ingly replied, "I must
fain acknowledge. And yet, ere I make a decision, suffer me to consult
those who, being more accustomed to deal with the laws, are better judges
of the propriety of the purchases."

"If this request were not reasonable in itself, it were due to your beauty
and station, lady, to grant it. I leave the bale in your care; and, before
tomorrow's sun has set, one will await the answer Captain Ludlow, are we
to part in friendship, or does your duty to the Queen proscribe the word."

"If what you seem," said Ludlow, "you are a being inexplicable! If this be
some masquerade, as I half suspect, 'tis well maintained, at least, though
not worthily assumed."

"You are not the first who has refused credit to his senses, in a manner
wherein the Water-Witch and her commander have been concerned.--Peace,
honest Tom--thy whistle will not hasten Father Time! Friend, or not,
Captain Ludlow need not be told he is my prisoner."

"That I have fallen into the power of a miscreant--"

"Hist!--if thou hast love of bodily ease and whole bones. Master Thomas
Tiller is a man of rude humor, and he as little likes contumely as
another. Besides, the honest mariner did but obey my orders, and his
character is protected by a superior responsibility."

"Thy orders!" repeated Ludlow, with an expression of eye and lip that
might have offended one more disposed to take offence than him he
addressed. "The fellow who so well succeeded in his artifice, is one much
more likely to command than to obey. If any here be the 'Skimmer of the
Seas,' it is he."

"We are no more than the driving spray, which goes whither the winds list.
But in what hath the man offended, that he finds so little favor with the
Queen's captain? He has not had the boldness to propose a secret traffic
with so loyal a gentleman!"

"'Tis well, Sir; you choose a happy occasion for this pleasantry. I landed
to manifest the respect that I feel for this lady, and I care not if the
world knows the object of the visit. 'Twas no silly artifice that led me
hither."

"Spoken with the frankness of a seaman!" said the inexplicable dealer in
contraband, though his color lessened and his voice appeared to hesitate.
"I admire this loyalty in man to woman; for, as custom has so strongly
fettered them in the expression of their inclinations, it is due from us
to leave as little doubt as possible of our intentions. It is difficult to
think that la belle Barberie can do wiser t