getting life-lines along the lee-bulwarks, and secure them as you best
can."

The mate made no answer, except a hurried acquiescence in his chief's
reasons; and then calling three seamen to him, he worked his way forward
to the forecastle, to search for the requisite cordage for passing fore
and aft along the sides of the vessel.

Colonel Gauntlett had gone below to explain the state of affairs to poor
Ada, and to endeavour to tranquillise her alarms. Nothing daunted the
old veteran himself; a soldier of the great duke's school, he was
accustomed to hardships and vicissitudes of all sorts. Brave as his
sword, and delighting in the excitement of danger, his spirits rose in
proportion to its imminence, and all the sour testiness of his temper
vanished; a temper which had grown on him since the return of peace
caused him to sheath his sword, and tempted him to commit the folly, as
an old bachelor, of leading an idle life. Married, and with a family,
he would have had them to interest him; but, as it was, he had only to
think of his own aches and ills, and, perhaps, past follies; and to
brood over what he called the neglects he had experienced from his
ungrateful country. No man on board, perhaps, was so anxious as he was
to have a skirmish with the rover, but he was not aware of the dreadful
odds which would be opposed to him, and of the too probable fate which
would await all hands, should victory side with the enemy. His
arguments had some effect in calming his niece's fears; but not those of
poor little Marianna, who, pale and weeping, sat at the feet of her
mistress, imploring her to urge the captain and her uncle to return to
Malta.

Ada, in her turn, had to act the part of comforter, and she promised her
uncle that she would constantly remain below till they had escaped from
the pirate, and the storm was over. Her uncle had not attempted to
deceive her, nor did she shut her eyes to the greatness of the
threatening danger--yet hope rose triumphant in her bosom. Though the
storm had, at first, appeared very terrific, she got accustomed by
degrees to the noise and commotion, and she could not persuade herself
that a British vessel, manned by so many brave men, would not prove the
victor against a pirate, of whatever nation she might be. By the faint
light which found its way into her cabin, she was able to read; and that
book was in her hand from which the truest source of comfort can be
drawn, and which sh