topman his companion, be secured in irons, and, on no
account, permit them to communicate, by word or signal, with the other
ship."--When the agent of his punishments, who had entered at the
well-known summons, had retired, he again turned to the firm and
motionless form that stood before him, and continued: "Mr Wilder, there is
a law which binds this community, into which you have so treacherously
stolen, together, that would consign you, and your miserable confederates,
to the yard-arm the instant your true character should be known to my
people. I have but to open that door, and to pronounce the nature of your
treason, in order to give you up to the tender mercies of the crew."

"You will not! no, you will not!" cried a voice at his elbow, which
thrilled on even all his iron nerves. "You have forgotten the ties which
bind man to his fellows, but cruelty is not natural to your heart. By all
the recollections of your earliest and happiest days; by the tenderness
and pity which watched your childhood; by that holy and omniscient Being
who suffers not a hair of the innocent to go unrevenged, I conjure you to
pause, before you forget your own awful responsibility. No! you will
not--cannot--dare not be so merciless!"

"What fate did he contemplate for me and my followers, when he entered on
this insidious design?" hoarsely demanded the Rover.

"The laws of God and man are with him," you continued the governess,
quailing not, as her own contracting eye met the stern gaze which she
confronted. "'Tis reason that speaks in my voice; 'tis mercy which I know
is pleading at your heart. The cause, the motive, sanctify his acts; while
your career can find justification in the laws neither of heaven nor
earth."

"This is bold language to sound in the ears of a blood-seeking,
remorseless pirate!" said the other, looking about him with a smile so
proud and conscious that it seemed to proclaim how plainly he saw that the
speaker relied on the very reverse of the qualities he named.

"It is the language of truth; and ears like yours cannot be deaf to the
sounds. If"----

"Lady, cease," interrupted the Rover, stretching his arm towards her with
calmness and dignity. "My resolution was formed on the instant; and no
remonstrance nor apprehension of the consequence, can change it. Mr
Wilder, you are free. If you have not served me as faithfully as I once
expected, you have taught me a lesson in the art of physiognomy, which
shall leav