dear, in an hour, a day, a year--at
a moment you think not of; and that you, too, must render up an account
of how you have lived on earth before the great, the just, the
All-seeing Judge; that every thought of your heart, every action you
have performed, will then be laid bare; and that, unless you can say, I
did my duty to the best of my power and knowledge, and I trusted to
Christ to save me, it were better, far better, that you had never been
born. I shall be glad to find that my adventures amuse you, but I
should also deeply blame myself if I did not try and make you understand
these things; and I should feel that it were also far better that my
book had not been written.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

RETURN TO ENGLAND--APPOINTED TO THE OPOSSUM--THE COMMANDER'S OATH--HOW
HE KEPT IT--THE GALE--LOSS OF MASTS--OLD POPPLES--DEATH OF COMMANDER--
THE PIRATE--END OF MYERS.

I forgot to say in the last chapter, that before shaping our course for
Malta, we ran a little way down the coast, and landed our young Reefian
prisoner. It might have been better had Captain Poynder endeavoured,
through his means, to treat with the old Sheikh for the liberation of
his captives; but, probably, the success of such a plan was considered
too doubtful to be attempted. What became of Mr Vernon's jewel-box I
do not know: I fancy the contents were of very little intrinsic value.
We carried Major Norman and his daughter to Gibraltar, whence they went
to England. Mr Vernon did not marry for upwards of a year after this.
He and his wife are among my most intimate friends. We met with no more
adventures worth recording in the old _Harold_. At length we returned
to Portsmouth, and being paid off, I was once more a gentleman at large.
I did not long remain so, for my kind uncle took care to get me another
ship as soon as possible. In the meantime, I accompanied Dicky Sharpe
to the home of his father and mother, Sir John and Lady Sharpe. They
were excessively kind, and made a great deal of me; and so did the
Misses Sharpe, who, being a good deal older than Dicky, treated us
somewhat like little children, petting and humouring our fancies, which
did not altogether please me. It made me much more inclined to act like
a child, and to join Dicky in any pranks he proposed. I was very sorry,
however, to have to go away. It was, at the same time, no little
satisfaction to both of us, that we found ourselves appointed to the
same ship--a fine sixte