answered Bowse, perfectly indifferent to the colonel's
ill-temper; "I hope we shall make the young lady a first-rate sailor
before long."

"I hope you will do no such thing, Mr Bowse; she thinks a great deal
too much about it already," returned the colonel, taking another turn
aft.

"Indeed I do not, uncle," replied Ada, as he came back, in a
half-playful tone, calculated to disarm his anger. "You must
acknowledge that the scene before us is very beautiful and enjoyable.
Look at that blue and joyous sea, how the waves leap and curl as if in
sport, their crests just fringed with sparkling bubbles of snow-white
foam, which, in the freshness of their new-born existence, seem inclined
to take wing into the air--then, what can be more bright and clear than
the expanse of sky above us, or more pure than the breeze which wafts us
along. Look, too, at the blue, misty hills of our dear Malta, just
rising from the water. What mere mole-hills those wild rocks now seem.
And then that glorious mass of glowing fire which spreads far and wide
round the sun as he sinks into that clear outline of sea; and distant
though it seems, sends its reflection across the waves even up to the
very ship itself. Ah! if one could but secure that orange tinge, one
might gaze at it unwearied all day long. See, also, the dark,
fantastically-shaped spots on the ocean as the sails of the distant
vessels appear between us and the sun, like evil spirits gliding about
the ocean to cause shipwrecks and disaster; while again, on the opposite
quarter, the canvas appears of snowy whiteness, just catching the last
rays of the light-giving orb of day, and we would fain believe them
benign beings hovering over the ocean, to protect us poor mortals from
the malign influences of their antagonists; while our proud ship glides
majestically along in solitary grandeur, casting indignantly aside the
waves which it seems to rule, like some mighty monarch galloping over
the broad domains which own him as their lord. Come, uncle, can you
deny the correctness of my description? And I am sure Captain Bowse
will agree with me."

She laughed playfully at her attempts at a description of the scene
surrounding them, and which she had purposely made as long as she could
find words to go on with, well-knowing the effect which her own sweet
voice exercised in calming the habitual irritation of her uncle.

"A pretty bit of jargon you have managed to string together," said t