter, just discharged from a hospital, and scarcely able to drag one footafter the other, my situation was comparatively enviable. I had noself-styled "friends" at my elbow, to mock me by talking about my"talents!" I knew that if I did not "bear a hand, " and ship myself off_somewhere_, I should be taken up on the vagrant act, and sent toBridewell. Burns says, "The fear o' death's a hangman's whip, That hauds the wretch in order. " I should be loth to admit that the fear of Bridewell operated as astimulus upon my mind, for it did not often occur to me; but I longed toenjoy once more "the glorious privilege Of being independent;" and he, who is earning an honest livelihood by his own exertions, andcan shave with cold water, is, in my estimation, more truly independentthan he, whose father has bequeathed him half a million. Reader! you mayas well pardon this digression first as last, for it is ten chances toone that you fall in with a whole fleet of them before you have sailedthrough these pages. If I do not moralize as I go along, I shall nothave a chance to do it any where else. As the afflicted father returned, with melancholy steps and slow, towards his quiet home, he could not forbear feeling an emotion ofregret at the thought of having parted with his son in such a manner. "Had I but placed him, " he said to himself, "under the charge of thecommander of one of our men-of-war, he would necessarily have been undersuch strict guardianship and discipline that his unfortunate habitsmight be entirely broken up; but now I fear that the liberty he will beallowed, or will take, in a merchant's ship, will be his ruin. " His home was more gloomy and sad that evening than it had ever beenbefore; for though satisfied in the main with his own conduct, andhoping that the voyage would have most beneficial effects upon his son'sbehavior and disposition, he regretted most bitterly the necessity ofthe measure, and felt the keenest anxiety as to its results. That sonwas destined never to return. The ship in which he was embarked was driven much farther to thewestward than is usually the case with outward-bound Indiamen, andencountered one of those tremendous gales of wind, known to seamen bythe local name of _pamperos_, from their blowing off the immense_pampas_, or plains, that constitute a large portion of the province ofBuenos Ayres, or, as it is now called, the Argentine Republic. The shipwas dismasted, and with difficulty succeeded in reaching the harbor ofBuenos Ayres to refit. The city of Buenos Ayres was at that time, and I believe it is not muchbetter now, a nest and rendezvous of pirates, that, under the cover ofthe republican flag, and the assumed character of men-of-war orprivateers, with forged commissions, committed the most barefaced andabominable acts of piracy. The British cruisers, by capturing andhanging a good number of them, struck a most wholesome terror into therest; but our government, with a fraternal affection for every mean andinsignificant patch of barren sand-beach that called itself a republic, more worthy the _sans-culotterie_ of the French revolution, thanbecoming a great and polished nation, permitted them to sell theirprizes and refit in our ports. Buenos Ayres was then a point towardswhich all the scoundrels, and thieves, and murderers, of Europe and theUnited States, were radiating as to a common centre. Here, as might have been expected, Longford found plenty of congenialcompanions to "whet his almost blunted purpose" of vicious propensityand indulgence. In a drunken quarrel at the gaming-table, knives weredrawn, and Longford stabbed his antagonist-to the heart. Murders are soexceedingly common in all the Spanish possessions and settlements inAmerica, that but seldom or never is any inquiry set on foot with regardto them. The only _judicial_ formality consists in laying the deadbodies on their backs, with a plate upon the breast of each to receivethe contributions of those who are disposed to assist in defraying theexpenses of burial. But the murdered person, in this case, was a man ofconsiderable consequence in the Buenos Ayrean government, having thecharge and management of certain public moneys, and in consequence, the"authorities" thought it worth their while to ask a few questions abouthis "taking off. " Longford was well aware of these facts, and withconsiderable difficulty and danger made his escape to the other side ofthe river. After remaining concealed for some time, he ventured down to MonteVideo, where he found the English brig Swan, bound round Cape Horn. Hercrew, deluded by the false and extravagant promises of privateeringcaptains and owners, had all deserted. In this dilemma the captain wascompelled to supply their places with such materials as could be pickedup in the streets of Monte Video, and which were as bad as bad could be. Indeed, from the lawless state of all South America, it would have beennext to impossible to have procured, "for love or money, " twenty goodand orderly seamen, from Darien to Patagonia. Among these vagabondsLongford recognised many of his gaming-table acquaintances at BuenosAyres, who had left that city to get out of the way of certainimpertinent questions that the police had taken the liberty to askconcerning the murder that has already been mentioned. These fellows hadimbibed a notion that seems to be an easily-besetting one among sailorswho enter on board a ship in the middle of her voyage, namely, thatthere is money on board; which notion is but too often followed by anexceedingly strong inclination to appropriate it to their own use andbehoof. Sailors seem to understand but confusedly the tenth commandment, which forbids us to covet any thing that is our neighbor's. The subject was discussed on the passage, the plan arranged, and theunsuspecting officers, passengers, and two lads, apprentices to thecaptain, murdered and thrown overboard. My readers would be, perhaps, but little edified by a more circumstantial narrative. There is solittle variation in the details of shipwreck, acts of piracy, obituarynotices, ordinations, commencements, murders, suicides, mammoth turnips, and Fourth of July celebrations, that printers would find it a greatsaving of time, money, and labor, to have regular and approved forms ofeach stereotyped, with blank spaces for names and dates. This bloody deed was executed near the southern extremity of the thenhalf province and half republic of Chili; and the murderers, withconsiderable difficulty, succeeded in running the ship between theisland of Santa Marie and the main, and anchoring near the town or cityof Aranco, which was then in the hands of Benavidas, above mentioned. This sanguinary freebooter was then, under the auspices and with theassistance of the equally sanguinary royal governor of Chili, Sanchez, carrying on a most horrid and cruel war of extermination against therepublican inhabitants of the southern part of Chili. Into the hands ofthis murderous ruffian and his ragamuffin gang the Swan was delivered;but the villany of her piratical crew was soon to receive its justpunishment. Benavidas, who suspected them of having kept back notrifling part of the plunder, with very little privacy and no formality, shot them all but Longford, whom, for some unaccountable reason orother, he spared. CHAPTER III. _Orlando. _ Good day and happiness, dear Rosalind. _Jaques. _ Nay then, God be wi' you an you talk in blank verse. AS YOU LIKE IT. Our scene must now change somewhat abruptly from the shores of thePacific to a very different part of this watery ball. Great and manifold are the advantages that an author enjoys over hisreaders; for, however anxious those readers may be to arrive at the endof the story, they must either close the book with a "Pish!" or a"Pshaw!" or condescend to follow him, and resignedly await his leisure. He leads them where he pleases and at what pace he pleases; they mustfollow him: they are like passengers on board a packet beating into portwith what sailors call "a good working breeze;" at one moment they seemto have almost reached the anchorage, when suddenly the skipper shouts"Helm's a-lee, " the vessel heaves in stays and makes a long "stretch"off, till the spires and roofs of the wished-for haven seem fading awayin the hazy distance. The celebrated Hugh Peters, one of Cromwell's fanatical preachers, explaining to his audience why God was forty years leading the childrenof Israel through the wilderness, which was not more than forty days'march across, made a circumflex with his finger upon his pulpit cushion, and said, "he led them _crinkledum cum crankledum_, " I do not intendthat my story shall make more "Virginia fence" than is absolutelynecessary; but that it shall proceed, like a law-suit, "with deliberatespeed. " In the vicinity of one of those beautiful villages that surround thegreat commercial city of Bristol, and upon the banks of the lovelySevern, stood the residence of a wealthy merchant. There was nothingabout the house or grounds that denoted the occupant or owner to be of amercantile turn; for there certainly is, very generally, something aboutmerchants' houses that is prim and starch--something precise and formalabout them, as though they had been planned according to the "GoldenRule of Three, " and executed with reference to the multiplication table. It is a most melancholy fact, that the close, confined air of acounting-room is deadly poison to a taste for the fine arts, and, buttoo often, to every thing like liberality of feeling. Effingham House was neither planned nor executed upon a grand or a meanscale; there was nothing extravagant or penurious, vast or contracted, about it; but it presented a happy combination of the comfortable, theelegant, and the neat. Such houses are very common indeed throughout NewEngland; in the _old_ country there is a constant repetition of thefable of the frog and the ox--the wealthy cit endeavoring to equal thehaughty splendors of the nobleman. The villa that we describe fronted upon a large and beautiful lawn, thatgradually sloped towards the river, of which, and the lovely scenerybeyond it, it commanded an enchanting view, and was spotted with nobleoaks and elms, that appeared to have stood ever since the Conquest, ormight, perhaps, have overshadowed the legions of Agricola. A carriagepath, well gravelled and kept perfectly free from dirt and weeds, woundaround among these primeval trees, occasionally emerging from theirshade, as if to give the approaching stranger an opportunity to viewevery part of the delightful landscape. Along this path a horseman was seen riding, one lovely afternoon inSeptember. The air of the rider was that of a man to whom the scene wasperfectly familiar, but who seemed busy with thoughts that made himinattentive to its beauties. His sunburnt countenance, and anindescribable something in his whole appearance, that the experiencedeye of a member of the same fraternity only could discern, announcedthat he was one of those that "followed the seas. " He alighted, and, giving his horse to a servant, ran up the steps of theportico. A young lady, who was tending some flowers at a littledistance, hearing his footsteps, sprang towards him with sparkling eyesand smiling countenance, exclaiming in a voice of most unequivocaltenderness, "George!" The seaman caught her offered hand, and covered itwith kisses. The lady's cheek, brow, and throat were suffused with thedeepest and most lovely crimson: she gently struggled to release hercaptive hand; but, finding that there was just one degree more forceexerted to retain it than she exercised to withdraw it, she prudentlygave up so hopeless a contest, and began very naturally to askquestions. "Why, when did you arrive?--how long have you been gone? Oh! it seems anage since you left us--and how you are tanned!" "I arrived this morning, " at length answered the seaman; the mutualdelight of their meeting rendering him, for a time, as inarticulate asit did her voluble; "and I have been gone six months. Time has stoodstill with me, dearest Julia, I assure you; and besides, I have had sucha tedious passage home, that I began at last to think I was never to beblessed with another fair wind. I need not ask how you have been duringthat time, " he continued, fixing his eyes upon her lovely countenancewith unutterable affection. No woman was ever insensible to a compliment, even an implied one, toher looks. Julia raised her liquid eyes to his with a blush and a smileso frank and unreserved, that his six months' absence and tedioushomeward passage he would gladly endure twice ever again to meet. There are moments in courtship--that part of it, I mean, where neitherparty has as yet whispered love to each other, or bothered the old folksabout their consent; before, in short, it has become an "understoodthing" all over town--there are such moments, when the lady throws offall reserve, and by a look, a smile, a blush, a half-articulate word, repays her lover for months, if he is fool enough to court so long, ofprudish and affected shyness, past or future. These moments occur butseldom, even in the most patriarchal courtships, and it is well that itis so. Love is a fiery steed, and should always be ridden with a curbbridle, both before and after marriage. (I am sorry that I cannot thinkof a nautical metaphor, or I assure you, reader, that I would never havegone into the stable to look for one. ) The ancients, and their opinionis decisive, ever held the "semi-reducta Venus" the most beautiful. Leaving these turtles to bill and coo over a cup of tea, and to theenjoyment of a lover's walk along the lovely banks of the Severn, wewill proceed to enlighten the reader as to who and what they are, and todiscuss sundry other equally important topics. As the good ship Bristol Trader was lazily rolling along in a southerlydirection, with a light breeze and fine weather, and in the latitude ofabout thirty-nine or forty north, she fell in with the wreck of aschooner, of about eighty or ninety tons burthen, dismasted andapparently half full of water, in which most unpleasant situation shedid not appear long to have been. The Bristol Trader hove to, and senther boat alongside, in hopes of obtaining something valuable from thewreck, either cargo, or provisions, or rigging--if a wreck yieldsnothing else, there is always plenty of fish around it. As the boatapproached, the attention of the crew was attracted by the appearance ofsome person on board, who made the most animated and intelligible signsto them to come alongside. The boat's crew redoubled their exertions, and, upon coming on board, found a boy of about fourteen years, the onlyliving human being. The poor little fellow seemed almost exhausted withfatigue and hunger; but being carried on board the ship and refreshed, he informed his deliverers that his name was George Allerton--that theschooner belonged to a port in New England, and was homeward bound fromFayal with a quantity of wine and fruit--that she had been capsized, ina sudden and violent squall, three days previous, when all the crew buthimself and one other were swept overboard--that she had righted aftercutting away the masts, but with a great deal of water in the hold, andthat the other man had accidentally fallen overboard, and was drowned. It happened that the owner of the ship, Mr. Effingham, was on board. Hewas going to Rio de Janeiro, partly on account of his health, butchiefly to look after and secure a large amount of property belonging tothe firm of which he was senior partner, and which was jeopardised bycertain disturbances in Brazil. Like all passengers on board a ship, hecould find but little or nothing to do to pass away the time, and beinga married man and a father, his sympathies and good feelings werepowerfully excited and strongly attracted towards this "waif of thesea, " their new passenger. The boy, on the other hand, to a veryhandsome face added a mild and amiable disposition, and, like allNew-England boys, an education vastly superior to boys of the same ageand standing in Great Britain. George's parents were respectable in somesort--that is to say, their moral and religious characters were beyondreproach, but their social reputation was very bad indeed--they werepoor. It has been said by an English traveller, that in all othercountries pleasure, rank, literary renown, &c. Are the objects uponwhich men place their affections; but, in the United States, the pursuitof wealth is an imperious duty; and, of course, if a man fails in thisduty, his good name as a member of society soon becomes most deplorablyout at elbows. Before the end of the voyage, young Allerton had made himself master ofMr. Effingham's affections, and being of that happy age when all placesare nearly alike, provided they are comfortable, he readily consented toremain with his protector, and was accordingly regularly inducted intothe old gentleman's family as a member of it. He was the playmate of Mr. Effingham's daughter, six years younger than himself, and the companionof her rambles abroad. The old man wished to take him into hiscounting-room as a clerk, but the boy's predilection for the seafrustrated that scheme, and the senior, after some reflection andpersuasion, yielded to it. Accordingly Master George, having served anoviciate as apprentice, stepped over the intermediate state of "ableseaman, " and became second mate, then first mate, and lastly captain, ormore properly master. During the whole of this time, he was employed inthe West India trade, in which most of the Bristol merchants are engagedmore extensively than in any other. He never came home from a voyagewithout bringing some curiosity to little Julia, --as he continued tocall her, even after she had attained her eighteenth year, --and neverfailed writing frequently to his parents, and sending them the whole ora greater part of his wages: a line of conduct that raised himincredibly in the old gentleman's favor, and made a deep impression uponthe young mind of Julia. While George was passing through the different grades of his profession, the young lady was advancing through the different grades of physicaland intellectual beauty and improvement. The "pretty child" that playedin her father's parlor, the "elegant girl of the boarding-school, hadnow become a most lovely and accomplished young lady. She had lost hermother when young, and the whole force of her filial affection hadcentred upon her father. Brought up in unreserved intimacy with herfather's new _protégé_, she always regarded him as a brother, or ratheras her equal. She always anxiously awaited his return from sea, thoughshe did not, in her more youthful days, exactly understand why. When herbeauty brought wealth and rank to her feet, she could not avoidcomparing their possessors with the nautical absentee. "Sir Reginald Bentley is not half so handsome a man as George; LordDormington, although he has travelled over all Europe, and has besides aseat in the House of Lords, is not, after all, half so well informed asGeorge; the Honorable Adolphus Fitz William dresses very expensively andfashionably, but his clothes do not fit him so well as George's; and asfor that wine-swilling brute, Squire Foxley, I would not be condemned tomarry such a man for the world. " So she dismissed them all, "cum multisaliis. " On the other hand, her father had acquired as much affection for Georgeas for a son, and treated him as such; though he never dreamed that hisdaughter might from his behavior be led one day to select him as ahusband. When his daughter rejected one wealthy or titled suitor afteranother, he thought nothing strange of it; Sir Reginald was a gambler, his lordship a fool, Fitz William a dandy, Foxley a sot, and so of therest; he only saw in her rejection of them proofs that she possessedmore good sense and prudence than he was generally willing to admitthat any of her sex possessed. About two years before the events mentioned in the beginning of thischapter, George had sailed on his first voyage as master of the shipHebe. He had been gone about five months, and Julia, with a feeling thatshe did not pretend to understand or think to analyze, had been dayafter day inquiring about him, when one evening her father informed herthat the Hebe had arrived safely in London. The joy that she felt andexpressed in the most lively manner, was damped by the fartherintelligence that he was to return to Barbadoes as soon as possible, without visiting Effingham House. When she retired to her chamber, sheseated herself by the window, and seriously began to ask herself why shefelt such pleasure at hearing of his safe arrival, and why thedisappointment at not seeing him was so exceedingly painful. Her owngood sense answered the question, after a short reflection. "It is, it must be love; I _do_ love him, and that most sincerely;" andshe gave way to a burst of irrepressible but soothing tears. "And whyshould I not?" she reasoned, "is he not every thing that heart candesire--handsome, well educated, and generous? and does not my fatherlove him as a son? But my father may not consent, " she continued, againweeping, "and I must endeavor to conquer an affection that has beengrowing silently but rapidly for years; it is impossible, I know, but Iwill make the attempt. " The old man, too, could not but notice the different effects of the twoitems of intelligence he had that evening communicated. "What could ailJulia when I told her that George was going to sea again without cominghome? the poor girl was ready to cry: he's a fine young fellow, that'scertain, and they've been brought up together like brother and sister;so I suppose it is natural that she loves him like a brother: I havehalf a mind to write to him to scamper across the country, and see usfor a couple of days; but I dare say he's too busy. " With thesereflections the merchant dropped asleep, and dreamed of "Africa andgolden joys. " Upon Captain Allerton's subsequent return, Julia's determination toavoid him and to stifle her attachment to him vanished, like mostresolutions of the kind that young ladies are in the habit of forming, and she gave herself up to the illusions of that bewitching passion, without knowing--and, when enjoying his society, certainly withoutthinking--how it would end; and as for her father, he, good easy man, had done thinking about it altogether: not that his affection for herwas in any wise abated, but his mind was taken up with something elsemore engrossing, and, as perhaps he thought, more important, thanwatching the actions of two young people. After tea, Captain Allerton and Julia took a walk upon the banks of theriver, along a secluded green lane, that had often witnessed similarrambles. After a long pause, during which each seemed too busy withtheir own peculiar train of thinking to regard the silence of the other, they stopped, as if by mutual consent. "And so, Julia, your father, after losing so much money in SouthAmerica, is going there, to see if he can grapple any of it up from themines of Mexico, or wherever else it has sunk. " "He is certainly going to South America, but I never knew that he hadlost much money by his speculations there. " "Nor do I say that he has, but as every body else has, I do not see howhe can have escaped;" and then added, after a short pause, and in anembarrassed and tremulous voice, "are you, tell me, Julia, are you goingwith him?" "Me! no, George; what could put such a wild thought into your head?" "And what then is to become of you during his absence, that mustnecessarily be a long one?" "I shall remain with my aunt Selwyn in Bristol, till she returns toClifton. " "Julia, you know that I love you, and you have given me reason tobelieve that I am far from indifferent to you; then why not, my dearestgirl, give me the right to protect and provide for you at once, insteadof delegating it to a maiden aunt, who, whatever may be her goodqualities, has, as you know, always regarded me with dislike andjealousy. " "I cannot, George, without my father's consent. " "Your hand, then, goes where he chooses to bestow it, let youraffections be where they will. " "It is a duty that I owe to him to attend to his wishes, and listen tohis advice. " "So then, if he advises you to marry the fool Dormington, or the bruteFoxley, you obey unhesitatingly?" "George, this is unkind; you are supposing an extreme case. " "But you say you will obey him; you repeat that it is your duty tolisten to his advice in all cases. " "I will never marry without his consent, but I will never marry any onethat I dislike. " "That is intimating, rather obliquely, to be sure, that you may alteryour mind. " "O George, George, " said the weeping girl, "why will you continue totorment me and yourself with these jealous doubts and suspicions? whywill you not rather ask my father's consent? you know his affection foryou. " "Yes, propose such a question, and what is the reply? a peremptoryrefusal, and an immediate dismissal from his employment. Now that hismind is so much taken up with his new scheme, such a proceeding would belittle short of madness. Be mine, then, at once. " "I dare not. " "But suppose, what is by no means impossible, nay, rather likely tohappen, that he should determine to fix himself in Mexico, or Lima, orsome other South American city, as foreign partner of the house?" "I cannot believe such an event possible, but if it should--" she turnedaway her head. "Do I interpret your silence right, Julia? would you indeed be mine?speak to me, Julia. " She made no other answer than a sigh, but stillkept her head averted. By this time they had reached the house. As soon as they were seated in the drawing-room, the lover again urgedher to "make signal of his hope;"--she raised her eyes, swimming intears, in which an affirmative was plainly to be read. The entrance of aservant prevented the happy lover from proceeding to extremities uponher lips, "according to the statute in such case made and provided;" anda very excellent statute it is too. Whether the "quashing ofproceedings" by the inopportune appearance of the servant was agreeableto either party, I leave to wiser heads than mine to determine. Many very well-meaning people, who pass for men of sense in every otherrespect, are apt, when they feel matrimonially inclined, to think itindispensably necessary to court the old folks, "hammer and tongs, " asthe vulgar saying is, in the first place, and, having obtained theirgood graces, to proceed very leisurely in their approaches to the younglady. This may be a very prudent mode of managing matters, for aught Iknow, but to me it savors rather of cold-blooded calculation, thanardent or even passably warm affection. It is, besides, a gross andunpardonable insult to the said young lady, whom it places immediatelyupon a level with a horse, a pig, a cow, a load of hay, a chest ofdrawers, or any other article of trade. It is like a man-of-war going into engage an enemy's battery, and heaving to, to "blaze away" at two olddismantled hulks that are lying high and dry at the harbor's mouth. CHAPTER IV. _Parolles. _ My lord, I am a man whom fortune hath cruelly scratched. _Lafeu. _ Well, what would you have me to do? 'tis too late to pare her nails now. ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. There never was yet fair woman but she made mouths in a glass. KING LEAR. Julia Effingham was the only child of a rich merchant, who, like manyothers in these latter days, when scheming and speculation havesuperseded the good, old-fashioned habits of steady industry andunmoveable perseverance in the art of acquiring wealth, was dazzled bythe one thousand and one bubbles that the South American revolution setafloat. He dipped pretty largely into Mexican mines, and was bit; heundertook to improve the breed of horses in Peru, and was bit; heattempted to establish steam cotton-factories in Colombia, and was bit;he bought largely into a Chilian Steam-boat Company, and was bit; till, finally, he resolved to visit South America himself, "to see, " as heexpressed it, "where the devil his fifty thousand pounds had gone to. "He could obtain no tidings of a single farthing on the Atlantic side ofthat continent; but he learned one thing most thoroughly andsatisfactorily, as thousands have done besides him, that if he had gonethere in the first place, and seen the nakedness of the land, and thedeplorable and remediless ignorance and superstition of the people, hisfifty thousand pounds would have snugly remained in the three per cents. And India bonds. He was determined, however, now that he was fairlyafloat, to "go the whole figure, " and see the worst, if there was anything worse to come. Accordingly he took passage for Valparaiso, wherehe found how, why, and wherefore his steam-boat concern had become adecided take-in; it is not very profitable running a boat of that kindin a country where wood sells at three cents per pound on the beach, andwhere the people have no idea of travelling except in the saddle. Chili, then under the directorship of O'Higgins, was the only SouthAmerican province that seemed to have changed for the better, byrenouncing its allegiance to "Ferdinand the Beloved. " Its ports werethrown open to foreign commerce; its navy was respectable, for theships, the officers, and the seamen were English or Americans; itsinhabitants had become quite civilized and tame, for the murderedforeigners in the streets of Valparaiso did not average much more thanone or two per night; which, compared with Havana and Buenos Ayres, gave Chili a preponderance of refinement scarcely credible. Mr. Effingham was highly delighted with the country; and indeed Chili, setting aside the inhabitants, for the salubrity and mildness of itsclimate, the fertility of its soil, and the variety and delicacy of itsfruits and vegetables, is certainly one of the finest countries in theworld. He found many Englishmen established in various sections of thecountry, and the better sort of inhabitants very much disposed to treatthem with kindness and urbanity. He had been about eighteen months in St. Jago when he sent for hisdaughter, who now constituted the whole of his family; his Englishbusiness he knew was safe in the management of his partner, and he sathimself down with the determination of making a magnificent fortune verymuch at his ease. Poor man! he little dreamed that the whole of SouthAmerica is as infamous for revolutions as it is for earthquakes. Having said thus much concerning the father of Julia Effingham, it isbut fair to give the reader some idea of the lady herself. Indeed, instrict gallantry, I suspect that I ought to have introduced her first, but she has already been upon the stage, and "made her obedience, " assailors call it, to the audience; and, besides, age has claims thatought to be attended to. In person, then, Julia was not remarkably tall, (I don't like tallwomen; "a man never ought to look _up_ to his wife for a kiss or foradvice;") her form had all that graceful and delicate roundness andfullness of outline so irresistibly pleasing to the eye. "Man, " says anelegant writer upon natural history, contrasting the two sexes, "man ismost angular, woman most round. " Euclid himself could not have detectedany thing angular in the faultless form of Julia Effingham; nothingresembling his "Asses' Bridge, " or his "Windmill" problems, in the fallof her shoulders, the bend of her snowy neck, the delicate round of herchin, the delicious fulness of her ripe lip, the easy turn of her rosycheeks, the graceful curve of her brow. Her nose was indeed a straightGrecian one, but not geometrically straight. It must be admitted, by the way, that there are more decidedly _good_noses among women than among men. The latter are aquiline, Roman, parrot, pug, snub, thick, thin, long, short, peaked, bottle--some with abump in the middle, some with a cleft, or fissure, and some with abutton, or knob, at the end, like that on a man-of-war's boat-hook. Inshort, to describe all the various kinds of noses masculine, it would benecessary for philologians to create a new batch of adjectives, as theking of England does occasionally of peers. I have already said, or meant to be understood to say, that MissEffingham was somewhat inclined to _embonpoint_. I do not pretend toknow the reason of this: perhaps leanness and emaciation were notconsidered _genteel_ when she happened to be educated, as they areunfortunately by too many of my fair countrywomen; perhaps she neverthought much about it; for I have always observed that very beautifulwomen, who prefer revolving in the quiet circle of domestic happinessand usefulness, are seldom or never very anxiously solicitous abouttheir beauty; and the consequence is, that they _are_ more beautiful, and stand the attacks of time far better, than those who choose a lifeof fashionable display, and court public admiration. Ladies may lacetight, eat pickles, and drink vinegar, to make them genteel; but it isfree exercise in the open air, and simplicity of diet, provided it isnutritious, that confer gentility and grace, and preserve beauty. Willany man, married or single, and in the possession of his senses, saythat he likes the looks of a horse whose ribs are visible and_countable_ at half a mile's distance? I am confident the answer willbe, no. Still there is a wonderful resemblance between a lean woman and a leanhorse, in more points than one; the lady does not, indeed, go upon allfours, but I can never see a very _genteel_ female, laced into the shapeof an hour-glass, without wishing, from the bottom of my heart, that shehad an extra pair of le--ahem!--ancles, to support her feeble andtottering frame. As I am growing old, and am, moreover, somewhat peculiarlycircumstanced, I suppose that I must put up with such a wife as itpleases God to send me; but were I ten or fifteen years younger, and"well to do, " I would accept of no descendant of mother Eve, as ahelpmate and partner for life, who did not cut at least two inches onthe ribs. The Turks, who are practical men of taste in these things; theChinese, who pretend to the highest antiquity in civilization; the nakedAfricans and South Sea Islanders, beyond dispute the mostunsophisticated of all father Adam's children, and who, like Job, "retain their integrity" pretty stiffly, considering the missionaries, the "march of intellect, " and other untoward circumstances, are all ofthem most decidedly in favor of something substantial in wedlock; no manof taste, in either of these nations, ever dreams of comfort andhappiness in matrimony, unless he clasps to his bosom an armful of wife. They choose their wives as we do lobsters--the heaviest are the best. I am a firm believer in the maxim that mind and matter exert a mutualinfluence upon each other, and one of the most obvious deductions fromthat datum that occurs to my mind is, that the acidities of thedisposition are not only neutralized but absolutely shut up by theembonpoint of the body. People blessed with healthy plumpness areindolent as well as good-natured, and it is a laborious piece ofbusiness for such folks to get in a passion. The wealth and fondness of Julia's father, and her own natural goodsense, had made her mistress of all those elegant and fashionableaccomplishments that constitute the education of a lady of fortune; andshe had a grace and sweetness in every thing she did that reminded thebeholder of that exquisitely beautiful line in Ariosto: "She walked--she spoke--she sang--and heaven was there. " This description may not be according to certain received axiomsconcerning female beauty; but I never could bear to contemplate a fairface and graceful form as painters do, who measure woman's loveliness bycertain fixed and arbitrary rules, as surveyors of lumber do boards. Nothing makes me more fidgetty than to hear a man compare everybeautiful face he sees with a certain standard, even if that standard isthe Venus de Medicis herself; this face is not good, for it is notexactly oval; that nose is altogether wrong, for it is not Grecian; achin is not this, or a mouth is not that, &c. Portrait painters are muchaddicted to this kind of criticism; and whenever I find myself incompany with one of these two-foot-rule critics, I make my escape fromhim as I would from a plague hospital. At the time of our narrative, Julia's father had been absent somewhatmore than two years. He had sent for her to join him at Valparaiso, asummons that she prepared to obey with no small trepidation. "The courseof true love, " which is somewhat notorious for "never running smooth, "seemed at this moment about to encounter a "head sea. " Her absence fromEngland she knew must be a long one, perhaps an eternal one; theseparation from Allerton weighed much heavier upon her spirits than shewas willing to admit, and altogether her prospects of happiness seemeddarkened for ever. The same conveyance that brought Julia's letters also broughtinstructions to the other partners of the house to fit out two vesselsfor the Pacific, one of which was to be entrusted to the command ofCaptain Allerton; but Mr. Effingham omitted to designate which of thetwo was to be honored by being for some months the floating home of hisfair daughter; either intending it should be left to her option, ortaking it for granted that his partner, well aware of the intimacy ofAllerton's standing in her father's family, would of course place Juliaon board the ship commanded by George. But that partner was a crafty oldfox, who had long since seen the growing affection of the two youngpeople, and, with all that eagerness to destroy happiness, that they arepast enjoying, that characterizes the majority of old people, decidedthat Miss Julia should, for a time, entrust her person and fortunes tothe fatherly care of Captain Burton, a sedate old Cornish man of sixtyyears of age, who had no more idea of love than he had of the Chaldeelanguage. CHAPTER V. Should a man full of talk be justified? O that ye would altogether hold your peace; and it should be your wisdom. JOB, CH. XI. 2; XIII. 5. Voyages across the Atlantic are now performed every day by old and youngwomen and children, and described by them so much more elegantly andscientifically, and with so much more correct knowledge of thetechnicalities necessary for such descriptions, than it is possible thatseafaring men can ever attain, that if one of the latter, in a moment ofmental hallucination, was to undertake to convey an idea of the elementthat has been his home for years, he would be hissed off the stage asanother Munchausen. For this reason nautical men, who have laid asidethe marlinspike and taken up the pen, very prudently avoid that portionof the literary arena, leaving Daddy Neptune's dominions to be exploredand described by landsmen. It is in obedience to public opinion in this respect, I suppose, thatour Secretaries of the Navy are almost uniformly chosen from the "massof the people, " at the greatest possible distance from high-water mark;men who have never seen a piece of water that they could not jumpacross, or a ship, except in the newspaper, till they came toWashington. "Let the sea make a noise, and the fulness thereof; let thefloods clap their hands" for joy, that the Cooks and the Falconers, theAnsons and the Byrons, of olden time, are at length banished from thedepartment of nautical literature, and no _oceanic_ description will belistened to unless said or sung by a _ci-devant_ midshipman or ahalf-boy, half-woman poet, who lies in his berth, and sees, through thefour-inch-plank deadlight of a packet, the full moon rising in the west. James Fenimore Cooper, Esq. --I give the man his entire name and title, as he seems to insist upon it upon all occasions--the "American WalterScott, " is undisputably at the very head of his _trade_ at the presentday for nautical descriptions; his terrestrial admirers have pronouncedhim "a practical seaman;" and, of course, the only man in these UnitedStates that can give any, even an approximate idea of the sea, and"those that go down in ships. " I have at my pen's end six or eight verydesperate "cases" of his knowledge of "practical seamanship" andmaritime affairs, which may be found in the "Red Rover" and "WaterWitch" _passim_; but those animals, vulgarly called critics, but morepolitely and properly at present, reviewers, whom the New York Mirrordefines to be "great dogs, that go about unchained and growl at everything they do not comprehend, " these dogs have dragged the lion's hidepartly off, and ascertained, what every man, to whom the Almighty hasvouchsafed an ordinary share of common sense, had all along suspected, that it covered an ass. James Fenimore Cooper, Esquire's "Letter to hisCountrymen" was an explosion of folly and absurdity that has blown hisname up so high, that there is little or no chance of its coming downagain "this king's reign. " Whether he was or was not hired to write itto support the present administration, as some folks suspect, is not myaffair. I will, therefore, resume the thread of my discourse, which wasonly "belayed" for a few minutes, to indulge in the rare pleasure ofgrumbling a little at seeing "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. " Julia Effingham was embarked on board the large, burthensome, and notalarmingly fast sailing brig Avon--John Burton, master; while the shipunder the command of Captain Allerton was called the Hyperion. Bothvessels were nearly of the same tonnage, though there was muchdifference in their rates of sailing, the Hyperion having been built asnear the model of a swift American ship as the English naval architect'sconscience would let him, which, however, did not allow him any greaterlatitude than such as made a very obvious difference in their appearanceand rate of speed. Miss Effingham was accompanied by her maid, MissDolly, alias Dorothea, Hastings. Nothing material occurred for the firstsix weeks of their voyage, by which time they had nearly reached theequator, except that Allerton improved every opportunity afforded bylight breezes and calms to visit the Avon; which visits Captain Burton, honest man! supposed were intended for himself. But at this period--that is, six weeks after leaving the Lizard Point, and while the two ships were in that peculiarly disagreeable strip ofsalt water that lies between the southern limits of the north-easttrade-wind and the northern edge of the south-east, and is affected byneither--there came on one night one of those very black and threateningsqualls, that look as though they would blow the ocean out of its bed, and frequently do not blow at all. Captain Burton, who thought a squallwas a squall all over the world, and who was better acquainted with theGrand Banks and the Bay of Biscay than with the tropics, took in allsail, while the Hyperion, with topgallant-sails lowered, ran gallantlybefore it, and made upwards of fifty miles before the breeze left her. The Avon was in her turn shortly after favored with a fine breeze, butthe two ships did not meet again till they had passed Cape Horn. In the mean time, Mr. Effingham began to discover that Chili was notparadise, nor its inhabitants saints; many thefts, robberies, andfrauds, were practised upon him, for which he could obtain no redressfrom the contemptible magistrates; an earthquake, that did a great dealof damage, was followed by a sweeping epidemic, which, as it affectedonly the natives, was imputed by the priests to magic art and diabolicalwitchcraft on the part of the heretical foreign residents. A riot wasthe consequence, and the foreigners were only able to secure their livesand property by a combination of their numbers, and the most determinedfirmness of purpose. In short, the harassed merchant found out at lastthat he had blundered into one of those self-styled republics, so manyof which have sprung up and passed away since the commencement of thenineteenth century, where infant Liberty is nursed by mother Mob. These vexatious circumstances, and the prospect of an approachingrevolution, that threatened to be a bloody one, completely changed hissentiments with regard to all South American governments, and hebitterly regretted having sent for his daughter to join him. It was too late now to remedy that mis-step; but he determined, as soonas she arrived, to re-embark for England as soon as possible, and inconsequence he lost no time in disposing of his merchandize, andtransmitting his funds to the coast, and thence to the spirit-room of aBritish frigate. Having thus "set his house in order, " and adjusted hisChilian books, he left St. Jago, and took up his abode for the timebeing in Valparaiso, waiting impatiently for the arrival of the Hyperionand Avon, that were now daily expected. CHAPTER VI. Finally, my dear hearers. OLD SERMONS. Nothing material occurred to the good brig Avon after parting company, as aforesaid, with her consort, the Hyperion; a circumstance that Iregret not a little, as it deprives me of my only chance for describinga storm at sea. They only experienced one tornado, and fifteen gales ofwind, before joining the other ship. The tornado was no great thingsafter all--the brig ran merrily before it, under a reefed foresail andclose-reefed main-topsail. The crew were all on deck during the wholenight it lasted, in case of their services being required. But thefemales below had by far the worst of it--they were "turned in" toberths that the ship-joiner had built with reference rather to theaccommodation of an able-bodied man, than a delicate young lady; and inconsequence, poor Julia was dashed first against the vessel's side, andthen against the front berth-board, as the brig rolled gunwales under atevery motion, till she began to think with the Frenchman, that she"should get some sleeps, no, not never. " In this dilemma she thought oftaking her maid, Miss Dorothea Hastings, into the berth with her, wherethe two females, operating mutually as "checks" to each other, eventually made out a very passable night's rest. As for the gales ofwind, they were the merest flea-bites in creation, though one of themborrowed the brig's fore-topmast, and another walked away with herjib-boom. During this period, Benavidas had been taken a second time; and as hiscaptors did not choose to risk shooting him again, which they hadalready practised upon him once without success, they hanged him. Hisgang were nearly all killed or taken at the same time, and the prisonerssummarily dealt with. Longford and about thirty more made their escape in a small schooner;and as they well knew that they would experience no other mercy, iftaken, than a high gallows and short halter, they shaped a course forthe island of Masafuero, which they determined to make theirhead-quarters, and to commit depredations upon all vessels that passedwhich were not too well armed. They effected a landing with somedifficulty, and found, as they expected, considerable quantities ofprovisions and stores, that had been deposited among the deep fissuresof the rocks by Benavidas some time previous, when his affairs on thecontinent began to assume a smoky appearance. Here the scattered butdesperate remnant of his lawless followers found a temporary respitefrom the harassing pursuit of the Chilenos, that resulted every day inthe capture and immediate execution of some of their number. The landing-place at Masafuero, with the open ground beyond it, surrounded on three sides by broken rocks or high mountains, makes avery beautiful appearance from the offing--anchorage, I believe, thereis none. It is a gentle slope, fronting the northern or sunny side ofthe horizon, smooth, and of most delightful verdure. Perhaps it appearedmore lovely to me, who had been groping among the ices of the ant-arcticcircle for five months previous. The men whom we had left to getseal-skins assured me the soil was very rich and deep, and the herbagegreen and luxuriant. Since commencing these chapters, I have beeninformed that the island is very frequently visited by our whalemen forsupplies of wood and young goat's flesh, which last is a savory morselto men who have been many months tumbling and rolling about on the longregular swell of the Pacific. The waters that surround the island arealmost literally filled with fine fish, to which sailors have given thegeneral name of "snappers, " and which differ from any fish among us, more particularly in their propensity to bite as greedily at a bare hookas a baited one. It was here that the pirates lay _perdue_, waiting when the devil, whoalways befriends such gentry, should send them a defenceless prey. Theywere unable to anchor, as I have already noticed that there was noanchorage, and were accordingly continually on the move, sometimesextending their researches fifty or sixty miles to the eastward of JuanFernandez, which lies about that distance nearer the main thanMasafuero. As they were lying to one morning, off the north-western side ofFernandez, they were suddenly startled by the unexpected appearance of alarge brig that came out from behind the western extremity of theisland, and edged away towards the northward and eastward under allsail. It was the first vessel they had seen since they had set up thepiratical business on their own account and risk, except an English"jackass frigate, " that chased them at the rate of one mile to theschooner's five. The Vincedor, which was the name of the schooner, alsokept away and made sail, but kept yawing about in a manner that excitedthe suspicions of the people on board the brig, and it was evident thatthe manoeuvre would soon bring the schooner alongside. The brig nowhoisted the English ensign, but continued on her way without deviatingfrom her course. The schooner also made an attempt to "talk bunting, " orshow colors; but she had nothing of the kind on board but some oldragged signals that formerly belonged to the ill-fated brig Swan; andone of these was accordingly run up to the end of the main gaff. CaptainBurton, for it was indeed he and the brig Avon, after attentivelyexamining the stranger, gave it as his opinion that she was a pirate, and directed his men to stand to their guns. In a few minutes the schooner, having closed with the Avon, fired a shotacross her bows, which being unnoticed, another was fired that passedthrough her foresail, to which the brig replied with three guns loadedwith grape, that took fatal effect upon the exposed and crowded deck ofthe Vincedor. The pirates then kept up a heavy and well-directed fire ofsmall arms upon the Avon, and Captain Burton, seeing several of his bestmen killed and wounded, reluctantly gave orders to haul up the coursesand back the main yard, still keeping his colors flying. Longford and about twenty ruffians like himself immediately came onboard; and their first question to Captain Burton was, how he had daredto fire upon their schooner? "Because, " said the sturdy old seaman, "I knew you to be pirates, and Iwas determined not to surrender this vessel without some resistance. " During this speech, Longford raised his pistol, and at its conclusionfired; and the brave old sailor, shot through the body, and mortallywounded, fell at his feet. This was the signal for a general massacre ofthe crew; and while the bloody act was perpetrating, Longford ran downinto the cabin, to secure certain articles of plunder that he did notchoose to share with his partners in crime and blood. Before the pirate came alongside the Avon, Captain Burton, suspectingher real character, had requested Julia to go below for a while, onpretence that he was going to tack ship, and she would be in the way, aswomen always are at sea, of the head-braces and main-boom. As the bluntold veteran never used much ceremony upon such occasions, she thought nomore about it, but went below as she was bid. The firing, however, hadterrified her exceedingly; and Miss Dorothy Hastings, who was sent outas a vidette as far as the upper step of the companion-ladder, camescampering back to the main body with intelligence that the stranger wasa pirate, and immediately proceeded to enumerate the outrages that theymight certainly calculate upon being subjected to. Almost sinking withterror, Julia listened with a scarce-beating heart to the increasedtrampling of feet on deck, the oaths of the pirates, and the report of apistol; and when the murderer Longford, splashed with poor Burton'sblood, suddenly appeared before her, she uttered a wild shriek, and sanksenseless upon the cabin floor. But vengeance was on its way, and close at hand. While the pirates werebusily engaged in murdering the unhappy crew of the Avon, which they didnot accomplish without considerable loss to themselves, for the gallantfellows fought most desperately, the Hyperion hove in sight from behindFernandez, following the track of her consort. Captain Allerton hadheard the firing, and, suspecting all was not right, had "packed on" apress of sail, and soon came within short musket-shot of the schooner, whose hull received eight or ten round shot, but her sweeps andsuperiority of sailing on a wind, enabled her to escape. Allerton thensteered for the brig, the disordered state of whose sails, her bracesloose and yards flying about as the wind and sea pleased, convinced himthat the pirates had been on board, and it was with a horrible dread ofwhat might have taken place that he drew near. When within half a mileof the Avon, he saw a boat shove off from alongside, that a single lookat his glass convinced him contained none of the brig's crew. Satisfiedthat they were part of the schooner's piratical crew, he sent all hismen forward armed with muskets, with orders to give them a volley assoon as they came near enough to be sure of their mark. This was done, and the next moment the boat was sunk by the ship passing over her, andnot one of the blood-stained wretches escaped. The Hyperion thenshortened sail, and hove to. To return to the Avon's cabin. When Longford saw a lovely young womanlying insensible before him, when he expected no such person's existenceon board, his better feelings prevailed--he thought of his mother, hissisters, his home, and the bright prospects he had forever darkened byhis own folly and vice, and he leaned against the bulk-head in bitteragony. He neither heard nor heeded the repeated calls of one of hiscomrades, announcing the rapid approach of the Hyperion, his thoughtswere in a complete whirl, nor was he roused from his gloomy reflectionsbut by the voices of Allerton and his boat's crew, as they camealongside. Then he started and ran up the companion-way, but escape wasimpossible. He drew a pistol from his belt; but before he could even puthimself in an attitude of defence, he was cloven to the teeth by a blowof Allerton's cutlass. Without stopping to see if there was more of them, George ran instantlybelow, and found his Julia still insensible, and Miss Hastings kickingher heels and screaming, after the most approved recipe for performinghysterics. Allerton sprinkled the young lady's face with water andvinegar, and ransacked the medicine-chest for hartshorn and ether, butwithout success, till at length he thought of bleeding, at which he wassufficiently expert when his patients had been sailors. The snow-white, round arm was instantly bared and bandaged; the vein rose, and waspierced by the lancet with as much skill as Sangrado himself could havedisplayed; but the operator, although he knew how much blood a toughseaman could afford to lose, was completely at a loss when his patientwas a delicate young lady; and, having, to his joy, witnessed thesuccess of his phlebotomy in restoring her to life and consciousness, slacked the bandage and stopped the bleeding. For a few minutes Julia's senses seemed completely bewildered; shestared wildly around, and uttered the most incoherent ravings; whenGeorge, who seemed to retain his presence of mind most wonderfully, wisely reflecting that human nature was about the same, whether inbreeches or petticoats, poured out a glass of wine, and compelled hispatient to swallow a large share of it. The wine produced the most happyeffects. In a few minutes she looked up in his face with an intelligentglance, and in a soft voice murmured his name. In the mean time it would be unpardonable in us to leave Miss DorotheaHastings any longer. Allerton had been followed into the cabin byseveral of his men, one of whom, compassionating the situation of theyoung woman, who was, in truth, a plump, rosy-cheeked lass, and havingseen cold water thrown into the faces of people in fits, caught up agallon pitcher filled with the element, and dashed it into hercountenance. The remedy effectually restored her to consciousness andherself, by rousing her indignation against the perpetrator of such anungallant action. A German theorist of the present age has much such a way of curing allhuman diseases; that is, he drives one disorder out of the system byintroducing another more powerful--in some cases similar, in othersdirectly opposite; as for instance, he attacks pulmonary consumptionwith insanity, gout with the "seven-years-itch, " small-pox with itspartial namesake, pleurisy with inflammatory rheumatism, &c. , and so_vice versa_ in all cases; no doubt the theory is a good one, and sowas that which proposed to keep a horse upon nothing. In the course of an hour Julia declared herself sufficiently restored toaccompany George to his own ship, whither she was accordingly removed, and a cabin fitted up for her accommodation. In the process of burying the murdered crew of the Avon, four of her menwere found alive, severely but not dangerously wounded; and a fifth, whohad lowered himself over the bows, and clung to the bob-stays. Six ofthe pirates were also found dead on her decks, their brains dashed outby the handspikes with which the seamen had defended themselves tillshot down in detail. By the time all necessary arrangements and changes had been made, it wasdark; and the Avon, with the second officer and six men from theHyperion, jogged along in the wake of that ship, which carried a lanternat her gaff-end for her direction. Miss Dorothy, being comfortablyestablished in the Hyperion's cabin, complained of "feeling badsomehow. " Her mistress had _turned in_ long before, and was sound asleepunder the influence of a composing medicine, prescribed by her physicianand lover. Perhaps Miss Hastings thought the same medicine might do_her_ good; perhaps she meant the complaint as a hint to Mr. Brail, themate, to have pity upon her. The seaman took the hint, real orimaginary, and declared he could compound a draught as composing as anyprescribed in the "book of directions, " and accordingly mixed a tumblerof hot grog, well sweetened with loaf-sugar; but he forgot he was notmixing for himself, and put in the same quantity of pure Antigua asthough the "charge" was intended for his own throat and brain of proof. Miss Dolly drank the potent mixture, which effectually dispelled theremains of her hysterical squall; and in a few minutes after retiring toher berth, she was fast in the arms of Morpheus, if Morpheus ever goesto sea. Our story must now gallop a little. Mr. Effingham was delighted withGeorge's gallant conduct, though he was too late to save poor Burton andhis men; the cargoes of both vessels were sold, and the old gentleman, with his daughter, returned to England with Allerton. Shortly aftertheir arrival, the hall of Effingham House witnessed the performance ofthat ceremony, which, in the English prayer-books, "begins with 'dearlybeloved, ' and ends with 'amazement;'" but "the bishops, priests, anddeacons, and all other clergy, " who were engaged in altering andadapting the Book of Common Prayer to the Episcopal church in thiscountry, finding nothing very amazing in matrimony, have omitted theshort sermon that usually closed its performance, and the form, likemost religious forms, now ends modestly with a simple Amen. In three days after the murder on board the Avon, the schooner wasdriven ashore upon Masafuero in a "norther, " a violent gale so calledin that sea, from its uniformly blowing from the northward; and of theeight on board, seven perished. The wretched survivor, after sufferingevery thing but death from starvation, escaped in a whaler to the main, was recognised, identified as one of Benavidas' gang, and shot before hehad been on shore two hours.