that it would do to take even the cook from
father to son, or we might have a pretty mess of it."

Here the sealer commenced a series of questions, which he put with a
vigor and perseverance that I fear left me without a single fact of my
life unrevealed, except those connected with the sacred sentiment that
bound me to Anna, and which were far too hallowed to escape me even
under the ordeal of a Stunin'tun inquisitor. In short, finding that
I was nearly helpless in such hands, I made a merit of necessity, and
yielded up my secrets as wood in a vice discharges its moisture. It was
scarcely possible that a mind like mine, subjected to the action of
such a pair of moral screws, should not yield some hints touching its
besetting propensities. The Captain seized this clew, and he went at the
theory like a bulldog at the muzzle of an ox.

To oblige him, therefore, I entered at some length into an explanation
of my system. After the general remarks that were necessary to give
a stranger an insight into its leading principles, I gave him to
understand that I had long been looking for one like him, for a purpose
that shall now be explained to the reader. I had entertained some
negotiations with Tamahamaah, and had certain investments in the pearl
and whale fisheries, it is true; but on the whole my relations with
all that portion of mankind who inhabit the islands of the Pacific,
the northwest coast of America, and the northeast coast of the old
continent, were rather loose, and generally in an unsettled and vague
condition; and it appeared to me that I had been singularly favored in
having a man so well adapted to their regeneration thrown as it were
by Providence, and in a manner so unusual, directly in my way. I now
frankly proposed, therefore, to fit out an expedition, that should be
partly of trade and partly of discovery, in order to expand my interests
in this new direction, and to place my new acquaintance at its head. Ten
minutes of earnest explanation on my part sufficed to put my companion
in possession of the leading features of the plan. When I had ended this
direct appeal to his love of enterprise, I was answered by the favorite
exclamation of--

"King!"

"I do not wonder, Captain Poke, that your admiration breaks out in
this manner; for I believe few men fairly enter into the beauty of this
benevolent system who are not struck equally with its grandeur and its
simplicity. May I count on your assistance?"

"