eave that
port for Europe, I quietly waited in the Havannah, determined to be his
fellow-traveller. In preparing for this voyage, every thought of my
mind was occupied, resolved to outdo the old Spaniard in luxury and
magnificence. I ordered the most costly clothes, I engaged the most
accomplished servants, I bespoke everything which could make the
tediousness of the sea less irksome, even to the services of a
distinguished performer on the guitar, who was about to visit Europe,
and engaged to begin his journey under such distinguished patronage as
that of the Conde de Cregano.

What wonderful speculations did I revel in as I pictured to myself
Don Lopez's ineffectual rage, and his fair wife's satisfaction, when I
should first make my appearance on deck,--an appearance which I artfully
devised should not take place until we were some days at sea! What
agonies of jealousy should I not inflict upon the old Castilian! what
delicate flatteries should I not offer up to the Donna! I had laid in
a store of moss-rose plants, to present her with a fresh bouquet every
morning; and then I would serenade her each night beneath the very
window of her cabin. So perfectly had I arranged all these details to
my own satisfaction that the voyage began to appear a mere pleasure
excursion, every portion of whose enjoyment originated with me, and all
whose blanks and disappointments owed their paternity to Don Lopez; so
that, following up these self-created convictions in my usual sanguine
manner, I firmly persuaded myself that the worthy husband would either
go mad or jump overboard before we landed at Malaga. Let not the reader
fall into the error of supposing that hatred to Don Lopez was uppermost
in my thoughts,--far from it; I wished him in heaven every hour of the
twenty-four, and would willingly have devoted one-half of my fortune
to make a saint of him in the next world, rather than make a martyr in
this.

I was walking one evening in my banker's garden, chatting pleasantly
on indifferent topics, when, on ascending a little eminence, we came
in view of the sea. It was a calm and lovely evening, a very light land
breeze was just rippling the waters of the bay, fringing the blue with
white, when we saw the graceful spars of a small sloop of war emerge
from beneath the shadow of the tall cliffs and stand out to sea.

"The 'Moschetta,'" said he, "has got a fair wind, and will be out of
sight of land by daybreak."

"Whither is she b