an Van Beverout," returned Oloff Van Staats; "and I confess a desire
to see and hear more, before we land. This 'Skimmer of the Seas' is
altogether a different man from what our rumors in the city have reported;
and, by remaining, we may set public opinion nearer to the truth. I have
heard my late venerable aunt----"

"Chimney-corners and traditions! The good lady was no bad customer of
these gentry, Patroon; and it is lucky that they got no more of thy
inheritance, in the way of fees. You see the Lust in Rust against the
mountain there; well, all that is meant for the public is on the outside,
and all that is intended for my own private gratification is kept
within-doors. But here is Captain Ludlow, who has matters of the Queen on
his hands, and the gentleman will find it disloyal to waste the moments in
this juggling."

"I confess the same desire to witness the end," dryly returned the
commander of the Coquette. "The state of the wind prevents any immediate
change in the positions of the two vessels; and why not get a farther
insight into the extraordinary character of those who belong to the
brigantine?"

"Ay, there it is!" muttered the Alderman between his teeth. "Your insights
and outsights lead to all the troubles of life. One is never snug with
these fantastics, which trifle with a secret, like a fly fluttering round
a candle, until his wings get burnt."

As his companions seemed resolved to stay, however, there remained no
alternative for the burgher, but patience. Although apprehension of some
indiscreet exposure was certainly the feeling uppermost in his mind, he
was not entirely without some of the weakness which caused Oloff Van
Staats to listen and to gaze with so much obvious interest and secret awe.
Even Ludlow, himself, felt more affected than he would have willing owned,
by the extraordinary situation in which he was placed. No man is entirely
insensible to the influence of sympathy, let it exert its power in what
manner it will. Of this the young sailor was the more conscious, through
the effect that was produced on himself, by the grave exterior and
attentive manner of all the mariners of the brigantine. He was a seaman of
no mean accomplishments; and, among other attainments that properly
distinguish men of his profession, he had learned to know the country of a
sailor, by those general and distinctive marks which form the principal
difference between men whose common pursuit has in so great a deg