--a composition which meets the approbation of all
sensible, discriminating people. But I shall leave the reader to imagine
all he pleases, and finish the chapter by informing him that, when the sun
again made his appearance, the corvette was not to be discovered from the
mast-head. The guns were therefore properly secured; the decks washed; a
jury mizen-mast stuck up abaft; Captain Oughton, and the gallant fellows
who had fallen in the combat, committed to the deep with the usual
ceremonies; the wounded made as comfortable as possible in their hammocks;
the carpenters busied with the necessary repairs; and the _Windsor Castle_,
commanded by Newton Forster, running before a spanking breeze, at the rate
of eight knots per hour.

Chapter XLVIII

"Ships are but boards, sailors but men;
There be land rats, and water rats, water thieves,
And land thieves; I mean pirates."

SHAKESPEARE.

Most prophetical was the remark made by Newton Forster to Isabel, previous
to the action: to wit, that it would make or mar him. The death of Captain
Oughton, and the spirited defence of the _Windsor Castle_, were the
_making_ of Newton Forster. As a subordinate officer, he might have been
obliged to toil many years before he could have ascended to the summit of
the ladder of promotion; and during the time which he remained in that
situation, what chance had he of making an independence, and proposing for
the hand of Isabel Revel? But now that, by a chain of circumstances
peculiarly fortuitous, he was in command of an East Indiaman, returning
home after having beat off a vessel of equal if not superior force, and
preserved a cargo of immense value, he felt confident that he not only
would be confirmed to the rank which he was now called upon to assume, but
that he had every prospect of being employed. As a captain of an Indiaman,
he was aware that reception into society, wealth, and consideration awaited
him; and what made his heart to swell with gratitude and exultation, was
the feeling that soon he would be enabled to aspire to the hand of one to
whom he had so long been ardently attached.

As the _Windsor Castle_ plunged through the roaring and complaining seas,
with all the impetus of weight in motion, Newton's eyes were radiant with
hope, although his demeanour towards Isabel was, from the peculiar
circumstances attending their situation, more delicately reserved than
before.

When the _Windsor Castle_ touched