d done any great thing.

Poor Bobby Smudge came in, too, for his share of praise for having
informed us of the plot of the pirates to retake the schooner; and most
certainly he had been the means of saving all our lives. No one after
this attempted to bully him, and I observed a marked improvement in his
appearance and character.

The trial of the pirates came on at once; and the _Harold_ was kept in
harbour, that we might attend it as witnesses. I will not enter into
minute particulars. The leading facts of the case will be of sufficient
interest. Evidence had been collected to prove that the _William_ had
sailed from England with one description of cargo, and that her master
had disposed of various articles not among it. To account for this,
Captain Delano replied that he had fallen in with an abandoned ship, and
had taken part of her cargo out of her. He stood bold and unabashed, as
if confiding in his innocence; but his countenance fell when two of his
own crew appeared in the witness-box, and he was informed that they had
turned King's evidence.

"Then there is a conspiracy against me, and my life will be sworn away,"
was his reply.

Nothing that he could say, however, made any one doubt his guilt.

I was in hopes that the young man in whom I had taken so much interest
would have been allowed to turn King's evidence, but I found that he had
refused to do so.

"No," said he, when asked the question; "I do not wish to preserve my
own worthless life by aiding in the condemnation of others. If I am
found guilty, I am ready to suffer with them."

Nothing, I found, would alter his determination. When brought into
dock, he was far too weak to stand; but there was a look of calm
contentment in his countenance--I might describe it almost as
happiness--seldom borne by a person in his awful position. His
appearance excited much interest in all those who saw him, though few
were aware of the mighty change which had taken place within his bosom,
and still less of the cause of that change. How different did he look
from the rest! No ferocity, no callousness, no stoical indifference, no
assumption of innocence could be traced in any one of his features.
Calm and thoughtful, he sat watching the proceedings, as one deeply
interested in their result. People could scarcely believe their senses
when they heard the evidence given against him. Who more blood-thirsty,
who more eager for plunder, who so regardless of