heard of her; and Amy had haunted her to every place she could
think of, that it was likely to find her in; but all the news she could
hear of her was, that she was gone to an old comrade's house of hers,
which she called sister, and who was married to a master of a ship, who
lived at Redriff; and even this the jade never told me. It seems, when
this girl was directed by Amy to get her some breeding, go to the
boarding-school, and the like, she was recommended to a boarding-school
at Camberwell, and there she contracted an acquaintance with a young
lady (so they are all called), her bedfellow, that they called sisters,
and promised never to break off their acquaintance.

But judge you what an unaccountable surprise I must be in when I came on
board the ship and was brought into the captain's cabin, or what they
call it, the great cabin of the ship, to see his lady or wife, and
another young person with her, who, when I came to see her near hand,
was my old cook-maid in the Pall Mall, and, as appeared by the sequel of
the story, was neither more or less than my own daughter. That I knew
her was out of doubt; for though she had not had opportunity to see me
very often, yet I had often seen her, as I must needs, being in my own
family so long.

If ever I had need of courage, and a full presence of mind, it was now;
it was the only valuable secret in the world to me, all depended upon
this occasion; if the girl knew me, I was undone; and to discover any
surprise or disorder had been to make her know me, or guess it, and
discover herself.

I was once going to feign a swooning and fainting away, and so falling
on the ground, or floor, put them all into a hurry and fright, and by
that means to get an opportunity to be continually holding something to
my nose to smell to, and so hold my hand or my handkerchief, or both,
before my mouth; then pretend I could not bear the smell of the ship, or
the closeness of the cabin. But that would have been only to remove into
a clearer air upon the quarter-deck, where we should, with it, have had
a clearer light too; and if I had pretended the smell of the ship, it
would have served only to have carried us all on shore to the captain's
house, which was hard by; for the ship lay so close to the shore, that
we only walked over a plank to go on board, and over another ship which
lay within her; so this not appearing feasible, and the thought not
being two minutes old, there was no time, for