et."

"Ply him with promises, Master Skimmer--set golden hopes before his
imagination; set gold itself before his eyes, and you will prosper. I will
pledge my expected earldom that he yields! Sir, these distant situations
are like so many half-authorized mints, in which money is to be coined;
and the only counterfeit is your mimic representative of Majesty. Ply him
with golden hopes; if mortal, he will yield!"

"And yet, my lord, I have met men who preferred poverty and their
opinions, to gold and the wishes of others."

"The dolts were lusus naturae!" exclaimed the dissolute Cornbury, losing
all his reserve in a manner that better suited his known and confirmed
character. "You should have caged them, Skimmer, and profited by their
dullness, to lay the curious under contribution. Don't mistake me, Sir, if
I speak a little in confidence. I hope I know the difference between a
gentleman and a leveller, as well as another; but trust me, this Mr.
Hunter is human, and he will yield if proper appliances are used;--and you
expect from me----?"

"The exercise of that influence which cannot fail of success; since there
is a courtesy between men of a certain station, which causes them to
overlook rivalry, in the spirit of their caste. The cousin of Queen Anne
can yet obtain the liberty of one whose heaviest crime is a free trade,
though he may not be able to keep his own seat in the chair of the
government."

"Thus far, indeed, my poor influence may yet extend, provided the fellow
be not named in any act of outlawry. I would gladly enough Mr. Skimmer
end my deeds in this hemisphere, with some act of graceful mercy,
if--indeed--I saw--the means----"

"They shall not be wanting. I know the law is like any other article of
great price; some think that Justice holds the balance, in order to weigh
her fees. Though the profits of this hazardous and sleepless trade of mine
be much overrated, I would gladly line her scales with two hundred broad
pieces, to have that youth again safe in the cabin of the brigantine."

As the 'Skimmer of the Seas' thus spoke, he drew, with the calmness of a
man who saw no use in circumlocution, a heavy bag of gold from beneath his
frock, and deposited it, without a second look at the treasure, on the
table. When this offering was made, he turned aside, less by design than
by a careless movement of the body, and, when he faced his companion
again, the bag had vanished.

"Your affection for the lad i