diction.

I took the familiar document and commenced my labors. My voice was
tremulous at first, but I soon became accustomed to its sound, and as,
by this time, I knew the greater portion of the book by heart, I got
through the tissue of extravagance with great credit, not only to the
prophet Cochran but myself.

My auditors listened with the closest attention, hardly seeming to
breathe, and it was curious to mark the various expressions which their
tell-tale countenances exhibited as I proceeded. After I had completed
my task, the gentlemen breathed more freely, and stared at one another
in silence. One or two were inclined to treat the prediction with
levity, but their remarks were not well received. It was generally
conceded that the subject was not a proper one for a joke. I received
the thanks of several of my auditors for the acceptable manner in which
I had performed my part in the drama. A few evenings afterwards I was
again called upon to lay the contents of this everlasting pamphlet
before another set of eager listeners! And I rejoiced when, with a full
cargo of naval stores and Carolina notions, the schooner left the wharf,
bound on a voyage to Baltimore.

On reaching Ocracoke Inlet, it appeared that the impression which the
predictions of Cochran had made upon the minds of the inhabitants was
not effaced. We lay at anchor there three days waiting for a wind to
cross the bar, and every evening I was called upon to read chapters
in the Bible for the edification of the worthy Ocracoke pilots, who
probably had not heard a chapter of Scripture recited for years. The
prophecy had taken a deep hold on the minds of some; and ribald jests
and disgusting oaths were seldom heard in the neighborhood of "the
Swash."

I was treated with kindness by Captain Thompson, and performed many of
the duties of mate without occupying the station or receiving the pay.
On the passage to Baltimore the captain exhibited occasional symptoms
of piety, and at one time would listen to a chapter in the Bible with
commendable gravity, and discourse seriously on serious subjects; half
an hour afterwards he would resume his profane and disorderly habits,
and chase away reflection by getting drunk! He was not at peace with
himself; and he dearly loved whiskey and peach brandy.

It was a pleasant season of the year, and the trip to Baltimore, through
the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, was an interesting one. I expected to
find in Baltimore