; and I would willingly have perilled all my hope of
reaching England to have been able to restore the book into Paul's own
hand.

These feelings did not tend to draw me closer in intimacy with the
skipper; whose pleasure at the acquisition was only heightened by the
subtlety of its accomplishment, and who seemed never so happy as when
repeating some fragment of the landlord's letter, and rejoicing at the
discomfiture the brave sailor must have experienced on discovering
his loss. To witness the gratification a coarse nature feels in some
unworthy but successful action, is the heaviest penalty an honorable
mind can experience when unhappily its possessor has been in any way
accessory to the result. With these reflections I fell off to sleep, and
never woke till the bright sun was shining over the white-crested water,
and the craft breasting the waves with a strong breeze upon her canvas.

As we held on down Channel, we passed several ships of war beating up
for Spithead; but our blue bunting, curiously streaked with white, was a
signal which all acknowledged, and none ventured to retard. Thus passed
the first day: as night was falling, we beheld the Needles on our lee,
and with a freshening breeze, held on our course.

A second morning broke. And now the sea was covered with the white sails
of a magnificent fleet, bound for the West Indies; at least, so the
skipper pronounced it. It was indeed a glorious sight to see the mighty
vessels obeying the signals of the flag-ship, and shaping their course
through the blue water as if instinct with life and reason. They were
far seaward of us, however; for now we hugged the land, as the skipper
was only desirous of an opportunity to land me unobserved before he
proceeded on his own more immediate enterprise,--the smuggling of some
hogsheads of brandy on the coasts of Ireland.

Left to my own thoughts,--the memories of my past life,--I dreamed away
the hours unconsciously, and as the time sped on, I knew not of its
flight. Some strange sail, seen from afar off, would for an instant
arouse my attention; but it was a mere momentary effect, and I fell back
into my musings, as though they had never been interrupted. As I look
back upon that voyage now, and think of the dreamy listlessness in which
its hours were passed, I can half fancy that certain periods of our
lives are destined to sustain the part which night performs in our daily
existence, and by their monotony contribute t