xt the quay. That, my friend, is a piece of
civility very commonly practised at seaports by one vessel to another,
when similarly situated as we and they were. You will see it at all
quays and wharfs."

Johnny Armstrong groaned, but said nothing. At length, however, he
muttered, in a tone of Christian-like resignation--

"The Lord's will be dune! I see it's settled that I am never to get hame
again; but to be keepit gaun frae place to place ower the face o' the
earth, like anither wanderin' Jew. Gude hae a care o' me, but this is
awfu'! Its judgment like."

It certainly was very remarkable, but not in the least mysterious. This
new mistake of Johnny, like all the rest, was a perfectly simple
occurrence; and, like them, too, arose as plainly and naturally out of
circumstances as it was possible for any effect to do from a cause. But,
however, this may be, the captain--although he could not help laughing
at the awkward predicament of his passenger--really felt for him, seeing
the distress he was in, and was so much influenced by this feeling as to
offer to convey him back to Rotterdam, to which, he said, he would
return in two days, free of any charge; adding, with a smile, and with
the kind intention of reconciling Johnny to what could not now be
helped, that it was nothing, after all--that it would make a difference
of only a few days--and that it would be always showing him a little
more of the world.

"Mony thanks to ye," said Johnny, perceiving and appreciating the
friendly purpose of the captain; "and I'll e'en tak advantage o' yer
kind offer; but as to seein' the world, by my faith, I've seen now about
just as muckle o't as I want to see, and maybe a trifle mair--a hantle
mair, at ony rate, than I ever expected to see." Then, in a
soliloquizing tone and manner--"God keep me, whar's Brechin noo! A' that
I wanted, and a' that I intended, was to get to that bit paltry place;
and, instead o' that, here am I within a stane-cast o' the north pole,
for aught I ken to the contrar, and, to a' appearances, no half dune
wi't yet. Heaven kens whar I'll be sent niest!--maybe be landed on
Owhyhee, or on some desert island, like another Robinson Crusoe. Na,
it's certain, if things gang on muckle langer this way."

Of the drift or scope of these remarks, or, at any rate, of the feelings
that dictated them, the captain could make nothing, not knowing Johnny's
precise circumstances; nor did he seek to have them explained, but