s garments hung loosely about him; indeed, his whole
appearance, in my eyes, was that of the leader of a press-gang or the
captain of a band of pirates. He eyed me closely as he advanced towards
me with what I conceived to be a regular man-of-war swagger. Being
driven to bay, I stood my ground firmly, and confronted him.

"Do you belong to the sloop which is anchored in the bay, my lad?"
inquired he, with a mild voice and pleasant smile, affected, of course,
to conceal his real intentions.

"Yes," was my rather curt reply.

"What is the name of the sloop?"

"Lapwing."

"Where does the Lapwing belong?"

"To St. Bartholomew."

"Where are you from last?"

"St. Bartholomew."

"Hum! What is the name of your captain?"

"James Lordick."

"Ah, James Lordick?" exclaimed he, with vivacity. "Indeed" Then
addressing me abruptly, he inquired, "Where do YOU belong?"

"Now for it," thought I to myself; "the time has come when I must plunge
headforemost into the sea of falsehood; so here goes." And I answered
boldly, "To Saba."

"To Saba? Do you, indeed?" And he gazed at me with his piercing eyes,
as if he could read my very soul. "To Saba. You belong to Saba? What is
your name?"

"John Lordick."

"Is it possible!" exclaimed my black-whiskered friend. "Are you REALLY
John Lordick, the brother of James? Good Lord! Who would have thought
it!"

Thus strongly appealed to, I felt unable to reply except by an
affirmative nod.

"So you are John Lordick? I heard you were dead. How the world is given
to lying! I should never have known you. You have changed amazingly
since I left Saba six years ago, John."

As this remark did not necessarily require any reply, I made none. I now
began to suspect that I was mistaken in the estimate of the character of
my interrogator that he was neither the captain of a band of pirates nor
the leader of a press-gang; and it being my first essay at carrying out
a system of falsehood, I was terribly frightened at the dilemma in
which I was involved. I lost my presence of mind, and instead of frankly
avowing the truth, as policy, as well as principle, would have dictated,
I came to the conclusion to stick by my story, and carry out the
deception to the end of the chapter. But my mortification, my confusion,
my chagrin, at being subjected to this unforeseen cross-examination, can
hardly be conceived. I envied the condition of the wretch standing
by the gallows with a noose around his neck.