new her--"

"Hum," quoth pa, "I dare say that sixty and twenty-five would agree to a
charm on such a subject; but pray, how the deuce came this well born,
well educated, white, protestant damsel in the Pacific, where the devil
himself would never dream of looking for such a phenomenon?"

"It is a long story," said Charles.

"If that's the case," said the senior Mr. Morton, "you had better step
down cellar, and draw another mug of cider."

So saying, he replenished his pipe, and disposed himself in an attitude
of calm resignation. As our readers are already acquainted with the
history of the rise and progress of young Morton's love, we shall say no
more of his narrative than that towards the close of it, his father was
surprised out of his gravity, and ejaculated the word "d--nation!" with
great emphasis, at the same time, flinging his pipe into the fire, and
exclaiming by way of sermon to his short and pithy text,

"Why the d--l didn't you bring her with you, you foolish boy?
Why, you have no more spunk than a hooked cod-fish! You'll
never see her again, if you make fifty voyages round the cape;
she's in a nunnery by this time, or, what is more likely,
married to that Don What-d'ye-call-him."

Charles could only repeat his conviction that neither event had taken
place, and his firm reliance upon Isabella's constancy.

"Fiddle-de-dee! A woman's constancy! I would as soon take Continental
money at par!" was his father's reply.

Their conversation on this interesting topic was protracted to a late
hour, when they retired, the old gentleman to--sleep as sound as usual,
and Charles to yield himself most unreservedly to the illusions of
sanguine, youthful hope and love--that love that one never has _very_
severely but once in his life; for love is like a squall at sea; the
inexperienced landsman sees nothing alarming in the aspect of the
heavens, and is both astonished and vexed at the bustle and hurry, the
"thunder of the captain and the shouting;" but when it comes "butt-eend
foremost," he suffers a thousand times more from his fears than the
oldest sailors. After one has become acquainted with the disorder, he
can distinguish its premonitory symptoms, and crush it in the bud, or
let it run on to a matrimonial crisis. For my own part, I can always
ascertain, at its first accession, whether it is about to assume a
chronic form, or pass off with a few acute attacks.

CHAPTER X

O for a ho