re with her uncle;" quickly returned Alida. "I am so little of
a sailor, that prudence, if not pusillanimity, teaches me to depend on the
experience of older heads."

"Older I may not pretend to be," said Ludlow, coloring; "but Mr. Van
Beverout will see no pretension in believing myself as good a judge of
wind and tide, as even he himself can be."

"You are said to command Her Majesty's sloop with skill, Captain Ludlow,
and it is creditable to the colony, that it has produced so good an
officer; though I believe your grandfather came into the province, so
lately as on the restoration of King Charles the Second?"

"We cannot claim descent from the United Provinces, Alderman Van
Beverout, on the paternal side, but whatever may have been the political
opinions of my grandfather, those of his descendant have never been
questioned. Let me entreat the fair Alida to take counsel of the
apprehension I am sure she feels, and to persuade her uncle that the
Coquette is safer than his periagua."

"It is said to be easier to enter than to quit your ship," returned the
laughing Alida. "By certain symptoms that attended our passage to the
island, your Coquette, like others, is fond of conquest. One is not safe
beneath so malign an influence."

"This is a reputation given by our enemies. I had hoped for a different
answer from la belle Barberie."

The close of the sentence was uttered with an emphasis that caused the
blood to quicken its movement in the veins of the maiden. It was fortunate
that neither of their companions was very observant, or else suspicions
might have been excited, that a better intelligence existed between the
young sailor and the heiress, than would have comported with their wishes
and intentions.

"I had hoped for a different answer from la belle Barberie," repeated
Ludlow, in a lower voice, but with even a still more emphatic tone than
before.

There was evidently a struggle in the mind of Alida.--She overcame it,
before her confusion could be noted; and, turning to the valet, she said,
with the composure and grace that became a gentlewoman--

"Rends moi le livre, Francois."

"Le voici--ah! ma chere Mam'selle Alide, que ce Monsieur le marin se
fachait a cause de la gloire, et des beaux vers de notre illustre M.
Pierre Corneille!"

"Here is an English sailor, that I am sure will not deny the merit of an
admired writer, even though he come of a nation that is commonly thought
hostile, Francois," ret