n found very favorable to
thought. One is often enabled to examine a question in this wise, as
they look at the sun through a smoked glass, and observe the glittering
object without being blinded by its brilliancy. I suppose the time I
passed in this manner was as near an approach to low spirits as I am
capable of feeling; for of regular downright depression, I know as
little as did Nelson of fear.

I bethought me seriously of the "scrape" in which I found myself, and
reflected with considerable misgivings upon the summary principles
of justice in vogue around me; and yet the knavery was not of my own
seeking. Like Falstaff's honor, it was "thrust upon me." I was innocent
of all plot or device. "Le diable qui se mele en tout "--never was there
a truer saying--would have it that I should exchange coats with another,
and that this confounded ticket should be the compensation for worn
seams and absent buttons.

I have no doubt, thought I, but that "Honesty is the best policy,"
pretty much upon the same principle that even a dead calm is better than
a hurricane. But to him who desires "progress," on whose heart the word
"onward" is written, the calm is lethargy, while the storm may prove
propitious. I then tried to persuade myself that even this adventure
could not turn out ill,--not that I could by any ingenuity devise how it
should prove otherwise; but I knew that Fortune is as skilful as she is
kind, and so I left the whole charge to her.

Is it my fault, I exclaimed, that I am not rich, and wellborn, and
great? Show me any one who would have enjoyed such privileges more. Is
it my fault that, being poor, ignoble, and lowly in condition, I have
tastes and aspirations at war with my situation? These ought rather to
be stimulants to exertion than caprices of Fortune. I like the theory
better, too; and is it not hard to be condemned for the devices I am
reduced to employ to combat such natural evils? If the prisoner severs
his fetters with an old nail, it is because he does not possess the
luxury of a file or a "cold chisel." As for me, the employment of small
and insignificant means is highly distasteful; instead of following the
lone mountain-path on foot, I'd drive "life's high road" four-in-hand,
if I could.

The furious rush of the escape-steam, the quick coming and going of
feet, the heavy banging of luggage on the deck, and all the other
unmistakable signs of approaching departure, aroused me, as I lay
patiently