board. The schooner had
dropped down a mile or two, and Captain Peck, our worthy host at
Marblehead, came out in a little boat to bring some of Clarendon's
clothes, which had been left by accident. He is a clever fellow, for
though Clarendon was not half civil to him, he was always polite in his
way, and his frank, well-meaning civility so won upon brother, that when
they parted he apologized for his rudeness, and told the Captain that he
had shown himself the most of a gentleman of the two.

Beside brother's extra trappings, Captain Peck brought a package of
books, which Captain Cobb looked at with surprise, and asked, with an
oath, who they were for. O Bennie! I should enjoy myself a great deal
more if two or three of the sailors did not swear so dreadfully; but I
hope when they have read those books they will stop using such wicked
words; for what should they be but Bibles, sent on board by the Seamen's
Friend Society.

"Let us throw them overboard," said "Brown Tom," a coarse, red-featured
man, who is more fond of grog than reading.

"Pshaw! Tom, don't talk of treating a lady's present in that way,"
exclaimed Captain Peck, who, after his fashion, has a great respect both
for religion and womankind, and his own wife in particular.

"O, if that's the case," remarked a melancholy looking man, who had not
before spoken, "let us stow them away somewhere; for women always mean
well, and perhaps it would be better for us if we followed their
advice."

I thought he sighed as he said this, and I wondered what made him so
unhappy.

"Well done for Moody Dick! he's sailing under new colors. Who would have
thought of his hoisting a petticoat for a flag?" said Blunt Harry, an
old, fat seaman, who is esteemed the wit of the crew.

"Not I," replied Brown Tom; "but if the giver of these books has a
pretty face of her own, they are worth keeping; if not, I don't care for
any of her lumber."

"Well, that she has," said Captain Peck, warmly; "you'll have to go
round the world again before you find a sweeter face than Miss Louisa
Colman's. She begged me to bring them on board, and ask each sailor to
accept a copy for his own use."

"I'll take one for myself, and thank ye, too, for mine was left by
mistake at the tavern, there," observed Old Jack, a quiet man, who had
just come on deck. So saying, he took up the largest of the Bibles with
an air of reverence, quite in contrast with his usual bold, careless
manner, adding, as