Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume XX Part 14

"To all appearance," said he, "there was nothing but solitude around me; only, I heard carts at a distance which seemed to be driven inland; and my curiosity was excited by a low rumbling sound which came from the other side of a small projecting promontory. I ran hastily in the direction of the latter sound. After having proceeded a little way, I heard footsteps coming up behind me; but I continued to move on, without slackening my pace, until there came a shrill whistle, followed by the sound as of a number of men rus.h.i.+ng towards me. I then attempted to fly, but was prevented by two stout fellows, who placed themselves right in my way, and a numerous party of men quickly surrounded me, one of whom, eyeing me attentively, exclaimed--'The very man we want. We shall be able to do our friend's work with very little trouble.' On my attempting to expostulate and resist, I was overpowered and forced into a boat. The boat rowed off to a smuggling vessel which was lying to in the offing; and which, soon after I was put on board, stood out to sea under a press of canva.s.s--chased, as it soon appeared, by a revenue cutter, which continued for long to fire at her."

Here he was interrupted by our mentioning the two vessels which we had seen pa.s.sing over the moon.

"I was in the first of these vessels," said he; "the two-masted lugger, which, unfortunately, was able to escape, by superior sailing, from the second vessel (a revenue cutter, fore-and-aft rigged, with one mast) by which she was pursued.

"My captors continued, for two or three weeks, to land goods on different parts of the eastern coasts, sustaining so many losses that I could not help saying that, if their trade was a paying one, the goods which they could afford to lose in such quant.i.ties could not be honestly come by--an observation at which great offence was taken. After having parted with her original cargo, and s.h.i.+pped another, which was chiefly composed of provisions of all sorts, the vessel left the German Ocean, going north about; and she then pursued a south-westerly course across the Atlantic for many weeks, until she was accosted by a notorious pirate, Gonsalvo by name, the terror of the West Indian seas; for whom, as I could observe, a careful look-out had long been kept. This ferocious ruffian, having come on board our vessel, had a long interview with our captain--the two worthies being, to all appearance, on terms of most courteous and familiar intimacy--and our cargo of provisions was put on board the pirate's vessel; while hogsheads of sugar, puncheons of rum, and other articles of West Indian produce, were received in exchange. This transaction clearly explained the mystery of the contraband trade. The smugglers of the present day are connected with the Buccaneers, who, not daring to bring their ill-gotten goods to a regular market, willingly barter the bulky part of them on any terms, for the necessaries of life. These goods having been taken originally for nothing, and subsequently sold for little or nothing, if one cargo out of three escapes seizure, the concern will pay. Hence it is, that the contraband trade is maintained in spite of every effort to put it down.

"After another long interview which our captain had with this Gonsalvo, some of my s.h.i.+pmates came to me with joyful countenances, looking like men from whose minds some heavy burden had just been removed; and they told me, that 'my life was to be safe; only,' said they, 'take care of your tongue.'

"'My life!' cried I, in astonishment. Hitherto I had been under no apprehensions about my life; although I had discovered, in course of conversation with the men, that my villanous cousin, to whose secret stores the carts I had heard were no doubt proceeding, had been long and deeply engaged with the smugglers--that he had been of immense service to them--and that it was to gratify him, and, at his request, that I had been carried away." Gently checking, with his upraised hand, the exclamations which this disclosure drew from his hearers, he thus proceeded:--"You may guess what my feelings were, when I was put on board the vessel of the odious Gonsalvo. All my former s.h.i.+pmates regarded me with compa.s.sion; and a poor fellow, from this part of the country, called James Stray, who, in an evil hour, had been tempted to engage in the illegal traffic, told me at parting, with tears in his eyes, that he would regret what had happened to the last day of his life; for that I was 'the best o' the twa.'

"After cruising about for some time, Gonsalvo made for a numerous group of small rocky islands, which were scattered over a great extent of sea; and, entering them by a labyrinth of intricate pa.s.sages, he moored hard by one larger than the rest, and pleasantly wooded, which had a good roadstead, where the hulks of several captured vessels were observable, seemingly in the act of being broken up for firewood. Here I was put ash.o.r.e. Before leaving the pirate vessel, I made bold to enter--and it was for the first time--the princ.i.p.al cabin, where I collected a number of books in the Spanish language; loaded with which, and moved by restrained indignation to do something ludicrous, I presented myself before Gonsalvo on the quarter-deck, with the easy confident air of a gentleman gifted with considerable a.s.surance, who has been presuming somewhat too far upon the good nature of another. Never shall I forget the look of cold, cruel, malign contemptuousness, with which the ruffian regarded me. That look said, as plainly as any look could do--'Wretched creature, I see you have been making very free with my property; but it matters not.'

"In this unknown spot, and within the power of this ruffian, did I remain for about four years, more or less. My chief employment was fis.h.i.+ng. I became an expert boat-man--I made occasional visits to another piratical station to the south of us; thus did I endeavour to pa.s.s my lonely hours. I sometimes found a kind of pleasure in exploring the intricate navigation of the islands; and, in time, became acquainted with many a place where a boat could pa.s.s in certain states of the tide, through rocks which had the appearance of being continuous. The sheet of water at the back of our island, was bounded, on the north-west, by a long and seemingly unbroken chain of high precipitous rocks, through a cleft in which I discovered a winding pa.s.sage of this nature, leading to a small secluded island, not distinguishable from numberless others which lay scattered, like black sea fowl, over the surface of the water.

With all my thoughts bent on escape, I endeavoured to attach to me a lad of sixteen, residing on the island, along with his widowed mother; having, with the aid of Gonsalvo's books, mastered the Spanish language.

He was a stupid cub; manageable when we went out together a-fis.h.i.+ng; but without any character of his own. I therefore trusted him in nothing. I once carried him far west into the open sea beyond the islands; but, when we found the formidable high-heaving swell below our frail bark, he began to cry; and, my own nerves being somewhat shaken, I returned with a heavy heart, while on the point of attempting something great--of running off with the boat and boy altogether.

"This incident made me anxious to have a vessel of larger dimensions; and a barge of peculiar construction, high raised, and with a deck at bow and stern, occurred to me, which I had seen at the other station.

Proceeding thither by myself, and saying that we had need of such a thing, I offered to purchase it with part of a sum of gold, which I had on me when carried away, and had carefully preserved. The men regarded me with a stare, but seemed quite willing to sell a thing which was not their own, and for which they had no use. The bargain being struck, they a.s.sisted me in navigating it, by a long circuitous course of many weeks, by which I brought them to the small secluded island, which was my favourite place of refuge. While carrying them back in my boat by the same road, we became very friendly; and, at their suggestion, I purchased, with the rest of my gold, a large cargo of such things as were of use for repairing the barge, and perfecting her equipment. On returning to Gonsalvo's station after this perilous transaction, I found the mother of the boy on whom I had formed designs, in tears. He had been taken on board Gonsalvo's s.h.i.+p, who had effected a return and a departure in my absence. During the period of my stay, the pirate had kept ever and anon returning at irregular intervals; but his arrival was the signal for my flight; and, that flight might at all times be in my power, for the boat which I had been allowed to appropriate on account of my fis.h.i.+ng services, always lay at the back of the island, over against the secret opening through the north-western line of rocks.

Gonsalvo, on his part, never, so far as I could learn, inquired after me; and, as years had slipped away, during which I had never seen him, nor he me, I had insensibly become less cautious, concluding that he had forgotten me altogether. Narrow was the escape which I in consequence made.

"Motives of humanity had led me to pay some attention to the widowed mother, after the loss of her son, for which she seemed to be very grateful. On one occasion, when I had secured my boat in its usual place at the back of the island, I was not deterred by the sight of the pirate's pendant glancing above the trees, which showed that his s.h.i.+p was in the roadstead, from paying her visit, and making inquiries after her son. There was much embarra.s.sment in her manner when she saw me; she seemed to be agitated by conflicting feelings; and, at length, she hesitatingly stated that Gonsalvo had been inquiring after me, and, as she believed, for no good. 'Your son,' said I, 'would he befriend me?'

"'He is now become as bad as the rest of them,' said she; 'much I said to him on your account; and oh, what usage he gave his mother!'

"The information of the poor woman made me antic.i.p.ate the worst. Leaving her some fish, I hastily ran to the highest point of the island, and threw myself on the ground under cover of the hill, where I had immediate access to my boat, and could observe every movement of the enemy. I was in a state of desperation; gall and wormwood were in my heart. Had I then stood by Gonsalvo's magazine, with a lighted match in my hand, I would have blown them all up, that they might have perished along with me. While in this state of feeling, the thought flashed like lightning upon my mind, that I might go to the other station; that I might join the other piratical crew, to whose leader I was unknown; that, having gained their confidence, I might betray and hang them all, and return home. The new idea giving a new excitement to hope, I was presently meditating upon the result, rather than upon the means; and, in a little while, sinking into slumber, I was dreaming of my distant home and betrothed love. Meanwhile, the sound of British voices had so softly entered my dreaming ear, that it was some time before the reality awoke me. Awaking at last, I was startled to find myself surrounded by a number of the pirate's men, when I gave myself up for lost. But there was a compa.s.sion in their looks, and tears in their eyes. 'My good friends,' said I, in confusion.

"'O sir,' said they, 'you have small reasons to call friends, the persons by whom you were so villanously carried away. We thought we knew you as you lay asleep; now that you have spoken, we are certain.'

"'My dear fellows,' said I, recognising them for part of the crew of the smuggling vessel. I only remember now your former kindness, and your anxiety that my life should be safe.'

"'G.o.d bless you!' said one of them, by name Jack Fid, 'could you bring your n.o.ble heart to taste with us?'

"Willing to gratify him, I received his offered flask, and drank from it a mouthful of rum.

"In the course of the long conversation which followed this act of courtesy, I learned that the captain of the smuggling vessel in which I had been carried away, had fallen in an affray with the revenue officers; that his crew, having been so ill advised as to aid the illegal traffic by firearms, and thus to become guilty of a capital crime, had been induced to betake themselves in their perplexity, to Gonsalvo; and that he, making very light of what had happened, had received part of them on board his own vessel, and put the rest of them on board another smaller armed vessel, which he had fitted out.

"'Poor James Stray,' said I, 'what has become of him?'

"'Hanged, sir, at New York. The other small vessel in which he sailed was taken, and he suffered along with all the rest.'

"They stated farther, that their late captain, a little before his death, had got a letter from my cousin to Gonsalvo, which they had been careful to deliver, supposing that it might respect my return. Having explained the motives by which my cousin had been actuated in having me carried away, and mentioned the ominous words of the poor widow, from which it appeared that Gonsalvo was seeking my life, I made them sensible that my cousin's letter must have had a very different object in view from what they had supposed; and then they growled deep execrations against my unnatural kinsman. I soon found that they had not yet received on board a sufficiency of depravity for the kind of service in which they were engaged; that they were all most anxious to return to an honest course of life; and that they could not bear to live with the abominable wretches among whom they were. With unfeigned horror, they spoke of the miserable end of a poor young woman, who had lately fallen into the hands of the monsters, and whose body--after she had died under their outrages--they had carelessly flung into the sea, like a soiled garment. They gave a most woful account, also, of two captives of superior rank, whom the pirates at that moment had in their power--a father and his daughter; and they said that the daughter, if not speedily rescued, would meet the same fate as the other woman; for that Gonsalvo restrained neither himself nor his crew. One of them, whose name was Tom Clewgarnet, and who had a singularly soft expression in the rough outlines of his weather-beaten features, declared that he would willingly peril his life at any time, to deliver the innocent young creature out of their hands. Regarding the poor fellows, first with compa.s.sion, then with love, and then with confidence, I told them of all my plans for escaping; of my boat; of the secret pa.s.sage through the rocks to the secluded island; and of the bark which I had there. 'Like the Yorks.h.i.+reman,' said I, 'who is in possession of saddle, bridle, whip, and spurs, and wants nought but a horse, I have long had a vessel, and everything necessary for her equipment. It remains with you to determine whether I am still in want of a gallant crew.' Upon this they joyfully declared, one and all, that they would faithfully follow me to the death; and immediate flight was resolved on.

"'If we could but carry that poor young woman along with us,' said Tom Clewgarnet, 'what a blessed deed it would be!'

"He spoke with great earnestness of manner; and my observation was, 'Could we not try?'

"While commenting upon the fearful danger and the utter madness of such an undertaking, we observed a boat leaving the pirate vessel, and moving toward the sh.o.r.e. A pocket telescope having been directed to it, we discovered Gonsalvo and the identical girl who had excited our commiseration, seated in the stern. 'My life on't,' cried I, 'she will be removed to some secluded spot in these woods below.' And I was right.

We saw Gonsalvo land with a small party, and move inland from the sh.o.r.e.

Marking well the road he took, we then ranged ourselves in a long line across the woods, so as to communicate with each other; and, having received intelligence which enabled me, well acquainted as I was with the locality, to guess at the exact spot where Gonsalvo and his party would halt, I stationed myself near by, along with Tom Clewgarnet, so as to see without being seen. Onward, in a little while, came the darkly-scowling villain with the poor trembling girl dragged along by two armed attendants. My heart burned within me. The attendants were dismissed; she remained struggling in his arms; and then, laying my hand on Tom's cutla.s.s, giving him at the same time a sidelong look, I softly drew out the weapon, and, bounding forward toward Gonsalvo, I plunged it into his side. He uttered a stifled groan, which brought back his two attendants; when Tom, having taken up the sword of the fallen miscreant, he and I furiously set upon them, and in a moment they also lay dead at our feet. Turning now compa.s.sionately to the girl, while our weapons were red and reeking with blood, I addressed her in French, which she seemed to understand, a.s.suring her that she was now in honest hands, where she would find honourable protection. Our companions having rejoined us, with the gratifying intelligence that our fell deed had escaped observation, we were on the point of proceeding toward my boat, which was lying ready to receive us, when a most vexatious difficulty occurred. Nothing that we could say would persuade the girl to move without her father, whom she long and earnestly implored us to save. I mentioned to her the horrid end of the other poor woman, and somewhat angrily showed to her how ungenerous it was to urge her deliverers on to certain death, in vainly attempting to deal with more than two hundred armed ruffians; upon which she sunk to the ground sobbing piteously. She was an uncommonly interesting-looking creature, delicately formed, wofully wasted with suffering, and very young. My heart was melted. A scheme occurred to me by which it was at least possible that her father might be saved; and, having spoken soothingly to the girl, and applauded the heroism of her devoted filial love, I declared that we really would make the fearful attempt to which she urged us, if, in return, she would promise to follow and be obedient to Tom, in whose care I meant to leave her for a time. Having obtained from her a.s.surances to that effect, I unfolded my plan, first to her in French, and then to the men in English;--which was, that, having rowed off to the pirate vessel in the very boat from which Gonsalvo had just landed, and which then lay awaiting his return, I would endeavour to pa.s.s myself off for a French officer, belonging to the pirate s.h.i.+p known to be at the other station, who, being on a visit to Gonsalvo, had been deputed by him to bring the father of the girl ash.o.r.e, for the purpose of extorting an exorbitant ransom; and, that on our return, we would double the south-eastern point of the island, where there was an intricate pa.s.sage well known to me, through which we could find our way into the sheet of water on the north-west side of it, where Tom and the girl might wait for us in my boat.

"To this perilous scheme the men agreed, although with visible reluctance; and it was immediately put in execution. The body of Gonsalvo was stript of its gay vestments, which I shudderingly drew on, while wet and warm with his blood; and from which every distinctive ornament was carefully removed. It was a fearful venture; but the squalid rags which I previously wore, would have worse accorded with the character I had to sustain. Tom was then sent off, along with the girl, toward my boat, while I and the rest of the men ran down to the opposite sh.o.r.e, sprang into the boat of Gonsalvo, rudely tumbled out three men who had been left in charge of her, and rowed off to the pirate vessel, leaving the men standing on the beach and looking after us in stupid amazement. While on our way, we were deeply meditating upon, and carefully arranging all that was to be said and done, feeling how perilous it would be in a matter which required such extreme delicacy, to be compelled '_capere consilium ex improviso_.' A boat cloak, thrown negligently around me, aided in concealing my borrowed and b.l.o.o.d.y garments; several of the men who seemed to have the firmest nerves were instructed to go on board and remain carelessly sauntering about; while one of them brought off the father of the girl, and I endeavoured to keep the chief officer in play. On approaching, I gallantly hailed; begged to see the chief officer; gave up my a.s.sumed name; spoke of my pretended visit to, and of the pretended errand on which I had been sent by Gonsalvo; and mightily wondered how he, Gonsalvo, should have thought such a poor squalling wretch of a creature good for anything, but to extort an exorbitant ransom from her father, whom for that purpose I was forthwith to bring ash.o.r.e. I began with speaking in French, in which the foreign accent would be less perceptible to a Spaniard, and then in such imperfect Spanish as a French officer might be expected to use. My masquerade escaped detection, and the bait took. The father of the girl, with his wobegone, yet n.o.ble-looking features, was received into the boat; all my companions leisurely followed one after another and resumed their oars. Jack Fid came last of all, carrying in his hand a huge greybeard of liquor, and having in his features a peculiar twist, which seemed to say--'How we are doing the scoundrels!' and at which we afterwards laughed very heartily. It was no time for laughter then.

"'I see a boat putting off yonder,' cried the chief officer, applying a telescope to his eye, 'with a dead body lying in her stern.'

"A deadly terror struck through my heart; but, with a.s.sumed indifference, I replied--'Ay, Gonsalvo has got that fellow at last;'

making it seem that the dead body seen from afar was my own.

"'It is fortunate that he has been caught,' said the other, laying down his telescope; 'Gonsalvo has made the widow and her son answerable for him with their lives.'

"The last words were scarcely audible, by reason of the distance which we interposed between us and the vessel. With the strokes of our oars gradually increased both in frequency and in length, we flew rapidly through the water. As we receded from, the other boat with Gonsalvo's blood-boltered carcase, which the chief officer had seen from afar, drew near the vessel. When far beyond the reach of small arms and of grape, although still within the longest range of the cannon, we could see her come alongside of the vessel; and then mult.i.tudes of faces were stretched over, or thrust out of bulwark and port-hole; a great commotion was observable on board; the vessel, making a yaw round, turned her broadside towards us; twelve columns of smoke darted from her side, and as many thunders opened their voices, while through the air a shower of iron came hurling towards us. Every bullet fell beyond, or short, or wide of us; and in a little while the projecting south-eastern point of the island screened us from the fire and from the view of the enemy.

"After having doubled this point, two pa.s.sages opened before us--one wide and inviting, which led eastward into the Atlantic--the other narrow, and not distinguishable from numberless other similar openings in the rocks, which led to nothing. Into the former, we threw our hats, that our pursuers might be led to suppose that our boat, injured by a random shot had foundered; through the intricacies of the latter, to me well known, we wound our way north-westward, until we had gained the sheet of water on the other side of the island, where we found Tom and the girl in my boat awaiting our approach in the deepest anxiety, their ears having been startled by the thunder of the broadside, while they knew not the result. At the sight of the lonely, desolate girl, sitting in terror, by the side of her rough-looking, but kind-hearted conductor, my heart was thrilled with compa.s.sion; and, when we drew near, I pointed, delightedly, to her father, on whom she continued to fix an eager, wistful look, until Tom, lightly lifting her up, and leaping on board of us, as we brushed by, had placed her in his arms. Tom, at my instance, came and seated himself by me in the stern, where he kept gazing for some time at the outporings of the purest of all affections--filial and parental love; and then turning to me, and speaking with deep emotion, he told me that it was by him that James Stray had been first led away; that, since his miserable end he had made frequent attempts at prayer, but that then an awful pang had always shot through his head and heart. 'If,' continued he, 'we shall be able to save that father and daughter, will that pa.s.s away?' Anxious to give the poor fellow useful and innocent advice, I told him that what he spoke of arose from conscience, which, slumbering at other times, always awoke during prayer; and there was nothing pacified the conscience like a good deed, humbly offered to G.o.d in the Redeemer's name; that, after having returned to an honest course of life, he would obtain what good people called peace of conscience; and that then his devotions would be as soft and sweet as they had ever been when a child at his mother's knee. He seemed very grateful for these words of instruction, declaring that he was ready to shed for me the last drop of his blood. Bending forward now toward the father, and addressing him for the first time, I a.s.sured him that his daughter had been restored to him unsullied, that we were ourselves in the act of escaping from the pirates, and that we would either save him or perish along with him.

"A little before sunset we came under the north-western line of rocks, whose long shadows concealed us from distant observation; and, entering the pa.s.sage through them, which I had so often traversed, we soon arrived at the place where my bark was lying snug in the secluded island. At the sight of her, the seamen were delighted. They all leaped on board simultaneously, and began tumultuously to examine her in every part. 'To work, lads,' cried I, 'that she may be made ready for sea as soon as possible.' To work accordingly we fell. Fires were kindled, pitch melted, oak.u.m, and all things necessary, were found in my stores.

The work was continued during the night--when the ebbing tide left her high and dry--by the light of torches of pinewood, smeared with tar, which were stuck around, or borne in the hands of the father and daughter; and, after seven or eight hours of unremitted labour, the outer planking of the vessel was carefully cauked, and her hull, thoroughly repaired in every part. Leaving the carpenter and two other hands to keep watch and repair the water casks, the rest of us turned in to enjoy a few hours of sleep. The light of day beheld us again at work; and several hours behoved still to elapse before the masts could be hoisted, the sails bent, and the running rigging rove. Meanwhile, an anchor was carried out to sea, and the cable laid over the windla.s.s; my long h.o.a.rded stores of biscuit, junk, and dried fish, were put on board, with a few culinary utensils, a sufficiency of loose timber for fuel, and of ballast for tr.i.m.m.i.n.g the vessel; and the water casks, filled at a neighbouring fountain by the father and daughter, were rolled down to the beach, one by one. The work being nearly over in every department, we continued, some on board, and some on sh.o.r.e, patiently to await the rising of the tide, now nearly at the full; and the father had very judiciously thought of climbing a neighbouring height to reconnoitre. On gaining the summit, he was observed to return in all haste, and seemingly in great terror. The daughter was running off to meet him, but arrested by me, she was given in charge to her old protector; while I cried out--'To the water casks, one and all.' So, while they were in the act of being swung on board, she continued to struggle and to scream in Tom's arms. The poor girl's agitation proceeded from an interesting cause; but it was very provoking to be unnecessarily deprived, at such a time, of a valuable hand. However, the last water cask was safely stowed, when the father arrived with the alarming intelligence, that a number of boats, full of men, were on the east coast of the island; and that a party, landed from one of them, were in the act of ascending the opposite acclivity. The daughter was on the point of springing into his arms; but I had her very unceremoniously swung on board, calling her an unmanageable vixen. The father, and all the rest of us immediately followed; and then, having thrust our handspikes into the windla.s.s--just as the party of which we had received information were seen on the top of the neighbouring height--we made, with our united strength, one desperate heave. A grinding sound, heard at the bottom of the vessel, shewed she had been dislodged; but the cable had snapped, and I threw myself down in despair, giving up all for lost. The dexterity of the seamen saved us. The cable, while on the point of escaping, was caught, jammed, and held fast, until it was spliced in such a manner as to be capable of enduring as great a strain as ever. Laying our strength on more cautiously, the grinding sound was again heard, and we affected a quarter turn of the windla.s.s. Coil after coil of the cable now pa.s.sed over the revolving beam, without farther incident; and at length the vessel, floating smoothly in deep water, was hauled out to the offing, just as a hundred armed ruffians, having surmounted the neighbouring heights, were rus.h.i.+ng down, with infuriated yells, towards us. The ample folds of our pointed lateen sails were then spread to the winds; and we joyfully proceeded on our way, while the baffled scoundrels stood looking at us from afar; and we sat in safety looking at them, with the prey that we had rescued out of their merciless hands.

"When our feelings had a little subsided after this excitement, and while the most skilful seamen were superintending the adjustment of the ballast, and studying the properties of the vessel, I went and sat down by the father and daughter. I begged of the daughter that she would excuse the hasty words which I had been led to use, in my anxiety to leave such a dangerous sh.o.r.e. Her father a.s.sured me that he could easily see the kindness of my heart amid the prompt decided manner which the hour of danger required; and I a.s.sured him that there was not a man on board who did not regard the saving of him and of his daughter as the best part of the enterprise. He began to pour forth the warmest expressions of grat.i.tude, when my attention was called to the pilotage of the vessel, and nothing more pa.s.sed between us at that time. To conduct the vessel through such intricate and precarious pa.s.sages, required the utmost care and unremitted attention; but at length, just as the sun was gilding the watery waste with its setting radiance, we reached the open sea, at the very place where I had been some years before with the Spanish boy. I now asked the father where he would wish to be carried.

"'To Havannah,' said he, with tears gus.h.i.+ng down his cheeks.

"Upon this we directed our course, at a venture, a good way southward from the point at which the sun was setting; and, as we had no compa.s.s, we resolved to steer by the wind which was blowing steadily from one point. We then made all snug for the night, keeping as much sail up as the little vessel could safely carry; and, a proper watch having been set, the remainder of the weary crew were sent to rest.

"The father and daughter were led by me into a small cabin under the stern deck; and they, aware of the scantiness of our accommodation, insisted that I should stay with them, when I was on the point of withdrawing that they might be left by themselves. The father was placed in the middle, the daughter on one side of him, and I stretched my weary limbs on the other. I remained for long supine, motionless, and unable to sleep; and thus I came to overhear the following dialogue, which was carried on in the purest Spanish, between the father and his daughter:--

"'Papa,' said she, 'are the French all so much better than the Spanish?'

"'My dear Carolina, why that question?'

"'He spoke to me first in French.'

"'He speaks French well, but with a strong English accent. His companions are all British sailors; certainly the most extraordinary people in the world. A party of these men, lately landing in a drunken frolic, took one of the strongest fortresses in Spain, which the Spanish King would give half the wealth of his dominions to recover.'

"She then gave him a detailed account of all that had befallen her--greatly exaggerating my prowess and that of Tom--and dwelling much on our kindness, in having, at her instance, made such a perilous attempt to save him.

"'Well,' said he, 'the British are truly a n.o.ble people; I feel easy now that I am in their hands, although there is a mystery in our deliverance, and in that extraordinary young man to whom his companions seem so devoted, which I cannot fathom.' Having joined in their discourse with an apology, I fully explained the mystery he spoke of, telling him who I was, and under what unhappy circ.u.mstances I had been carried away from my native land, while on the very eve of marriage. I told him also of his daughter's devoted filial love; how she had refused to escape, unless he could be saved along with her; and how she had absolutely forced us on to do what we did, when we were all shrinking from the risk, and unwilling to incur further danger. While straining to his heart his dutiful child, he made me acquainted with his own history.

It appeared that he, Don Pedro by name, was a Spanish gentleman well known in Havannah, who, notwithstanding the war between our countries, could easily procure for me a speedy return home; that an attachment having arisen between his daughter Carolina, and Alonzo, the eldest son of a n.o.ble family, at whose haughty bearing he had taken offence, he had sent her away to a sister of his, resident in one of the Windward Islands; that Alonzo's father and he, having afterwards come to a better understanding, he had gone, in person, to bring back his daughter, with a view to her immediate marriage, and that, while on their way home, they had the misfortune to be taken by the pirates. 'What became of the vessel in which we sailed,' added he, 'and her crew, I know not; but I apprehend the worst.'

"After this exchange of confidence, grat.i.tude on their parts, and the inexpressible satisfaction of having achieved such a deliverance on mine, united our hearts together; and in the society of the n.o.ble Spaniard and his amiable daughter, I, after my long years of lonely wretchedness, felt for a time the hours pa.s.s rapidly away. There was I know not what of romantic interest in our peculiar situation. A hurricane would soon have drowned us all; but the wind blew fair and steady. The prospect around us was unvarying, but one of which the eye could not soon grow weary. At noon, when the sun, vertical in that lat.i.tude, poured down his irradiation from the zenith, he appeared like a glorious ornament in the centre of the canopy of the heavens, from which they descended in a uniform arch of unclouded blue until they rested on the farthest edge of the waste of water, over whose billows our little bark was gallantly bounding, and which, wherever the eye was turned, seemed to stretch

'Far into silent regions, blue and pale.'

One cloud there was which rested on my mind. All seemed to regard me with confidence--to look on me for direction; but I had no confidence in myself. Unaided by compa.s.s or nautical science, we were steering almost at random, vaguely guessing at a south-westerly course, from the position of the rising and setting sun.

"In this manner, week after week pa.s.sed away, until one morning, when I was awakened by the hand of Don Pedro laid on my shoulder. He seemed to be in great agitation; and I hastily arose and followed him forward.

When we reached the open part of the vessel, he raised his arm and pointed to where, over a little aft the weather-bow, we could observe, hung high in air, the inverted images of a number of s.h.i.+ps, with a large vessel in the centre, and a line of coast stretching hard by.