ast, slowly and thoughtfully, "it'll take a man
with a head as long as a hoss to answer that thar. It mought hold on,
an then agin it moughtn't."

"At any rate, I suppose we can drift."

"O, yes; an of the wind doosn't come round too strong, we can git nigh
down pooty close to St. John by mornin."

"We'll run down with the tide."

"Percisely."

"Well, I suppose we'll have to put the time through the best way we
can, and try to be patient. Only it seems hard to be delayed so much.
First there was the fog, which made our search useless; and now, when
there comes a bright day, when we can see where we're going, here we
are tied up in Quaco all day and all night."

"It doos seem hard," said Captain Corbet, gravely, "terrible hard; an
ef I owned a balloon that could rise this here vessel off the ground,
an convey her through the air to her nat'ral element, I'd hev it done
in five minutes, an we'd all proceed to walk the waters like things of
life. But I don't happen to own a balloon, an so thar you air.

"But, boys," continued the captain, in a solemn voice, elevating his
venerable chin, and regarding them with a patriarchal smile,--"boys,
don't begin to go on in that thar old despondent strain. Methinks I
hear some on you a repinin, an a frettin, cos we're stuck here hard an
fast. Don't do it, boys; take my advice, an don't do it. Bear in mind
the stirrin an memiorable events of this here mornin. See what a
calamity was a threatenin us. Why, I declare to you all, thar was a
time when I expected to see our aged friend Solomon no more in the
flesh. You could not tell it by my manner, for I presarved a calm an
collected dumeanour; but yet, I tell you, underneath all that icy calm
an startlin good-natur of my attitood, I concealed a heart that bet
with dark despair. At that moment, when we in our wanderins had
reached the furthest extremity that we attained onto, I tell you my
blood friz, an my har riz in horror! Methought it were all up with
Solomon; and when I see his hat, it seemed to me jest as though I was a
regardin with despairin eye his tumestun whereon war graven by no
mortial hand the solemn an despairin epigram, 'Hic jacet!'

"So now, my friends," continued the captain, as he brushed a tear-drop
from his eye, "let us conterrol our feelins. Let us be calm, and hope
for the best. When Solomon took his departoor, an was among the
missin, I thought that an evil fortin was a berroodin over us, and
ab