reluctance; and, had suspicion been active
in the breasts of either of his companions, they would not have failed to
note the glance of distrust with which he watched the manner that his
Commander assumed in paying the salutations of the morning. There was
nothing, however, in the air of the Rover that should have given ground to
such jealous vigilance. On the contrary his manner, for the moment, was
cold and abstracted he appeared to mingle in their discourse, much more
from a sense of the obligations of hospitality than from any satisfaction
that he might have been thought to derive from the intercourse. Still, his
deportment was kind, and his voice bland as the airs that were wafted from
the healthful islands in view.

"There is a sight"--he said, pointing towards the low blue ridges of the
land--"that forms the lands-man's delight, and the seaman's terror."

"Are, then, seamen thus averse to the view of regions where so many
millions of their fellow creatures find pleasure in dwelling?" demanded
Gertrude, (to whom he more particularly addressed his words), with a
frankness that would, in itself, have sufficiently proved no glimmerings
of his real character had ever dawned on her own spotless and unsuspicious
mind.

"Miss Grayson included," he returned, with a slight bow, and a smile, in
which, perhaps, irony was concealed by playfulness. "After the risk you
have so lately run, even I, confirmed and obstinate sea-monster as I am,
have no reason to complain of your distaste for our element. And yet, you
see, it is not entirely without its charms. No lake, that lies within the
limits of yon Continent, can be more calm and sweet than is this bit of
ocean. Were we a few degrees more southward, I would show you landscapes
of rock and mountain--of bays, and hillsides sprinkled with verdure--of
tumbling whales, and lazy fishermen, and distant cottages, and lagging
sails--such as would make a figure even in pages that the bright eye of
lady might love to read."

"And yet for most of this would you be indebted to the land. In return
for your picture, I would take you north, and show you black and
threatening clouds--a green and angry sea--shipwrecks and
shoals--cottages, hillsides, and mountains, in the imagination only of the
drowning man--and sails bleached by waters that contain the voracious
shark, or the disgusting polypus."

Gertrude had answered in his own vein; but it was too evident, by her pale
cheek, and a sli