behind the curtain, with the air
of a sovereign dismissing his visiters from an audience; though his eye
glanced curiously behind him, as he disappeared, as if to trace the effect
which had been produced by the interview. Alderman Van Beverout and his
friends were in the boat again, before a syllable was exchanged between
them. They had followed the mariner of the shawl, in obedience to his
signal; and they quitted the side of the beautiful brigantine, like men
who pondered on what they had just witnessed.

Enough has been betrayed, in the course of the narrative, perhaps, to show
that Ludlow distrusted, though he could not avoid wondering at, what he
had seen. He was not entirely free from the superstition that was then so
common among seamen; but his education and native good sense enabled him,
in a great measure, to extricate his imagination from that love of the
marvellous, which is more or less common to all. He had fifty conjectures
concerning the meaning of what had passed, and not one of them was true;
though each, at the instant, seemed to appease his curiosity, while it
quickened his resolution to pry further into the affair. As for the
Patroon of Kinderhook, the present day was one of rare and unequalled
pleasure. He had all the gratification which strong excitement can produce
in slow natures; and he neither wished a solution of his doubts, nor
contemplated any investigation that might destroy so agreeable an
illusion. His fancy was full of the dark countenance of the sorceress; and
when it did not dwell on a subject so unnatural, it saw the handsome
features, ambiguous smile, and attractive air, of her scarcely less
admirable minister.

As the boat got to a little distance from the vessel, Tiller stood erect,
and ran his eye complacently over the perfection of her hull and rigging.

"Our mistress has equipped and sent upon the wide and unbeaten sea, many a
bark," he said; "but never a lovelier than our own!--Captain Ludlow, there
has been some double-dealing between us; but that which is to follow,
shall depend on our skill, seamanship, and the merits of the two crafts.
You serve Queen Anne, and I the sea-green lady. Let each be true to his
mistress, and Heaven preserve the deserving!--Wilt see the book, before we
make the trial?"

Ludlow intimated his assent, and the boat approached the figure-head. It
was impossible to prevent the feeling, which each of our three
adventurers, not excepting the Alderma