had become
attached to it; for it is a beautiful proof of the magnanimity of
women--their love for all that is glorious. Even during the five days
they had been at sea, the little coffee-plant had evidently
increased--two small leaves of a most delicate green had appeared;
and every morning Louisa's first thought after prayer was the
cherished plant; but she could not see it till Desclieux had left his
room, for he always kept the sacred deposit with him. Every evening
he watered it abundantly, and then let hot air into the frame by
means of the tube, as he had been directed: he kept it as close as
possible to him at night, that even during sleep he might administer
heat to it. Never did bird brood over its young more fondly--never
did nurse cherish more tenderly the new-born babe.

As soon as Desclieux appeared on deck in the morning to lay his
precious charge in the sun, Louisa immediately ran thither. She
delighted to point out to her mother its growth during the night, a
growth imperceptible to indifferent eyes; but she had become attached
to it; and as the slightest emotions are visible to us in the
features of those we love, though unperceived by strangers, so she
discovered the least change even in the thickness of the stalk or the
length of the leaves; and Desclieux, seeing the young girl thus
attaching herself to what had been confided to him, and what he so
cherished, felt touched and grateful.

They met with a terrible assault when close to Madeira. It was about
the middle of a dark night, though not stormy; the vessel was gliding
along noiselessly; and all on board were asleep except the officer on
watch--and indeed he too perhaps slept, or he would have heard the
noise of the keel cutting the waves as a bird's wing cuts the air,
and he would have cried: 'Ship ahoy!' A ship was indeed quite close
to Desclieux's vessel, and the token it gave of its vicinity was a
cannonade which awoke up every one in a moment, both crew and
passengers. It was a pirate vessel of Tunis, a poor chebeck, but
formidable in the night--a time that magnifies every fear--and
formidable, too, from the desperate bravery of the banditti who
manned her. Believing themselves assailed by superior forces, the
ship's crew prepared for a resistance as vigorous, as desperate as
the attack. Better far to die than to be carried slaves to Africa!
All the passengers were at prayer, distracted, trembling, or half
dead. Louisa alone remained calm,