excellence to its own purpose, had
assiduously cultivated. Many years before the period of which we treat,
Robin had accompanied the Buccaneer on one or two piratical cruises; and
though it cannot be denied that Hugh was a better sailor than scholar,
yet he generously sought to secure for little Robin the advantages he
did not himself possess; Robin, accordingly, received daily instruction
in penmanship from a run-away merchant's clerk, the clerk and
bookkeeper, the lubber and idler of the crew.

Robin laboured to reward this kindness by unshaken fidelity, unceasing
watchfulness, and a wild enthusiasm which endeared him to the rude
captain, as if he were something that belonged exclusively to himself.
The Buccaneer knew that secrets, where life and property were at stake,
were safe in his keeping; and as the renowned Dalton had often worked in
the service of both Cavaliers and Roundheads, a person of ready wit and
true heart was most invaluable as an auxiliary on the coast.

If the Buccaneer entertained any political creed, it was certainly in
favour of the exiled Charles: a bold and intrepid spirit like his felt
something most galling and repulsive in the stern and unyielding
government of the Protector. A ruler who not only framed acts, but saw
those acts enforced, whether they regarded a "Declaration for a day of
Publique Thanksgiving," or "A Licence for transporting Fish in Foreign
Bottoms," was not likely to be much after the taste of one who had the
essence of lawgiving only within himself, and who perceived clearly
enough that the royal but thoughtless Stuarts would be more easily
managed--more prone, if not from feeling, at all events from indolence,
to overlook the peccadilloes of such as Dalton, than the unflinching
Oliver, who felt that every evil he redressed was a fresh jewel in his
sceptre. Nevertheless, as we have seen, the Buccaneer had decided on
offering his services to the Commonwealth: he believed that Cromwell
knew his talents and valued his courage; but he also knew that the
Protector piqued himself upon consistency, and that, consequently, there
would be vast difficulties to overcome, as a price had more than once
been set upon his head.

We must, however, conduct our readers back into the fresh morning we
have instanced as one of the favourites of spring. Leaving Robin to his
preparations for the stranger's breakfast, and premising that he had
previously dismissed the midnight revellers on the