do not fear for your wife. She knows very well how to look after her
own interests. The two women in Peter's house will be Greek against
Greek, and your wife will certainly win some victories."

"I would not have her suffer, my friend."

"She will not suffer. It is likely I may be in Lerwick next summer; I
will see to that. Have you saved any thing of your salary?"

"I have spent very little of it. I have now over L300."

"Then I advise you to send L200 to Dr. Balloch for her. Tell him if
help is needed to give it. He will understand the wisest way in which
it can be offered. If it is not needed, he can save it toward that
L600."

"I can send L300."

"No, you can not. Uniforms must be bought, and fees must be paid, and
there are numerous other expenses to meet. Now you must pack your
clothes and books. To-morrow you must be in Portsmouth; there 'The
Retribution' is waiting for you and for orders. The orders may arrive
at any hour, and it is possible you may have to sail at once."

The next afternoon Jan was in Portsmouth. It was a wonderful thing for
him to tread the deck of his own ship; a handsome, fast-sailing
schooner, specially built for the African blockade. She carried a
heavy pivot gun and a carronade, and had a crew of fifty officers and
men. He could scarcely believe that he was to command her, even when
his officers saluted him. In three days he was to sail, and there was
much to be done in the interval. But the hurry and bustle was an
advantage; he had no time to feel the strangeness of his position; and
men soon get accustomed to honor. On the third day he filled his place
with the easy nonchalance of long authority.

It was fortunate for Jan that the mission on which he was sent was one
that stirred him to the very depths of his nature. In the seclusion
and ignorance of his life in Shetland, he had heard nothing of the
wrongs and horrors of slavery. It is doubtful if there had ever come
into his mind, as a distant idea, the thought of a race of men who
were as black as he was white. Therefore when Lord Lynne explained to
him the cruelty and wickedness of the slave traffic, Jan heard him at
first with amazement, then with indignation. That passionate love of
freedom and that hatred of injustice, which are at the foundation of
the Norse character, were touched at every point. The tears of pity,
the fire of vengeance, were in his eyes. To chase a slaver, to punish
her villainous owners, to liberate