rovidence, and the exertions of this young man, whom I must introduce
to you as our second-mate."

Jackson cast an angry glance at Newton upon the conclusion of this
speech. The master had truly observed that it was strange the
first-mate did not hear him when he had hailed the brig for assistance.
The fact was, that Jackson had both heard him and seen him; but he was a
wretch devoid of all feeling, who consulted nothing except his own
interest. He had made sure that the master would be carried out to sea,
there to perish by a most miserable death, and that he would succeed in
command of the vessel. He was then going on shore to report the
supposed "_falling overboard_" of the master: which as the brig was to
sail as the weather moderated, would have secured to him the command,
and, at the same time, have put an end to the search which (should he
have reported the truth) would immediately have taken place for the boat
in which the master had been adrift. Foiled in his hopes, by the
courage of Newton, Jackson had already formed towards him a deadly
hatred and determination of revenge.

That evening the wind abated, and the vessel sailed. The ensuing
morning she was clear of the sands, and a pilot vessel off Holyhead
having received the pilot, she steered down the Irish Channel to join a
convoy for the West Indies, collecting at Falmouth.

Mr Berecroft, the master of the vessel, who has not hitherto been
described, was a spare, light-built person, of about sixty years of age,
still active, and a thorough seaman. He had crossed the ocean for
forty-five years, and his occasional narratives, as he walked the deck,
or sat over his evening glass of grog, proved that his life must have
been one of no ordinary variety and interest. He was serious and
rationally devout. He checked all swearing from the men under his
command, and rebuked it, although he could not prevent it, in the
first-mate; who, to annoy him, seldom made his appearance on deck
without making use of some execration or another. It was Mr
Berecroft's custom to call down the seamen into his cabin every evening,
and read to them a short prayer; and, although this unusual ceremony
often caused a leer in some of the newly-entered men, and was not only
unattended but ridiculed by Jackson, still the whole conduct of
Berecroft was so completely in unison, that even the most idle and
thoughtless acknowledged that he was a good man, and quitted the ship
with re