"Let them achieve me, and then sell my bones."--_Henry V._
The Commander of the "Dart," and his bewildered lieutenant, had gained the
quarter-deck before either spoke again. The direction first taken by the
eyes of the latter was in quest of the neighbouring ship; nor was the look
entirely without that unsettled and vague expression which seems to
announce a momentary aberration of the faculties. But the vessel of the
Rover was in view, in all the palpable and beautiful proportions of her
admirable construction Instead of lying in a state of rest, as when he
left her, her head-yards had been swung, and, as the sails filled with the
breeze, the stately fabric had he gun to Marve gracefully, though with no
great velocity along the water. There was not the slightest appearance
however, of any attempt at escape in the evolution. On the contrary, the
loftier and lighter sails had all been furled, and men were at the moment
actively employed in sending to the deck those smaller spars which were
absolutely requisite in spreading the canvas that would be needed in
facilitating her flight. Wilder turned from the sight with a sickening
apprehension; for he well knew that these were the preparations that
skillful mariners are wont to make, when bent on desperate combat.
"Ay, yonder goes your St. James's seaman, with his three topsails full,
and his mizzen out, as if he had already forgotten he is to dine with me,
and that his name is to be found at one end of the list of Commanders and
mine at the other," grumbled the displeased Bignall. "But we shall have
him coming round all in good time, I suppose, when his appetite tells him
the dinner hour. He might wear his colours in presence of a senior, too,
and no disgrace to his nobility. By the Lord, Harry Ark, he handles those
yards beautifully! I warrant you, now, some honest man's son is sent
aboard his ship for a dry nurse, in the shape of a first lieutenant, and
we shall have him vapouring, all dinner time, about 'how my ship does
this,' and 'I never suffer that.' Ha! is it not so, sir? He has a thorough
seaman for his First?"
"Few men understand the profession better than does the Captain of yonder
vessel himself," returned Wilder.
"The devil he does! You have been talking with him, Mr Ark, about these
matters, and he has got some of the fashions of the 'Dart.' I see into a
mystery as quick as another!"
"I do assure you, Captain Bignall, there is no safety in confiding in the
ignorance of yonder extra ordinary man."
"Ay, ay, I begin to overhaul his character. The young dog is a quiz, and
has been amusing himself with a sailor of what he calls the old school. Am
I right, sir? He has seen salt water before this cruise?"
"He is almost a native of the seas; for more than thirty years has he
passed his time on them."
"There, Harry Ark, he has done you handsomely. Now, I have his own
assertion for it, that he will not be three-and-twenty until to-morrow."
"On my word, he has deceived you, sir."
"I don't know, Mr Ark; that is a task much easier attempted than
performed. Threescore and four years add as much weight to a man's head as
to his heels! I may have undervalued the skill of the younker but, as to
his years, there can be no great mistake. But where the devil is the
fellow steering to? Has he need of a pinafore from his lady mother to come
on board of a man-of-war for his dinner?"
"See! he is indeed standing from us!" exclaimed Wilder, with a rapidity
and delight that would have excited the suspicions of one more observant
than his Commander.
"If I know the stern from the bows of a ship, what you say is truth,"
returned the other, with some austerity. "Hark ye, Mr Ark, I've a mind to
furnish the coxcomb a lesson in respect for his superiors and give him a
row to whet his appetite. By the Lord, I will; and he may write home an
account of this manoeuvre, too, in his next despatches. Fill away the
after-yards, sir; fill away. Since this _honourable_ youth is disposed to
amuse himself with a sailing-match, he can take no offence that others are
in the same humour."
The lieutenant of the watch, to whom the order was addressed, complied;
and, in another minute, the "Dart" was also beginning to move a-head,
though in a direction directly opposite to that taken by the "Dolphin."
The old man highly enjoyed his own decision, manifesting his
self-satisfaction by the infinite glee and deep chuckling of his manner.
He was too much occupied with the step he had just taken, to revert
immediately to the subject that had so recently been uppermost in his
mind; nor did the thought of pursuing the discourse occur to him, until
the two ships had left a broad field of water between them, as each moved,
with ease and steadiness, on its proper course.
"Let him note that in his log-book, Mr Ark," the irritable old seaman then
resumed, returning to the spot which Wilder had not left during the
intervening time. "Though my cook has no great relish for a frog, they who
would taste of his skill must seek him. By the Lord, boy, he will have a
pull of it, if he undertake to come-to on that tack.--But how happens it
that you got into his ship? All that part of the cruise remains untold."
"I have been wrecked, sir, since you received my last letter."
"What! has Davy Jones got possession of the red gentleman at last?"
"The misfortune occurred in a ship from Bristol, aboard which I was placed
as a sort of prize-master.--He certainly continues to stand slowly to the
northward!"
"Let the young coxcomb go! he will have all the better appetite for his
supper. And so you were picked up by his Majesty's ship the 'Antelope.'
Ay, I see into the whole affair. You have only to give an old sea-dog his
course and compass, and he will find his way to port in the darkest night.
But how happened it that this Mr Howard affected to be ignorant of your
name, sir, when he saw it on the list of my officers?"
"Ignorant! Did he seem ignorant? perhaps"--
"Say no more, my brave fellow, say no more," interrupted Wilder's
considerate but choleric Commander. "I nave met with such rebuffs myself;
but we are above them, sir, far above them and their impertinences
together. No man need be ashamed of having earned his commission, as you
and I have done, in fair weather and in foul. Zounds, boy, I have fed one
of the upstarts for a week, and then had him stare at a church across the
way, when I have fallen in with him in the streets of London, in a fashion
that might make a simple man believe the puppy knew for what it had been
built. Think no more of it, Harry; worse things have happened to myself, I
do assure you."
"I went by my assumed name while in yonder ship," Wilder forced himself to
add. "Even the ladies who were the companions of my wreck, know me by no
other."
"Ah! that was prudent; and, after all, the young sprig was not pretending
genteel ignorance. How now, master Fid; you are welcome back to the
Dart.'"
"I've taken the liberty to say as much already to myself, your Honour,"
resumed the topman, who was busying himself, near his two officers, in a
manner that seemed to invite their attention. "A wholesome craft is
yonder, and boldly is she commanded, and stoutly is she manned; but, for
my part, having a character to lose, it is more to my taste to sail in a
ship that can shew her commission, when properly called on for the same."
The colour on Wilder's cheeks went and came like the flushings of the
evening sky, and his eyes were turned in every direction but that which
would have encountered the astonished gaze of his veteran friend.
"I am not quite sure that I understand the meaning of the lad, Mr Ark.
Every officer, from the Captain to the boatswain, in the King's fleet,
that is, every man of common discretion, carries his authority to act as
such with him to sea, or he might find himself in a situation as awkward
as that of a pirate."
"That is just what I said, sir; but schooling and long use have given your
Honour a better outfit in words. Guinea and I have often talked the matter
over together, and serious thoughts has it given to us both, more than
once, Captain Bignall. 'Suppose,' says I to the black, 'suppose one of his
Majesty's boats should happen to fall in with this here craft, and we
should come to loggerheads and matches,' says I, 'what would the like of
us two do in such a god-send?'--'Why,' says the black, 'we would stand to
our guns on the side of master Harry,' says he; nor did I gainsay the
same; but, saving his presence and your Honour's, I just took the liberty
to add, that, in my poor opinion, it would be much more comfortable to be
killed in an honest ship than on the deck of a buccaneer."
"A buccaneer!" exclaimed his Commander, with eyes distended, and an open
mouth.
"Captain Bignall," said Wilder, "I may have offended past forgiveness, in
remaining so long silent; but, when you hear my tale, there may be found
some passages that shall plead my apology. The vessel in sight is the ship
of the renowned Red Rover--nay listen, I conjure you by all that kindness
you have so long shewn me, and then censure as you will."
The words of Wilder, aided as they were by an earnest and manly manner,
laid a restraint on the mounting indignation of the choleric old seaman.
He listened gravely and intently to the rapid but clear tale which his
lieutenant hastened to recount; and, ere the latter had done, he had more
than half entered into those grateful, and certainly generous, feelings
which had made the youth so reluctant to betray the obnoxious character of
a man who had dealt so liberally by himself. A few strong, and what might
be termed professional, exclamations of surprise and admiration,
occasionally interrupted the narrative; but, on the whole, he curbed his
impatience and his feelings, in a manner that was sufficiently remarkable,
when the temperament of the individual is duly considered.
"This is wonderful indeed!" he exclaimed, as the other ended; "and a
thousand pities is it that so honest a fellow should be so arrant a knave.
But, Harry, we can never let him go at large after all, our loyalty and
our religion forbid it. We must tack ship, and stand after him; if fair
words won't bring him to reason, I see no other remedy than blows."
"I fear it is no more than our duty, sir," returned the young man, with a
deep sigh.
"It is a matter of religion.--And then the prating puppy, that he sent on
board me, is no Captain, after all! Still it was impossible to deceive me
as to the air and manner of a gentleman. I warrant me, some young
reprobate of a good family, or he would never have acted the sprig so
well. We must try to keep his name a secret, Mr Ark, in order that no
discredit should fall upon his friends. Our aristocratic columns, though
they get a little cracked and defaced, are, after all, the pillars of the
throne, and it does not become us to let vulgar eyes look too closely into
their unsoundness."
"The individual who visited the 'Dart' was the Rover himself."
"Ha! the Red Rover in my ship, nay, in my very presence!" exclaimed the
old tar, in a species of honest horror. "You are now pleased, sir, to
trifle with my good nature."
"I should forget a thousand obligations, ere I could be so bold. On my
solemn asseveration, sir, it was no other."
"This is unaccountable! extraordinary to a miracle! His disguise was very
complete, I will confess to deceive one so well skilled in the human
countenance. I saw nothing, sir, of his shaggy whiskers heard nothing of
his brutal voice, nor perceived any of those monstrous deformities which
are universally acknowledged to distinguish the man."
"All of which are no more than the embellishments of vulgar rumour, I fear
me, sir, that the boldest and most dangerous of all our vices are often
found under the most pleasing exteriors."
"But this is not even a man of inches, sir."
"His body is not large, but it contains the spirit of a giant."
"And do you believe yonder ship, Mr Ark, to be the vessel that fought us
in the equinox of March?"
"I know it to be no other."
"Hark ye, Harry, for your sake, I will deal generously by the rogue. He
once escaped me, by the loss of a topmast, and stress of weather; but we
have here a good working breeze, that a man may safely count on, and a
fine regular sea. He is therefore mine, so soon as I choose to make him
so;--for I do not think he has any serious intention to run."
"I fear not," returned Wilder, unconsciously betraying his wishes in the
words.
"Fight he cannot, with any hopes of success; and, as he seems to be
altogether a different sort of personage from what I had supposed, we will
try the merits of negotiation. Will you undertake to be the bearer of my
propositions?--or, perhaps, he might repent of his moderation."
"I pledge myself for his faith," eagerly exclaimed Wilder "Let a gun be
fired to leeward. Mind, sir, all the tokens must be amicable--a flag of
truce set out at our main, and I will risk every hazard to lead him back
into the bosom of society."
"By George, it would at least be acting a Christian part," returned the
Commander, after a moment's thought; "and, though we miss knighthood
below, lad, for our success, there will be better birth cleared for us
aloft."
No sooner had the warm-hearted, and perhaps a little visionary, Captain of
the "Dart," and his lieutenant, determined on this measure, than they both
set eagerly about the means of insuring its success. The helm of the ship
was put a-lee; and, as her head came sweeping up into the wind, a sheet of
flame flashed from her leeward bow-port, sending the customary amicable
intimation across the water, that those who governed her movements would
communicate with the possessors of the vessel in sight. At the same
instant, a small flag, with a spotless field was seen floating at the
topmost elevation of all her spars, whilst the flag of England was lowered
from the gaff. A half minute of deep inquietude succeeded these signals,
in the bosoms of those who had ordered them to be made. Their suspense was
however speedily terminated. A cloud of smoke drove before the wind from
the vessel of the Rover, and then the smothered explosion of the answering
gun came dull upon their ears. A flag, similar to their own, was seen
floating, as it might be, like a dove fanning its wings, far above her
tops; but no emblem of any sort was borne at the spar, where the colours
which distinguish the national character of a cruiser are usually seen.
"The fellow has the modesty to carry a naked gaff in our presence," said
Bignall, pointing out the circumstance to his companion, as an augury
favourable to their success. "We will stand for him until within a
reasonable distance, and then you shall take to the boat."
In conformity with this determination, the "Dart" was brought on the other
tack, and several sails were set, in order to quicken her speed. When at
the distance of half cannon shot, Wilder suggested to his superior the
propriety of arresting their further progress in order to avoid the
appearance of hostilities. The boat was immediately lowered into the sea,
and manned; a flag of truce set in her bows: and the whole was reported
ready to receive the bearer of the message.
"You may hand him this statement of our force, Mr Ark; for, as he is a
reasonable man, he will see the advantage it gives us," said the Captain,
after having exhausted his manifold and often repeated instructions. "I
think you may promise him indemnity for the past, provided he comply with
all my conditions; at all events, you will say that no influence shall be
spared to get a complete whitewashing for himself at least. God bless you,
boy! Take care to say nothing of the damages we received in the affair of
March last; for--ay--for the equinox was blowing heavy at the time, you
know. Adieu! and success attend you!"
The boat shoved off from the side of the vessel as he ended, and in a few
moments the listening Wilder was borne far beyond the sound of any further
words of advisement. Our adventurer had sufficient time to reflect on the
extraordinary situation in which he now found himself, during the row to
the still distant ship. Once or twice, slight and uneasy glimmerings of
distrust, concerning the prudence of the step he was taking, beset his
mind; though a recollection of the lofty feeling of the man in whom he
confided ever presented itself in sufficient season to prevent the
apprehension from gaining any undue ascendency. Notwithstanding the
delicacy of his situation, that characteristic interest in his profession,
which is rarely dormant in the bosom of a thorough-bred seaman, was
strongly stimulated as he approached the vessel of the Rover. The perfect
symmetry of her spars the graceful heavings and settings of the whole
fabric is it rode, like a marine bird, on the long, regular swells of the
trades, and the graceful inclinations of the tapering masts, as they waved
across the blue canopy, which was interlaced by all the tracery of her
complicated tackle, was not lost on an eye that knew no less how to prize
the order of the whole than to admire the beauty of the object itself.
There is a high and exquisite taste, which the seaman attains in the study
of a machine that all have united to commend, which may be likened to the
sensibilities that the artist acquires by close and long contemplation of
the noblest monuments of antiquity. It teaches him to detect those
imperfections which would escape any less instructed eye; and it heightens
the pleasure with which a ship at sea is gazed at, by enabling the mind to
keep even pace with the enjoyment of the senses. It is this powerful (and
to a landsman incomprehensible) charm that forms the secret tie which
binds the mariner so closely to his vessel, and which often leads him to
prize her qualities as one would esteem the virtues of a friend, and
almost to be equally enamoured of the fair proportions of his ship and of
those of his mistress. Other men may have their different inanimate
subjects of admiration; but none of their feelings so thoroughly enter
into the composition of the being as the affection which the mariner
comes, in time, to feel for his vessel. It is his home, his theme of
constant and frequently of painful interest, his tabernacle and often his
source of pride and exultation. As she gratifies or disappoints his
high-wrought expectations in her speed or in the fight, mid shoals and
hurricanes, a character for good or luckless qualities is earned, which
are as often in reality due to the skill or ignorance of those who guide
her, as to any inherent properties of the fabric. Still does the ship
itself, in the eyes of the seaman, bear away the laurel of success, or
suffer the ignominy of defeat and misfortune; and, when the reverse
arrives, the result is merely regarded as some extraordinary departure
from the ordinary character of the vessel, as if the construction
possessed the powers of entire self-command and perfect volition.
Though not so deeply imbued with that species of superstitious credulity,
on this subject, as the inferiors of his profession, Wilder was keenly
awake to most of the sensibilities of a mariner. So strongly, indeed, was
he alive to this feeling, on the present occasion, that for a moment he
forgot the critical nature of his errand, as he drew within plainer view
of a vessel that, with justice, might lay claim to be a jewel of the
ocean.
"Lay on your oars, lads," he said, signing to his people to arrest the
progress of the boat; "lay on your oars! Did you ever see masts more
beautifully in line than those, master Fid, or sails that had a fairer
fit?"
The topman, who rowed the stroke-oar of the pinnace cast a look over his
shoulder, and, stowing into one of his cheeks a lump that resembled a wad
laid by the side of its gun, he was not slow to answer, on an occasion
where his opinion was so directly demanded.
"I care not who knows it," he said, "for, done by honest men or done by
knaves, I told the people on the forecastle of the; 'Dart,' in the first
five minutes after I got among them again, that they might be at Spithead
a month, and not see hamper so light, and yet so handy, as is seen aboard
that flyer. Her lower rigging is harpened-in, like the waist of Nell Dale
after she has had a fresh pull upon her stay-lanyards, and there isn't a
block, among them all, that seems bigger in its place than do the eyes of
the girl in her own good-looking countenance. That bit of a set that you
see to her fore-brace-block, was given by the hand of one Richard Fid; and
the heart on her main-stay was turned-in by Guinea, here; and, considering
he is a nigger, I call it ship-shape."
"She is beautiful in every part!" said Wilder, drawing a long breath.
"Give way, my men, give way! Do you think I have come here to take the
soundings of the ocean?"
The crew started at the hurried tones of their lieutenant and in another
minute the boat was at the side of the vessel. The stern and threatening
glances that Wilder encountered, as his foot touched the planks, caused
him to pause an instant, ere he advanced further amid the crew. But the
presence of the Rover himself, who stood, with his peculiar air of high
and imposing authority, on the quarter-deck, encouraged him to proceed,
after permitting a delay that was too slight to attract attention. His
lips were in the act of parting, when a sign from the other induced him to
remain silent, until they were both in the privacy of the cabin.
"Suspicion is awake among my people, Mr Ark," commenced the Rover, when
they were thus retired, laying a marked and significant emphasis on the
name he used. "Suspicion is stirring, though, as yet, they hardly know
what to credit. The manoeuvres of the two ships have not been such as they
are wont to see, and voices are not wanting to whisper in their ears
matter that is somewhat injurious to your interests. You have not done
well, sir, in returning among us."
"I came by the order of my superior, and under the sanction of a flag."
"We are small reasoners in the legal distinction of the world, and may
mistake your rights in so novel a character. But," he immediately added,
with dignity, "if you bear a message, I may presume it is intended for my
ears."
"And for no other. We are not alone, Captain Heidegger."
"Heed not the boy; he is deaf at my will."
"I could wish to communicate to you only the offers that I bear."
"That mast is not more senseless than Roderick," said the other calmly,
but with decision.
"Then must I speak at every hazard.--The Commander of yon ship, who bears
the commission of our royal master George the Second, has ordered me to
say thus much for your consideration: On condition that you will surrender
this vessel, with all her stores, armament, and warlike munitions,
uninjured he will content himself with taking ten hostages from your crew,
to be decided by lot, yourself, and one other of your officers, and either
to receive the remainder into the service of the King, or to suffer them
to disperse in pursuit of a calling more creditable, and, as it would now
appear, more safe."
"This is the liberality of a prince! I should kneel and kiss the deck
before one whose lips utter such sounds of mercy!"
"I repeat but the words of my superior," Wilder resumed. "For yourself, he
further promises, that his interest shall be exerted to procure a pardon,
on condition that you quit the seas, and renounce the name of Englishman
for ever."
"The latter is done to his hands: But may I know the reason that such
lenity is shewn to one whose name has been so long proscribed of men?"
"Captain Bignall has heard of your generous treatment of his officer, and
the delicacy that the daughter and widow of two ancient brethren in arms
have received at your hands. He confesses that rumour has not done entire
justice to your character."
A mighty effort kept down the gleam of exultation that flashed across the
features of the listener, who, however, succeeded in continuing utterly
calm and immovable.
"He has been deceived, sir"--he coldly resumed, as though he would
encourage the other to proceed.
"That much is he free to acknowledge. A representation of this common
error, to the proper authorities, will have weight in procuring the
promised amnesty for the past, and, as he hopes, brighter prospects for
the future."
"And does he urge no other motive than his pleasure why I should make this
violent change in all my habits, why I should renounce an element that has
become as necessary to me as the one I breathe and why, in particular, I
am to disclaim the vaunted privilege of calling myself a Briton?"
"He does. This statement of a force, which you may freely examine with
your own eyes, if so disposed, must convince you of the hopelessness of
resistance, and will, he thinks, induce you to accept his offers."
"And what is _your_ opinion?" the other demanded, with a meaning smile and
peculiar emphasis, as he extended a hand to receive the written statement.
"But I beg pardon," he hastily added, taking the look of gravity from the
countenance of his companion "I trifle, when the moment requires all our
seriousness."
The eye of the Rover ran rapidly over the paper, resting itself, once or
twice, with a slight exhibition of interest, on particular points, that
seemed most to merit his attention.
"You find the superiority such as I had already given you reason to
believe?" demanded Wilder, when the look of the other wandered from the
paper.
"I do."
"And may I now ask your decision on the offer?"
"First, tell me what does your own heart advise? This is but the language
of another."
"Captain Heidegger," said Wilder, colouring, "I will not attempt to
conceal, that, had this message depended solely on myself, it might have
been couched in different terms; but as one, who still deeply retains the
recollection of your generosity, as a man would not willingly induce even
an enemy to an act of dishonour, do I urge their acceptance. You will
excuse me, if I say, that, in my recent intercourse I have had reason to
believe you already perceive that neither the character you could wish to
earn, nor the content that all men crave, is to be found in your present
career."
"I had not thought I entertained so close a casuist in Mr Henry Wilder.
Have you more to urge, sir?"
"Nothing," returned the disappointed and grieved messenger of the "Dart."
"Yes, yes, he has," said a low but eager voice at the elbow of the Rover,
which rather seemed to breathe out the syllables than dare to utter them
aloud; "he has not yet delivered the half of his commission, or sadly has
he forgotten the sacred trust!"
"The boy is often a dreamer," interrupted the Rover, smiling, with a wild
and haggard look. "He sometimes gives form to his unmeaning thoughts, by
clothing them in words."
"My thoughts are not unmeaning," continued Roderick, in a louder and far
bolder strain. "If his peace or happiness be dear to you, do not yet leave
him. Tell him of his high and honourable name of his youth; of that gentle
and virtuous being that he once so fondly loved, and whose memory, even
now, he worships. Speak to him of these, as you know how to speak; and, on
my life, his ear will not be deaf, his heart cannot be callous to your
words."
"The urchin is mad!"
"I am not mad; or, if maddened, it is by the crimes, the dangers, of those
I love. Oh! Mr Wilder, do not leave him. Since you have been among us, he
is nearer to what I know he once was, than formerly. Take away that
mistaken statement of your force; threats do but harden him: As a friend
admonish; but hope for nothing as a minister of vengeance. You know not
the fearful nature of the man, or you would not attempt to stop a torrent.
Now--now speak to him; for, see, his eye is already growing kinder."
"It is in pity, boy, to witness how thy reason wavers."
"Had it never swerved more than at this moment Walter, another need not be
called upon to speak between thee and me! My words would then have been
regarded, my voice would then have been loud enough to be heard. Why are
you dumb? a single happy syllable might now save him."
"Wilder, the child is frightened by this counting of guns and numbering of
people. He fears the anger of your anointed master. Go; give him place in
your boat, and recommend him to the mercy of your superior."
"Away, away!" cried Roderick. "I shall not, will not, cannot leave you.
Who is there left for me in this world but you?"
"Yes," continued the Rover, whose forced calmness of expression had
changed to one of deep and melancholy musing; "it will indeed be better
thus. See, here is much gold; you will commend him to the care of that
admirable woman who already watches one scarcely less helpless, though
possibly less--"
"Guilty! speak the word boldly, Walter. I have earned the epithet, and
shall not shrink to hear it spoken. Look," he said, taking the ponderous
bag which had been extended towards Wilder, and holding it high above his
head, in scorn, "this can I cast from me; but the tie which binds me to
you shall never be broken."
As he spoke, the lad approached an open window of the cabin; a splash upon
the water was heard, and then a treasure, that might have furnished a
competence to moderate wishes, was lost for ever to the uses of those who
had created its value. The lieutenant of the "Dart" turned in haste to
deprecate the anger of the Rover; but his eye could trace, in the features
of the lawless chief, no other emotion than a pity which was discoverable
even through his calm and unmoved smile.
"Roderick would make but a faithless treasurer," he said. "Still it is not
too late to restore him to his friends. The loss of the gold can be
repaired; but, should any serious calamity befall the boy, I might never
regain a perfect peace of mind."
"Then keep him near yourself," murmured the lad, whose vehemence had
seemingly expended itself. "Go, Mr Wilder, go; your boat is waiting; a
longer stay will be without an object."
"I fear it will!" returned our adventurer, who had not ceased, during the
previous dialogue, to keep his look fastened, in manly commiseration, on
the countenance of the boy; "I greatly fear it will!--Since I have come
the messenger of another, Captain Heidegger it is your province to supply
a fitting answer to my proposition."
The Rover took him by the arm, and led him to a position whence they might
look upon the outer scene. Then, pointing upward at his spars, and making
his companion observe the small quantity of sail he carried, he simply
said, "Sir, you are a seaman and may judge of my intentions by this sight
I shall neither seek nor avoid your boasted cruiser of King George."