im. He went away by himself into the
mill-roof, and, surrounded by the corn-heaps, gave vent to
self-condemnation.

'Certainly, I am no man to lie here so long for the pleasure of sighting
that young girl forty times a day, and letting her sight me--bless her
eyes!--till I must needs want a press-gang to teach me what I've forgot.
And is it then all over with me as a British sailor? We'll see.'

When he was thrown under the influence of Anne's eyes again, which were
more tantalizingly beautiful than ever just now (so it seemed to him),
his intention of offering his services to the Government would wax
weaker, and he would put off his final decision till the next day. Anne
saw these fluctuations of his mind between love and patriotism, and being
terrified by what she had heard of sea-fights, used the utmost art of
which she was capable to seduce him from his forming purpose. She came
to him in the mill, wearing the very prettiest of her morning jackets--the
one that only just passed the waist, and was laced so tastefully round
the collar and bosom. Then she would appear in her new hat, with a
bouquet of primroses on one side; and on the following Sunday she walked
before him in lemon-coloured boots, so that her feet looked like a pair
of yellow-hammers flitting under her dress.

But dress was the least of the means she adopted for chaining him down.
She talked more tenderly than ever; asked him to begin small undertakings
in the garden on her account; she sang about the house, that the place
might seem cheerful when he came in. This singing for a purpose required
great effort on her part, leaving her afterwards very sad. When Bob
asked her what was the matter, she would say, 'Nothing; only I am
thinking how you will grieve your father, and cross his purposes, if you
carry out your unkind notion of going to sea, and forsaking your place in
the mill.'

'Yes,' Bob would say uneasily. 'It will trouble him, I know.'

Being also quite aware how it would trouble her, he would again postpone,
and thus another week passed away.

All this time John had not come once to the mill. It appeared as if Miss
Johnson absorbed all his time and thoughts. Bob was often seen chuckling
over the circumstance. 'A sly rascal!' he said. 'Pretending on the day
she came to be married that she was not good enough for me, when it was
only that he wanted her for himself. How he could have persuaded her to
go away is beyond me to say!