attendant.
Instead, however, there, half-reclining on a sofa, and reading, or
pretending to read, was a young and lovely girl. The lady on deck
possessed somewhat of a stern beauty; hers was of the most perfect
feminine softness. She was fair, with light-brown hair, and a rich
colour on her cheeks, and eyes so full and lustrous that they pierced
through and through me at once. I was very glad she did not ask me to
do anything I ought not to have done, for as Adam was easily tempted by
Eve, I fear me much that I should not have had the resolution to refuse
any request she might have made. I stood for a minute at the door,
looking, I daresay, very stupid, and silent as a post. At last I
blundered out--

"I beg pardon, miss; I came to see the ship's papers; I hope that I
don't inconvenience you."

"Oh, no, sir, as the ship is, I conclude, in your power, and the
passengers are your prisoners, we can only be grateful for any courtesy
you show us," she answered; and oh! what a sweet, soft, musical voice
she spoke in!

I was quickly followed below by the master, who proceeded to hand me out
his papers from a well-battered tin case.

"You are, I conclude, Mr Saul Cobb, master of the `Crab' schooner--not
much like a crab though, by the way she went through the water," said I,
running my eyes over the papers. "All well and good, Mr Cobb. We will
take the `Crab' in tow as far as Rhode Island, where Sir Peter Parker,
the English admiral, will decide what is to be done with her. Your
passengers, I have no doubt, will be landed at Newport, and a safe
conduct will be granted them in whatever direction they may wish to
proceed."

I looked up as I spoke, and bowed to the young lady. I found her eyes
fixed on me, though she very quickly withdrew them, and I could not help
fancying, vain puppy that I was! that a slight blush tinged her cheeks.

"I trust, madam," said I, "that we shall be able to make arrangements
satisfactory under the painful circumstances of the case to you and the
lady who is with you."

"She is my aunt," she answered quickly. "But I fear that it will be
difficult to make amends to her for the inconvenience to which she must
be put and the bitter disappointment she feels. She was called to the
bedside of a brother she believes to be dying from his wounds, and there
being no one else whose assistance she could claim, I accompanied her.
We hoped to have landed to-morrow. Could you not still manage to