ellow out of his wits. I shall live long enough to plague you
yet."

"Na doubt," said Meg, "which thought will console me for your absence;
an' I sall be as merry as a lark until you return to execute your
threat."

"Meg, you are a daft woman," said Collins, the mate. "The captain does
na half like your teasing. Can't you leave him alone?"

"Mind your ain business, Wullie, an' take care of your ain wife. I canna
play the fule like Jean, wha's whimperin' by hersel in the corner."

This was indeed the case. Mrs. Collins had only been married a few
weeks, and the parting with her bridegroom was a heart-breaking affair.
They were a very interesting young couple; and the tall, fair girl sat
apart from the rest of the group, nursing an agony of fear in her gentle
breast, lest her Willie should be drowned, and she should never see him
again. She made desperate efforts to control her grief, and conceal the
tears that rolled in quick succession down her pale cheeks. Collins
sprang to her side, and circling her slender waist with his manly arm,
whispered into her ears loving words, full of hope and comfort. It
would not do: the poor girl could not be reconciled to the separation,
and answered all his tender endearments with low, stifled sobs, filling
the heart of the lover husband, with the grief which burthened her own.

Collins had a fine sensible face, though it had been considerably marred
by the small-pox. His features were straight and well-cut, his hair dark
and curling, his handsome grey eyes full of manly fire. Though not
exactly a gentleman, he possessed high and honourable feelings, and his
frank manners and independent bearing won for him the goodwill and
respect of all.

Doubtless Jean thought him the handsomest man in a' Scotland; and most
women would have said that he was a good-looking dashing sailor. As he
bent over his disconsolate weeping bride, with such affectionate earnest
love beaming from his fine eyes, and tried with gentle words to
reconcile her to their inevitable parting, he afforded a striking
contrast to his superior, who regarded a temporary absence from his
spouse as a thing of course,--a mere matter of business, which he bore
with his usual affectation of stubborn indifference.

Feeling that her presence must be a restraint upon the family party, the
moment the evening meal was concluded Flora bade them good night, and
retired to her _state_ cabin, worn out with the fatigue of the day. The