a Spaniard
by his appearance; but when I accosted him in English, he replied in the
same language, with scarcely a foreign accent, "And so you are looking
for the _Mary_, Captain Dean, are you? Very curious," he observed: "I
left her three weeks ago at the Havanah waiting for a cargo; and she
won't be off again for another three weeks or more."

"Then I may reach her in time!" I ejaculated.

"Do you belong to her?" he continued. "You have not much the look of a
seaman."

He was right; for I was still dressed in my mocassins and hunting
costume, with my rifle in my hand, and my other worldly property slung
about me, so I must have cut rather a curious figure.

I replied that I was to have belonged to her, and explained how it had
happened that she had sailed without me. By degrees I told him more of
my history; and finally, without my intending it, he drew the whole of
it from me.

"You are a likely lad," he observed, with an approving nod. "The fact
is, I sail to-morrow for the Havanah, in the schooner you see out
yonder; and if you like to ship on board, you may, that's all." He
pointed, as he spoke, to a large square-topsail schooner which lay out
in the stream, at a single anchor.

She will not take long to get under weigh, I thought, as I looked at
her. Eager as I was to reach the Havannah, I jumped at his offer. "I
have not been accustomed to a craft like yours," I replied, "but I will
do my duty on board her, to the best of my power."

"That's all we require; and perhaps, if you find your friend gone, you
will like us well enough to remain with us," he observed, with a laugh.
"We are constantly on the wing, so you will have no time to get weary of
any place where we touch, as is the case in those big ships, which lie
in harbour for months together. If you want to become a seaman, go to
sea in a small craft, say I."

I told him that I did wish to become a seaman; but I did not say that it
was for the sake of sailing with Captain Dean, nor did I mention his
daughter. Indeed, I had kept her name altogether out of my narrative.

The arrangement being concluded, he advised me to go and get a sea-rig,
remarking that my present costume was not exactly suited for going aloft
in. There were several outfitting shops, such as are to be found in all
seaports, and towards one of them of the most inviting appearance I bent
my steps. Before going, however, I inquired of my new friend his name,
and that of