B 3 
 
 
; BERKELEY \ 
 .IBRARY 
 JNIVEUSITY OF 
 GAL I PORN IA / 
 
 

 
THE 
 
 WATER WITCH; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE SKIMMER OF THE SEAS. 
 
 A TALE. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 "THE BORDERERS," " THE PRAIRIE," 
 & fr- 
 
 " Mais, que diable alloit-il faire dans cette galere ?" 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY, 
 
 NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 
 1830. 
 
MAIN LIBRARY 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HENRY BAYLIS, JOHNSON S-COURT, FLEET-STREET. 
 
/ V3& 
 v./ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 CHRISTENDOM is gradually extricating itself 
 from the ignorance, ferocity, and crimes of the 
 middle ages. It is no longer subject of boast 
 that the hand which wields the sword never 
 held a pen, and men have long since ceased to be 
 ashamed of knowledge. The multiplied means 
 of imparting principles and facts, and a more 
 general diffusion of intelligence, have conduced 
 to establish sounder ethics and juster practices 
 throughout the whole civilized world. Thus 
 he who admits the conviction, as hope declines 
 with his years, that man deteriorates, is pro 
 bably as far from truth as the visionary who 
 sees the dawn of a golden age in the commence 
 ment of the nineteenth century. That we have 
 greatly improved on the opinions and practices 
 
 r. 592 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 of our ancestors, is quite as certain as that there 
 will be occasion to meliorate the legacy of mo 
 rals which we shall transmit to posterity. 
 
 When the progress of civilization compelled 
 Europe to correct the violence and injustice 
 which was so openly practised until the art of 
 printing became known, the other hemisphere 
 made America the scene of those acts which 
 shame prevented her from exhibiting nearer 
 home. There was little of a lawless, mercenary, 
 violent, and selfish nature, that the self-styled 
 masters of the continent hesitated to commit, 
 when removed from the immediate responsi 
 bilities of the society in which they had been 
 educated. The Drakes, Rogers, and Dam piers 
 of that day, though enrolled in the list of naval 
 heroes, were no other than pirates, acting under 
 the sanction of commissions ; and the scenes that 
 occurred among the marauders of the land, 
 were often of a character to disgrace human 
 nature. 
 
 That the colonies which formed the root of 
 this republic escaped the more serious evils of a 
 so gross and widely spreading corruption, can 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 only be ascribed to the characters of those by 
 whom they were peopled. 
 
 Perhaps nine-tenths of all the white inhabitants 
 of the Union are the direct descendants of men 
 who quitted Europe, in order to worship God 
 according to conviction and conscience. If the 
 Puritans of New England, the Friends of Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania and Delaware, the Catholics of 
 Maryland, the Presbyterians of the upper coun 
 ties of Virginia, and of the Carolinas, and the 
 Huguenots, brought with them the exaggeration 
 of their peculiar sects, it was an exaggeration 
 that tended to correct most of their ordinary 
 practices. Still the English Provinces were not 
 permitted altogether to escape from the moral 
 dependency that seems nearly inseparable from 
 colonial government, or to be entirely exempt 
 from the wide contamination of the times. 
 
 The State of New York, as is well known, 
 was originally a colony of the United Provinces. 
 The settlement was made in the year 1613, and 
 the Dutch East India Company, under whose 
 authority the establishment was made, claimed 
 the whole country between the Connecticut and 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 the mouth of Delaware Bay ; a territory which, 
 as it had a corresponding depth, equalled the 
 whole surface of the present kingdom of France. 
 Of this vast region, however, they never occu 
 pied but a narrow belt on each side of the 
 Hudson, with here and there a settlement on a 
 few of the river flats more inland. 
 
 There is a providence in the destiny of na 
 tions that sets at nought the most profound of 
 human calculations. Had the dominion of the 
 Dutch continued a century longer, there would 
 have existed in the very heart of the Union, a 
 people opposed to its establishment by their 
 language, origin and habits. The conquest of the 
 English in 1663, though unjust and iniquitous 
 in itself, removed the danger, by opening the 
 way for the introduction of that great community 
 of character which now so happily prevails. 
 
 Though the English, the French, the Swedes, 
 the Dutch, the Danes, the Spaniards and the 
 Norwegians, all had colonies within the country 
 which now composes the United States, the peo 
 ple of the latter are more homogenous in charac 
 ter, language and opinions, than those of any 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 other great nation that is familiarly known. This 
 identity of character is owing to the early pre 
 dominance of the English, and to the circum 
 stance that New England and Virginia, the 
 two great sources of internal emigration, were 
 entirely of English origin. Still New York 
 retains to the present hour a variety of usages 
 that were obtained from Holland. Her edifices 
 of painted bricks, her streets lined with trees, 
 her inconvenient and awkward stoops, and a 
 large proportion of her names, are equally de 
 rived from the Dutch. Until the commence 
 ment of this century, even the language of 
 Holland prevailed in the streets of the capital ; 
 and though a nation of singular boldness and 
 originality in all that relates to navigation, the 
 greatest sea-port of the country betrays many 
 evidences of a taste which must be referred to 
 the same origin. 
 
 The reader will find in these facts a sufficient 
 explanation of most of the peculiar customs, 
 and of some of the peculiar practices that are 
 exhibited in the course of the following tale. 
 Slavery, a divided language, and a distinct peo- 
 
v PREFACE. 
 
 pie, are no longer to be found within the fair 
 regions of New York ; and, without pretending 
 to any peculiar exemption from the weaknesses 
 of humanity, it may be permitted us to hope 
 that these are not the only features of the narra 
 tive which a better policy and a more equitable 
 administration of power have made purely his 
 torical. 
 
 Early released from the fetters of the middle 
 ages, fetters that bound the mind equally with 
 the person, America has preceded rather than 
 followed Europe in that march of improvement 
 which is rendering the present era so remark 
 able. Under a system, broad, liberal and just 
 as her s, though she may have to contend with 
 rivalries that are sustained by a more concen 
 trated competition, and which are as absurd by 
 their pretension of liberality, as they are offen 
 sive by their monopolies, there is nothing to 
 fear in the end. Her political motto should be 
 Justice, and her first and greatest care to see it 
 administered to her own citizens. 
 
 The reader is left to make the application. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 f( What, shall this speech be spoke for our excuse ? 
 Or shall we on without apology ?" 
 
 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 THE fine estuary which penetrates the Ame 
 rican coast, between the fortieth and forty -first 
 degrees of latitude, is formed by the confluence 
 of the Hudson, the Hackensack, the Passaie, 
 the Rariton, and a multitude of smaller streams ; 
 all of which pour their tribute into the ocean, 
 within the space named. The islands of Nas- 
 
 VOL. i. B 
 
2 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 sau and Staten are happily placed to exclude 
 the tempests of the open sea, while the deep 
 and broad arms of the latter offer every de 
 sirable facility for foreign trade and internal 
 intercourse. To this fortunate disposition of 
 land and water, with a temperate climate, a 
 central position, and an immense interior, that 
 is now penetrated in every direction, either 
 by artificial or by natural streams, the city of 
 New York is indebted for its extraordinary 
 prosperity. Though not wanting in beauty, there 
 are many bays that surpass this in the charms 
 of scenery; but it may be questioned if the 
 world possesses another site that unites so 
 many natural advantages for the growth and 
 support of a widely extended commerce. As 
 if never wearied with her kindness, Nature 
 has placed the island of Manhattan at the 
 precise point that is most desirable for the 
 position of a town. Millions might inhabit the 
 spot, and yet a ship should load near every 
 door, and while the surface of the land just 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 3 
 
 possesses the inequalities that are required for 
 health and cleanliness, its bosom is filled with 
 the material most needed in construction. 
 
 The consequences of so unusual a con- 
 currence of favourable circumstances are well 
 known. A vigorous, healthful and continued 
 growth, that has no parallel even in the his 
 tory of this extraordinary and fortunate coun 
 try, has already raised the insignificant pro 
 vincial town, of the last century, to the level 
 of the second-rate cities of the other hemi 
 sphere. The New-Amsterdam of this continent 
 already rivals its parent of the other; and, so 
 far as human powers may pretend to predict, 
 a few fleeting years will place her on a level 
 with the proudest capitals of Europe. 
 
 It would seem that, as Nature has given its 
 periods to the stages of animal life, it has also 
 set limits to all moral and political ascendancy. 
 While the city of the Medici is receding from 
 its crumbling walls, like the human form shrink 
 ing into " the lean and slippered pantaloon, 1 
 
4 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 the queen of the Adriatic sleeping on her 
 muddy isles, and Rome itself is only to be 
 traced by fallen temples and buried columns, 
 the youthful vigour of America is fast covering 
 the wilds of the west, with the happiest fruits 
 of human industry. 
 
 By the Manhattanese, who is familiar with 
 the forest of masts, the miles of wharves, the 
 countless villas, the hundred churches, the 
 castles, the smoking and busy vessels that 
 crowd his bay, the daily increase and the gen 
 eral movement of his native town, the picture 
 we are about to sketch will scarcely be recog 
 nized. He who shall come a generation later 
 will probably smile, that subject of admiration 
 should have been found in the existing condition 
 of the city : and yet we shall attempt to carry 
 the recolieQtions of the reader but a century 
 back in the brief history of his country. 
 
 As the sun rose on the morning of the 3rd of 
 June, 171 , the report of a cannon was heard 
 rolling along the waters of the Hudson, Smoke 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 5 
 
 issued from an embrasure of a small fortress, 
 that stood on the point of land where the river 
 and the bay mingle their waters. The explo 
 sion was followed by the appearance of a flag, 
 which, as it rose to the summit of its staff 
 and unfolded itself heavily in the light current 
 of air, shewed the blue field and red cross of 
 the English ensign. At the distance of several 
 miles, the dark masts of a ship were to be 
 seen, faintly relieved by the verdant back-ground 
 of the heights of Staten Island. A little cloud 
 floated over this object, and then an answering 
 signal came dull and rumbling to the town. 
 The flag that the cruiser set was not visible 
 in the distance. 
 
 At the precise moment that the noise of the 
 first gun was heard, the door of one of the 
 principal dwellings of the town opened, and a 
 man, who might have been its master, appeared 
 on its stoop, as the ill-arranged entrances of 
 the buildings of the place are still termed. He 
 was seemingly prepared for some expedition 
 
6 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 that was likely to consume the day. A black, 
 of middle age, followed the burgher to the 
 threshold, and another negro, who had not yet 
 reached the stature of manhood, bore under 
 his arm a small bundle, that probably contained 
 articles of the first necessity to the comfort of 
 his master. 
 
 " Thrift, Mr. Euclid, thrift is your true phi 
 losopher s stone ;" commenced, or rather con 
 tinued in a rich, full-mouthed Dutch the pro 
 prietor of the dwelling, who had evidently been 
 giving a leave-taking charge to his principal 
 slave, before quitting the house " thrift hath 
 made many a man rich, but it never yet brought 
 any one to want. It is thrift which has built 
 up the credit of my house ; and, though it is 
 said by myself, a broader back and firmer 
 base belongs to no merchant in the colonies. 
 You are but the reflection of your master s 
 prosperity, you rogue, and so much the greater 
 need that you look to his interests. If the 
 substance is wasted, what will become of the 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 7 
 
 shadow ! When I get delicate, you will sicken ; 
 when I am a-hungered, you will be famished; 
 when I die, you may be ahem Euclid, I 
 leave thee in charge of goods and chattels, 
 house and stable, with my character in the 
 neighbourhood. I am going to the Lust in Rust 
 for a mouthful of better air. Plague and fevers ! 
 I believe the people will continue to come into 
 this crowded town until it gets to be as pesti 
 lent as Rotterdam in the dog-days. You have 
 now come to years when a man obtains his 
 reflection, boy, and I expect suitable care and 
 discretion about the premises while my back is 
 turned. Now, harkee, sirrah : I am not en- 
 tirely pleased with the character of thy com 
 pany. It is not altogether as respectable as 
 becomes the confidential servant of a man of 
 a certain station in the world. There are thy 
 two cousins, Brom and Kobus, who are no 
 better than a couple of blackguards ; and as for 
 the English negro, Diomede he is a devil s 
 imp ! Thou hast the other locks at disposal, and," 
 
8 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 drawing with, visible reluctance the instrument 
 from his pocket, " here is the key of the stable. 
 Not a hoof is to quit it, but to go to the 
 pump and see that each animal has its food 
 to a minute. The devil s roysterers ! a Man 
 hattan negro takes a Flemish gelding for a 
 gaunt hound, that is never out of breath, and 
 away he goes, at night, scampering along the 
 highways like a yankee witch switching through 
 the air on a broomstick ; but mark me, Master 
 Euclid, I have eyes in my head, as thou knowest 
 by bitter experience ! D ye remember, rag-a- 
 muffin, the time when I saw thee, from the 
 Hague, riding the beasts, as if the devil spurred 
 them, along the dykes of Leyden, without re 
 morse as without leave ?" 
 
 <f I alway b rieve some make-mischief tell 
 Masser, dat time," returned the negro sulkily, 
 though not without doubt. 
 
 " His own eyes were the tell-tales. If mas 
 ters had no eyes, a pretty world would the 
 negroes make of it ! I have got the measure of 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 9 
 
 every black heel on the island registered in 
 the big book you see me so often looking into, 
 especially on Sundays ; and, if either of the 
 tire-legs I have named dares to enter my 
 grounds, let him expect to pay a visit to the 
 city Prevost, What do the wild cats mean ! Do 
 they think that the geldings were bought in 
 Holland, with charges for breaking in, shipment, 
 insurance, freight, and risk of diseases, to have 
 their flesh melted from their ribs like a cook s 
 candle ?" 
 
 " Ere not in done in all e island, but a co 
 lour man do him ! He do a mischief, and he 
 do all a work, too ! I won er what colour 
 Masser t ink war Capt. Kidd ? 
 
 " Black or white, he was a rank rogue ; and 
 you see the end he came to. I warrant you, 
 now, that water-thief began his iniquities by 
 riding the neighbours horses at night. His 
 fate should be a warning to every negro in the 
 colony. The imps of darkness ! The English 
 have no such scarcity of rogues at home, that 
 B 3 
 
10 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 they could not spare us the pirate to hang up 
 on one of the islands, as a scarecrow to the 
 blacks of Manhattan."" 
 
 " Well, I t ink e sight do a white man 
 some good, too," returned Euclid, who had 
 all the pertinacity of a spoiled Dutch negro, 
 singularly blended with affection for him in 
 whose service he had been born. u I hear 
 ebbery body say, ere war 1 but two colour 1 
 man in he ship, and em bot war Guinea 
 born." 
 
 tc A modest tongue, thou midnight scamperer ! 
 Look to my geldings. Here here are two 
 Dutch florins, three stivers, and a Spanish 
 pistoreen for thee ; one of the florins is for thy 
 old mother, and with the others, thou canst 
 lighten thy heart in the Paus merry-makings. 
 If I hear that either of thy rascally cousins, 
 or the English Diomede, has put a leg across 
 beast of mine, it will be the worse for all 
 Africa ! Famine and skeletons ! here have I been 
 seven years trying to fatten the nags, and they 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 11 
 
 still look more like weasels, than a pair of 
 solid geldings." 
 
 The close of this speech was rather muttered 
 in the distance, and by way of soliloquy, than 
 actually administered to the namesake of the 
 great mathematician. The air of the negro 
 had been a little equivocal during the parting 
 admonition. There was an evident struggle 
 in his mind between an innate love of dis 
 obedience, and a secret dread of his master s 
 means of information. So long as the latter 
 continued in sight, the black watched his form 
 in doubt, and when it had turned a corner, 
 he stood at gaze, for a moment, with a negro 
 on a neighbouring stoop ; then both shook their 
 heads significantly, laughed aloud, and retired. 
 That night the confidential servant attended to 
 the interests of his absent master with a 
 fidelity and care which proved he felt his own 
 existence identified with that of a man who 
 claimed so close a right in his person ; and 
 just as the clock struck ten, he and the negro 
 
12 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Jast mentioned mounted the sluggish and over- 
 fattened horses, and galloped, as hard as foot 
 could be laid to the earth, several miles deeper 
 into the island, to attend a frolic at one of 
 the usual haunts of the people of their colour 
 and condition. 
 
 Had Alderman Myndert Van Beverout sus 
 pected the calamity which was so soon to suc 
 ceed his absence, it is probable that his mien 
 would have been less composed, as he pursued 
 his way from his own door on the occasion 
 named. That he had confidence in the virtue 
 of his menaces, however, may be inferred 
 from the tranquillity which immediately took 
 possession of features that were never disturbed 
 without wearing an appearance of unnatural 
 effort. The substantial burgher was a little 
 turned of fifty ; and an English wag. who had 
 imported from the mother country a love for 
 the humour of his nation, had once, in a con 
 flict of wits before the city council, described 
 him to be a man of alliterations. When called 
 
THE WATEll WITCH. 13 
 
 upon to explain away this breach of parlia 
 mentary decorum, the punster had gotten rid of 
 the matter, by describing his opponent to be 
 " short, solid and sturdy in stature ; full, 
 flushed and funny in face ; and proud, ponderous 
 and pragmatical in propensities."" But, as is 
 usual, in all sayings of effort, there was more 
 smartness than truth in this description ; though 
 after making a trifling allowance for the colour 
 ing of political rivalry, the reader may receive 
 its physical portion, as sufficiently descriptive 
 to answer all the necessary purposes of this 
 tale. If we add that he was a trader of great 
 wealth and shrewdness, and a bachelor, we 
 need say no more in this stage of the narrative. 
 Notwithstanding the early hour at which this 
 industrious and flourishing merchant quitted his 
 abode, his movement along the narrow streets 
 of his native town was measured and dignified. 
 More than once, he stopped to speak to some 
 favourite family servant, invariably terminating 
 his inquiries after the health of the master, by 
 
14 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 some facetious observation adapted to the ha 
 bits and capacity of the slave. From this it 
 would seem, that, while he had so exaggerated 
 notions of domestic discipline, the worthy bur 
 gher was far from being one who indulged by 
 inclination in the menaces he has been heard 
 to utter. He had just dismissed one of these 
 loitering negroes, when, on turning a corner, 
 a man of his own colour, for the first time that 
 morning, suddenly stood before him. The 
 startled citizen made an involuntary movement 
 to avoid the unexpected interview, and then, 
 perceiving the difficulty of such a step, he sub 
 mitted with as good a grace as if it had been 
 one of his own seeking. 
 
 " The orb of day the morning gun and 
 Mr. Alderman Van Beverout !" exclaimed the 
 individual encountered. 6i Such is the order of 
 events, at this early hour, on each successive 
 revolution of our earth." 
 
 The countenance of the Alderman had barely 
 time to recover its composure, ere he was 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 15 
 
 required to answer to this free and somewhat 
 facetious salutation. Uncovering his head, he 
 bowed so ceremoniously as to leave the other 
 no reason to exult in his pleasantry, as he 
 answered 
 
 " The colony has reason to regret the services 
 of a governor who can quit his bed so soon. 
 That we of business habits stir betimes, is 
 quite in reason, but there are those in this 
 town, who would scarce believe their eyes did 
 they enjoy my present happiness. 1 
 
 " Sir, there are many in this colony who 
 have great reason to distrust their senses, 
 though none can be mistaken in believing they 
 see Alderman Van Beverout in a well employed 
 man. He that dealeth in the produce of the 
 beaver must have the animal s perseverance and 
 forethought ! Now, were I a king at arms, 
 there should be a concession made in thy fa 
 vour, Myndert, of a shield bearing the animal 
 mordant, a mantle of fur, with two Mohawk 
 hunters for supporters, and the motto, c Indus 
 try. " 
 
16 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Or what think you, my Lord," returned 
 the other, who did not more than half relish 
 the pleasantry of his companion, " of a spotless 
 shield for a clear conscience, with an open 
 hand for a crest, and the motto, < Frugality and 
 Justice? " 
 
 " I like the open hand, though the conceit 
 is pretending. I see you would intimate that 
 the Van Beverouts have not need, at this late 
 day, to search a herald s office for honours. 
 I remember, now I bethink me, on some oc 
 casion to have seen their bearings ; a windmill, 
 courant dyke, coulant field, vert, sprinkled 
 with black cattle No ! then, memory is trea 
 cherous ; the morning air is pregnant with food 
 for the imagination !" 
 
 " Which is not a coin to satisfy a creditor, 
 my Lord," said the caustic Myndert. 
 
 " Therein has truth been pithily spoken. 
 This is an ill-judged step, Alderman Van Be- 
 verout, that lets a gentleman out by night, like 
 the ghost in Hamlet, to flee into the narrow 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 17 
 
 house with the crowing of the cock. The ear 
 of my royal cousin hath been poisoned, worse 
 than was the ear of < murdered Denmark, or 
 the partisans of this Mister Hunter would have 
 little cause to triumph." 
 
 "Is it not possible to give such pledges to 
 those who have turned the key, as will enable 
 your lordship to apply the antidote." 
 
 The question struck a chord that changed 
 the whole manner of the other. His air, which 
 had borne the character of a genteel trifler, be 
 came more grave and dignified, and notwith 
 standing there was the evidence of a reckless 
 disposition in his features, dress and carriage, 
 his tall and not ungraceful form, as he walked 
 slowly onward by the side of the compact Al 
 derman, was not without much of that insinuat 
 ing ease and blandishment, that long familiarity 
 with good company can give even to the lowest 
 moral worth. 
 
 " Your question, worthy Sir, manifests great 
 goodness of heart, and corroborates that repu- 
 
38 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 tation for generosity the world so freely gives. 
 It is true that the Queen has been persuaded to 
 sign the mandate of my recal, and it is certain 
 that Mr. Hunter has the government of the 
 colony ; but these are facts that might be re 
 versed, were I once in a position to approach 
 my kinswoman. I do not disclaim certain in 
 discretions, Sir ; it would ill become me to deny 
 them in presence of one whose virtue is as severe 
 as that of Alderman Van Beverout. I have my 
 failings : perhaps, as you have just been pleased 
 to intimate, it would have been better had my 
 motto been frugality ; but the open hand, dear 
 Sir, is a part of the design you will not deny 
 me either. If I have weaknesses, my enemies 
 cannot refuse to say that I never yet deserted a 
 friend." 
 
 " Not having had occasion to tax your friend 
 ship, I shall not be the first to make the 
 charge." 
 
 " Your impartiality has come to be a pro 
 verb ! As honest as Alderman Van Beverout ; 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 19 
 
 as generous as Alderman Van Beverout, are 
 terms in each man s mouth ; some say as rich ; 
 (the small blue eye of the burgher twinkled). 
 But honesty, and riches, and generosity are of 
 little value, without influence. Men should 
 have their natural consideration in society. 
 Now is this colony rather Dutch than English, 
 and yet you see how few names are found in 
 the list of the council that have been known 
 in the province half a century ! Here are your 
 Alexanders and Heathcotes, your Morrises and 
 Kennedies, De Lanceys and Livingstones, fill 
 ing the council, and the legislative halls ; but 
 we find few of the Van Rensselaers, Van Court- 
 landts, Van Schuylers, Stuyvesants, Van Beck- 
 mans and Van Beverouts in their natural sta 
 tions. All nations and religions have prece 
 dency, in the royal favour, over the children of 
 the patriarchs. The Bohemian Felipses, the 
 Hugenot de Lanceys, and Bayards, and Jays ; 
 the king-hating Morrisses and Ludlows in 
 
20 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 short, all have greater estimation in the eyes of 
 government, than the most ancient Patroon !" 
 
 " This has long and truly been the case ; I 
 cannot remember when it was otherwise !" 
 
 " It may not be denied. But it would little 
 become political discretion to affect precipitancy 
 in the judgment of character. If my own ad 
 ministration can be stigmatized with the same 
 apparent prejudice, it proves the clearer how 
 strong is misrepresentation at home. Time was 
 wanting to enlighten my mind, and that time 
 has been refused me. In another year, my 
 worthy Sir, the council should have been filled 
 with Vans !" 
 
 "In such a case, my Lord, the unhappy con 
 dition in which you are now placed might indeed 
 have been avoided. 1 
 
 " Is it too late to arrest the evil ? It is time 
 Anne had been undeceived, and her mind re 
 gained. There wanteth nothing to such a con 
 summation of justice, Sir, but opportunity. It 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 21 
 
 touches me to the heart, to think that this dis 
 grace should befal one so near the royal blood ! 
 Tis a spot on the escutcheon of the crown, that 
 all loyal subjects must feel desirous to efface ; 
 and so small an effort would effect the object, 
 too, with certain Mr, Alderman Myndert Van 
 Beverout ?" 
 
 " My Lord, late Governor," returned the 
 other, observing that his companion hesitated. 
 
 " What think you of this Hanoverian settle 
 ment ? Shall a German wear the crown of a 
 Plantagenet ?" 
 
 u It hath been worn by a Hollander." 
 
 " Aptly answered ! Worn, and worn worthi 
 ly ! There is affinity between the people, and 
 there is reason in that reply. How have I failed 
 in wisdom, in not seeking earlier the aid of thy 
 advice, excellent Sir ! Ah, Myndert, there is a 
 blessing on the enterprises of all who come of 
 the Low Countries !" 
 
 " They are industrious to earn, and slow to 
 squander." 
 
22 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " That expenditure is the ruin of many a 
 worthy subject ! And yet accident chance 
 fortune or whatever you may choose to call it, 
 interferes nefariously, at times, with a gentle 
 man s prosperity. I am an adorer of constancy 
 in friendships, Sir, and hold the principle 
 that men should aid each other through 
 this dark vale of life Mr. Alderman Van 
 Beverout " 
 
 My Lord Cornbury ?" 
 
 " I was about to say, that should I quit the 
 province, without expressing part of the regret 
 I feel at not having sooner ascertained the 
 merits of its original owners, and your own in 
 particular, I should do injustice to sensibilities 
 that are only too acute for the peace of him who 
 endures them." 
 
 " Is there then hope that your Lordship s 
 creditors will relent, or has the earl furnished 
 means to open the prison door ?" 
 
 " You use the pleasantest terms, Sir ! but I 
 love directness of language above all other qua- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 23 
 
 lilies. No doubt the prison door, as you have 
 so clearly expressed it, might be opened, and 
 lucky would be the man who should turn the 
 key. I am pained when I think of the displea 
 sure of the queen, which, sooner or later, will 
 surely visit my luckless persecutors. On the 
 other hand, I find relief in thinking of the fa 
 vour she will extend to those who have proved 
 my friends in such a strait. They that wear 
 crowns love not to see disgrace befal the meanest 
 of their blood, for something of the taint may 
 sully even the ermine of majesty. Mr. Alder 
 man " 
 
 " My Lord ?" 
 
 " How fare the Flemish geldings ?" 
 
 " Bravely, and many thanks, my Lord ; the 
 rogues are fat as butter ! There is hope of a 
 little rest for the innocents, since business calls 
 me to the Lust in Rust. There should be a 
 law, Lord Governor, to gibbet the black that 
 rides a beast at night." 
 
 " I bethought me of some condign punish- 
 
^ THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 ment for so heartless a crime, but there is little 
 hope for it under the administration of this 
 Mr. Hunter. Yes, Sir; were I once more in 
 the presence of my royal cousin, there would 
 quickly be an end to this delusion, and the 
 colony should be once more restored to a health 
 ful state. The men of a generation should 
 cease to lord it over the men of a century. But 
 we must be wary of letting our design, my dear 
 Sir, get wind ; it is a truly Dutch idea, and the 
 profits, both pecuniary and political, should be 
 long to the gentlemen of that descent My dear 
 Van Beverout " 
 
 " My good Lord ?" 
 
 " Is the blooming Alida obedient ? Trust me, 
 there has no family event occurred, during my 
 residence in the colony, in which I have taken 
 a nearer interest than in that desirable con 
 nexion. The wooing of the young Patroon of 
 Kinderhook is an affair of concern to the pro 
 vince. It is a meritorious youth !" 
 
 " With an excellent estate, my Lord !" 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 25 
 
 is And a gravity beyond his years/ 
 
 " I would give a guaranty, at a risk, that 
 two-thirds of his income goes to increase the 
 capital, at the beginning of each season !" 
 
 " He seems a man to live on air !" 
 
 " My old friend, the last Patroon, left noble 
 assets,"" continued the Alderman, rubbing his 
 hands, " besides the manor." 
 
 " Which is no paddock." 
 
 " It reaches from the Hudson to the line of 
 Massachusetts. A hundred thousand acres of 
 hill and bottom, and well peopled by frugal 
 Hollanders." 
 
 "Respectable in possession, and a mine of 
 gold in reversion ! Such men, Sir, should be 
 cherished. We owe it to his station to admit 
 him to a share of this our project to unde 
 ceive the Queen. How superior are the claims 
 of such a gentleman to the empty pretensions 
 of your Captain Ludlow !" 
 
 " He has truly a very good and an im 
 proving estate !" 
 
 VOL. i. c 
 
26 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " These Ludlows, Sir, people that fled the 
 realm for plotting against the crown, are offen 
 sive to a loyal subject. Indeed, too much of 
 this objection may be imputed to many in the 
 province, that come of English blood. I am 
 sorry to say, that they are fomenters of dis 
 cord, disturbers of the public mind, and 
 captious disputants about prerogatives and vest 
 ed rights. But there is a repose in the 
 Dutch character which lends it dignity ! The 
 descendants of the Hollanders are men to be 
 counted on ; where we leave them to-day, 
 we see them to-morrow. As we say in poli 
 tics, Sir, we know where to find them. Does 
 it not seem to you particularly offensive that 
 this Captain Ludlow should command the only 
 royal cruiser on the station ?" 
 
 " I should like it better, my Lord, were he 
 to serve in Europe, returned the Alderman, 
 glancing a look behind him, and lowering his 
 voice. " There was latety a rumour that his 
 ship was in truth to be sent among the islands. 1 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Matters are getting very wrong, most wor 
 thy Sir, and the greater the necessity there 
 should be one at court to undeceive the Queen. 
 Innovators should be made to give way to 
 men whose names are historical in the colony." 
 
 " Twould be no worse for her Majesty s 
 credit." 
 
 """Twould be another jewel in her crown! 
 Should this Captain Ludlow actually marry your 
 niece, the family would altogether change its 
 character I have the worst memory thy 
 mother, Myndert, was a a " 
 
 " The pious woman was a Van Busser." 
 
 " The union of thy sister with the Huguenot 
 then reduces the fair Alida to the quality of 
 a half-blood. The Ludlow connexion would 
 destroy the leaven of the race ! I think the 
 man is pennyless !" 
 
 "I cannot say that, my Lord, for I would 
 not willingly injure the credit of my worst 
 enemy ; but though wealthy, he is far from 
 c 2 
 
28 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 having the estate of the young Patroon of 
 Kinder-hook." 
 
 " He should indeed be sent into the Indies. 
 Myndert " 
 
 My Lord ?" 
 
 " It would be unjust to my sentiments in fa 
 vour of Mr. Oloff Van Staats were we to ex 
 clude him from the advantages of our project. 
 This much shall I exact from your friendship 
 in his favour ; the necessary sum may be di 
 vided in moieties between you, a common bond 
 shall render the affair compact, and then, as 
 we shall be masters of our own secret, there 
 can be little doubt of the prudence of our 
 measures. The amount is written in this bit 
 of paper." 
 
 " Two thousand pounds, my Lord !" 
 
 " Pardon me, dear Sir ; not a penny more 
 than one for each of you. Justice to Van 
 Staats requires that you let him into the affair. 
 Were it not for the suit with your niece, I 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 29 
 
 should take the young gentleman with me, to 
 push his fortunes at court." 
 
 " Truly, my Lord, this greatly exceeds my 
 means. The high prices of furs the past sea 
 son, and delays in returns, have placed a seal 
 upon our silver " 
 
 " The premium would be high." 
 
 " Coin is getting so scarce, daily, that the 
 face of a Carolus is almost as great a stranger 
 as the face of a debtor " 
 
 " The returns certain." 
 
 " While one s creditors meet him at every 
 corner " 
 
 66 The concern would be altogether Dutch." 
 
 " And last advices from Holland tell us to 
 reserve our gold for some extraordinary move 
 ments in the commercial world." 
 
 "Mr. Alderman Myndert Van Beverout !" 
 
 " My Lord Viscount Cornbury ?" 
 
 " Plutus preserve thee, Sir but have a care! 
 though I scent the morning air, and must re 
 turn, it is not forbid to tell the secrets of 
 
30 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 my prison-house. There is one, in yonder 
 cage, who whispers that the Skimmer of the 
 Seas is on the coast ! Be wary, worthy 
 burgher, or the second part of the tragedy of 
 Kidd may yet be enacted in these seas." 
 
 " I leave such transactions to my superiors," 
 retorted the Alderman, with another stiff* and 
 ceremonious bow. "Enterprises that are said 
 to have occupied the Earl of Bellamoni, Gover 
 nor Fletcher, and my Lord Cornbury, are 
 above the ambition of a humble merchant." 
 
 " Adieu, tenacious Sir ; quiet thine impatience 
 for the extraordinary Dutch movements !" said 
 Cornbury, affecting to laugh, though he se 
 cretly felt the sting the other had applied, 
 since common report implicated not only him, 
 but his two official predecessors, in several 
 of the lawless proceedings of the American 
 buccaneers : " Be vigilant, or la Demoiselle 
 Barberie will give another cross to the purity 
 of the stagnant pool !" 
 
 The bows that were exchanged were strictly 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 31 
 
 in character. The Alderman was unmoved, 
 rigid and formal, while his companion could 
 not forget his ease of manner, even at a mo 
 ment of so much vexation. Foiled in an effort 
 that nothing but his desperate condition and 
 nearly desperate character could have induced 
 him to attempt, the degenerate descendant of 
 the virtuous Clarendon walked towards his place 
 of confinement, with the step of one who 
 assumed a superiority over his fellows, and 
 yet with a mind so indurated by habitual 
 depravity, as to have left it scarcely the trace 
 of a dignified or virtuous quality. 
 
32 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles ; 
 His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate." 
 
 Two Gentlemen of Verona. 
 
 THE philosophy of Alderman Van Beverout 
 was not easily disturbed. Still there was a 
 play of the nether muscles of the face, which 
 might be construed into self complacency at 
 his victory, while a certain contraction of 
 those which controlled the expression of the 
 forehead seemed to betray a full consciousness 
 of the eminent risk he had run. The left 
 hand was thrust into a pocket, where it dili- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 33 
 
 gently fingered the provision of Spanish coin 
 without which the merchant never left his 
 abode, while the other struck the cane it 
 held on the pavement, with the force of a re 
 solute and decided man. In this manner he 
 proceeded in his walk for several minutes 
 longer, shortly quitting the lower streets, to enter 
 one that ran along the ridge which crowned 
 the land in that quarter of the island. Here 
 he soon stopped before the door of a house 
 which, in that provincial town, had altogether 
 the air of a patrician dwelling. 
 
 Two false gables, each surmounted by an iron 
 weathercock, intersected the roof of this build 
 ing, and the high and narrow stoop was built 
 of the red free-stone of the country. The 
 material of the edifice itself, was, as usual, the 
 small hard brick of Holland, painted a delicate 
 cream colour. 
 
 A single blow of the massive glittering 
 knocker brought a servant to the door. The 
 promptitude with which this summons was 
 c3 
 
34 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 answered, showed that, notwithstanding the 
 early hour, the Alderman was an expected 
 guest. The countenance of him who acted as 
 porter betrayed no surprise when he saw the 
 person who applied for admission, and every 
 movement of the black denoted preparation 
 and readiness for his reception. Declining his 
 invitation to enter, however, the Alderman 
 placed his back against the iron railing of the 
 stoop, and opened a discourse with the negro. 
 The latter was aged, with a head that was 
 grizzled, a nose that was levelled nearly to the 
 plane of his face, features that were wrinkled 
 and confused, and with a form which, though 
 still solid, was bending with its load of years. 
 
 " Brave cheer to thee, old Cupid !" com 
 menced the burgher, in the hearty and cordial 
 manner with which the masters of that period 
 were wont to address their indulged slaves. 
 <c A clear conscience is a good night-cap, and 
 you look bright as the morning sun ! I hope 
 my friend the young Patroon has slept sound 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 35 
 
 as yourself, and that he has shewn his face 
 already, to prove it." 
 
 The negro answered with the slow clipping 
 manner that characterized his condition and 
 years. 
 
 4< He m werry wakeful, Masser AFerman. 
 I t ink he no sleep half he time, lately. All 
 he a tiverty and wiwacerty gone, an he do 
 no single ting but smoke. A gentle um who 
 smoke alway, Masser Alderman, get to be a 
 melercholy man, at last. I do t ink ere be one 
 young lady in York who be he deat , some time !" 
 
 46 We ll find the means to get the pipe out 
 of his mouth," said the other, looking askance 
 at the black, as if to express more than he 
 uttered. " Romance and pretty girls play the 
 deuce with our philosophy, in youth, as thou 
 knowest by experience, old Cupid." 
 
 " I no good for any ting dat-a-\vay, now, 
 nothing," calmly returned the black. " I see a 
 one time, when few colour 1 man in York hab 
 more respect among a fair sec, but dat a 
 
36 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 great while gone by. Now, de modeler of your 
 Euclid, Masser Al erman, war a pretty woman, 
 do" she hab but poor conduc . Den a war young 
 heself, and I use to visit at de Al erman s fad- 
 der s, afore a English come, and when ole 
 Patroon war a young man. Golly ! I great 
 affection for Euclid, do a young dog nebber 
 come a near me !" 
 
 " He s a blackguard ! My back is no sooner 
 turned than the rascal s a-top of one of his 
 master s geldings." 
 
 " He m werry young, Masser My nert : no 
 one get a wis om fore a grey hair." 
 
 " He s forty every minute, and the rogue 
 gets impudence with his years. Age is a re 
 verend and respectable condition, when it 
 brings gravity and thought ; but if a young 
 fool be tiresome, an old fool is contemptible. 
 I ll warrant me, you never were so thoughtless, 
 or so heartless, Cupid, as to ride an overworked 
 beast at night !" 
 
 " Well, I get pretty ole, Masser Myn ert, 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 3^ 
 
 an I forget all he do when a young man. But 
 here be e Patroon, who know how to tell e 
 Aler man such t ing better than a poor colour 
 slave." 
 
 " A fair rising and a lucky day to you, Pa 
 troon !" cried the Alderman, saluting a large, 
 slow-moving, gentlemanly looking young man 
 of five-and-twenty, who advanced with the 
 gravity of one of twice that number of years, 
 from the interior of the house towards its 
 outer door. " The winds are bespoken, and 
 here is as fine a day as ever shone out of a 
 clear sky, whether it came from the pure 
 atmosphere of Holland, or of old England 
 itself. Colonies and patronage ! If the people 
 on the other side of the ocean had more faith 
 in mother nature, and less opinion of them 
 selves, they would find it very tolerable breath 
 ing in the plantations. But the conceited 
 rogues are like the man who blew the bel 
 lows, and fancied he made the music ; and 
 there is never a hobbling imp of them all, but 
 
38 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 he believes he is straighter and sounder than 
 the best in the colonies. Here is our bay, 
 now, as smooth as if it were shut in with 
 twenty dykes, and the voyage will be as safe 
 as if it were made on a canal." 
 
 " Dat werry well if a do it/ grumbled Cu^ 
 pid, who busied himself affectionately about 
 the person of his master. " I fink it alway 
 better to travel on e 1 land, when a gentle um 
 own so much as Masser Oloff. Der 1 war e time 
 a ferry boat go down, wid crowd of people ; and 
 nobody ebber come up again to say how he feel." 
 
 " Here is some mistake !" interrupted the 
 Alderman, throwing an uneasy glance at his 
 young friend. " I count four and fifty years, 
 and remember no such calamity." 
 
 " He m werry sing lar how a young folk do 
 forget ! Ere war drown six people in dat 
 werry boat. A two Yankee, a Canada French 
 man, and a poor woman from a Jarseys. 
 Ebbery body war werry sorry for a poor woman 
 from a Jarseys !" 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 39 
 
 " Thy tally is false, Master Cupid, 1 promptly 
 rejoined the Alderman, who was rather expert 
 at figures. " Two Yankees, a Frenchman and 
 your Jersey woman, make but four." 
 
 " Well, den I s pose ere war one Yankee ; 
 but I know all war drown, for e gubbenor 
 lose he fine coach horses in dat werry boat." 
 
 " The old fellow is right, sure enough, for 
 I remember the calamity of the horses, as if 
 it were but yesterday. But death is monarch 
 of the earth, and none of us may hope to escape 
 his scythe, when the appointed hour shall come ! 
 Here are no nags to lose to-day, and we may 
 commence our voyage, Patroon, with cheerful 
 faces and light hearts. Shall we proceed ?" 
 
 Oloff Van Staats, or the Patroon of Kinder- 
 hook, as, by the courtesy of the colony, he was 
 commonly termed, did not want for personal 
 firmness. On the contrary, like most of those 
 who were descended from the Hollanders, he 
 was rather distinguished for steadiness in dan 
 ger, and obstinacy in resistance. The little 
 
40 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 skirmish which had just taken place, between 
 his friend and his slave, had proceeded from 
 their several apprehensions, the one feeling a 
 sort of parental interest in his safety, and the 
 other having particular reasons for wishing him 
 to persevere in his intention to embark, instead 
 of any justifiable cause in the character of the 
 young proprietor himself. A sign to the boy 
 who bore a portmanteau, settled the controversy, 
 and then Mr. Van Staats intimated his readiness 
 to move. 
 
 Cupid lingered on the stoop until his master 
 had turned a corner; then shaking his head 
 with all the misgivings of an ignorant and 
 superstitious mind, he drove the young fry of 
 blacks, who thronged the door, into the house, 
 closing all after him with singular and scrupu 
 lous care. How far the presentiment of the 
 black was warranted by the event, will be seen 
 in the course of the narrative. 
 
 The wide avenue in which Oloff Van Staats 
 dwelt, was but a few hundred yards in length. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 41 
 
 It terminated at one end with the fortress, and 
 at the other it was crossed by a high stockade, 
 which bore the name of the city walls ; a de 
 fence that was provided against any sudden ir 
 ruption of the Indians, who then hunted and 
 even dwelt in some numbers in the lower coun 
 ties of the colony. 
 
 It requires great familiarity with the growth 
 of the town, to recognize, in this description, 
 the noble street that now runs for a league 
 through the centre of the island. From this 
 avenue, which was then, as it is still, called the 
 Broadway, our adventurers descended into a 
 lower quarter of the town, holding free converse 
 by the way. 
 
 " That Cupid is a negro to keep the roof 
 on a house in its master s absence, Patroon," 
 observed the Alderman, soon after they had left 
 the stoop. " He looks like a padlock, and one 
 might sleep, without a dream, with such a guar 
 dian near his dwelling. I wish I had brought 
 the honest fellow the key of my stable !" 
 
42 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " I have heard my father say, that the keys 
 of his own were always better near his own pil 
 low," coolly returned the proprietor of a hun 
 dred thousand acres. 
 
 44 Ah, the curse of Cain ! it is needless to 
 look for the fur of a marten on the back of a 
 cat. But, Mr. Van Staats, while walking to 
 your door this morning, it was my fortune to 
 meet the late Governor, who is permitted by 
 his creditors to take the air, at an hour when 
 he thinks the eyes of the impertinent will be 
 shut. I believe, Patroon, you were so lucky as 
 to get back your monies, before the royal dis 
 pleasure visited the man ?" 
 
 66 I was so lucky as never to trust him." 
 
 44 That was better still, for it would have 
 been a barren investment; great jeopardy to 
 principal, and no return. But we had discourse 
 of various interests, and among others, some 
 thing was hazarded concerning your amatory 
 pretensions to my niece." 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 4)3 
 
 " Neither the wishes of Oloff Van Staats, nor 
 the inclinations of la Belle Barberie are a sub 
 ject for the Governor in Council." said the Pa- 
 troon of Kinderhook stiffly. 
 
 " Nor was it thus treated. The Viscount 
 spoke me fairj and had he not pushed the matter 
 beyond discretion, we might have come to 
 happier conclusions." 
 
 " I am glad that there was some restraint in 
 the discourse." 
 
 " The man certainly exceeded reason, for he 
 led the conference into personalities that no 
 prudent man could relish. Still he said it was 
 possible that the Coquette might yet be ordered 
 for service among the islands !" 
 
 It has been said that Oloff Van Staats was 
 a fair personable young man of vast stature, 
 and with much of the air of a gentleman of 
 his country ; for though a British subject, he 
 was rather a Hollander in feelings, habits, and 
 opinions. He coloured at the allusion to the 
 presence of his known rival, though his com- 
 
44. THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 panion was at a loss to discover whether pride 
 or vexation was at the bottom of his emotion. 
 
 " If Captain Ludlow prefer a cruise in the 
 Indies to duty on this coast, I hope he may 
 obtain his wish," was the cautious answer. 
 
 " Your liberal man enjoys a sounding name, 
 and an empty coffer," observed the Alderman 
 drily. " To me it seems that a petition to the 
 admiral to send so meritorious an officer on ser 
 vice where he may distinguish himself, should 
 deserve his thanks. The freebooters are play 
 ing the devil s game with the sugar trade, and 
 even the French are getting troublesome, fur 
 ther south." 
 
 " He has certainly the reputation of an active 
 cruiser." 
 
 44 Blixum and Philosophy ! If you wish to 
 succeed with Alida, Patroon, you must put more 
 briskness into the adventure. The girl has a 
 cross of the Frenchman in her temper, and 
 none of your deliberations and taciturnities will 
 gain the day. This visit to the Lust in Rust 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 45 
 
 is Cupid s own handy work, and I hope to see 
 you both return to town as amicable as the 
 Stadtholder and the States General after a sharp 
 struggle for the year s subsidy has been settled 
 by a compromise." 
 
 66 The success of this suit is the affair nearest 
 my " The young man paused, as if surprised 
 at his own communicativeness, and taking ad 
 vantage of the haste in which his toilette had 
 been made, he thrust a hand into his vest, co 
 vering with his broad palm a portion of the 
 human frame which poets do not describe as the 
 seat of the passions. 
 
 " If you mean stomach, Sir, you will not 
 have reason to be disappointed," retorted the 
 Alderman, a little more severely than was usual 
 with one so cautious. " The heiress of Myn- 
 dert Van Beverout will not be a penny less bride, 
 and Monsieur Barberie did not close the books 
 of life without taking good care of the balance 
 sheet but yonder are those devils of ferrymen 
 quitting the wharf without us ! Scamper ahead, 
 
46 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Brutus, and tell them to wait the legal minute. 
 The rogues are never exact ; sometimes starting 
 before I am ready, and sometimes keeping me 
 waiting in the sun, as if I were no better than 
 a dried dun-fish. Punctuality is the soul of 
 business, and one of my habits does not like to 
 be ahead nor behind his time." 
 
 In this manner the worthy burgher, who 
 would have been glad to regulate the movements 
 of others on all occasions a good deal by his 
 own, vented his complaints, while he and his 
 companion hurried on to overtake the slow- 
 moving boat in which they were to embark, A 
 brief description of the scene will not be with 
 out interest to a generation that may be termed 
 modern, in reference to the time of which we 
 write. 
 
 A deep narrow creek penetrated the island at 
 this point for the distance of a quarter of a mile. 
 Each of its banks had a row of buildings, as 
 the houses line a canal in the cities of Holland. 
 As the natural course of the inlet was neces- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 47 
 
 sarily respected, the street had taken a curva 
 ture not unlike that of a new moon. The houses 
 were ultra Dutch, being low, angular, fastidi 
 ously neat, and all erected with their gables to 
 the street. Each had its ugly and inconvenient 
 entrance termed a stoop ; its vane or weather 
 cock, its dormer windows, and its graduated 
 battlement walls. Near the apex of one of the 
 latter, a little iron crane projected into the 
 street. A small boat, of the same metal, swung 
 from its end, a sign that the building to which 
 it was appended was the ferry-house. 
 
 An inherent love of artificial and confined 
 navigation had probably induced the burghers 
 to select this spot as the place whence so 
 many craft departed from the town, since it 
 is certain that the two rivers could have fur 
 nished divers points more favourable for such an 
 object, inasmuch as they possess the advantage 
 of wide and unobstructed channels. 
 
 Fifty blacks were already in the street, dip 
 ping their brooms into the creek, and flourish- 
 
48 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 ing water over the side walks, and on the fronts 
 of the low edifices. This light but daily duty 
 was relieved by clamorous collisions of wit, and 
 by shouts of merriment, in which the whole 
 street would join, as with one joyous and reck 
 less movement of the spirit. 
 
 The language of this light-hearted and noisy 
 race was Dutch, already corrupted by English 
 idioms, and occasionally by English words ; a 
 system of change that has probably given rise 
 to an opinion, among some of the descendants 
 of the earlier colonists, that the latter tongue is 
 merely a patois of the former. This opinion, 
 which so much resembles that certain well read 
 English scholars entertain of the plagiarisms of 
 the continental writers, when they first begin to 
 dip into their works, is not strictly true, since 
 the language of England has probably bestowed 
 as much on the dialect of which we speak, as it 
 has ever received from the purer sources of the 
 school of Holland. Here and there a grave 
 burgher, still in his night-cap, might be seen 
 
THE WATER WITCH, 49 
 
 with a head thrust out of an upper window, 
 listening to these barbarisms of speech, and tak 
 ing note of all the merry jibes that flew from 
 mouth to mouth with an indomitable gravity 
 that no levity of those beneath could under 
 mine. 
 
 As the movement of the ferry boat was ne 
 cessarily slow, the Alderman and his companion 
 were enabled to step into it, before the fasts 
 were thrown aboard. The periagua, as the 
 craft was called, partook of an European and 
 an American character. It possessed the length, 
 narrowness, and clean bow of the canoe, from 
 which its name was derived, with the flat bot 
 tom and lee-boards of a boat constructed for 
 the shallow waters of the Low Countries. 
 Twenty years ago, vessels of this description 
 abounded in our rivers, and even now their 
 two long and unsupported masts, and high 
 narrow- headed sails, are daily seen bending 
 like reeds to the breeze, and dancing lightly 
 over the billows of the bay. There is a 
 
 VOL. i. D 
 
50 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 variety of the class, of a size and pretension 
 altogether superior to that just mentioned, 
 which deserves a place among the most pictur 
 esque and striking boats that float. He who 
 has had occasion to navigate the southern shore 
 of the Sound, must have often seen the vessel 
 to which we allude. It is distinguished by 
 its great length, and masts which, naked of 
 cordage, rise from the hull like two tall and 
 faultless trees. When the eye runs over the 
 daring height of canvas, the noble confidence 
 of the rig, and sees the comparatively vast 
 machine handled with ease and grace by the 
 dexterity of two fearless and expert mariners, 
 it excites some such admiration as that which 
 springs from the view of a severe temple of 
 antiquity. The nakedness and simplicity of 
 the construction, coupled with the boldness and 
 rapidity of ks movements, imparts to the craft 
 an air of grandeur that its ordinary uses 
 would not give reason to expect. 
 
 Though, in some respects, of singularly aqua- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 51 
 
 tic habits, the original colonists of New York 
 were far less adventurous as mariners than their 
 present descendants. A passage across the bay 
 did not often occur in the tranquil lives of the 
 burghers ; and it is still within the memory of 
 man, that a voyage between the two principal 
 towns of the state was an event to excite the 
 solicitude of friends, and the anxiety of the 
 traveller. The perils of the Tappaan Zee, as 
 one of the wider reaches of the Hudson is still 
 termed, was often dealt with by the good 
 wives of the colony, in their relations of 
 marvels, and she who had oftenest encountered 
 them unharmed, was deemed a sort of marine 
 Amazon. 
 
 D 2 
 
52 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " I have great comfort from this fellow : methinks he hath no 
 drowning mark upon him ; his complexion is perfect gallows." 
 
 Tempest. 
 
 IT has been said that the periagua was in 
 motion before our two adventurers succeeded 
 in stepping on board. The arrival of the Pa- 
 troon of Kinderhook and of Alderman Van 
 Beverout was expected, and the schipper had 
 taken his departure at the precise moment of 
 the turn in the current, in order to show, with 
 a sort of pretending independence which has a 
 peculiar charm for men in his situation, that 
 1 time and tide wait for no man. Still there 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 53 
 
 were limits to his decision, for while he put 
 the boat in motion, especial care was taken 
 that the circumstance should not subject a 
 customer as important and constant as the Al 
 derman, to any serious inconvenience. When 
 he and his friend had embarked, the painters 
 were thrown aboard, and the crew of the ferry 
 boat began to set their vessel in earnest towards 
 the mouth of the creek. During these move 
 ments a young negro was seated in the bow 
 of the periagua, with his legs dangling, one 
 on each side of the cut-water, forming no bad 
 apology for a figure head. He held a conch 
 to his mouth, and with his two glossy cheeks 
 inflated like those of ^Eolus, and his dark glit 
 tering eyes expressing the delight he found in 
 drawing sounds from the shell, he continued to 
 give forth the signal for departure. 
 
 " Put up the conch, thou bawler !" cried the 
 Alderman, giving the younker a rap on his 
 naked poll in passing, with the end of his cane, 
 that might have disturbed the harmony of one 
 
54 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 less bent on clamour. " A thousand windy 
 trumpeters would be silence itself, compared 
 to such a pair of lungs ! How now, Master 
 Schipper, is this your punctuality, to start 
 before your passengers are ready ?" 
 
 The undisturbed boatman, without removing 
 the pipe from his mouth, pointed to the bub 
 bles on the water, which were already floating 
 outward, a certain evidence that the tide was 
 on the ebb. 
 
 " I care nothing for your ins and outs, your 
 ebbs and floods," returned the Alderman in 
 heat. " There is no better time-piece than 
 the leg and eye of a punctual man. It is no 
 more pleasant to go before one is ready, than 
 to tarry when all business is done. Harkee, 
 Master Schipper, you are not the only navigator 
 in this bay, nor is your craft the swiftest that 
 was ever launched. Have a care ; though an 
 acquiescing man by nature, I know how to en 
 courage an opposition when the public good 
 seriously calls for my support." 
 
THE WATER WITCH, 55 
 
 To the attack on himself, the schipper was 
 stoically indifferent, but to impeach the qualities 
 of the periagua was to attack one who de 
 pended solely on his eloquence for vindication. 
 Removing his pipe, therefore, he rejoined on 
 the Alderman, with that sort of freedom that 
 the sturdy Hollanders never failed to use to 
 all offenders, regardless alike of rank, or per 
 sonal qualities. 
 
 " Der wind-gall and Alderman !" he growled 
 in the dialect of the country ; " I should be 
 glad to see the boat in York bay that can 
 show the Milk-Maid her stern ! The mayor 
 and council-men had better order the tide to 
 turn when they please, and then, as each man 
 will think of his own pleasure, a pretty set of 
 whirlpools they will give us in the harbour." 
 
 The schipper having delivered himself of 
 his sentiments to this effect, resumed his 
 pipe, like a man who felt he deserved the 
 meed of victory, whether he were to receive 
 it or not. 
 
56 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " It is useless to dispute with an obstinate 
 man/ muttered the Alderman, making his way 
 through vegetable baskets, butter-tubs and all 
 the garniture of a market boat, to the place 
 occupied by his niece, in the stern sheets. 
 " Good morrow to thee, Alida dear ; early rising 
 will make a flower garden of thy cheeks, and 
 the fresh air of the Lust in Rust will give 
 even thy roses a deeper bloom." 
 
 The mollified burgher then saluted the cheek, 
 whose bloom had been deepened by his remark, 
 with a warmth that showed he was not without 
 natural affection, touched his hat in return 
 for a low bow that he received from an aged 
 white man servant, in a clean but ancient livery, 
 and nodded to a young negress, whose second 
 hand finery sufficiently shewed she was a per 
 sonal attendant of the heiress. 
 
 A second glance at Alida de Barberie was 
 scarcely necessary to betray her mixed descent. 
 From her Norman father, a Huguenot of the 
 petite noblesse, she had inherited her raven 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 5J 
 
 hair, the large brilliant coal-black eyes, in 
 which wildness was singularly relieved by 
 sweetness, a classical and faultless profile, and 
 a form which was both taller and more flexible 
 than commonly fell to the lot of the damsels 
 of Holland. From her mother, la Belle Bar- 
 berie, as the maiden was often playfully termed, 
 had received a skin, fair and spotless as the 
 flower of France, and a bloom which rivalled 
 the rich tints of an evening sky in her native 
 land. Some of the em bon point) for which 
 the sister of the Alderman had been a little 
 remarkable, had descended also to her fairer 
 daughter. In Alida, however, this peculiarity 
 did not exceed the fulness which became her 
 years, rounding her person and softening the 
 outlines of her form, rather than diminishing 
 its ease and grace. These personal advantages 
 were embellished by a neat but modest travel 
 ling habit, a little beaver, that was shaded by 
 a cluster of drooping feathers, and a mien 
 that, under the embarrassment of her situation, 
 
58 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 preserved the happiest medium between modesty 
 and perfect self-possession. 
 
 When Alderman Van Beverout joined this 
 fair creature, in whose future happiness he was 
 fully justified in taking the deep interest which 
 he has betrayed in some of the opening scenes 
 of this volume, he found her engaged in a cour 
 teous discourse with the young man who was 
 generally considered as the one among the nu 
 merous pretenders to her favour who was most 
 likely to succeed. Had other cause been want 
 ing, this sight alone would have been sufficient 
 to restore his good humour, and making a place 
 for himself, by quietly dispossessing Frangois, 
 the domestic of his niece, the persevering 
 burgher endeavoured to encourage an inter 
 course, that he had reason to think must ter 
 minate in the result he both meditated and 
 desired. 
 
 In the present effort, however, the Alderman 
 failed. There is a feeling which universally 
 pervades landsmen and landswomen, when they 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 59 
 
 first embark on an element to which they are 
 strangers, that ordinarily shuts their mouths 
 and renders them meditative. In the older and 
 more observant travellers it is observation and 
 comparison, while with the younger and more 
 susceptible it is very apt to take the character 
 of sentiment. Without stopping to analyse the 
 cause, or the consequences, in the instance of 
 the Patroon and la Belle Barberie, it will be 
 sufficient to state, that in spite of all the efforts 
 of the worthy burgher, who had navigated the 
 sluggish creek too often to be the subject of any 
 new emotions, his youthful companions gradu 
 ally grew silent and thoughtful. Though a 
 celibite in his own person, Myndert had not 
 now to learn that the infant god as often does 
 his mischief through this quiet agency, as in 
 any other manner. He became, therefore, mute 
 in his turn, watching the slow movement of the 
 periagua with as much assiduity as if he saw his 
 own image on the water. 
 
 A quarter of an hour of this characteristic, 
 
60 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 and it is to be inferred agreeable navigation, 
 brought the boat to the mouth of the inlet. 
 Here a powerful effort forced her into the tideV 
 way, and she might be said to put forth on her 
 voyage. But while the black crew were trim 
 ming the sails, and making the other necessary 
 preparations for departure, a voice was heard 
 hailing them from the shore, with an order, 
 rather than a request, that they would stay their 
 movements. 
 
 " Hilloa, the periagua!" it cried. "Haul 
 over your head-sheet, and jam the tiller down 
 into the lap of that comfortably-looking old gen 
 tleman. Come; bear a hand, my hummers ! or 
 your race-horse of a craft will get the bit into 
 its mouth, and run away with you."" 
 
 This summons produced a pause in the move 
 ments of the crew. After regarding each other 
 in surprise and admiration, the watermen drew 
 the head sheet over, put the helm a-lee, without 
 however invading the lap of the Alderman, and 
 the boat became stationary at the distance of a 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 61 
 
 few rods from the shore. While the new pas 
 senger was preparing to come off in a yawl, 
 those who awaited his movements had leisure to 
 examine his appearance, and to form their dif 
 ferent surmises concerning his character. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that the 
 stranger was a son of the ocean. He was of a 
 firmly knit and active frame, standing exactly 
 six feet in his stockings. The shoulders, 
 though square, were compact, the chest full 
 and high, the limbs round, neat, and muscular, 
 the whole indicating a form in which strength 
 and activity were apportioned with the greatest 
 accuracy. A small bullet head was set firmly 
 on its broad foundation, and it was thickly 
 covered with a mass of brown hair that was 
 already a little grizzled. The face was that of 
 a man of thirty, and it was worthy of the frame, 
 being manly, bold, decided, and rather hand 
 some ; though it expressed little more than high 
 daring, perfect coolness, some obstinacy, and a 
 certain degree of contempt for others, that its 
 
62 _t THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 owner did not always take the trouble to con 
 ceal. The colour was a rich, deep and uniform 
 red, such as much exposure is apt to give to 
 men whose complexions are, by nature, light 
 and florid. 
 
 The dress of the stranger was quite as re 
 markable as his person. He wore a short pee- 
 jacket, cut tight and tastefully; a little low 
 and rakish cap, and full bell-mouthed trousers, 
 all in a spotlessly white duck ; a material well 
 adapted to the season and the climate. The 
 first was made without buttons, affording an 
 apology for the use of a rich Indian shawl, that 
 belted his body and kept the garment tight to 
 his frame. Faultlessly clean linen appeared 
 through the opening above, and a collar, of the 
 same material, fell over the gay bandanna, 
 which was thrown, with a single careless turn, 
 around his throat. The latter was a manufac 
 ture then little known in Europe, and its use 
 was almost entirely confined to seamen of the 
 long voyage. One of its ends was suffered to 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 63 
 
 blow about in the wind, but the other was 
 brought down with care over the chest, where 
 it was confined, by springing the blade of a 
 small knife with an ivory handle, in a manner to 
 confine the silk to the linen ; a sort of breast pin 
 that is even now much used by mariners. If 
 we add that light canvass slippers, with foul- 
 anchors worked in worsted upon their insteps, 
 covered his feet, we shall say all that is neces 
 sary of his attire. 
 
 The appearance of one of the air and dress 
 we have just described, excited a strong sensa 
 tion among the blacks who scrubbed the stoops 
 and pavements. He was closely attended to the 
 place where he hailed the periagua, by four or 
 five loungers, who studied his manner and 
 movements with the admiration that men of 
 their class seldom fail to bestow on those who 
 bear about them the evidence of having passed 
 lives of adventure, and perhaps of hardship and 
 daring. Beckoning to one of these idlers to 
 follow him, the hero of the India-shawl stepped 
 
64 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 into an empty boat, and casting lose its fast, he 
 skulled the light yawl towards the craft which 
 was awaiting his arrival. There was, in truth, 
 something in the reckless air, the decision, and 
 the manly attitudes of so fine a specimen of a 
 seaman, that might have attracted notice from 
 those who were more practised in the world 
 than the little crowd of admirers he left behind 
 him. With an easy play of wrist and elbow, 
 he caused the yawl to glide ahead, like some 
 indolent marine animal swimming through its 
 element; and as he stood, firm as a planted 
 statue, with a foot on each gunwale, there was 
 much of that confidence created by his steadi 
 ness, that one acquires by viewing the repeated 
 and successful efforts of a skilful rope-dancer. 
 When the yawl reached the side of the periagua, 
 he dropped a small Spanish coin into the open 
 palm of the negro, and sprang on the side of the 
 latter, with an exertion of muscle that sent the 
 little boat he quitted half way back towards the 
 shore, leaving the frightened black to steady 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 65 
 
 himself in his rocking tenement in the best 
 manner he could. 
 
 The tread and posture of the stranger, when 
 he gained the half-deck of the periagua, was 
 finely nautical, and confident to audacity. He 
 seemed to analyse the half-maritime character 
 of the crew and passengers at a glance, and to 
 feel that sort of superiority over his compa 
 nions, which men of his profession were then 
 a little too wont to entertain towards those 
 whose ambition could be bounded by terra firma. 
 His eye turned upward, at the simple rig and 
 modest sails of the periagua, while his tipper lip 
 curled with the knowing expression of a critic. 
 Then kicking the fore sheet clear of its elect, 
 and suffering the sail to fill, he stepped from 
 one butter-tub to another, making a stepping- 
 stone of the lap of a countryman by the way, 
 and alighted in the stern-sheets in the midst of 
 the party of Alderman Van Beverout, with the 
 agility and fearlessness of a feathered Mercury. 
 With a coolness that did infinite credit to his 
 
66 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 powers for commanding, his next act was to 
 dispossess the amazed schipper of the helm, 
 taking the tiller into his own hands, with as 
 much composure as if he were the every-day 
 occupant of the post. When he saw that the 
 boat was beginning to move through the water, 
 he found leisure to bestow some observation on 
 his fellow-voyagers. The first that met his bold 
 and reckless eye was Francois, the domestic of 
 Alida. 
 
 " If it come to blow in squalls, Commodore," 
 observed the intruder, with a gravity that half 
 deceived the attentive Frenchman, while he 
 pointed to the bag in which the latter wore 
 his hair, " you ll be troubled to carry your 
 broad pennant. But so experienced an officer 
 has not put to sea without having a storm cue 
 in readiness for foul weather." 
 
 The valet did not, or affected not to under 
 stand the allusion, maintaining an air of digni 
 fied but silent superiority. 
 
 " The gentleman is in a foreign service, and 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 67 
 
 does not understand an English mariner ! The 
 worst that can come after all, of too much top- 
 hamper, is to cut away, and let it drift with 
 the scud. May I make bold to ask. Judge, if 
 the courts have done any thing of late concern 
 ing the freebooters among the islands ?" 
 
 " I have not the honour to bear her Majesty s 
 commission," coldly returned Van Staats of 
 Kinderhook, to whom this question had been 
 hardily put. 
 
 " The best navigator is sometimes puzzled by 
 a hazy observation, and many an old seaman 
 has taken a fog-bank for solid ground. Since 
 you are not in the courts, Sir, I wish you joy ; 
 for it is running among shoals to be cruising 
 there, whether as judge or suitor. One is 
 never fairly snug and land-locked, while in 
 company of a lawyer, and yet the devil him 
 self cannot always give the sharks a good offing. 
 A pretty sheet of water, friends, and one as snug 
 as rotten cables and foul winds can render desir 
 able, is this bay of York P 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " You are a mariner of the long voyage," 
 returned the Patroon, unwilling that Alida 
 should not believe him equal to bandying wits 
 with the stranger. 
 
 " Long or short ; Calcutta, or Cape Cod ; 
 dead reckoning, eye-sight, or star-gazing, all s 
 one to your real dolphin. The shape of the 
 coast, between Fundy and Horn, is as familiar 
 to my eye as an admirer to this pretty young 
 lady ; and as to the other shore, I have run it 
 down oftener than the commodore here has 
 ever set his pennant, blow high or blow low. 
 A cruise like this is a Sunday in my naviga 
 tion, though I dare say you took leave of the 
 wife, blessed the children, overhauled the will, 
 and sent to ask a good word from the priests, 
 before you came aboard ?" 
 
 " Had these ceremonies been observed, the 
 danger would not have been increased," said 
 the young Patroon, anxious to steal a glance 
 at la Belle Barberie, though his timidity caused 
 him, in truth, to look the other way. " One 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 69 
 
 is never nearer clanger for being prepared to 
 meet it." 
 
 " True ; we must all die when the reckoning 
 is out. Hang or drown gibbet or bullet clears 
 the world of a great deal of rubbish, or the decks 
 would get to be so littered that the vessel could 
 not be worked. The last cruise is the longest 
 of all, and honest papers, with a clean bill of 
 health, rnay help a man into port, when he is 
 past keeping the open sea. How now, Schip- 
 per ! what lies are floating about the docks this 
 morning ? when did the last Albany man get 
 his tub down the river, or whose gelding has 
 been ridden to death in chase of a witch ?" 
 
 " The devil s babes !" muttered the Alder 
 man, " there is no want of roisterers to torment 
 such innocents !" 
 
 " Have the buccaneers taken to praying, or 
 does their trade thrive in this heel of the war ?" 
 continued the mariner of the India-shawl, dis 
 regarding the complaint of the burgher. * The 
 times are getting heavy for men of metal, as 
 
70 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 may be seen by the manner in which yon cruiser 
 wears out her ground-tackle, instead of trying 
 the open sea. May I spring every spar I carry, 
 but I would have the boat out and give her an 
 airing, before to-morrow, if the Queen would 
 condescend to put your humble servant in charge 
 of the craft ! The man lies there, at his anchors, 
 as if he had a good freight of real Hollands in 
 his hold, and was waiting for a few bales of 
 beaver-skins to barter for his strong waters." 
 
 As the stranger coolly expressed this opinion 
 of her Majesty s ship Coquette, he rolled his 
 glance over the persons of his companions, suf 
 fering it to rest a moment, with a secret signifi 
 cance, on the steady eye of the burgher. 
 
 " Well," he continued, " the sloop answers 
 for a floating vane, to tell which way the tide is 
 running, if she does nothing better ; and that 
 must be a great assistance, Schipper, in the 
 navigation of one who keeps as bright a look-out 
 on the manner in which the world whirls round 
 as a gentleman of your sagacity !" 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " If the news in the creek be true," rejoined 
 the unoffended owner of the periagua, " there 
 will be other business for Captain Ludlow and 
 the Coquette, before many days !" 
 
 * 6 Ah ! having eaten all his meat and bread, 
 the man will be obliged to victual his ship 
 anew ! Twere a pity so active a gentleman 
 should keep a fast, in a brisk tide s way. And 
 when his coppers are once more filled, and the 
 dinner is fairly eaten, what dost think will be 
 his next duty ?" 
 
 " There is a report, among the boatmen of 
 the South Bay, that something was seen yester 
 night off the outer side of Long Island!" 
 
 " I ll answer for the truth of that rumour, 
 for having come up with the evening flood, I 
 saw it myself." 
 
 " Der duyvel s luck ! and what dost take it 
 to be ?" 
 
 " The Atlantic Ocean ; if you doubt my 
 word, I appeal to this well ballasted old gentle- 
 
72 THE WATER, WITCH. 
 
 man, who, being a schoolmaster, is able to give 
 you latitude and longitude for its truth." 
 
 " I am Alderman Van Beverout," muttered 
 the object of this new attack, between his 
 teeth, though apparently but half disposed to 
 notice one who set so little bounds to his dis 
 course. 
 
 " I beg a thousand pardons !" returned the 
 strange seaman, with a grave inclination of his 
 body. " The solidity of your worship s coun 
 tenance deceived me. It may be indeed unrea 
 sonable to expect any alderman to know the 
 position of the Atlantic Ocean ! And yet, gentle 
 men, on the honour of a man who has seen much 
 salt water in his time, I do assure you the sea 
 I speak of is actually there. If there be any 
 thing on it, or in it, that should not in reason 
 be so, this worthy commander of the periagua 
 will let us know the rest." 
 
 " A wood boat from the inlets says, the 
 Skimmer of the Seas was lately seen standing 
 along the coast," returned the ferryman, in the 
 
THE WATER WITCH. J3 
 
 tone of one who is certain of delivering matter 
 of general interest. 
 
 " Your true sea-dog, who runs in and out of 
 inlets, is a man for marvels !" coolly observed 
 the stranger. " They know the colour of the 
 sea at night, and are for ever steering in the 
 wind s eye in search of adventures. I wonder 
 more of them are not kept at making alma 
 nacks ! There was a mistake concerning a 
 thunder-storm in the last I bought, and all 
 for the want of proper science. And pray, 
 friend, who is this Skimmer of the Seas that 
 is said to be running after his needle, like a 
 tailor who has found a hole in his neighbour s 
 coat ?" 
 
 " The witches may tell ! I only know that 
 such a rover there is, and that he is here to 
 day and there to-morrow. Some say, it is only 
 a craft of mist that skims the top of the seas, 
 like a sailing water-fowl, and others think it is 
 the sprite of a vessel that was rifled and burnt 
 by Kidd, in the Indian Ocean, looking for its 
 
 VOL. I. E 
 
74 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 gold and the killed. I saw him once myself, 
 but the distance was so great, and his manoeu 
 vres so unnatural, that I could hardly give a 
 good account of his hull or rig." 
 
 " This is matter that don t get into the log 
 every watch ! Where away, or in what seas, 
 didst meet the thing ?" 
 
 " Twas off the Branch. We were fishing in 
 thick weather, and when the mist lifted a little, 
 there was a craft seen standing in-shore, running 
 like a race-horse ; but while we got our anchor, 
 she had made a league of offing on the other 
 tack r 
 
 " A certain proof of either her or your acti 
 vity. But what might have been the form and 
 shape of your fly-away ?" 
 
 " Nothing determined. To one she seemed 
 a full rigged and booming ship ; another took 
 her for a Bermudian scudder ; while to me she 
 had the look of twenty periaguas built into a 
 single craft. It is well known, however, that 
 a West Indiaman went to sea that night, and 
 
THE WATER WITCH. *]5 
 
 though it is now three years, no tidings of her, 
 or her crew, have ever come to any in York. 
 J have never gone upon the banks to fish since 
 that day in thick weather." 
 
 " You have done well," observed the stranger. 
 6 I have seen many wonderful sights myself 
 on the rolling ocean, and he, whose business 
 it is to lay between wind and water, like you, 
 my friend, should never trust himself within 
 reach of one of those devil s flyers. I could 
 tell you a tale of an affair in the calm latitudes, 
 under the burning sun, that would be a lesson 
 to all of over-bold curiosity ! Commission and 
 character are not affairs for your in-shore 
 coaster."" 
 
 " We have time to hear it,"" observed the 
 Patroon, whose attention had been excited by 
 the discourse, and who read in the dark eye of 
 Alida that she felt an interest in the expected 
 narrative. 
 
 But the countenance of the stranger suddenly 
 grew serious. He shook his head, like one who 
 
76 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 had sufficient reasons for his silence, and relin 
 quishing the tiller, he quite coolly obliged a 
 gaping countryman, in the centre of the boat, 
 to yield his place, where he laid his own athletic 
 form, at full length, folded his arms on his 
 breast, and shut his eyes. In Jess than five 
 minutes, all within hearing had audible evidence 
 that this extraordinary son of the ocean was in 
 a sound sleep. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 77 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " Be patient, for the prize I ll bring thee to, 
 Shall hoodwink this mischance." 
 
 Tempest. 
 
 THE air, audacity, and language of the un 
 known manner had produced a marked sensa 
 tion among the passengers of the periagua. It 
 was plain, by the playfulness that lurked about 
 the coal-black eye of la Belle Barberie, that she 
 had been amused by his sarcasms, though the 
 boldness of his manner had caused her to main 
 tain the reserve which she believed necessary to 
 her sex and condition. The Patroon studied 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 the countenance of his mistress, and though half 
 oHcnded by the freedom of the intruder, he had 
 believed it wisest to tolerate the liberties, as the 
 natural excesses of a spirit that had been lately 
 released from the monotony of a sea life. The 
 repose which usually reigned in the countenance 
 of the Alderman had been a little troubled; but 
 he succeeded in concealing his discontent from 
 any impertinent observation. When the chief 
 actor in the foregoing scene, therefore, saw fit 
 to withdraw, the usual tranquillity was restored, 
 and his presence appeared to be forgotten. 
 
 An ebbing tide and a freshening bree/e 
 quickly carried the periagua past the smaller 
 islands of the bay, and brought the cruiser, 
 called the Coquette, more distinctly into view. 
 This vessel, a ship of twenty guns, lay abreast 
 of the hamlet, on the shores of Staten Island, 
 which was the destination of the ferry boat. 
 Here was the usual anchorage of outward bound 
 ships, which awaited a change of wind, and it 
 was here that vessels then, as in our times, were 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 79 
 
 subject to those examinations and delays which 
 are imposed for the safety of the inhabitants of 
 the city. The Coquette was alone, however ; 
 for the arrival of a trader from a distant port, 
 was an event of unfrequent occurrence at the 
 commencement of the eighteenth century. 
 
 The course of the periagua brought her within 
 fifty feet of the sloop of war. As the former 
 approached, a movement of curiosity and in 
 terest occurred among those she contained. 
 
 " Take more room for your Milk-Maid," 
 grumbled the Alderman, observing that the 
 schipper was willing to gratify his passengers, 
 by running as near as possible to the dark sides 
 of the cruiser. " Seas and Oceans ! is not York 
 Bay wide enough, that you must brush the dust 
 out of the muzzles of the guns of yon lazy ship ! 
 If the Queen knew how her money was eaten 
 and drunk by the idle knaves aboard her, she 
 would send them all to hunt for freebooters 
 among the islands. Look at the land, Alida, 
 child, and you ll think no more of the fright the 
 
80 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 gaping dunce is giving thee; he only wishes to 
 show his skill in steering." 
 
 But the niece manifested none of the terror 
 that the uncle was willing to ascribe to her 
 fears. Instead of turning pale, the colour deep 
 ened on her cheeks, as the periagua came danc 
 ing along, under the lee of the cruiser ; and if 
 her respiration became quicker than usual, it 
 was scarcely produced by the agitation of alarm. 
 The near sight of the tall masts, and of the 
 maze of cordage that hung nearly above their 
 heads, however, prevented the change from 
 being noted. A hundred curious eyes were 
 already peeping at them through the ports, or 
 over the bulwarks of the ship, when suddenly 
 an officer, who wore the undress of a naval cap 
 tain of that day, sprang into the main rigging 
 of the cruiser, and saluted the party in the 
 periagua, by waving his hat hurriedly, like one 
 who was agreeably taken by surprise. 
 
 * c A fair sky and gentle breezes to each and 
 all !" he cried, with the hearty manner of a sea- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 81 
 
 man. " 1 kiss my hand to the fair Alida ; and 
 the Alderman will take a sailor s good wishes ; 
 Mr. Van Staats, I salute you.*" 
 
 " Ay," muttered the burgher, u your idlers 
 have nothing better to do, than to make words 
 answer for deeds. A lazy war and a distant 
 enemy make you seamen the lords of the land. 
 Captain Ludlow." 
 
 Alida blushed still deeper, hesitated, and then, 
 by a movement that was half involuntary, she 
 waved her handkerchief. The young Patroon 
 arose, and answered the salutation by a courteous 
 bow. By this time the ferry-boat was nearly 
 past the ship, and the scowl was quitting the 
 face of the Alderman, when the mariner of the 
 India shawl sprang to his feet, and, in a moment, 
 he stood again in the centre of their party. 
 
 " A pretty seat-boat, and a neat show aloft !" 
 he said., as his understanding eye scanned the 
 rigging of the royal cruiser, taking the tiller 
 at the same time, with all his former indif 
 ference from the hands of the schipper. " Her 
 E 3 
 
82 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Majesty should have good service from such 
 a racer, and no doubt the youth in her rig 
 ging is a man to get the most out of his craft. 
 We ll take another observation. Draw away 
 your head sheet, boy." 
 
 The stranger had put the helm a-lee, while 
 speaking, and by the time the order he had 
 given was uttered, the quick- working boat 
 was about, and nearly filled on the other tack. 
 In another minute, she was again brushing 
 along the side of the sloop of war. A common 
 complaint against this hardy interference with 
 the regular duty of the boat, was about to break 
 out of the lips of the Alderman and the schipper, 
 when he of the India shawl lifted his cap, and 
 addressed the officer in the rigging, with all the 
 self-possession he had manifested in the inter 
 course with those nearer his person. 
 
 " Has her Majesty need of a man in her ser 
 vice, who has seen, in his time, more blue water 
 than hard ground ? or is there no empty berth 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 83 
 
 in so gallant a cruiser for one who must do a 
 seaman s duty, or starve ?" 
 
 The descendant of the king-hating Ludlows, 
 as the Lord Cornbury had styled the race of 
 the commander of the Coquette, was quite as 
 much surprised by the appearance of him who 
 put this question, as he was by the coolness with 
 which a mariner of ordinary condition presumed 
 to address an officer who bore so high a com 
 mission as his own. He had, however, suffi 
 cient time to recollect in whose presence he stood, 
 ere he replied, for the stranger had again placed 
 the helm a-lee, and caused the foresail to be 
 thrown aback ; a change that made the periagua 
 stationary. 
 
 " The Queen will always receive a bold 
 mariner in her pay, if he come prepared to serve 
 with skill and fidelity," he said ; " as a proof 
 of which, let a rope be thrown the periagua ; 
 we shall treat more at our ease under her Ma 
 jesty s pennant. I shall be proud to entertain 
 Alderman Van Beverout, in the mean time, 
 
84 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 and a cutter will always be at his command 
 when he shall have occasion to quit us." 
 
 " Your land-loving aldermen find their way 
 from a Queen s cruiser to the shore, more easily 
 than a seaman of twenty years 1 experience, 
 returned the other, without giving the burgher 
 time to express his thanks for the polite offer 
 of the other. " You have gone through the 
 Gibraltar passage, without doubt, noble captain, 
 being a gentleman that has got so fine a boat 
 under his orders ?" 
 
 u Duty has taken me into the Italian seas, 
 more than once," answered Ludlow, half dis 
 posed to resent this familiarity, though too 
 anxious to keep the periagua near, to quarrel 
 with him who so evidently had produced the 
 unexpected pleasure. 
 
 66 Then you know that, though a lady might 
 fan a ship through the straits eastward, it 
 needs a Levant breeze to bring her out again. 
 Her Majesty s pennants are long, and when they 
 get foul around the limbs of a thoroughly bred 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 85 
 
 sea-dog, it passes all his art to clear the jam. 
 It is most worthy of remark, that the better the 
 seaman the less his power to cast loose the knot !" 
 
 " If the pennant be so long, it may reach 
 farther than you wish ! But a bold volunteer 
 has no occasion to dread a press." 
 
 " I fear the berth I wish is filled," returned 
 the other, curling his lip. " Let draw the fore- 
 sheet, lad ; we will take our departure, leaving 
 the fly of the pennant well under our lee. 
 Adieu, brave Captain ; when you have need of 
 a thorough rover, and dream of stern chases 
 and wet sails, think of him who visited your 
 ship at her lazy moorings." 
 
 Ludlow bit his lip, and though his fine face 
 reddened to the temples, he met the arch 
 glance of Alida, and laughed. But he who 
 had so hardily braved the resentment of a man, 
 powerful as the commander of a royal cruiser in 
 a British colony, appeared to understand the 
 hazard of his situation. The periagua whirled 
 round on her heel, and at the next minute it was 
 
86 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 bending to the breeze, and dashing through the 
 little waves towards the shore. Three boats left 
 the cruiser at the same moment. One, which 
 evidently contained her captain, advanced with 
 the usual dignified movement of a barge landing 
 an officer of rank, but the others were urged 
 ahead, with all the earnestness of a hot chase. 
 
 " Unless disposed to serve the Queen, you 
 have not done well, my friend, to brave one of 
 her commanders at the muzzles of his guns," 
 observed the Patroon, soon as the state of the 
 case became too evident to doubt of the inten 
 tions of the man-of-war s men. 
 
 " That Captain Ludlow would gladly take 
 some of us out of this boat, by fair means or by 
 foul, is a fact clear as a bright star in a cloud 
 less night, and well knowing a seaman s duty to 
 his superiors, I shall leave him to his choice." 
 
 " In which case you will shortly eat her 
 Majesty s bread/ pithily returned the Alder 
 man. 
 
 " The food is unpalateable and I reject it 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 87 
 
 and yet here is a boat whose crew seem deter 
 mined to make one swallow worse fare." 
 
 The unknown mariner ceased speaking, for 
 the situation of the periagua was truly getting 
 to be a little critical. At least so it seemed to 
 the less instructed landsmen who were witnesses 
 of this unexpected rencontre. As the ferry-boat 
 had drawn in with the island, the wind hauled 
 more through the pass which communicates 
 with the outer bay, and it became necessary to 
 heave about twice, in order to fetch to windward 
 of the usual landing place. The first of these 
 manoeuvres had been executed, and as it neces 
 sarily changed their course, the passengers saw 
 that the cutter to which the stranger alluded 
 was enabled to get within-shore of them ; or 
 nearer to the wharf, where they ought to land, 
 than they were themselves. Instead of suffering 
 himself to be led off by a pursuit that he knew 
 might easily be rendered useless, the officer who 
 commanded this boat cheered his men, and 
 pulled swiftly to the point of debarkation. On 
 
88 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 the other hand, a second cutter, which had 
 already reached the line of the periagua s course, 
 lay on its oars, and awaited its approach. The 
 unknown mariner manifested no intention to 
 avoid the interview. He still held the tiller, 
 and as effectually commanded the little vessel, 
 as if his authority were of a more regular cha 
 racter. The audacity and decision of his air 
 and conduct, aided by the consummate manner 
 in which he worked the boat, might alone have 
 achieved this momentary usurpation, had not 
 the general feeling against impressment been so 
 much in his favour. 
 
 " The devil s fangs !" grumbled the schipper. 
 44 If you should keep the Milk-Maid away, we 
 shall lose a little in distance, though I think 
 the man-of-war s men will be puzzled to catch 
 her with a flowing sheet ! 
 
 " The Queen has sent a message by the 
 gentleman," the mariner rejoined ; " it would 
 be unmannerly to refuse to hear it." 
 
 " Heave-to, the periagua !" shouted the 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 89 
 
 young officer in the cutter. " In her Majes 
 ty s name I command you, obey." 
 
 " God bless the royal lady !" returned he 
 of the foul anchors and gay shawl, while 
 the swift ferry-boat continued to dash a-head. 
 " We owe her duty, and are glad to see so 
 proper a gentleman employed in her behalf/ 
 
 By this time the boats were fifty feet asun 
 der. No sooner was there room, than the 
 periagua once more flew round, and com 
 menced anew its course, dashing in again 
 towards the shore. It was necessary, how 
 ever, to venture within an oar s length of the 
 cutter, or to keep away, a loss of ground to 
 which he who controlled her movements shew 
 ed no disposition to submit. The officer arose, 
 and as the periagua drew near, it was evident 
 his hand held a pistol, though he seemed re 
 luctant to exhibit the weapon. The mariner 
 stepped aside, in a manner to offer a full 
 view of all in his groupe, as he sarcastically 
 observed 
 
90 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Choose your object, Sir ; in such a party 
 a man of sentiment may have a preference." 
 
 The young man coloured, as much with 
 shame at the degrading duty he had been 
 commissioned to perform, as with vexation at 
 his failure. Recovering his self composure, 
 however, he lifted his hat to la Belle Barberie, 
 and the periagua dashed on in triumph. Still 
 the leading cutter was near the shore, where 
 it soon arrived, the crew lying on their oars 
 at the end of the wharf, in evident expectation 
 of the arrival of the ferry-boat. At this sight 
 the schipper shook his head, and looked up 
 in the bold face of his passenger, in a manner 
 to betray how much his mind misgave the 
 result. But the tall mariner maintained his 
 coolness, and began to make merry allusions 
 to the service which he had braved with so 
 much temerity, and from which no one believed 
 he was yet likely to escape. By the former 
 manoeuvres the periagua had gained a position 
 well to windward of the wharf, and she was 
 
THE WATER WITCH. Q 
 
 now steered close upon the wind, directly for 
 the shore. Against the consequences of a 
 perseverance in this course, however, the 
 schipper saw fit to remonstrate. 
 
 " Shipwrecks and rocky bottoms !" exclaimed 
 the alarmed waterman. " A Holland galliot 
 would go to pieces, if you should run her in 
 among those stepping stones with this breeze ! 
 No honest boatman loves to see a man stowed 
 in a cruiser s hold, like a thief caged in his 
 prison ; but when it comes to breaking the nose 
 of the Milk-Maid, it is asking too much of her 
 owner, to stand by and look on." 
 
 " There shall not be a dimple of her lovely 
 countenance deranged," answered his cool pas 
 senger. " Now, lower away your sails, and 
 we ll run along the shore, down to yon wharf. 
 Twould be an ungallant act to treat the dairy 
 girl with so little ceremony, gentlemen, after 
 the lively foot and quick evolutions she has 
 shown in our behalf. The best dancer in the 
 island could not have better played her part, 
 
92 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 though jigging under the music of a three 
 fringed fiddle !" 
 
 By this time the sails were lowered, and 
 the periagua was gliding down towards the 
 place of landing, running always at the distance 
 of some fifty feet from the shore. 
 
 " Every craft has its allotted time, like a 
 mortal," continued the inexplicable mariner of 
 the India-shawl. " If she is to die a sudden 
 death,, there is your beam-end and stern-way, 
 which takes her into the grave without funeral 
 service, or parish prayers; your dropsy is 
 being water-logged ; gout and rheumatism 
 kill like a broken back and loose joints ; in 
 digestion is a shifting cargo, with guns adrift ; 
 the gallows is a bottomry bond, with lawyers 
 fees ; while fire, drowning, death by religious 
 melancholy, and suicide, are a careless gunner, 
 sunken rocks, false lights, and a lubberly 
 captain." 
 
 Ere any were apprised of his intention, 
 this singular being then sprang from the boat 
 
THE WATER WITCH, 93 
 
 on the cap of a little rock, over which the 
 waves were washing, whence he bounded 
 from stone to stone, by vigorous efforts, till 
 he fairly leaped to land. In another minute 
 he was lost to view, among the dwellings of the 
 hamlet. 
 
 The arrival of the periagua, which imme 
 diately after reached the wharf, the disappoint 
 ment of the cutter s crew, and the return of 
 both the boats to their ship, succeeded as mat 
 ters of course. 
 
94 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " Oliv Did he write this ? 
 C7o._ Ay, Madam." 
 
 What you will. 
 
 IF we say that Alida de Barberie did not 
 cast a glance behind her, as the party quitted 
 the wharf, in order to see whether the boat 
 that contained the commander of the cruiser 
 followed the example of the others, we shall 
 probably pourtray the maiden as one that was 
 less subject to the influence of coquetry than 
 the truth would justify. To the great discon 
 tent of the Alderman, whatever might have 
 been the feelings of his niece on the occasion, 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 95 
 
 the barge continued to approach the shore, in 
 a manner which showed that the young sea 
 man betrayed no visible interest in the result 
 of the chase. 
 
 The heights of Staten Island, a century ago, 
 were covered much as they are at present 
 with a growth of dwarf trees. Foot paths led 
 among this meagre vegetation, in divers direc 
 tions, and as the hamlet at the Quaratine 
 Ground was the point whence they all diverged, 
 it required a practised guide to thread their 
 mazes, without a loss of both time and distance. 
 It would seem, however, that the worthy 
 burgher was fully equal to the office, for, 
 moving with more than his usual agility, he 
 soon led his companions into the wood, and 
 by frequently altering his course, so completely 
 confounded their sense of the relative bearings 
 of places, that it is not probable one of them 
 all could very readily have extricated himself 
 from the labyrinth. 
 
 " Clouds, and shady bowers!" exclaimed 
 
96 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Myndert, when he had achieved to his own 
 satisfaction this evasion of the pursuit he wished 
 to avoid ; " little oaks and green pines are 
 pleasant on a June morning. You shall have 
 mountain-air and a sea-breeze, Patroon, to 
 quicken the appetite at the Lust in Rust. If 
 Alida will speak, the girl can say that a mouth 
 ful of the elixir is better for a rosy cheek, than 
 all the concoctions and washes that were ever 
 invented to give a man a heart-ache." 
 
 " If the place be as much changed as the 
 road that leads to it," returned la Belle Bar- 
 berie, glancing her dark eye in vain in the 
 direction of the bay they had quitted, " I should 
 scarcely venture an opinion on a subject of which 
 I am obliged to confess utter ignorance." 
 
 "Ah, woman is nought but vanities! To 
 see and to be seen is the delight of the sex. 
 Though we are a thousand times more comfort 
 able in this wood than we should be in walking 
 along the water-side, why, the sea-gulls and 
 snipes lose the benefit of our company ! The 
 
THE WATER WITCH, 97 
 
 salt water, and all who live on it, are to be 
 avoided by a wise man, Mr. Van Staats, except 
 as they both serve to cheapen freight and to 
 render trade brisk. You ll thank me for this 
 care, niece of mine, when you reach the bluff, 
 cool as a package of furs free from moth, and 
 fresh and beautiful as a Holland tulip with the 
 dew on it." 
 
 " To resemble the latter, one might consent to 
 walk blindfold, dearest uncle, and so we dismiss 
 the subject. Fran9ois, fais-moi le plaisir de 
 porter ce petit livre ; malgre la fraicheur de la 
 foret, j ai besoin de m evanter." 
 
 The valet took the book, with an empresse- 
 ment that defeated the more tardy politeness of 
 the Patroon, and when he saw, by the vexed 
 eye and flushed cheek of his young mistress, 
 that she was incommoded, rather by an internal, 
 than by the external heat> he whispered con 
 siderately 
 
 " Que ma chere, Mademoiselle Alide, ne se 
 fache pas ! Elle ne manquerait jamais d ad- 
 
 VOL, I. F 
 
98 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 mirateurs, dans uri desert. Ah ! si Mam selle 
 allait voir la patrie de ses ancetres ! " 
 
 " "Merci bien ? mon cher ; garclez les feuilles 
 fortement fermees. II y a des papiers dedans." 
 
 " Monsieur Frar^ois," said the Alderman, 
 separating his niece, with little ceremony, from 
 her nearly parental attendant, by the interposi 
 tion of his own bulky person, and motioning 
 for the others to proceed, " a word with thee in 
 confidence. I have noted, in the course of a 
 busy, and I hope a profitable life, that a faith 
 ful servant is an honest counsellor. Next to 
 Holland and England, both of which are great 
 commercial nations, and the Indies, which are 
 necessary to these colonies, together with a na 
 tural preference for the land in which I was 
 born, I have always been of opinion that France 
 is a very good sort of a country. I think, Mr. 
 Francis, that dislike to the seas has kept you 
 from returning thither, since the decease of my 
 late brother-in-law ?" 
 
 " Wid like for Mam selle Alide, Monsieur, 
 avec votre permission." 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 99 
 
 " Your affection for my niece, honest Fran- 
 9ois, is not to be doubted. It is as certain as the 
 payment of a good draught by Crommeline, 
 Van Stopper, and Van Gelt, of Amsterdam. 
 Ah ! old valet ! she is fresh and blooming as a 
 rose, and a girl of excellent qualities ! Tis a 
 pity that she is a little opinionated ; a defect 
 that she doubtless inherits from her Norman 
 ancestors, since all of my family have ever 
 been remarkable for listening to reason. The 
 Normans were an obstinate race, as witness the 
 siege of Rochelle, by which oversight real 
 estate in that city must have lost much in 
 value. 1 
 
 " Mille excuses. Monsieur Bevre ; more 
 
 beautiful as de rose, and no opiniatre du tout. 
 Mon dieu ! pour sa qualite, c est une famille 
 tres-ancienne." 
 
 * c That was a weak point with my brother 
 
 Barberie, and after all, it did not add a cipher 
 
 to the sum total of the assets. The best blood, 
 
 Mr. Francois, is that which has been best fed. 
 
 F 2 
 
100 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 The line of Hugh Capet himself would fail 
 without the butcher, and the butcher would 
 certainly fail without customers that can pay. 
 Francois, thou art a man who understands the 
 value of a sure footing in the world ; would it 
 not be a thousand pities that such a girl as 
 Ali da should throw herself away on one, whose 
 best foundation is no better than a rolling 
 ship?" 
 
 " Certainement, Monsieur, ManVselle be too 
 good to roll in de ship." . 
 
 " Obliged to follow a husband, up and down ; 
 among freebooters and dishonest traders; in 
 fair weather and foul ; hot and cold ; wet and 
 dry ; bilge water and salt water ; cramps and 
 nausea ; salt junk and no junk ; gales and calms, 
 and all for a hasty judgment formed in san 
 guine youth r 
 
 The face of the valet had responded to the 
 Alderman s enumeration of the evils that would 
 attend so ill-judged a step in his niece, as faith 
 fully as if each muscle had been a mirror, to 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 101 
 
 reflect the contortions of one suffering under the 
 malady of the sea. 
 
 " Parbleu, c est horrible, cette mer I" he 
 ejaculated, when the other had done. " It is 
 grand malheur, dere should be watair but for 
 drink, and for la proprete, avec fosse to keep 
 de carp round le chateau. Mais, Mam selle, be 
 no haste jugement, and she shall have mari on 
 la terre solide.* 
 
 " T would be better that the estate of my 
 brother-in-law should be kept in sight, judicious 
 Frangois, than to be sent adrift on the high 
 seas." 
 
 " Dere vas marin dans la famille de Barberie, 
 nevair." 
 
 " Bonds and balances ! if the savings of one 
 I could name, frugal Francois, were added in 
 current coin, the sum total would sink a 
 common ship. You know it is my intention to 
 remember Alida, in settling accounts with the 
 world." 
 
 " If Monsieur de Barberie was live, Mon- 
 
102 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 sieur Alderman, he should say des choses con- 
 venables ; mais, malheureusement, mon cher 
 maitre est mort, and, Sair, I shall be bold to 
 remercier pour lui, et pour toute sa famille." 
 
 " Women are perverse, and sometimes they 
 have pleasure in doing the very thing they are 
 desired not to do." 
 
 " Ma foi, oui !" 
 
 " Prudent men should manage them with 
 soft words and rich gifts ; with these they be 
 come orderly, as a pair of well broke geld- 
 ings." 
 
 " Monsieur know," said the old valet, rubbing 
 his hands, and laughing with the subdued voice 
 of a well-bred domestic, though he could not 
 conceal a jocular wink ; " pourtant il est gar- 
 on ! Le cadeau be good for de demoiselles, 
 and bettair as for de dames." 
 
 " Wedlock and blinkers ! it is we gassons, 
 as you call us, who ought to know. Your 
 hen-pecked husband has no time to generalize 
 among the sex, in order to understand the real 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 103 
 
 quality of the article. Now, here is Van Staats 
 of Kinderhook, faithful Francois; what think 
 you of such a youth for a husband for 
 Alida ?" 
 
 " Pourtant, Mam selle like de vivacite ; Mon 
 sieur le Patroon be nevair trop vif." 
 
 " The more likely to be sure. Hist. I hear 
 a footstep. We are followed chased, perhaps, 
 I should say, to speak in the language of these 
 sea gentry. Now is the time to show this Cap 
 tain Ludlow how a Frenchman can wind him 
 round his finger on terra firma. Loiter in the 
 rear, and draw our navigator on a wrong course. 
 When he has run into a fog, come yourself, 
 with all speed to the oak on the bluff. There 
 we shall await you." 
 
 Flattered by this confidence, and really per 
 suaded that he was furthering the happiness of 
 her he served, the old valet nodded in reply to 
 the Alderman s wink and chuckle, and imme 
 diately relaxed his speed. The former pushed 
 ahead, and in a minute, he and those who fol- 
 
104 THE WATEK WITCH. 
 
 lowed had turned short to the left and were out 
 of sight. 
 
 Though faithfully, and even affectionately 
 attached to Alida, her servant had many of the 
 qualifications of an European domestic. Trained 
 in all the ruses of his profession, he was of that 
 school which believes civilization is to be mea 
 sured by artifice, and success lost some of its 
 value, when it had been effected by the vulgar 
 machinery of truth and common sense. No 
 wonder, then, the retainer entered into the views 
 of the Alderman with more than a usual relish 
 for the duty. He heard the cracking of the 
 dried twigs beneath the footstep of him who 
 followed, and in order that there might be no 
 chance of missing the desired interview, the 
 valet began to hum a French air in so loud a 
 key, as to be certain the sounds would reach 
 any ear that was nigh. The twigs snapped more 
 rapidly, the footsteps seemed nearer, and then 
 the hero of the India shawl sprang to the side 
 of the expecting Fran9ois. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 105 
 
 The disappointment seemed mutual, and on 
 the part of the domestic it entirely disconcerted 
 all his pre-arranged schemes for misleading 
 the commander of the Coquette. Not so with 
 the bold mariner. So far from his self-pos 
 session being disturbed, it would have been no 
 easy matter to restrain his audacity, even in 
 situations far more trying than any in which he 
 has yet been presented to the reader. 
 
 " What cheer, in thy woodland cruise, 
 Monsieur Broad -Pennant ?" he said, with 
 infinite coolness, the instant his steady glance 
 had ascertained they were alone. " This is 
 safer navigation for an officer of thy draught 
 of water, than running about the bays in a 
 periagua. What may be the longitude, and 
 where-a-way did you part company from the 
 consorts ?" 
 
 " Sair, I valk in de vood for de plaisir, 
 
 and I go on de bay for de parbleu, non ! tis 
 
 to follow ma jeune maltresse I go on de bay ; 
 
 and, Sair, I wish dey who do love de bay and 
 
 F 3 
 
106 
 
 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 de sea, would not come into de vood, du 
 tout." 
 
 " Well spoken, and with ample spirit ; what, 
 a student too ! one, in a wood, should glean 
 something from his labours. Is it the art of 
 furling a main cue, that is taught in this pretty 
 volume ?" 
 
 As the mariner put this question, he very 
 deliberately took the book from Fran9ois, who, 
 instead of resenting the liberty, rather offered 
 the volume in exultation. 
 
 " No, Sair, it is not how to furl la queue, but 
 how to touch de soul ; not de art to haul over 
 de calm, but oui, c est plein de connoissance 
 et d esprit ! Ah ! ha ! you know de Cid ! le 
 grand homme ! Fhomme de genie ! If you read, 
 Monsieur Marin, you shall see la vraie poesie ! 
 Not de big book and no single rhyme Sair, I 
 do not vish to say vat is penible, mais it is 
 not one book widout rhyme ; it was not ecrit on 
 de sea. Le diable ! que le vrai genie et les 
 nobles sentiments se trouvent dans ce livre, la !" 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Ay, I see it is a log-book for every man 
 to note his mind in. I return you Master 
 Cid ? with his fine sentiments in the bargain. 
 Great as was his genius, it would seem he was 
 not the man to write all that I find between 
 the leaves." 
 
 " He not write him all ! Yes, Sair, he shall 
 write him six time more dan all, if la France 
 a besoin. Que 1 envie de ces Anglais se de- 
 couvre quand on parle des beaux genies de la 
 France !" 
 
 " I will only say, if the gentleman wrote the 
 whole that is in the book, and it is as fine 
 as you would make a plain sea-faring man 
 believe, he did wrong not to print it." 
 
 " Print !" echoed Francois, opening his eyes 
 and the volume by a common impulse. " Im- 
 prime ! ha ! here is papier of Mam selle Alide, 
 assurement." 
 
 " Take better heed of it then/ interrupted 
 the seaman of the shawl. " As for your Cid, 
 to me it is an useless volume, since it teaches 
 
108 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 neither the latitude of a shoal, nor the shape 
 of a coast." 
 
 " Sair, it teach de morale ; de rock of de 
 passion, et les grands mouvements de Fame ! 
 Oui, Sair ; it teach all un Monsieur vish to 
 know. Tout le monde read him in la France ; 
 en province, comme en ville. If Sa Majeste 
 le Grand JLouis be not so mal avise as to 
 chasser Messieurs les Huguenots from his 
 royaume, I shall go to Paris, to hear le Cid, 
 moi-meme !" 
 
 f6 A good journey to you, Monsieur Cue. 
 We may meet on the road, until which time 
 I take my departure. The day may come, 
 when we shall converse with a rolling sea 
 beneath us. Till then, brave cheer !" 
 
 t; Adieu, Monsieur," returned Frangois, 
 bowing with a politeness that had become too 
 familiar to be forgotten. " If we do not meet 
 but in de sea, we shall not meet nevair. Ah, 
 ha, ha ! Monsieur le Marin n aime pas a 
 entendre parler de la gloire de la France ! Je 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 109 
 
 voudrais bien savoir lire ce f e Shak-a-spear, 
 pour voir combien Fimmortel Corneille lui est 
 superieur. Ma foi, oui; Monsieur Pierre 
 Corneille est vrairaent un homme illustre !" 
 
 The faithful, self-complacent, and aged valet, 
 then pursued his way towards the large oak 
 on the bluff; for as he ceased speaking, the 
 mariner of the gay sash, had turned deeper 
 into the woods and left him alone. Proud of 
 the manner in which he had met the audacity 
 of the stranger, prouder still of the reputation 
 of the author, whose fame had been known in 
 France long before his own departure from 
 Europe, and not a little consoled with the 
 reflection that he had contributed his mite to 
 support the honour of his distant and well- 
 beloved country, the honest Francois pressed 
 the volume affectionately beneath his arm, 
 and hastened on after his mistress. 
 
 Though the position of Staten Island and its 
 surrounding bays is so familiar to the Manhat- 
 tanese, an explanation of the localities may be 
 
110 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 agreeable to readers who dwell at a distance from 
 the scene of the tale. 
 
 It has already been said that the principal 
 communication between the bays of Rariton 
 and York, is called the Narrows. At the mouth 
 of this passage, the land on Staten Island rises 
 in a high bluff, which overhangs the water, 
 not unlike the tale-fraught cape of Misenum. 
 From this elevated point, the eye not only 
 commands a view of both estuaries and the 
 city, but it looks far beyond the point of 
 Sandy Hook, into the open sea. It is here 
 that, in our own days, ships are first noted 
 in the offing, and whence the news of the 
 approach of his vessel is communicated to the 
 expecting merchant by means of the telegraph. 
 In the early part of the last century, arrivals 
 were too rare to support such an establish 
 ment. The bluff was therefore little resorted 
 to, except by some occasional admirer of 
 scenery, or by those countrymen whom busi 
 ness, at long intervals, drew to the spot. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Ill 
 
 It had been early cleared of its wood, and 
 the oak already mentioned was the only tree 
 standing in a space of some ten or a dozen 
 acres. 
 
 It has been seen that Aderman Van Beverout 
 had appointed this solitary oak as the place 
 of rendezvous with Francois. Thither then he 
 took his way on parting from the valet, and to 
 this spot we must now transfer the scene. A 
 rude seat had been placed around the root of 
 the tree, and here the whole party, with the 
 exception of the absent domestic, were soon 
 seated. In a minute, however, they were joined 
 by the exulting Francois, who immediately 
 related the particulars of his recent interview 
 with the stranger. 
 
 " A clear conscience, with cordial friends, 
 and a fair balance sheet, may keep a man warm 
 in January, even in this climate," said the 
 Alderman, willing to turn the discourse; "but 
 what with rebellious blacks, hot streets, and 
 spoiling furs, it passeth mortal powers to keep 
 
112 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 cool in yonder overgrown and crowded town. 
 Thou seest, Patroon, the spot of white on the 
 opposite side of the bay ? Breezes and fanning ! 
 that is the Lust in Rust, where cordial enters 
 the mouth at every breath, and where a man 
 has room to cast up the sum-total of his thoughts 
 any hour in the twenty-four." 
 
 " We seem quite as effectually alone on 
 this hill, with the advantage of having a city 
 in the view," remarked Alida, with an empha 
 sis that shewed she meant even more than she 
 expressed. 
 
 " We are by ourselves, niece of mine," re 
 turned the Alderman, rubbing his hands as if 
 he secretly felicitated himself that the fact were 
 so. " That truth cannot be denied, and good 
 company we are, though the opinion comes 
 from one who is not a cipher in the party. 
 Modesty is a poor man s wealth, but as we grow 
 substantial in the world, Patroon, one can afford 
 to begin to speak truth of himself as well as of 
 his neighbour." 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 113 
 
 " In which case little but good will be 
 uttered from the mouth of Alderman Van Be- 
 verout," said Ludlow, appearing so suddenly 
 from behind the root of the tree, as effectually 
 to shut the mouth of the burgher. " My desire 
 to offer the services of the ship to your party, 
 has led to this abrupt intrusion, and I hope will 
 obtain its pardon." 
 
 " The power to forgive is a prerogative of 
 the Governor, who represents the Queen," 
 drily returned the Alderman. u If her Ma 
 jesty has so little employment for her cruisers, 
 that their captains can dispose of them in 
 behalf of old men and young maidens, why, 
 happy is the age, and commerce should flou 
 rish !" 
 
 " If the two duties are compatible, the greater 
 the reason why a commander should felicitate 
 himself that he may be of service to so many. 
 You are bound to the Jersey Highlands, Mr. 
 Van Beverout ?" 
 
 u I am bound to a comfortable and very pri- 
 
. THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 vate abode, called the Lust in Rust, Captain 
 Cornelius Van Cuyler Ludlow." 
 
 The young man bit his lip, and his healthful 
 but brown cheek flushed a deeper red than com 
 mon, though he preserved his composure. 
 
 " And I am bound to sea," he soon said. 
 u The wind is getting fresh, and your boat, 
 which I see at this moment standing in for the 
 islands, will find it difficult to make way against 
 its force. The Coquette s anchor will be a-weigh 
 in twenty minutes, and I shall find two hours 
 of an ebbing tide and a top-gallant breeze but 
 too short a time for the pleasure of entertain 
 ing such guests. I am certain that the fears 
 of la belle will favour my wishes, whichever 
 side of the question her inclinations may hap 
 pen to be." 
 
 " And they are with her uncle," quickly 
 returned Alida. " I am so little of a sailor that 
 prudence, if not pusillanimity, teaches me to 
 depend on the experience of older heads." 
 
 Older I may not pretend to be," said Lud- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 115 
 
 low, colouring ; " but Mr. Van Beverout will 
 see no pretension in believing myself as good a 
 judge of wind and tide as even he himself 
 can be." 
 
 " You are said to command her Majesty^s 
 sloop with skill, Captain Ludlow, and it is cre 
 ditable to the colony that it has produced so 
 good an officer ; though I believe your grand 
 father came into the province so lately as on 
 the restoration of King Charles the Second ?" 
 
 " We cannot claim descent from the United 
 Provinces, Alderman Van Beverout, on the pa 
 rental side, but whatever may have been the 
 political opinions of my grandfather, those of 
 his descendant have never been questioned. Let 
 me entreat the fair Alida to take counsel of the 
 apprehension I am sure she feels, and to per 
 suade her uncle that the Coquette is safer than 
 his periagua." 
 
 " It is said to be easier to enter than to quit 
 your ship," returned the laughing Alida. c By 
 certain symptoms that attended our passage to 
 
116 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 the island, your Coquette, like others, is fond 
 of conquest. One is not safe beneath so malign 
 an influence." 
 
 " This is a reputation given by our enemies. 
 I had hoped for a different answer from la Belle 
 Barberie." 
 
 The close of the sentence was uttered with 
 an emphasis that caused the blood to quicken 
 its movement in the veins of the maiden. It 
 was fortunate that neither of their companions 
 was very observant, or else suspicions might 
 have been excited, that a better intelligence 
 existed between the young sailor and the 
 heiress, than would have comported with their 
 wishes and intentions. 
 
 " I had hoped for a different answer from la 
 Belle Barberie," repeated Ludlow, in a lower 
 voice, but with even a still more emphatic tone 
 than before. 
 
 There was evidently a struggle in the mind 
 of 1 Alida. She overcame it before her confu 
 sion could be noted, and turning to the valet, 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 117 
 
 she said, with the composure and grace that 
 became a gentlewoman 
 
 6 - Rends-moi le livre, Francois." 
 
 " Le voici ah ! ma chere Mam selle Alide, 
 que ce Monsieur le marin se fachait a cause de 
 la gloire, et des beaux vers de notre illustre M. 
 Pierre Corneille !" 
 
 " Here is an English sailor, that I am sure 
 will not deny the merit of an admired writer, 
 even though he come of a nation that is com 
 monly thought hostile, Francois," returned his 
 mistress, smiling. " Captain Ludlow, it is now 
 a month since I am your debtor, by promise, 
 for a volume of Corneille, and I here acquit 
 myself of the obligation. When you have pe 
 rused the contents of this book, with the atten 
 tion they deserve, I may hope " 
 
 44 For a speedy opinion of their merits." 
 
 " I was about to say, to receive the volume 
 again, as it is a legacy from my father," steadily 
 rejoined Alida. 
 
 " Legacies and foreign tongues !" muttered 
 
118 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 the Alderman. 4t One is well enough, but for 
 the other, English and Dutch are all that the 
 wisest man need learn. I never could under 
 stand an account of profit and loss in any other 
 tongue, Patroon, and even a favourable balance 
 never appears so great as it is, unless the 
 account be rendered in one or the other of 
 these rational dialects. Captain Ludlow, we 
 thank you for your politeness, but here is one 
 of my fellows to tell us that my own periagua is 
 arrived, and wishing you a happy and a long 
 cruise, as we say of lives, I bid you adieu." 
 
 The young seaman returned the salutations 
 of the party with a better grace than his pre 
 vious solicitude to persuade them to enter his 
 ship might have given reason to expect. He 
 even saw them descend the hill, towards the 
 water of the outer bay, with entire composure, 
 and it was only after they had entered a thicket, 
 which hid them from view, that he permitted 
 his feelings to have sway. 
 
 Then indeed he drew the volume from his 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 119 
 
 pocket, and opened its leaves with an eagerness 
 he could no longer control. It seemed as if he 
 expected to read more in the pages than the 
 author had caused to be placed there, but when 
 his eye caught sight of a sealed billet, the legacy 
 of M. de Barberie fell at his feet, and the paper 
 was torn asunder, with all the anxiety of one 
 who expected to find in its contents a decree of 
 life or death. 
 
 Amazement was clearly the first emotion of 
 the young seaman. He read and re-read ; 
 struck his brow with his hand ; gazed about 
 him at the land and at the water ; re-perused 
 the note; examined the superscription, which 
 was simply to " Captain Ludlow, of her Ma 
 jesty s ship Coquette;" smiled; muttered be 
 tween his teeth ; seemed vexed and yet delight 
 ed ; read the note again, word by word, and 
 finally thrust it into his pocket, with the air of 
 a man, who had found reason for both regret 
 and satisfaction in its contents. 
 
120 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " What ! has this thing appeared again to-night ?" 
 
 Hamlet. 
 
 " THE face of man is the log book of his 
 thoughts, and Capt. Ludlow s seem agreeable,% 
 observed a voice, that came from one who was 
 not far from the commander of the Coquette, 
 while the latter was still enacting the panto 
 mime described in the close of the preceding 
 chapter. 
 
 "Who speaks of thoughts and log books, or 
 who dares to pry into my movements?" demand 
 ed the young sailor, fiercely. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 121 
 
 "One who has trifled with the first and scrib 
 bled in the last, too often not to know how to 
 meet a squall, whether it be seen in the clouds, 
 or only on the face of man. As for looking 
 into your movements, Captain Ludlow, I have 
 watched too many big ships in my time, to turn 
 aside at each light cruiser, that happens to cross 
 my course. I hope, Sir, you have an answer; 
 every hail has its right to a civil reply." 
 
 Ludlow could scarce believe his senses, when, 
 on turning to face the intruder, he saw himself 
 confronted by the audacious eye and calm mien 
 of the mariner who had, once before that morn 
 ing, braved his resentment. Curbing his indig 
 nation, however, the young man endeavoured to 
 emulate the coolness which, notwithstanding his 
 inferior condition, imparted to the air of the 
 other something that was imposing, if it were 
 not absolutely authoritative. Perhaps the sin 
 gularity of the adventure aided in effecting an 
 object, that was a little difficult of attainment 
 in one accustomed to receive so much habitual 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
122 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 deference from most of those who made the sea 
 their home. Swallowing his resentment, the 
 young commander answered 
 
 " He that knows how to face his enemies 
 with spirit, may be accounted sufficiently bold; 
 but he who braves the anger of his friends is 
 fool-hardy." 
 
 "And he who does neither, is wiser than 
 both," rejoined the reckless hero of the sash. 
 " Captain Ludlow, we meet on equal terms, at 
 present, and the parley may be managed with 
 some freedom." 
 
 "Equality is a word that ill applies to men of 
 stations so different." 
 
 " Of our stations and duties it is not necessary 
 to speak. I hope that, when the proper time 
 shall come, both may be found ready to be at 
 the first, and equal to discharge the last. But 
 Captain Ludlow, backed by the broadside of the 
 Coquette and the cross-fire of his marines, is not 
 Captain Ludlow alone, on a sea-bluff, with a 
 crutch no better than his own arm and a stout 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 123 
 
 heart. As the first, he is like a spar supported 
 by backstays and forestays, braces and standing 
 rigging ; while, as the latter, he is the stick, 
 which keeps its head aloft by the soundness and 
 quality of its timber. You have the appearance 
 of one who can go alone, even though it blew 
 heavier than at present, if one may judge of the 
 force of the breeze, by the manner it presses on 
 the sails of yonder boat, in the bay." 
 
 " Yonder boat begins to feel the wind, truly! " 
 said Ludlow, suddenly losing all other interest, 
 in the appearance of the periagua which held 
 Alida and her friends, and which, at that in 
 stant, shot out from beneath the cover of the 
 hill into the broad opening of Rariton Bay. 
 " What think you of the time, my friend? A 
 man of your years should speak with knowledge 
 of the weather." 
 
 a Women and winds are only understood 
 
 when fairly in motion," returned he of the sash ; 
 
 "now any mortal who consulted comfort and 
 
 the skies, would have preferred a passage in her 
 
 G 2 
 
124 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Majesty s ship Coquette, to one in yonder danc 
 ing periagua ; and yet the fluttering silk we see 
 in the boat, tells us there is one who has thought 
 otherwise." 
 
 "You are a man of singular intelligence," 
 cried Ludlow, again facing the intruder, " as 
 as well as one of singular " 
 
 u Effrontery," rejoined the other, observing 
 that the commander hesitated. " Let the com 
 missioned officer of the Queen speak boldly; I 
 am no better than a top-man, or at most a quar 
 ter-master." 
 
 " I wish to say nothing disagreeable, but I 
 find your knowledge of my offer to convey the 
 lady and her friends to the residence of Alder 
 man Van Beverout, a little surprising." 
 
 66 And I see nothing to wonder at, in your 
 offer to convey the lady any where, though the 
 liberality to her friends is not an act of so clear 
 explanation. When young men speak from the 
 heart, their words are not uttered in whispers." 
 
 u Which would imply that you overheard our 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 125 
 
 conversation. I believe it, for here is cover at 
 hand to conceal you. It may be. Sir, that you 
 have eyes as well as ears ?" 
 
 " I confess to have seen your countenance 
 changing sides, like a member of parliament 
 turning to a new leaf in his conscience at the 
 minister s signal, while you overhauled a bit of 
 paper " 
 
 " Whose contents you could not know ! " 
 
 " Whose contents I took to be some private 
 orders, given by a lady, who is too much of a 
 coquette herself to accept your offer to sail in a 
 vessel of the same name." 
 
 "By Heavens, the fellow has reason in his 
 inexplicable impudence !" muttered Ludlow, 
 pacing backward and forward beneath the sha 
 dow of the tree. " The language and the acts 
 of the girl are in contradiction, and I am a fool 
 to be trifled with, like a midshipman fresh 
 broken loose from his mother s apron string. 
 Harkee, Master a a You ve a name, I sup 
 pose, like any other straggler on the ocean?" 
 
126 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Yes. When the hail is loud enough to be 
 heard, I answer to the call of Thomas Tiller." 
 
 " Well then, Master Tiller, so clever a sea 
 man should be glad to serve the Queen." 
 
 " Were it not for duty to another, whose 
 claim comes first, nothing could be more agree 
 able than to lend a lady in distress a helping 
 hand." 
 
 " And who is he who may prefer a claim to 
 your services in competition with the Majesty 
 of these realms?" demanded Ludlow, with a 
 little of the pretension that, when speaking of 
 its privileges, is apt to distinguish the manner 
 of one who has been accustomed to regard roy 
 alty with reverence. 
 
 " Myself. When our affairs call us the same 
 way, no one can be readier than I, to keep her 
 Majesty s company ; but " 
 
 " This is presuming too far on the trifling of 
 a moment, 1 interrupted Ludlow. " You know, 
 Sirrah, that I have the right to command your 
 services, without entering into a parley for them ; 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 127 
 
 and which, notwithstanding your gay appear 
 ance, may, after all, be little worth the trouble." 
 
 " There is no need to push matters to extre 
 mity between us, Captain Ludlow," resumed 
 the stranger, who had appeared to muse for a mo 
 ment. " If I have baffled your pursuit once to 
 day, it was perhaps to make my merit in enter 
 ing the ship freely, less undeniable. We are 
 here alone, and your honour will account it no 
 boasting, if I say that a man, well limbed and ac 
 tive, who stands six feet between plank and car- 
 line, is not likely to be led against his will, like 
 a yawl towing at the stern of a four-and-forty. 
 I am a seaman, Sir; and though the ocean is my 
 home, I never venture on it without sufficient 
 footing. Look abroad from this hill, and say 
 whether there is any craft in view, except the 
 cruiser of the Queen, which would be likely to 
 suit the taste of a mariner of the long voyage? 1 
 
 " By which you would have me understand 
 you are here in quest of service ?" 
 
 " Nothing less ; and though the opinion of a 
 
128 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 foremast Jack may be of little value, you will 
 not be displeased to hear that I might look 
 further without finding a prettier sea-boat, or 
 a swifter, than the one which sails under your 
 own orders. A seaman of your station, Captain 
 Ludlow, is not now to learn that a man speaks 
 differently, while his name is his own, and after 
 he has given it away to the crown, and therefore 
 I hope my present freedom will not be long re 
 membered." 
 
 " I have met men of your humour before, 
 my friend, and I have not now to learn that 
 a thorough man-of-wars-man is as impudent on 
 shore, as he is obedient afloat Is that a sail 
 in the offing, or is it the wing of a sea-fowl 
 glittering in the sun ?" 
 
 " It may be either," observed the audacious 
 mariner, turning his eye leisurely towards the 
 open ocean, " for we have a wide look-out from 
 this windy bluff. Here are gulls sporting above 
 the waves that turn their feathers towards the 
 
 light." 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 129 
 
 .?- 
 
 " Look more seaward. That spot of shining 
 white should be the canvass of some craft, hover 
 ing in the offing !" 
 
 " Nothing more probable in so light a breeze. 
 Your coasters are in and out, like water-rats 
 on a wharf, at any hour of the twenty-four 
 and yet to me it seems the comb of a breaking 
 sea." 
 
 " Tis snow-white duck; such as your swift 
 rover wears on his loftier spars !" 
 
 " A duck that is flown," returned the stranger, 
 drily, et for it is no longer to be seen. These 
 fly-aways, Captain Ludlow, give us seamen 
 many sleepless nights and idle chases. I was 
 once running down the coast of Italy, between 
 the island of Corsica and the Main, when one of 
 these delusions beset the crew, in a manner 
 that hath taught me to put little faith in eyes, 
 unless backed by a clear horizon and a cool 
 head/ 
 
 * I ll hear the circumstance," said Ludlow, 
 withdrawing his gaze from the distant ocean, 
 G 3 
 
130 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 t | 
 
 like one who was satisfied his senses had been 
 deceived. " What of this marvel of the Italian 
 seas ?" 
 
 " A marvel truly, as your honour will con 
 fess, when I read you the affair, much in the 
 words I had it logg d for the knowledge of 
 all concerned. It was the last hour of the 
 second dog-watch, on Easter Sunday, with the 
 wind here at south-east, easterly. A light air 
 filled the upper canvass, and just gave us com 
 mand of the ship. The mountains of Corsica, 
 with Monte Christo and Elba, had all been 
 sunk some hours, and we were on the yards, 
 keeping a look-out for a land-fall on the Roman 
 coast. A low thick bank of drifting fog lay 
 along the sea, in-shore of us, which all be 
 lieved to be the sweat of the land, and thought 
 no more of; though none wished to enter it, 
 for that is a coast where foul airs rise, and 
 through which the gulls and land-birds refuse 
 to fly. Well, here we lay, the mainsail in 
 the brails, the topsails beating the mast heads, 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 131 
 
 like a maiden fanning herself when she sees 
 her lover, and nothing full but the upper duck, 
 with the sun fairly below the water in the wes 
 tern board. I was then young, and quick of 
 eye as of foot, and therefore among the first to 
 see the sight!" 
 
 " Which was ?" said Ludlow, interested in 
 spite of his assumed air of indifference. 
 
 " Why, here just above the bank of foul air, 
 that ever rests on that coast, there was seen 
 an object that looked like ribs of bright light, 
 as if a thousand stars had quitted their usual 
 berths in the heaven, to warn us off the land 
 by a supernatural beacon. The sight was in 
 itself altogether out of nature and surprising. 
 As the night thickened it grew brighter and 
 more glowing, as if twere meant in earnest to 
 warn us from the coast. But when the word 
 was passed to send the glasses aloft, there was 
 seen a glittering cross on high, and far above 
 the spars on which earthly ships carry their 
 private signals." 
 
132 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " This was indeed extraordinary ! And what 
 did you, to come at the character of the heavenly 
 symbol ?" 
 
 " We wore off shore, and left it a clear 
 berth, for bolder mariners. Glad enough was I 
 to see, with the morning sun, the snowy hills of 
 Corsica again !" 
 
 " And the appearance of that object was 
 never explained ?" 
 
 " Nor ever will be. I have since spoke with 
 the mariners of that sea concerning the sight, 
 but never found any who could pretend to 
 have seen it. There was indeed one bold 
 enough to say there is a church far inland, of 
 height and magnitude sufficient to be seen some 
 leagues at sea, and that, favoured by our position 
 and the mists that hung above the low grounds, 
 we had seen its upper works looming above the 
 fogs, and lighted for some brilliant ceremony ; 
 but we were all too old in seamen s experience 
 to credit so wild a tale. I know not but a church 
 may loom as well as a hill or a ship ; but he who 
 
THE WATER WITCH. J 33 
 
 pretends to say that the hands of man can thus 
 pile stones among the clouds, should be certain 
 of believers, ere he pushes the tale too far." 
 
 " Your narrative is extraordinary, and the 
 marvel should have been looked into closer. It 
 may truly have been a church, for there stands 
 an edifice at Rome, which towers to treble the 
 height of a cruiser s masts." 
 
 " Having rarely troubled churches, I know 
 not why a church should trouble me," said 
 the mariner of the sash, while he turned his 
 back on the ocean, as if indisposed to regard 
 the waste of water longer. " It is now twelve 
 years since that sight was seen, and though a 
 seaman of many voyages, my eyes have not 
 looked upon the Roman coast from that hour 
 to this. Will your honour lead the way from 
 the bluff, as becomes your rank ?" 
 
 " Your tale of the burning cross and looming 
 church, Master Tiller, had almost caused me 
 to forget to watch the movements of yon 
 periagua/ returned Ludlow, who still continued 
 
134 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 to face the bay. " That obstinate old Dutch 
 man I say, Sir, that Mr. Alderman Van 
 Beverout has greater confidence in this de 
 scription of craft than I feel myself. I like 
 not the looks of yonder cloud, which is rising 
 from out the mouth of Rariton; and here, 
 seaward, we have a gloomy horizon. By Hea 
 ven, there is a sail playing in the offing, or my 
 eye hath lost its use and judgment." 
 
 " Your honour sees the wing of the sporting 
 gull, again ; it had been nigh to deceive my 
 sight, which would be to cheat the look-out 
 of a man that has the advantage of some ten 
 or fifteen years more practice in marine ap 
 pearances. I remember once, when beating in 
 among the islands of the China seas, with the 
 trades here at south-east" 
 
 " Enough of your marvels, friend ; the church 
 is as much as I can swallow in one morning. 
 It may have been a gull ! for I confess the 
 object small ; yet it had the steadiness and size 
 of a distant sail ! There is some reason to 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 135 
 
 expect one on our coast, for whom a bright 
 and seaman s watch must be had." 
 
 " This may then leave me a choice of ships, 1 
 rejoined Tiller. " I thank your honour for having 
 spoken before I had given myself away to the 
 Queen, who is a lady that is much more apt to 
 receive gifts of this nature, than to return them."" 
 
 u If your respect aboard shall bear any pro 
 portion to your hardihood on shore, you may 
 be accounted a model of civility ! But a 
 mariner of your pretension, should have some 
 regard to the character of the vessel in which 
 he takes service." 
 
 " That of which your honour spoke, is then 
 a buccaneer ?" 
 
 " If not a buccaneer, one but little better. 
 A lawless trader, under the most favourable 
 view ; and there are those who think that he 
 who has gone so far, has not stopped short of 
 the end. But the reputation of the Skimmer 
 of the Seas must be known to one who has 
 navigated the ocean long as you. 1 
 
136 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " You will overlook the curiosity of a sea- 
 taring man, in a matter of his profession," 
 returned the mariner of the sash, with strong 
 and evident interest in his manner. " I am 
 lately from a distant ocean, and though many 
 tales of the buccaneers of the islands have 
 been narrated, I do not remember to have 
 heard of that rover, before his name came 
 into the discourse between me and the schipper 
 of the boat that plies between this landing 
 and the city. I am not altogether what I seem, 
 Captain Ludlow ; arid when further acquaint 
 ance and hard service shall have brought me 
 more before the eyes of my commander, he 
 may not repent having induced a thorough 
 seaman, to enter his ship, by a little conde 
 scension and good nature shewn while the man 
 was still his own master. Your honour will 
 take no offence at my boldness, when I tell 
 you, I shall be glad to know more of this 
 unlawful trader." 
 
 Ludlow rivetted his eyes on the unmoved 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 137 
 
 and manly countenance of his companion. There 
 was a vague and undefined suspicion in the 
 look, but it vanished as the practised organs 
 drunk in the assurance, which so much physical 
 promise afforded, of the aid of a bold and 
 active mariner. Rather amused than offended 
 by the freedom of the request, he turned upon 
 his heel, and as they descended the bluff, on 
 their way towards the place of landing, he 
 continued the dialogue. 
 
 " You are truly from a distant ocean," said 
 the young captain of the Coquette, smiling 
 like a man who apologizes to himself for an act 
 of what he thought undue condescension, " if 
 the exploits of a brigantine known by the name 
 of the Water-Witch, and of him who com 
 mands her, under the fit appellation of the 
 6 Skimmer of the Seas, have not yet reached 
 your ears. It is now five summers since orders 
 have been in the colonies for the cruisers to 
 be on the alert to hunt the picaroon, and it 
 is even said, the daring smuggler has often 
 
138 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 braved the pennants of the narrow seas. T would 
 be a bigger ship, if not knighthood, to the 
 lucky officer who should catch the knave !" 
 
 " He must drive a money-gaining trade to 
 run these risks, and to brave the efforts of so 
 many skilful gentlemen ! May I add to a pre 
 sumption that your honour already finds too 
 bold, if one may judge by a displeased eye, by 
 asking if report speaks to the face and other 
 particulars of the person of this free-trader, 
 one must call him, though freebooter should 
 be a better word ?" 
 
 " What matters the personal condition of a 
 rogue ?" said Captain Ludlow, who perhaps re 
 membered that the freedom of their inter 
 course had been carried as far as comported 
 with prudence. 
 
 " What matter truly ! I asked because the 
 description answers a little to that of a man I 
 once knew in the seas of farther India, and 
 who has long since disappeared, though no 
 one can say whither he has gone. But this 
 
THE WATER WITCH. r 139 
 
 Skimmer of the Seas is some Spaniard of the 
 Main, or perhaps a Dutchman come from the 
 country that is a-wash, in order to taste of 
 terra tirma ?" 
 
 " Spaniard of the southern coast never car 
 ried so bold a sail in these seas, nor was 
 there ever known a Dutchman with so light a 
 heel. The fellow is said to laugh at the 
 swiftest cruiser out of England ! As to his 
 figure, I have heard little good of it. Tis 
 said he is some soured officer of better days, 
 who has quitted the intercourse of honest men, 
 because roguery is so plainly written on his 
 face, that he vainly tries to hide it." 
 
 " Mine was a proper man, and one that need 
 not have been ashamed to shew his countenance 
 among his fellows," said he of the sash. " This 
 cannot be the same, if indeed there be any on 
 the coast. Is t known, your honour, that the 
 man is truly here ?" 
 
 " So goes a rumour ; though so many idle 
 tales have led me before to seek the smuggler 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 where he was not, that I give but little faith 
 to the report. The periagua has the wind 
 more at west, and the cloud in the mouth of 
 the Rariton is breaking into scud. The Al 
 derman will have a lucky run of it !" 
 
 " And the gulls have gone more seaward, 
 a certain sign of pleasant weather," returned 
 the other, glancing a quick but keen look 
 over the horizon in the offing. " I believe our 
 rover, with his light duck, has taken flight 
 among them !" 
 
 66 We will then go in pursuit. My ship is 
 bound to sea, and it is time, Master Tiller, 
 that I know in what berth you are willing to 
 serve the Queen ?" 
 
 u God bless her Majesty ! Anne is a royal 
 lady, and she had a Lord High Admiral for 
 her husband. As for a berth, Sir, one always 
 wishes to be captain, even though he may be 
 compelled to eat his rations in the lee scup 
 pers. I suppose the first lieutenancy is filled 
 to your honour s liking ?" 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Sirrah, this is trifling ; one of your years 
 and experience need not be told, that commis 
 sions are obtained by service." 
 
 " Under favour, I confess the error. Cap 
 tain Ludlow, you are a man of honour, and will 
 not deceive a sailor, who puts trust in your word." 
 
 " Sailor or landsman, he is safe who has 
 the gage." 
 
 " Then, Sir, I ask it. Suffer me to enter 
 your ship ; to look into my future messmates, 
 and to judge of their characters; to see if the 
 vessel suits my humour; and then to quit her, 
 if I find it convenient." 
 
 " Fellow r said Ludlow, " this impudence 
 almost surpasseth patience !" 
 
 " The request is reasonable, as can be shown ;" 
 gravely returned the unknown mariner. " Now, 
 Captain Ludlow, of the Coquette, would gladly 
 tie himself, for better for worse to a fair lady 
 who is lately gone on the water, and yet there 
 are thousands who might be had with less 
 difficulty." 
 
142 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Still deeper and deeper in thy effrontery 
 and what if this be true ?" 
 
 " Sir, a ship is a seaman s mistress nay, 
 when fairly under a pennant, with a war de 
 clared, he may be said to be wedded to her, 
 lawfully or not. He becomes bone of her 
 bone, and flesh of her flesh, until death doth 
 them part. 1 To such a long compact, there 
 should be liberty of choice. Has not your 
 mariner a taste, as well as your lover? The 
 harpings and counter of his ship are the waist 
 and shoulders : the rigging, the ringlets ; the 
 cut and fit of the sails, the fashion of the 
 millinery ; the guns are always called the teeth, 
 and her paint, is the blush and bloom! Here 
 is matter of choice, Sir, and without leave to 
 make it, I must wish your honour a happy 
 cruise, and the Queen a better servitor." 
 
 " Why, Master Tiller," cried Ludlow, laugh 
 ing, u you trust too much to these stunted oaks, 
 if you believe it exceeds my power to hunt 
 you out of their cover, at pleasure. But I 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 143 
 
 take you at your word. The Coquette shall 
 receive you on these conditions, and with the 
 confidence that a first-rate city belle would 
 enter a country ball-room." 
 
 6< I follow in your honour s wake, without 
 more words," returned he of the sash, for the 
 first time respectfully raising his canvass cap 
 to the young commander. " Though not 
 actually married, consider me a man betrothed." 
 
 It is not necessary to pursue the discourse 
 between the two seamen any further. It was 
 maintained, and with sufficient freedom on the 
 part of the inferior, until they reached the shore, 
 and came in full view of the pennant of the 
 Queen, when, with the tact of an old man-of- 
 war Vm an, he threw into his manner all the 
 respect that was usually required by the diffe 
 rence of rank. 
 
 Half an hour later the Coquette was rolling 
 at a single anchor, as the puffs of wind came 
 off the hills on her three topsails, and shortly 
 after she was seen standing through the Nar- 
 
144 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 rows, with a fresh south-westerly breeze. In 
 all these movements there was nothing to attract 
 attention. Notwithstanding the sarcastic allu 
 sions of Alderman Van Beverout, the cruiser 
 was far from being idle, and her passage out 
 ward was a circumstance of so common occur 
 rence, that it excited no comment among the 
 boatmen, of the bay, and the coasters who alone 
 witnessed her departure. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 145 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " I am no pilot ; yet, wert thou as far 
 
 As that vast shore wash d with the furthest sea, 
 
 I would adventure for such merchandize." 
 
 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 A HAPPY mixture of land and water, seen 
 by a bright moon, and beneath the sky of the 
 fortieth degree of latitude, cannot fail to make 
 a pleasing picture. Such was the landscape 
 which the reader must now endeavour to pre 
 sent to his mind. 
 
 The wide estuary of Rariton is shut in 
 from the winds and billows of the open sea, by 
 a long, low and narrow cape, or point, which 
 
 VOL. i. H 
 
146 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 by a medley of the Dutch and English languages, 
 that is by no means rare in the names of places 
 that lie within the former territories of the 
 United Provinces of Holland, is known by the 
 name of Sandy-Hook. This tongue of land 
 appears to have been made by the unremitting 
 and opposing actions of the waves, on one 
 side ; and of the currents of the different rivers 
 that empty their waters into the bay, on the 
 other. It is commonly connected with the low 
 coast of New Jersey, to the south ; but there 
 are periods of many years in succession, during 
 which there exists an inlet from the sea, between 
 what may be termed the inner end of the cape, 
 and the main land. During these periods Sandy- 
 Hook of course becomes an island. Such was 
 the fact at the time of which it is our business 
 to write. 
 
 The outer, or ocean side of this low and 
 narrow bank of sand, is a smooth and regular 
 beech, like that seen on most of the Jersey 
 coast, while the inner is indented, in a manner 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 14*7 
 
 to form several convenient anchoring grounds 
 for ships that seek a shelter from easterly gales. 
 One of the latter is a circular and pretty cove, 
 in which vessels of a light draught are com 
 pletely embayed, and where they may in safety 
 ride secure from any winds that blow. The 
 harbour, or, as it is always called, the cove, lies 
 at the point where the cape joins the main, and 
 the inlet just named communicates directly with 
 its waters, whenever the passage is open. The 
 Shrewsbury, a river of the fourth or fifth class, 
 or in other words a stream of a few hundred 
 feet in width, and of no great length, comes 
 from the south, running nearly parallel with 
 the coast, and becomes a tributary of the bay, 
 also at a point near the cove. Between the 
 Shrewsbury and the sea, the land resembles 
 that on the cape, being low and sandy, though 
 not entirely without fertility. It is covered 
 with a modest growth of pines and oaks, where 
 it is not either subject to the labours of the 
 husbandman, or in natural meadow. But the 
 
148 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 western bank of the river is an abrupt and 
 high acclivity, which rises to the elevation of a 
 mountain. It was near the base of the latter 
 that Alderman Van Beverout, for reasons that 
 may be more fully developed as we proceed in 
 our tale, had seen fit to erect his villa, which, 
 agreeably to a usage of Holland, he had called 
 the Lust in Rust ; an appellation that the 
 merchant, who had read a few of the classics 
 in his boyhood, was wont to say meant nothing 
 more nor less than otium cum dignitate. 1 
 
 If a love of retirement and a pure air had 
 its influence in determining the selection of 
 the burgher of Manhattan, he could not have 
 made a better choice. The adjoining lands 
 had been occupied early in the previous cen 
 tury by a respectable family of the name of 
 Hartshorne, which continues seated at the 
 place to the present hour. The extent of their 
 possessions served at that day to keep others at 
 a distance. If to this fact be added the forma 
 tion and quality of the ground, which was at so 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 149 
 
 early a period of trifling value for agricultural 
 purposes, it will be seen there was as little 
 motive as there was opportunity for strangers to 
 intrude. As to the air, it was refreshed by the 
 breezes of the ocean, which was scarcely a mile 
 distant, while it had nothing to render it un 
 healthy or impure. With this sketch of the 
 general features of the scene where so many of 
 our incidents occurred, we shall proceed to des 
 cribe the habitation of the Alderman a little more 
 in detail. 
 
 The villa of the Lust in Rust was a low, 
 irregular edifice, in bricks, whitewashed to the 
 colour of the driven snow, and in a taste that 
 was altogether Dutch. There were many gables 
 and weather cocks, a dozen small and twisted 
 chimneys, with numberless facilities that were 
 intended for the nests of storks. These airy 
 sites were, however, untenanted, to the great 
 admiration of the honest architect, who, like 
 many others that bring with them into this 
 hemisphere habits and opinions that are better 
 
150 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 suited to the other, never ceased expressing his 
 surprise on the subject, though all the negroes 
 of the neighbourhood united in affirming there 
 was no such bird in America. In front of the 
 house there was a narrow, but an exceedingly 
 neat lawn, encircled by shrubbery ; while two 
 old elms, that seemed coeval with the mountain, 
 grew in the rich soil of which the base of the 
 latter was composed. Nor was there a want of 
 shade on any part of the natural terrace that 
 was occupied by the buildings. It was thickly 
 sprinkled with fruit trees, and here and there 
 was a pine, or an oak of the native growth. A 
 declivity that was rather rapid fell away in front, 
 to the level of the mouth of the river. In short, 
 it was an ample but an unpretending country 
 house, in which no domestic convenience had 
 been forgotten, while it had little to boast of in 
 the way of architecture, except its rusty vanes 
 and twisted chimneys. A few out-houses, for 
 the accommodations of the negroes, were nigh, 
 and nearer to the river there were barns and 
 
THE WATER WITCH, 151 
 
 stables of dimensions and materials altogether 
 superior to those that the appearance of the 
 arable land, or the condition of the small farm, 
 would seem to render necessary. The periagua, 
 in which the proprietor had made his passage 
 across the outer bay, lay at a small wooden 
 wharf immediately below. 
 
 For the earlier hours of the evening, the 
 flashing of candles and a general and noisy 
 movement among the blacks, had denoted the 
 presence of the master of the villa. But the 
 activity had gradually subsided, and before the 
 clock struck nine, the manner in which the lights 
 were distributed, and the general silence, showed 
 that the party, most probably fatigued with their 
 journey, had already separated for the night. 
 The clamour of the negroes had ceased, and the 
 quiet of deep sleep was already prevailing among 
 their humble dwellings. 
 
 At the northern extremity of the villa, which, 
 it will be remembered, leaned against the moun 
 tain, and facing the east, or fronting the river 
 
152 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 and the sea, there stood a little wing, even more 
 deeply embowered in shrubbery and low trees 
 than the other parts of the edifice, and which 
 was constructed altogether in a different style. 
 This was a pavilion erected for the particular 
 accommodation, and at the cost, of la Belle Bar- 
 berie. Here the heiress of the two fortunes 
 was accustomed to keep her own little menage 
 during the weeks passed in the country, and 
 here she amused herself in those pretty and 
 feminine employments that suited her years and 
 tastes. In compliment to the beauty and origin 
 of its inhabitant, the gallant Fran9ois had 
 christened this particular portion of the villa 
 La Cour des Fees, a name that had gotten into 
 general use, though somewhat corrupted in 
 sound. 
 
 On the present occasion, the blinds of the 
 principal apartment of the pavilion were open, 
 and its mistress was still to be seen at one of 
 the windows. Alida was at an age when the 
 sex is most sensible of lively impressions, and 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 153 
 
 she looked abroad on the loveliness of the land 
 scape, and on the soft stillness of the night, 
 with the pleasure that such a mind is wont to 
 contemplate objects of natural beauty. 
 
 There was a young moon, and a firmament 
 glowing with a myriad of stars. The light 
 was shed softly on the water, though, here 
 and there, the ocean glittered with its rays. 
 A nearly imperceptible, but what seamen call 
 a heavy air, came off the sea, bringing with 
 it the refreshing coolness of the hour. The 
 surface of the immense waste was perfectly 
 unruffled, both within and without the barrier 
 of sand that forms the cape ; but the body of 
 the element was heaving and setting heavily, 
 in a manner to resemble the sleeping respi 
 ration of some being of huge physical frame. 
 The roar of the surf, which rolled up in long 
 and white curls upon the sands, was the only 
 audible sound ; but that was heavy and inces 
 sant, sometimes swelling on the air, hollow 
 and threatening, and at others dying in dull 
 H 3 
 
154 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 and distant murmurs on the ear. There was 
 a charm in these varieties of sound, and in 
 the solemn stillness of such a night, that 
 drew Alida into her little balcony, and she 
 leaned forward, beyond its shadow of sweet- 
 briar, to gaze at a part of the bay that was 
 not visible, in the front view, from her windows. 
 
 La Belle Barberie smiled, when she saw 
 the dim masts and dark hull of a ship, which 
 was anchored near the end of the cape, and 
 within its protection. There was the look of 
 womanly pride in her dark eye, and haply 
 some consciousness of womanly power in the 
 swell of her rich lip, while a taper finger beat 
 the bar of the balcony rapidly, and without 
 consciousness of its employment. 
 
 " The loyal Captain Ludlow has quickly 
 ended his cruise !" said the maiden aloud, for 
 she spoke under the influence of a triumph that 
 was too natural to be suppressed. " I shall be 
 come a convert to my uncle s opinions, and think 
 the Queen badly served." 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 155 
 
 " He who serves one mistress faithfully, 
 has no light task, returned a voice from 
 among the shrubbery that grew beneath and 
 nearly veiled the window ; " but he who is 
 devoted to two, may well despair of success 
 with both !" 
 
 Alida recoiled, and, at the next instant, she 
 saw her place occupied by the commander of 
 the Coquette. Before venturing to cross the 
 low barrier that still separated him from the 
 little parlour, the young man endeavoured to 
 read the eye of its occupant, and then, either 
 mistaking its expression, or bold in his years 
 and hopes, he entered the room. 
 
 Though certainly unused to have her apart 
 ment scaled with so little ceremony, there was 
 neither apprehension nor wonder in the coun 
 tenance of the fair descendant of the Huguenot. 
 The blood mantled more richly on her cheek, 
 and the brightness of an eye, that was never 
 dull, increased, while her fine form became firm 
 and commanding. 
 
156 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " I have heard that Captain Ludlow gained 
 much of his renown by gallantry in boarding," 
 she said, in a voice whose meaning admitted of 
 no misconception, " but I had hoped his ambi 
 tion was satisfied with laurels so fairly won from 
 the enemies of his country !" 
 
 se A thousand pardons, fairest Alida, inter 
 rupted the youth ; " you know the obstacles 
 that the jealous watchfulness of your uncle op 
 poses to my desire to speak with you." 
 
 " They are then opposed in vain, for Alder 
 man Van Beverout has weakly believed the sex 
 and condition of his ward would protect her from 
 these coups-de-main." 
 
 " Nay, Alida, this is being more capricious 
 than the winds ! You know too well how far 
 my suit is unpleasant to your guardian, to 
 torture a slight departure from cold observances 
 into cause of serious complaint. I had hoped 
 perhaps, I should say, I have presumed on the 
 contents of your letter, for which 1 return a 
 thousand thanks ; but do not thus cruelly de- 
 
THE WATER WITCH, 157 
 
 stroy expectations that have so lately been raised 
 beyond the point, perhaps, which reason may 
 justify." 
 
 The glow which had begun to subside on the 
 face of la Belle Barberie again deepened, and 
 for a moment it appeared as if her high self- 
 dependence was a little weakened. After an 
 instant of reflection, however, she answered 
 steadily, though not entirely without emotion. 
 
 " Reason, Captain Ludlow, has limited female 
 propriety within narrow limits," she said. " In 
 answering your letter, I have consulted good 
 nature more than prudence, and I find that 
 you are not slow in causing me to repent the 
 error." 
 
 " If I ever cause you to repent confidence 
 in me, sweet Alida, may disgrace in my pro 
 fession, and the distrust of the whole sex be 
 my punishment ! But have I not reason to 
 complain of this inconstancy on your part ? 
 Ought I to expect so severe a reprimand 
 severe, because cold and ironical for an of- 
 
158 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 fence venial as the wish to proclaim my gra 
 titude ?" 
 
 " Gratitude !" repeated Alida, and this time 
 her wonder was not feigned. " The word is 
 strong. Sir ; and it expresses more than an 
 act of courtesy, so simple as that which may 
 attend the lending a volume of popular poetry, 
 can have any right to claim." 
 
 " I have strangely misconceived the meaning 
 of the letter, or this has been a day of folly !" 
 said Ludlow, endeavouring to swallow his dis 
 content. " But, no; I have your own .words to 
 refute that averted eye and cold look, and, by 
 the faith of a sailor, Alida, I will believe your 
 deliberate and well-reflected thoughts, before 
 these capricious fancies, which are unworthy 
 of your nature. Here are the very words ; 
 I shall not easily part with the flattering hopes 
 they convey !" 
 
 c; La Belle Barberie now regarded the young 
 man in open amazement. Her colour changed, 
 for of the indiscretion of writing, she knew 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 159 
 
 she was not guiltless, but of having written 
 in terms to justify the confidence of the other, 
 she felt no consciousness. The customs of 
 the age, the profession of her suitor, and the 
 hour, induced her to look steadily into his face, 
 to see whether the man stood before her in 
 all the decency of his reason. But Ludlow 
 had the reputation of being exempt from a vice 
 that was then but too common among seamen, 
 and there was nothing in his ingenuous and 
 really handsome features, to cause her to dis 
 trust his present discretion. She touched a 
 bell, and signed to her companion to be seated. 
 
 66 Francois," said his mistress, when the old 
 valet, but half awake, entered the apartment, 
 66 fais-moi le plaisir de m apporter de cette eau 
 de la fontaine du bosquet, et du vin le Capi- 
 taine Ludlow a soif ; et rappelle-toi, bon Fran- 
 9ois, il ne faut pas deranger mon oncle a cette 
 heure ; il doit etre bien fatigue de son voyage." 
 
 When her respectful and respectable servitor 
 had received his commission and departed, Alida 
 
160 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 took a seat herself, in the confidence of having 
 deprived the visit of Ludlow of its clandestine 
 character, and at the same time of having em 
 ployed the valet on an errand that would leave 
 her sufficient leisure to investigate the inexpli 
 cable meaning of her companion. 
 
 " You have my word, Captain Ludlow, that 
 this unseasonable appearance in the pavilion is 
 indiscreet, not to call it cruel,"" she said, so soon 
 as they were again alone ; " but that you have 
 it in any manner to justify your imprudence 
 I must continue to doubt, until confronted by 
 proof." 
 
 " I had thought to have made a very differ 
 ent use of this/ returned Ludlow, drawing a 
 letter we admit it, with some reluctance in 
 one so simple and so manly from his bosom ; 
 " and even now I take shame in producing it, 
 though at your own orders." 
 
 " Some magic has wrought a marvel, or the 
 scrawl has no such importance," observed Alida, 
 taking a billet, that she now began to repent 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 161 
 
 having ever written. " The language of polite 
 ness and female reserve must admit of strange 
 perversions, or all who read are not the best in 
 terpreters." 
 
 La Belle Barberie ceased speaking, for the 
 instant her eye fell on the paper, an absorbing 
 and intense curiosity got the better of her resent 
 ment. We shall give the contents of the letter 
 precisely in the words which caused so much 
 amazement, and possibly some little uneasiness, 
 to the fair creature who was perusing it. 
 
 u The life of a seaman," said the paper, in a 
 delicate and beautiful female hand, " is one of 
 danger and exposure. It inspires confidence in 
 woman by the frankness to which it gives birth, 
 and it merits indulgence by its privations. She 
 who writes this is not insensible to the merit of 
 men of this bold calling. Admiration for the 
 sea, and for those who live on it, has been her 
 weakness through life, and her visions of the 
 future, like her recollections of the past, are not 
 entirely exempt from a contemplation of its 
 
162 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 pleasures. The usages of different nations, 
 glory in arms, change of scene, with constancy 
 in the affections, all sweetened by affluence, are 
 temptations too strong for a female imagination, 
 and they should not be without their influence 
 on the judgment of man. Adieu." 
 
 This note was read, re-perused, and for the 
 third time, conned, ere Alida ventured to raise 
 her eyes to the face of the expectant young man. 
 
 "And this indelicate and unfeminine rhap^- 
 sody, Captain Ludlow has seen proper to ascribe 
 to me !" she said, while her voice trembled 
 between pride and mortification. 
 
 " To whom else can I impute it ? No other, 
 lovely Alida, could utter language so charming 
 in words so properly chosen." 
 
 The long lashes of the maiden played quickly 
 above their dark organs, and then conquering 
 feelings that were strangely in contradiction to 
 each other, she said with dignity, turning to a 
 little ebony ecritoire which lay beside her dress 
 ing box, 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 163 
 
 " My correspondence is neither very impor 
 tant nor very extensive, but such as it is, hap 
 pily for the reputation of the writer s taste, if 
 not for her sanity, I believe it is in my power to 
 show the trifle I thought it decorous to write in 
 reply to your own letter. Here is a copy," 
 she added, opening what in fact was a draught, 
 and reading aloud 
 
 " I thank Captain Ludlow for his attention 
 in affording me an opportunity of reading a 
 narrative of the cruel deeds of the buccaneers. 
 In addition to the ordinary feelings of humanity, 
 one cannot but regret that men so heartless are 
 to be found in a profession that is commonly 
 thought to be generous, and tender of the weak. 
 We will, however, hope that the very wicked 
 and cowardly among seamen exist only as foils, 
 to render the qualities of the very bold and 
 manly more conspicuous. No one can be more 
 sensible of this truth than the friends of Captain 
 Ludlow, 1 the voice of Alida fell a little as she 
 came to this sentence, " who has not now to 
 
164 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 earn a reputation for mercy. In return I send 
 the copy of the Cid, which honest Francois 
 affirms to be superior to all other poems, not 
 even excepting Homer, a book which I believe 
 he is innocent of calumniating from ignorance of 
 its contents. Again thanking Captain Ludlow 
 for this instance of his repeated attentions, I beg 
 he will keep the volume until he shall return 
 from his intended cruise." 
 
 " This note is but a copy of the one you 
 have, or ought to have," said the niece of 
 the Alderman, as she raised her glowing face 
 from leaning over the paper, " though it is not 
 signed, like that, with the name of Alida de 
 Barberie." 
 
 When this explanation was over, both parties 
 sat looking at each other in silent amazement. 
 Still Alida saw, or thought she saw, that not 
 withstanding the previous professions of her 
 admirer, the young man rejoiced he had been 
 deceived. Respect for delicacy and reserve in 
 the other sex is so general and so natural among 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 165 
 
 men, that they who succeed the most in destroy 
 ing its barriers rarely fail to regret their tri 
 umph ; and he who truly loves can never long 
 exult in any violation of propriety in the object 
 of his affections, even though the concession be 
 made in his own favour. Under the influence 
 of this commendable and healthful feeling, Lud- 
 low, while he was in some respects mortified at 
 the turn affairs had taken, felt sensibly relieved 
 from a load of doubt to which the extraordinary 
 language of the letter he believed his mistress to 
 have written had given birth. His companion 
 read the state of his mind in a countenance that 
 was frank as face of sailor could be, and though 
 secretly pleased to gain her former place in his 
 respect, she was also vexed and wounded that 
 he had ever presumed to distrust her reserve. 
 She still held the inexplicable billet, and her 
 eyes naturally sought the lines. A sudden 
 thought seemed to strike her mind, and return 
 ing the paper, she said, coldly 
 
 " Captain Ludlow should know his corres- 
 
166 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 pondent better ; I much mistake if this be the 
 first of her communications." 
 
 The young man coloured to the temples, and 
 hid his face for a moment in the hollow of his 
 hands. 
 
 " You admit the truth of my suspicions," 
 continued la Belle Barberie, " and cannot be 
 insensible of my justice, when I add that hence 
 forth" 
 
 " Listen to me, Alida," cried the youth, half 
 breathless in his haste to interrupt a decision 
 that he dreaded ; " hear me, and as Heaven is 
 my judge, you shall hear only truth. I confess 
 this is not the first of the letters written in the 
 same hand perhaps I should say in the same 
 spirit but on the honour of a loyal officer 1 
 affirm, that until circumstances led me to think 
 myself so happy so very happy " 
 
 " I understand you, Sir ; the work was ano 
 nymous until you saw fit to inscribe my name 
 as its author. Ludlow ! Ludlow ! how meanly 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 167 
 
 have you thought of the woman you profess to 
 love !" 
 
 "That were impossible! I mingle little with 
 those who study the finesse of life, and loving 
 as I do my noble profession, Alida, was it so 
 unnatural to believe that another might view it 
 with the same eyes? But since you disavow 
 the letter nay, your disavowal is unnecessary 
 I see my vanity has even deceived me in the 
 writing ; but since the delusion is over, I con 
 fess that I rejoice it is not so." 
 
 La Belle Barberie smiled, and her counte 
 nance grew brighter. She enjoyed the triumph 
 of knowing that she merited the respect of her 
 suitor, and it was a triumph heightened by re 
 cent mortification. Then succeeded a pause of 
 more than a minute. The embarrassment of 
 the silence was happily interrupted by the return 
 of Francois. 
 
 " Mam selle Alide, voici de Teau de la fon- 
 taine," said the valet ; " mais Monsieur votre 
 oncle s^est couche, et il a mis la clef de la cave 
 
168 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 au vin dessous son oreiller. Ma foi, ce n est pas 
 facile d avoir du bon vin du tout, en Amerique ; 
 mais apres que Monsieur le maire s est couche, 
 c est toujours impossible ; voila !" 
 
 " N importe, mon cber ; le capitaine va partir, 
 et il n a plus soif." 
 
 (i Dere is assez de jin," continued the valet, 
 who felt for the captain s disappointment, " mais 
 Monsieur Loodle have du gout, an 1 he n aime 
 pas so strong liqueur." 
 
 " He has swallowed already more than was 
 necessary for one occasion," said Alida, smiling 
 on her admirer in a manner that left him doubt 
 ful whether he ought most to repine or to re 
 joice. " Thank you, good Francois ; your duty 
 for the night shall end with lighting the captain 
 to the door." 
 
 Then saluting the young commander in a 
 manner that would not admit of denial, la Belle 
 Barberie dismissed her lover and the valet to 
 gether. 
 
 " You have a pleasant office, Monsieur Fran- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 169 
 
 cois," said the former, as he was lighted to the 
 outer door of the pavilion ; " it is one that 
 many a gallant gentleman would envy." 
 
 " Oui, Sair. It be grand plaisir to serve 
 Mam selle Alide. Je porte de fan, de book, 
 mais quant au vin ? Monsieur le Capitaine, parole 
 d honneur, c est toujours impossible apres que 
 TAldermain s est couche." 
 
 " Ay the book I think you had the agree 
 able duty to-day of carrying the book of la 
 Belle ?" 
 
 " Vraiment, oui ! Twas ouvrage de Monsieur 
 Pierre Corneille. On pretend que Monsieur 
 Shak-a-speare en a emprunte d assez beaux sen 
 timents !" 
 
 " And the paper between the leaves ? you 
 were charged also with that note, good Fran 
 cois ?" 
 
 The valet paused, shrugged his shoulders, 
 and laid one of his long yellow fingers on the 
 plane of an enormous aquiline nose while he 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
WATER WITCH. 
 
 seemed to muse. Then shaking his head per 
 pendicularly, he preceded the captain as before, 
 muttering as usual, half in French and half in 
 English 
 
 " For le papier, I know, rien du tout ; c n est 
 bien possible, parceque, voyez-vous, Monsieur 
 le Capitaine, Mam selle Alide did say, prenez-y 
 garde ; but I no see him, depuis. Je suppose 
 twas beaux compliments ecrits on de vers of 
 Mr. Pierre Corneille. Quel genie que celui de 
 cet homme-la ! n est ce pas, Monsieur ?" 
 
 " It is of no consequence, good Francois," 
 said Ludlow, slipping a guinea into the hands 
 of the valet. " If you should ever discover 
 what became of that paper, however, you will 
 oblige me by letting me know. Good night ; 
 mes devoirs a la Belle !" 
 
 " Bon soir, Monsieur le Capitaine ; c est un 
 brave Monsieur que celui-la, et de tres-bonne 
 famille ! II n a pas de si grandes terres, que 
 Monsieur le Patteroon, pourtant, on dit, qu il 
 doit avoir de jolies maisons et assez de rentes 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 publiques ! J aime a servir un si genereux et 
 loyal maitre, mais, malheureusement, il est 
 marin ! M. de Barberie n avait pas trop d ami- 
 tie pour les gens de cette profession-la." 
 
 i 2 
 
172 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 "WeD, Jessica, go in; 
 
 Perhaps I will return immediately 
 
 Do as I bid you, 
 
 Shut doors after you : Fast bind, fast find ; 
 
 A proverb never stale in thrifty mind." 
 
 Merchant of Venice. 
 
 THE decision with which la Demoiselle Bar- 
 berie had dismissed her suitor, was owing to 
 some consciousness that she had need of oppor 
 tunity to reflect on the singular nature of the 
 events which had just happened, no less than to 
 a sense of the impropriety of his visiting her at 
 that hour, and in a manner so equivocal. But, 
 like others who act from feverish impulses, when 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 173 
 
 alone, the maiden repented of her precipitation, 
 and she remembered fifty questions which might 
 aid in clearing the affair of its mystery that she 
 would now gladly put. It was too late, how 
 ever, for she had heard Ludlow take his leave, 
 and had listened in breathless silence to his foot 
 step as he passed the shrubbery of her little 
 lawn. Franois reappeared at the door to re 
 peat his wishes for her rest and happiness, and 
 then she believed she was finally alone for the 
 night, since the ladies of that age and country 
 were little apt to require the assistance of their 
 attendants in assuming or in divesting them 
 selves of their ordinary attire. 
 
 It was still early, and the recent interview had 
 deprived Alida of all inclination for sleep. She 
 placed the lights in a distant corner of the 
 apartment and approached a window. The 
 moon had so far changed its position as to cast 
 a different light upon the water. The hollow 
 washing of the surf, the dull but heavy breath 
 ing of the air from the sea, and the soft shadows 
 
174 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 of the trees and mountain, were much the same. 
 The Coquette lay as before at her anchor near 
 the cape, and the Shrewsbury glittered towards 
 the south, until its surface was concealed by 
 the projection of a high and nearly perpendicu 
 lar bluff. 
 
 The stillness was profound, for with the ex 
 ception of the dwelling of the family who occu 
 pied the estate nearest the villa, there was no 
 other habitation within some miles of the place. 
 Still the solitude of the situation was undis 
 turbed by any apprehension of danger, or any 
 tradition of violence from rude and lawless men. 
 The peaceable character of the colonists who 
 dwelt in the interior country was proverbial, 
 and their habits simple, while the ocean was 
 never entered by those barbarians, who rendered 
 some of the seas of the other hemisphere as fear 
 ful as they were pleasant. 
 
 Notwithstanding this known and customary 
 character of tranquillity, and the lateness of the 
 hour, Alida had not been many moments in her 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 balcony before she heard the sound of oars. 
 The stroke was measured and the noise low 
 and distant, but it was too familiar to be mis 
 taken. She wondered at the expedition of 
 Ludlow, who was not accustomed to show 
 such haste in quitting her presence, and leaned 
 over the railing to catch a glimpse of his de 
 parting boat. Each moment she expected to 
 see the little bark issue from out of the shadows 
 of the land, into the sheet of brightness which 
 stretched nearly to the cruiser. She gazed long 
 and in vain, for no barge appeared, and yet the 
 sound had become inaudible. A light still hung 
 at the peak of the Coquette, a sign that the com 
 mander was out of his vessel. 
 
 The view of a fine ship, seen by the aid of 
 the moon, with its symmetry of spars, and its 
 delicate tracery of cordage, and the heavy and 
 grand movements of the hull as it rolls on the 
 sluggish billows of a calm sea, is ever a pleasing 
 and indeed an imposing spectacle. Alida knew 
 that more than a hundred human beings slept 
 
176 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 within the black and silent mass, and her 
 thoughts insensibly wandered to the business of 
 their daring lives, their limited abode, and yet 
 wandering existence, their frank and manly qua 
 lities, their devotion to the cause of those who oc 
 cupied the land, their broken and interrupted 
 connection with the rest of the human family, 
 and finally to those weakened domestic ties, and 
 to that reputation for inconstancy, which are ap 
 parently a natural consequence of all. She sighed, 
 and her eye wandered from the ship to that ocean, 
 on which it was constructed to dwell. From the 
 distant, low, and nearly imperceptible shore of 
 the island of Nassau, to the coast of New Jersey, 
 there was one broad and untenanted waste. Even 
 the sea-fowl rested his tired wing, and slept tran 
 quilly on the water. The broad space appeared 
 like some great and unfrequented desert, or 
 rather like a denser and more material copy 
 of the firmament by which it was canopied. 
 
 It has been mentioned that a stunted growth 
 of oaks and pines covered much of the sandy 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 177 
 
 ridge that formed the cape. The same cover 
 ing furnished a dark setting to the waters of 
 the cove. Above this outline of wood, which 
 fringed the margin of the sea, Alida now 
 fancied she saw an object in motion. At first, 
 she believed some ragged and naked tree, of 
 which the coast had many, was so placed as 
 to deceive her vision, and had thrown its naked 
 lines upon the back-ground of water, in a 
 manner to assume the shape and tracery of a 
 light-rigged vessel. But when the dark and 
 symmetrical spars were distinctly seen, gliding 
 past objects that were known to be stationary, 
 it was impossible to doubt their character. The 
 maiden wondered, and her surprise was not 
 unmixed with apprehension. It seemed as if 
 the stranger, for such the vessel needs be, was 
 recklessly approaching a surf, that, in its most 
 tranquil moments, was dangerous to such a 
 fabric, and that he steered, unconscious of 
 hazard, directly upon the land. Even the 
 movement was mysterious and unusual. Sails 
 i 3 
 
178 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 there were none ; and yet the light and lofty 
 spars were soon hid behind a thicket that 
 covered a knoll near the margin of the sea. 
 Alida expected each moment to hear the cry 
 of -mariners in distress, and then, as the mi 
 nutes passed and no such fearful sound inter 
 rupted the stillness of the night, she began to 
 bethink her of those lawless rovers who were 
 known to abound among the Carribean isles, 
 and who were said sometimes even to enter 
 and to refit, in the smaller and more secret inlets 
 of the American continent. The tales, coupled 
 with the deeds, character, and fate of the noto 
 rious Kidd, were then still recent, and although 
 magnified and coloured by vulgar exaggerations, 
 as all such tales are known to be, enough was 
 believed by the better instructed, to make his 
 life and death the subject of many curious and 
 mysterious rumours. At this moment she would 
 have gladly recalled the young commander of 
 the Coquette, to apprise him of the enemy that 
 was nigh, and then, ashamed of terrors that she 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 was fain to hope savoured more of woman s 
 weakness than of truth, she endeavoured to 
 believe the whole some ordinary movement of a 
 coaster, who, familiar with his situation, could 
 not possibly be either in want of aid, or an 
 object of alarm. Just as this natural and con 
 soling conclusion crossed her mind, she very 
 audibly heard a step in her pavilion. It seemed 
 near the door of the room she occupied. Breath 
 less, more with the excitement of her imagination, 
 than with any actual fear created by this new 
 cause of alarm, the maiden quitted the balcony, 
 and stood motionless to listen. The door, in 
 truth, was opened, with singular caution, and, 
 for an instant, Alida saw nothing but a confused 
 area in the centre of which appeared the figure 
 of a menacing and rapacious freebooter. 
 
 " Northern lights and moonshine P growled 
 Alderman Van Beverout, for it was no other 
 than the uncle of the heiress, whose untimely 
 and unexpected visit had caused her so much 
 alarm. " This sky-watching, and turning of 
 
180 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 night into day will be the destruction of thy 
 beauty, niece, and then we shall see how 
 plenty Patroons are for husbands ! A bright 
 eye and a blooming cheek are thy stock in 
 trade, girl, and she is a spendthrift of both, 
 who is out of her bed when the clock hath 
 struck ten." 
 
 <e Your discipline would deprive many a beauty 
 of the means of using her power," returned la 
 demoiselle, smiling, as much at the folly of her 
 recent fears, as with affection for her reprover. 
 " They tell me that ten is the witching-time of 
 night, for the necromancy of the dames of 
 Europe." 
 
 " Witch me no witches ! The name reminds 
 one of the cunning Yankees, a race that would 
 outwit Lucifer himself, if left to set the con 
 ditions to their bargain. Here is the Patroon, 
 wishing to let in a family of the knaves among 
 the honest Dutchmen of his manor, and we 
 have just settled a dispute between us on this 
 subject, by making the lawful trial." 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 181 
 
 " Which it may be proper to hope, dearest 
 uncle, was not the trial by battle ?" 
 
 " Peace and olive-branches, no ! The Pa- 
 troon of Kinderhook is the last man in the 
 Americas that is likely to suffer by the blows 
 of Myndert Van Beverout. I challenged the 
 boy to hold a fine eel, that the blacks have 
 brought out of the river to help in breaking 
 our morning fasts, that it might be seen if he 
 were fit to deal with the slippery rogues. By 
 the merit of the peaceable St. Nicholas ! but 
 the son of old Hendrick Van Staats had a busy 
 time of it ! The lad griped the fish, as the 
 ancient tradition has it that thy uncle clenched 
 the Holland florin, when thy father put it 
 between my fingers, within the month, in order 
 to see if the true saving grace was likely to 
 abide in the family for another generation. 
 My heart misgave me for a moment, for young 
 Oloff has the fist of a vice, and I thought the 
 goodly names of the Harmans, and Rips, 
 Corneliuses, and Dircks of the manor rent-roll, 
 
182 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 were likely to be contaminated by the company 
 of an Increase or a Peleg ; but just as the Pa- 
 troon thought he had the watery viper by the 
 throat, the fish gave an unexpected twist, and 
 slid through his fingers by the tail. Flaws and 
 loop-holes ! but, that experiment has as much 
 wisdom as wit in it !" 
 
 " And to me, it seemeth better, now that 
 Providence has brought all the colonies under 
 one government, that these prejudices should 
 be forgotten. We are a people sprung from 
 many nations, and our effort should be to 
 preserve the liberality and intelligence, while 
 we forget the weaknesses of all." 
 
 66 Bravely said, for the child of a Huguenot ! 
 But I defy the man who brings prejudice to 
 my door. I like a merry trade, and a quick 
 calculation. Let me see the man in all New 
 England that can tell the colour of a balance 
 sheet quicker than one that can be named, 
 and Til gladly hunt up the satchel and go to 
 school again. I love a man the better for 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 183 
 
 looking to his own interests, I ; and yet com 
 mon honesty teaches us, that there should be a 
 convention between men, beyond which none of 
 reputation and character ought to go." 
 
 " Which convention shall be understood, by 
 every man, to be the limits of his own faculties ; 
 by which means the dull may rival the quick 
 of thought. I fear me, uncle, there should be 
 an eel kept on every coast to which a trader 
 comes !" 
 
 " Prejudice and conceit child, acting on a 
 drowsy head ; tis time thou seekest thy pillow, 
 and in the morning we shall see if young Oloff 
 of the manor shall have better success with 
 thy favour, than with the prototype of the 
 Jonathans. Here, put out these flaring can 
 dles, and take a modest lamp to light thee to 
 thy bed. Glaring windows so near midnight, 
 give a house an extravagant name in the neigh 
 bourhood." 
 
 " Our reputation for sobriety may suffer in 
 the opinion of the eels," returned Alida, laugh- 
 
184 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 ing, " but here are few others, I believe, to 
 call us dissipated." 
 
 " One never knows -one never knows " 
 muttered the Alderman, extinguishing the two 
 large candles of his niece, and substituting his 
 own little hand-lamp in their place. " This 
 broad light only invites to wakefulness, while 
 the dim taper I leave, is good as a sleeping 
 draught. Kiss me, wilful one, and draw thy 
 curtains close, for the negroes will soon rise 
 to load the periagua, that they may go up 
 with the tide to the city. The noise of 
 the chattering blackguards may disturb thy 
 slumbers !" 
 
 " Truly it would seem, there was little here 
 to invite such active navigation," returned Alida, 
 saluting the cheek of her uncle at his order. 
 " The love of trade must be strong, when it 
 finds the materials of commerce in a solitude 
 like this." 
 
 " Thou hast divined the reason child. Thy 
 father Monsieur de Barberie had his peculiar 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 185 
 
 opinions on the subject, and doubtless he did 
 not fail to transmit some of them to his off 
 spring. And yet, when the Huguenot was 
 driven from his chateau and his clayey Norman 
 lands, the man had no distaste himself for 
 an account current, provided the balance was 
 in his own favour. Nations and characters ! I 
 find but little difference after all in trade ; 
 whether it be driven with a Mohawk for his 
 pack of furs, or with a seigneur who has been 
 driven from his lands. Each strives to get the 
 profit on his own side of the account, and the 
 loss on that of his neighbour. So rest thee well, 
 girl ; and remember that matrimony is no more 
 than a capital bargain, on whose success de 
 pends the sum-total of a woman^s comfort 
 and so once more, good night." 
 
 La Belle Barbcrie attended her uncle duti 
 fully to the door of the pavilion, which she 
 bolted after him, and then finding her little 
 apartment gloomy by the light of the small 
 and feeble lamp he had left, she was pleased 
 
186 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 to bring its flame in contact with the wicks of 
 the two candles he had just extinguished. 
 Placing the three near each other on a table 
 the maiden again drew nigh a window. The 
 unexpected interview with the Alderman had 
 consumed several minutes, and she was curious 
 to know more of the unaccountable movements 
 of the mysterious vessel. 
 
 The same deep silence reigned about the 
 villa, and the slumbering ocean was heaving 
 and setting as heavily as before. Alida again 
 looked for the boat of Ludlow, but her eye 
 ran over the whole distance of the bright and 
 broad streak between her and the cruiser 
 in vain. There was the slight ripple of the 
 water in the glittering of the moon s rays, but 
 no speck like that the barge would make was 
 visible. The lantern still shone at the cruiser s 
 peak. Once, indeed, she thought the sound of 
 oars was again to be heard, and much nearer than 
 before, and yet no effort of her quick and roving 
 sight could detect the position of the boat. But 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 187 
 
 to all these doubts succeeded an alarm which 
 sprang from a new and very different source. 
 
 The existence of the inlet, which united the 
 ocean with the waters of the cove, was but 
 little known, except to the few whose avoca 
 tions kept them near the spot. The pass 
 being much more than half the time closed, 
 its varying character, and the little use that 
 could be made of it under any circumstances, 
 prevented the place from being a subject of 
 general interest with the coasters. Even when 
 open, the depth of its water was uncertain, 
 since a week or two of calms, or of westerly 
 winds, would permit the tides to clean its 
 channel, while a single easterly gale was suf 
 ficient to choke the entire inlet with sand. 
 No wonder then, that Alida felt an amazement 
 which was not quite free from superstitious 
 alarm, when at that hour, and in such a scene, 
 she saw a vessel gliding, as it were, unaided by 
 sails or sweeps, out of the thicket that fringed 
 the ocean side of the cove, into its very centre. 
 
188 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 The strange and mysterious craft was a 
 brigantine of that mixed construction which is 
 much used, even in the most ancient and clas 
 sical seas of the other hemisphere, and which 
 is supposed to unite the advantages of both a 
 square and of a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel, but 
 which is no where seen to display the same 
 beauty of form and symmetry of equipment 
 as on the coasts of this Union. The first 
 and smallest of its masts had all the complicated 
 machinery of a ship, with its superior and in 
 ferior spars, its wider reaching, though light 
 and manageable yards, and its various sails, 
 shaped and arranged to meet every vicissitude 
 and caprice of the winds; while the latter or 
 larger of the two, rose like the straight trunk 
 of a pine from the hull, simple in its cordage, 
 and spreading a single sheet of canvass, that, 
 in itself was sufficient to drive the fabric with 
 vast velocity through the water. The hull was 
 low, graceful in its outlines, dark as the 
 raven s wing, and so modelled as to float on 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 189 
 
 its element like a sea-gull riding the billows. 
 There were many delicate and attenuated lines 
 among its spars, which were intended to spread 
 broader folds of canvass to the light airs when 
 necessary ; but these additions to the tracery 
 of the machine, which added so much to its 
 beauty by day, were now, seen as it was by 
 the dimmer and more treacherous rays of the 
 moon, scarcely visible. In short, as the vessel 
 had entered the cove floating with the tide, 
 and was so singularly graceful and fairy-like 
 in form, Alida at first sight was fain to discredit 
 her senses, and to believe it no more than 
 some illusion of the fancy. Like most others 
 she was ignorant of the temporary inlet, and 
 under the circumstances, it was not difficult to 
 lend a momentary credence to so pleasing an idea. 
 But the delusion was only momentary. The 
 brigantine turned in its course, and gliding 
 into the part of the cove where the curvature 
 of the shores offered most protection from the 
 winds and waves, and perhaps from curious eyes, 
 
190 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 its motion ceased. A heavy plunge in the water 
 was audible even at the villa, and Alida then 
 knew that an anchor had fallen into the bay. 
 
 Although the coast of North America offered 
 little to invite lawless depredation, and it was 
 in general believed to be so safe, yet the pos 
 sibility that cupidity might be invited by the 
 retired situation of her uncle s villa did not fail 
 to suggest itself to the mind of the young 
 heiress. Both she and her guardian were re 
 puted to be wealthy, and disappointment on 
 the open sea, might drive desperate men to 
 the commission of crimes, that in more pros 
 perous moments would not suggest themselves. 
 The freebooters were said to have formerly 
 visited the coast of the neighbouring island, 
 and men were just then commencing those ex 
 cavations for hidden treasures and secreted 
 booty, which have been, at distant intervals, 
 continued to our own time. 
 
 There are situations in which the mind 
 insensibly gives credit to impressions that the 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 191 
 
 reason in common disapproves. The present 
 was one in which Alida de Barberie, though 
 of a resolute and even a masculine understand 
 ing, felt disposed to believe there might be 
 truth in those tales, that she had hitherto 
 heard, only to deride. Still keeping her eye 
 on the motionless vessel, she drew back into 
 her window, and wrapped the curtain round 
 her form, undecided whether to alarm the 
 family or not, and acting under a vague im 
 pression that, though so distant, her person 
 might be seen. She was hardly thus secreted, 
 before the shrubbery was violently agitated, 
 a footstep was heard in the lawn, beneath her 
 window, and then one leaped so lightly into 
 the balcony, and from the balcony into the 
 centre of the room, that the passage of the 
 figure seemed like the flitting of some creature 
 of supernatural attributes. 
 
192 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " Why, look you, how you stare ! 
 
 I would be friends with you, and have your love." 
 
 Shylock. 
 
 THE first impulse of Alida, at this second 
 invasion of her pavilion, was certainly to flee. 
 But timidity was not her weakness, and as 
 natural firmness gave her time to examine the 
 person of the individual who had so uncere 
 moniously entered, curiosity aided in inducing 
 her to remain. Perhaps a vague, but a very 
 natural expectation that she was again to 
 dismiss the commander of the Coquette, had its 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 193 
 
 influence on her first decision. In order that 
 the reader may judge how far this boldness 
 was excusable, we shall describe the person of 
 the intruder. 
 
 The stranger was one in the very bud of 
 young and active manhood. His years could 
 not have exceeded two and twenty, nor would 
 he probably have been thought so old, had 
 not his features been shaded by a rich brown 
 hue, that in some degree served as a foil to 
 a natural complexion, which though never fair, 
 was still clear and blooming. A pair of dark, 
 bushy, and jet-black silken whiskers, that 
 were in singular contrast to eye-lashes and 
 brows of almost feminine beauty and softness, 
 aided also in giving a decided expression to a 
 face, that might otherwise have been wanting 
 in some of that character which is thought 
 essential to comeliness in man. The forehead 
 was smooth and low. the nose, though promi 
 nent and bold in outline, of exceeding delicacy 
 in detail, the mouth and lips full, a little in- 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
194 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 clined to be arch, though the former appeared 
 as if it might at times be pensive ; the teeth 
 were even and unsullied, and the chin was 
 small, round, dimpled, and so carefully divested 
 of the distinguishing mark of the sex, that one 
 could fancy nature had contributed all its 
 growth to adorn the neighbouring cheeks and 
 temples. If to these features be added a pair 
 of full and brilliant coal-black eyes, that ap 
 peared to vary their expression at their master s 
 will, the reader will at once see, that the 
 privacy of Alida had been invaded by one 
 whose personal attractions might, under other 
 circumstances, have been dangerous to the 
 imagination of a female, whose taste was in 
 some degree influenced by a standard created 
 by her own loveliness. 
 
 The dress of the stranger was as unique as 
 his personal attractions were extraordinary. 
 The fashion of the garments resembled that 
 already described as worn by the man who 
 has announced himself as Master Tiller; but 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 195 
 
 the materials were altogether richer, and, 
 judging only from the exterior, more worthy 
 of the wearer. 
 
 The light frock was of a thick purple silk, 
 of an Indian manufacture, cut with exceeding 
 care to fit the fine outlines of a form that was 
 rather round than square; active, than athletic. 
 The loose trousers were of a fine white jean, 
 the cap of scarlet velvet, ornamented with 
 gold, and the body was belted with a large 
 cord of scarlet silk, twisted in the form of a 
 ship s cable. At the ends of the latter, little 
 anchors, wrought in bullion, were attached as 
 gay and fitting appendages. 
 
 In contrast to an attire so whimsical and 
 uncommon, however, a pair of small and richly 
 mounted pistols were at the stranger s girdle, 
 and the haft of a curiously carved Asiatic 
 dagger was seen projecting rather ostenta 
 tiously from between the folds of the upper 
 garment. 
 
 "What cheer! what cheer!" cried a voice, 
 K 2 
 
196 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 that was more in harmony with the appearance 
 of the speaker, than with the rough, professional 
 salutation he uttered, so soon as he had fairly 
 landed in the centre of Alida s little saloon. 
 " Come forth, my dealer in the covering of 
 the beaver, for here is one who brings gold 
 to thy coffers. Ha ! now that this trio of lights 
 hath done its office, it may be extinguished, 
 lest it pilot others to the forbidden haven !" 
 
 " Your pardon, Sir," said the mistress of 
 the pavilion, advancing from behind the cur 
 tain, with an air of coolness that her beating 
 heart had nigh betrayed to be counterfeit: 
 6i having so unexpected a guest to entertain, 
 the additional candles are necessary." 
 
 The start, recoil, and evident alarm of the 
 intruder, lent Alida a little more assurance, 
 for courage is a quality that appears to gain 
 force, in a degree proportioned to the amount 
 in which it is abstracted from the dreaded 
 object. Still, when she saw a hand on a pistol, 
 the maiden was again about to flee, nor was 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 197 
 
 her resolution to remain confirmed, until she 
 met the mild and alluring eye of the intruder, 
 as quitting his hold of the weapon, he ad 
 vanced with an air so mild and graceful, as 
 to cause curiosity to take the place of fear. 
 
 " Though Alderman Van Beverout be not 
 punctual to his appointment," said the gay 
 young stranger, " he has more than atoned 
 for his absence by the substitute he sends. 
 I hope she comes authorized to arrange the 
 whole of our treaty ?" 
 
 " I claim no right to hear, or to dictate in 
 matters not my own. My utmost powers ex 
 tend to expressing a desire, that this pavilion 
 may be exempt from the discussion of affairs-, 
 as much beyond my knowledge as they are 
 separated from my interests." 
 
 u Then why this signal ?" demanded the 
 stranger, pointing, with a serious air, to the 
 lights that still burned near each other, in 
 face of an open window. " It is awkward to 
 mislead, in transactions that are so delicate !" 
 
198 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 u Your allusion, Sir, is not understood. 
 These lights are no more than what are usually 
 seen in my apartment at this hour with, in 
 deed, the addition of a lamp, left by my uncle, 
 Alderman Van Beverout " 
 
 " Your uncle !" exclaimed the other, advanc 
 ing so near Alida, as to cause her to retire a 
 step, his countenance expressing a deep and 
 newly awakened interest " your uncle ! This, 
 then, is one far-famed and justly extolled la 
 Belle Barberie !" he added, gallantly lifting his 
 cap, as if he had just discovered the condi 
 tion and the unusual personal attractions of his 
 companion. 
 
 It was not in nature for Alida to be displeased. 
 All her fancied causes of terror were forgotten, 
 for, in addition to their improbable and uncer 
 tain nature, the stranger had sufficiently given 
 her to understand that he was expected by her 
 uncle. If we add, that the singular attraction 
 and softness of his face and voice aided in 
 quieting her fears, we shall probably do no 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 199 
 
 violence either to the truth, or to a very 
 natural feeling. Profoundly ignorant of the 
 details of commerce, and accustomed to hear 
 its mysteries extolled as exercising the keenest 
 and best faculties of man, she saw nothing 
 extraordinary in those who were actively en 
 gaged in the pursuit, having reasons for con 
 cealing their movements from the jealousy and 
 rivalry of competitors. Like most of her sex, 
 she had great dependence on the characters of 
 those she loved ; and though nature, education, 
 and habit had created a striking difference be 
 tween the guardian and his ward, their har 
 mony had never been interrupted by any breach 
 of affection. 
 
 " This, then, is la Belle Barberie !" repeated 
 the young sailor, for such his dress denoted 
 him to be, studying her features with an ex 
 pression of face, in which pleasure vied with 
 evident and touching melancholy. " Fame hath 
 done no injustice, for here is all that might 
 justify the folly or madness of man !" 
 
200 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " This is familiar dialogue for an utter stran 
 ger," returned Alida, blushing, though the 
 quick dark eye that seemed to fathom all her 
 thoughts saw it was not in anger. * I do not 
 deny that the partiality of friends, coupled with 
 my origin, have obtained the appellation, which 
 is given, however, more in playfulness than in 
 any serious opinion of its being merited and 
 now, as the hour is getting late, and this visit is 
 at least unusual, you will permit me to seek my 
 uncle.*" 
 
 " Stay," interrupted the stranger " it is 
 long very long, since so soothing, so gentle 
 a pleasure has been mine ! This is a life of 
 mysteries, beautiful Alida, though its incidents 
 seem so vulgar and of every day occurrence. 
 There is mystery in its beginning and its end ; 
 in its impulses ; its sympathies and all its dis 
 cordant passions. No, do not quit me. I am 
 from off the sea, where none but coarse and 
 vulgar-minded men have long been my asso- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 201 
 
 elates, and thy presence is a balm to a bruised 
 and wounded spirit." 
 
 Interested, if possible, more by the touching 
 and melancholy tones of the speaker, than by 
 his extraordinary language, Alida hesitated. 
 Her reason told her that propriety, and even 
 prudence, required she should apprize her uncle 
 of the stranger s presence ; but propriety and 
 prudence lose much of their influence, when 
 female curiosity is sustained by a secret and 
 powerful sympathy. Her own eloquent eye 
 met the open and imploring look of organs that 
 seemed endowed with the fabled power to 
 charm, and while her judgment told her there 
 was so much to alarm, her senses pleaded power 
 fully in behalf of the gentle mariner. 
 
 " An expected guest of my uncle will have 
 leisure to repose after the privations and hard 
 ships of so weary a voyage," she said. " This 
 is a house whose door is never closed against the 
 right of hospitality." 
 
 " If there is aught about my person or attire 
 K 3 
 
202 THE WATER WITCH 
 
 to alarm you," returned the stranger, earnestly, 
 " speak, that it may be cast away. These arms 
 these foolish arms had better not have been 
 here, 1 " he added, casting the pistols and dagger 
 indignantly through a window, into the shrub 
 bery ; u ah ! if you knew how unwillingly I 
 would harm any and least of all a woman 
 you would not fear me !" 
 
 " I fear you not/ returned la Belle, firmly. 
 u I dread the misconceptions of the world." 
 
 " What world is here to disturb us ! Thou 
 livest in thy pavilion, beautiful Alida, remote 
 from towns and envy, like some favoured dam 
 sel, over whose happy and charmed life presides 
 a benignant genius. See, here are all the 
 pretty materials with which thy sex seeks inno 
 cent and happy amusement. Thou touchest 
 this lute, when melancholy renders thought 
 pleasing ; here are colours to mock, or to eclipse 
 the beauties of the fields and the mountain, 
 the flower and the tree ; and from these pages 
 are culled thoughts, pure, and rich in ima- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 203 
 
 gery, as thy spirit is spotless, and thy person 
 lovely !" 
 
 Alida listened in amazement, for while he 
 spoke, the young mariner touched the different 
 articles he named, with a melancholy interest, 
 which seemed to say how deeply he regretted 
 that fortune had placed him in a profession in 
 which their use was nearly denied." 
 
 " It is not common for those who live on the 
 sea to feel this interest in the trifles which con 
 stitute a woman s pleasure," she said, lingering, 
 spite of her better resolution to depart. 
 
 " The spirit of our rude and boisterous trade 
 is then known to you ?" 
 
 " It were not possible for the relation of a 
 merchant, so extensively known as my uncle, to 
 be ignorant altogether of mariners." 
 
 " Ay, here is proof of it," returned the stran 
 ger, speaking so quick as again to betray how 
 sensitively his mind was constructed. " The 
 History of the American Buccaneers is a rare 
 book to be found in a lady s library . What 
 
204 THE WATER WIT0H. 
 
 pleasure can a mind like that of la Belle 
 Barberie find in these recitals of bloody vio 
 lence ?" 
 
 " What pleasure, truly f returned Alida, 
 half tempted, by the wild and excited eye of 
 her companion, notwithstanding all the contra 
 dictory evidence which surrounded him, to be 
 lieve she was addressing one of the very rovers 
 in question. " The book was lent me by a 
 brave seaman, who holds himself in readiness to 
 repress their depredations ; and while reading of 
 so much wickedness, I endeavour to recal the 
 devotion of those who risk their lives, in order 
 to protect the weak and innocent. My uncle 
 will be angered, should I longer delay to ap 
 prize him of your presence." 
 
 "A single moment! It is long very long, 
 since I have entered a sanctuary like this ! Here 
 is music ! and there the frame for the gaudy 
 tambour these windows look on a landscape 
 soft as thine own nature, and yonder ocean can 
 be admired without dreading its terrific power, 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 205 
 
 or feeling disgust at its coarser scenes. Thou 
 shouldst be happy here !" 
 
 The stranger turned and perceived that he 
 was alone. Disappointment was strongly paint 
 ed on his handsome face, but ere there was time 
 for second thought, another voice was heard 
 grumbling at the door of the saloon. 
 
 " Compacts and treaties! What, in the 
 name of good faith, hath brought thee hither ? 
 Is this the way to keep a cloak on our move 
 ments, or dost suppose that the Queen will 
 knight me, for being known as thy corres 
 pondent ?" 
 
 " Lanterns and false-beacons !" returned the 
 other, mimicking the voice of the disconcerted 
 burgher, arid pointing to the lights that still 
 stood where last described. " Can the port be 
 entered without respecting the land-marks and 
 signals ?" 
 
 " This comes of moonlight and sentiment ! 
 When the girl should have been asleep, she 
 is up, gazing at the stars, and disconcerting 
 
206 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 a burgher s speculations. But fear thee not, 
 Master Seadrift ; my niece has discretion, and 
 if we have no better pledge for her silence, there 
 is that of necessity, since there is no one 
 here for a confident, but her old Norman valet, 
 and the Patroon of Kinderhook, both of whom 
 are dreaming of other matter than a little gain 
 ful traffic." 
 
 " Fear thee not, Alderman," returned the 
 other, still maintaining his air of mockery ; 
 " we have the pledge of character, if no other, 
 since the uncle cannot part with reputation, 
 without the niece sharing in the loss." 
 
 " What sin is there in pushing commerce a 
 step beyond the limits of the law ? These Eng 
 lish are a nation of monopolists, and they make 
 no scruple of tying us of the colonies, hand and 
 foot, heart and soul, with their acts of parlia 
 ment, saying, with us shalt thou trade, or not 
 at all. By the character of the best Burgo 
 master of Amsterdam, and they came by the 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 20? 
 
 province, too, in no such honesty that we should 
 lie down and obey !" 
 
 " Wherein there is much comfort to a dealer 
 in the contraband. Justly reasoned, my worthy 
 Alderman. Thy logic will, at any time, make 
 a smooth pillow, especially if the adventure be 
 not without its profit. And now, having so 
 commendably disposed of the moral of our bar 
 gain, let us approach its legitimate, if not its 
 lawful conclusion. There," he added, drawing 
 a small bag from an inner pocket of his frock, 
 and tossing it carelessly on a table, " there is 
 thy gold. Eighty broad Johannes is no bad 
 return for a few packages of furs, and even 
 avarice itself will own that six months is no long 
 investment for the usury ?" 
 
 " That boat of thine, most lively Seadrift, 
 is a marine humming-bird !" returned Myndert, 
 with a joyful tremor of the voice, that betrayed 
 his deep and entire satisfaction. " Didst say 
 just eighty ? But spare thyself the trouble of 
 looking for the memorandum ; I will tell the 
 
208 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 gold myself, to spare thee the trouble. Truly 
 the adventure hath not been bad ! A few kegs 
 of Jamaica, with a little powder and lead, and 
 a blanket or two, with now and then a penny 
 bauble for a chief, are knowingly, ay, and 
 speedily transmuted into the yellow metal by 
 thy good aid. This affair was managed on the 
 French coast?" 
 
 u More northward, where the frost helped 
 the bargain. Thy beavers and martens, honest 
 burgher, will be flaunting in the presence of the 
 Emperor, at the next holidays. What is there 
 in the face of the Braganza, that thou studiest 
 it so hard ?" 
 
 " The piece seems none of the heaviest but 
 luckily I have scales at hand " 
 
 " Hold !" said the stranger, laying his hand, 
 which, according to a fashion of that day. was 
 clad in a delicate and scented glove, lightly 
 on the arm of the other: " no scales between 
 usj Sir ! That was taken in return for thy ad 
 venture ; heavy or light, it must go down. We 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 209 
 
 deal in confidence, and this hesitation offends me. 
 Another such doubt of my integrity, and our 
 connection is at an end," 
 
 " A calamity I should deplore quite or nearly 
 as much as thyself," returned Myndert, affect 
 ing to laugh, though he slipped the suspected 
 doubloon into the bag again, in a manner that 
 at once removed the object of contention from 
 view. " A little particularity in the balance 
 part of commerce serves to maintain friendships. 
 But a trifle shall not cause us to waste the pre 
 cious time. Hast brought goods suited to the 
 colonies ?" 
 
 ff In plenty." 
 
 " And ingeniously assorted ? Colonies and 
 monopoly ! but there is a two-fold satisfac 
 tion in this clandestine traffic ! I never get the 
 notice of thy arrival, Master Seadrift, but the 
 heart within me leapeth of gladness ! There is 
 a double pleasure in circumventing the legisla 
 tion of your London wiseacres !" 
 
 " The chiefest of which is " 
 
210 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " A goodly return for the investment, truly. 
 I desire not to deny the agency of natural 
 causes ; but trust me, there is a sort of profes 
 sional glory in thus defeating the selfishness of 
 our rulers. What, are we born of woman to 
 be used as the instruments of their prosperity ! 
 Give us equal legislation, a right to decide on 
 
 the policy of enactments, and then, like a loyal 
 
 t 
 and obedient subject " 
 
 " Thou wouldst still deal in the contra 
 band !" 
 
 u Well, well, multiplying idle words is not 
 multiplying gold. The list of the articles intro 
 duced can be forthcoming ?" 
 
 " It is here, and ready to be examined. But 
 there is a fancy come over me, Alderman Van 
 Beverout, which, like others of my caprices, 
 thou knowest must have its way. There should 
 be a witness to our bargain." 
 
 "Judges and juries! Thou forgettest, man, 
 that a clumsy galliot could sail through the 
 tightest clause of these extra legal compacts. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 211 
 
 The courts receive the evidence of this sort of 
 traffic as the grave receives the dead to swallow 
 all and be forgotten." 
 
 " I care not for the courts, and little desire 
 do I feel to enter them. But the presence of la 
 Belle Barberie may serve to prevent any mis 
 conceptions that might bring our connection to 
 a premature close. Let her be summoned." 
 
 " The girl is altogether ignorant of traffic, 
 and it might unsettle her opinions of her uncle s 
 stability. If a man does not maintain credit 
 within his own doors, how can he expect it in 
 the streets." 
 
 "Many have credit on the highway who 
 receive none at home. But thou knowest my 
 humour ; no niece no traffic." 
 
 " Alida is a dutiful and affectionate child, 
 and I would not willingly disturb her slumbers. 
 Here is the Patroon of Kinderhook, a man who 
 loves English legislation as little as myself he 
 will be less reluctant to see an honest shilling 
 
212 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 turned into gold. I will awake him ; no man 
 was ever yet offended at an offer to share in a 
 profitable adventure." 
 
 " Let him sleep on. I deal not with your 
 lords of manors and mortgagees. Bring forth 
 the lady, for there will be matter fit for her 
 delicacy.* 
 
 " Duty and the ten commandments ! You 
 never had the charge of a child, Master Sea- 
 drift, and cannot know the weight of responsi 
 bility" 
 
 " No niece no traffic !" interrupted the wil 
 ful dealer in contraband, returning his invoice 
 to his pocket and preparing to rise from the 
 table where he had already seated himself. 
 " The lady knows of my presence, and it were 
 safer for us both that she entered more deeply 
 into our confidence." 
 
 " Thou art as despotic as the English navi 
 gation law ! I hear the foot of the child still 
 pacing her chamber and she shall come. But 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 213 
 
 there need be no explanations to recal old inter 
 course. The affair can pass as a bit of acci 
 dental speculation a by-play in the traffic of 
 life." 
 
 " As thou pleasest. I shall deal less in words 
 than in business. Keep thine own secrets, 
 burgher, and they are safe. Still I would have 
 the lady, for there is a presentiment that our 
 connection is in danger." 
 
 " I like not that word presentiment," grum 
 bled the Alderman, taking a light and snuffing 
 it with deliberate care ; " drop but a single 
 letter and one dreams of the pains and penalties 
 of the exchequer. Remember thou art a traf 
 ficker, who conceals his appearance on account 
 of the cleverness of his speculations ! " 
 
 " That is my calling to the letter. Were all 
 others as clever, the trade would certainly cease 
 Go, bring the lady." 
 
 The Alderman, who probably saw the neces 
 sity of making some explanation to his niece, 
 
214 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 and who, it would seem, fully understood the 
 positive character of his companion, no longer 
 hesitated ; but first casting a suspicious glance 
 out of the still open window, he left the room. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 215 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " Alack, what heinous sin is it in me, 
 To be ashamed to be my father s child ! 
 But though I am a daughter to his blood, 
 I am not to his manners." 
 
 Merchant of Venice. 
 
 THE moment the stranger, was again alone, 
 the entire expression of his countenance under 
 went a change. The reckless and bold expres 
 sion deserted his eye, which once more became 
 soft, if not pensive, as it wandered over the dif 
 ferent elegant objects that seVved to amuse the 
 leisure of la Belle Barberie. He arose and 
 touched the strings of a lute, and then, like 
 
216 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Fear, started back, as if recoiling at the sound 
 he had made. All recollection of the object of 
 his visit was evidently forgotten in a new and 
 livelier interest, and had there been one to watch 
 his movements, the last motive imputed to his 
 presence would probably have been the one that 
 was true. There was so little of that vulgar 
 and common character which is usually seen in 
 men of his pursuit in the gentle aspect and sub 
 dued air of his fine features, that it might be 
 fancied he was thus singularly endowed by 
 nature, in order that deception might triumph. 
 If there were moments when a disregard of 
 opinion was seen in his demeanour, it rather 
 appeared assumed than easy, and even when 
 most disposed to display lawless indifference to 
 the ordinary regulations of society in his inter 
 view with the Alderman, it had been blended 
 with a reserve of manner that was strangely in 
 contrast to hjs humour. 
 
 On the other hand, it were idle to say that 
 Alida de Barberie had no unpleasant suspicions 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 217 
 
 concerning the character of her uncled guest. 
 That baneful influence which necessarily exerts 
 itself near an irresponsible power, coupled with 
 the natural indifference with which the principal 
 regards the dependent, had caused the English 
 ministry to fill too many of their posts of honour 
 and profit in the colonies with needy and disso 
 lute men of rank, or of high political connexions 
 at home. The province of New York had in 
 this respect been particularly unfortunate. The 
 gift of Charles to his brother and successor had 
 left it without the protection of those charters 
 and other privileges that had been granted to 
 most of the governments of America. The con 
 nection with the crown was direct ; and for a long 
 period the majority of the inhabitants were con 
 sidered as of a different race, and of course as 
 of one less to be considered than that of their 
 conquerors. Such was the laxity of the times 
 on the subject of injustice to the people of this 
 hemisphere, that the predatory expeditions of 
 Drake and others against the wealthy occupants 
 VOL, i. L 
 
218 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 of the more southern countries seem to have left 
 no spots on their escutcheons, and the honours 
 and favours of Queen Elizabeth had been libe 
 rally extended to men who would now be deem 
 ed freebooters. In short, that system of vio 
 lence and specious morality which commenced 
 with the gifts of Ferdinand and Isabella, and 
 the bulls of the popes, was continued with more 
 or less of modification, until the descendants of 
 those single-minded and virtuous men who peo 
 pled the Union took the powers of government 
 into their own hands, and proclaimed political 
 ethics that were previously as little practised as 
 understood. 
 
 Alida knew that both the Earl of Bellamont 
 and the unprincipled nobleman who has been 
 introduced in the earlier pages of this tale, had 
 not escaped the imputation of conniving at acts 
 on the sea far more flagrant than any of an un 
 lawful trade ; and it will therefore create little 
 surprise that she saw reason to distrust the 
 legality of some of her uncle s speculations with 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 219 
 
 less pain than might be felt by one of her sex 
 and opinions at the present hour. Her suspi 
 cions however fell far short of the truth, for it 
 were scarce possible to have presented a mariner, 
 who bore about him fewer of those signs of his 
 rude calling than he whom she had so unexpect 
 edly met. 
 
 Perhaps, too, the powerful charm that existed 
 in the voice and countenance of one so singu 
 larly gifted by nature, had its influence in per 
 suading Alida to reappear. At all events she 
 was soon seen to enter the room with an air that 
 manifested more of curiosity and wonder than of 
 displeasure. 
 
 " My niece has heard that thou comest from 
 the old countries, Master Seadrift," said the 
 wary Alderman, who preceded Alida, " and the 
 woman is uppermost in her heart. Thou wilt 
 never be forgiven should the eye of any maiden 
 in Manhattan get sight of thy finery before she 
 has passed judgment on its merit." 
 
 " I cannot wish a more impartial or a fairer 
 L 2 
 
220 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 judge," returned the other, doffing his cap in 
 the gallant and careless manner of his trade. 
 " Here are silks from the looms of Tuscany, 
 and Lyonnais brocades, that any Lombard or 
 dame of France might envy. Ribbons of every 
 hue and dye, and laces that seem to copy the 
 fret-work of the richest cathedral of your Flem- 
 ing!" 
 
 "Thou hast journeyed much in thy time, 
 Master Seadrift, and speakest of countries and 
 usages with understanding," said the Alderman. 
 " But how stand the prices of these precious 
 goods ? Thou knowest the long war, and the 
 moral certainty of its continuance ; this German 
 succession to the throne, and the late earth 
 quakes in the country, too, have much unsettled 
 prices, and cause us thoughtful burghers to be 
 wary in our traffic. Didst inquire the cost of 
 geldings when last in Holland ?" 
 
 " The animals go a-begging. As to the value 
 of my goods, that you know is fixed ; for I admit 
 of no parley between friends." 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 221 
 
 " Thy obstinacy is unreasonable, Master Sea- 
 drift. A wise merchant will always look to the 
 state of the market, and one so practised should 
 know that a nimble sixpence multiplies faster 
 than a slow-moving shilling. Tis the constant 
 rolling of the ball that causes the snow to cleave. 
 Goods that come light should not go heavy, arid 
 quick settlements follow sudden bargains. Thou 
 knowest our York saying, that first offers are 
 the best. " 
 
 " He that likes may purchase, and he that 
 prefers his gold to fine laces, rich silks, and stiff 
 brocades, has only to sleep with his money-bags 
 under his pillow. There are others who wait 
 with impatience to see the articles, and I have 
 not crossed the Atlantic with a freight that 
 scarcely ballasts the brigantine, to throw away 
 the valuables on the lowest bidder." 
 
 " Nay, uncle," said Alida, in a little trepida 
 tion, " we cannot judge of the quality of 
 Master Seadrift s articles by report. I dare to 
 
222 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 say he has not landed without a sample of his 
 wares ?" 
 
 "Custom and friendships!" muttered Myn- 
 dert, " of what use is an established correspon 
 dence, if it is to be broken on account of a little 
 cheapening ? But produce thy stores, Mr. Dog 
 matism; I warrant me the fashions are of some 
 rejected use, or that the colour of the goods be 
 impaired by the usual negligence of thy careless 
 mariners. We will, at least, pay thee the com 
 pliment to look at the effects." 
 
 "Tis as you please," returned the other. 
 " The bales are in the usual place, at the wharf, 
 under the inspection of honest Master Tiller ; 
 but if so inferior in quality, they will scarce re 
 pay the trouble of the walk." 
 
 " I ll go, I ll go," said the Alderman, adjust 
 ing his wig and removing his spectacles ; 4i twould 
 not be treating an old correspondent well, to re 
 fuse to look at his samples, thou wilt follow, 
 Master Seadrift, and so I will pay thee the com- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 pliment to examine the effects though the long 
 war, the glut of furs, the over-abundance of the 
 last year s harvests, and the perfect quiet in the 
 mining districts, have thrown all commerce flat 
 on its back. I ll go, however, lest thou shouldst 
 say thy interests were neglected. Thy Master 
 Tiller is an indiscreet agent; he gave me a fright 
 to-day, that exceeds any alarm I have felt since 
 the failure of Van Halt, Balance and Did 
 dle." 
 
 The voice of Myndert became inaudible, for, 
 in his haste not to neglect the interests of his 
 guest, the tenacious trader had already quitted 
 the room, and half of his parting speech was ut 
 tered in the ante-chamber of the pavilion. 
 
 61 T would scarce comport with the propriety 
 of my sex to mingle with the seamen, and the 
 others who doubtless surround the bales ?" said 
 Alida, in whose face there was a marked expres 
 sion of hesitation and curiosity. 
 
 " It will not be necessary," returned her com- 
 
224 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 panion. " I have, at hand, specimens of all 
 that you would see. But why this haste ? We 
 are yet in the early hours of he night, and the 
 Alderman will be occupied long, ere he comes 
 to the determination to pay the prices my people 
 are sure to ask. I am lately from off the sea, 
 beautiful Alida, and thou canst not know the 
 pleasure I find in breathing even the atmosphere 
 of a woman s presence." 
 
 La Belle Barberie retired a step or two, she 
 knew not why, and her hand was placed upon 
 the cord of the bell, before she was aware of the 
 manner in which she betrayed her alarm. 
 
 " To me it does not seem that T am a creature 
 so terrific that thou needst dread my presence," 
 continued the gay mariner, with a smile that 
 expressed as much of secret irony, as of that 
 pensive character which had again taken posses 
 sion of his countenance ; " but ring, and bring 
 your attendants to relieve fears that are natural 
 to thy sex, and therefore seducing to mine. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 225 
 
 Shall I pull the cord ? for this pretty hand 
 trembles too much to do its office." 
 
 " I know not that any would answer, for it is 
 past the hour of attendance; it is better that I 
 go to the examination of the bales." 
 
 The strange, and singularly attired being, 
 who occasioned so much uneasiness to Alida, re 
 garded her for a moment with a kind and me 
 lancholy solicitude. 
 
 " Thus they are all, till altered by too much 
 intercourse with a cold and corrupt world!" he 
 rather whispered, than uttered aloud. " Would 
 that thus they might all continue! Thou art a 
 singular compound of thy sex^s weakness and 
 of manly resolution, Belle Barberie; but trust 
 me," and he laid his hand on his heart with an 
 earnestness that spoke well for his sincerity ; 
 " ere word, or act, to harm or to offend thee, 
 should proceed from any who obey will of mine, 
 nature itself must undergo a change. Start 
 not, for I call one to show the specimens 
 you would see." 
 
 L 3 
 
226 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 He then applied a little silver whistle to his 
 lips, and drew a low signal from the instrument, 
 motioning to Alida to await the result without 
 alarm. In half a minute, there was a rustling 
 among the leaves of the shrubbery, a moment of 
 attentive pause, and then a dark object entered 
 the window and rolled heavily to the centre of 
 the floor. 
 
 " Here are our commodities, and trust me the 
 price shall not be dwelt on between us," resumed 
 Master Seadrift, undoing the fastenings of the 
 little bale that had entered the saloon, seemingly 
 without the aid of hands. " These goods are so 
 many gages of neutrality between us, so ap 
 proach and examine without fear. You will 
 find some among them to reward the hazard." 
 
 The bale was now open, and as its master ap 
 peared to be singularly expert in suiting a female 
 fancy, it became impossible for Alida to resist 
 any longer. She gradually lost her reserve as 
 the examination proceeded ; and before the owner 
 of the treasures had got into the third of his 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 227 
 
 packages, the hands of the heiress were as ac 
 tively employed as his own in gaining access to 
 their view. 
 
 " This is a stuff of the Lombard territories," 
 said the vender of the goods, pleased with the 
 confidence he had succeeded in establishing 
 between his beautiful customer and himself; 
 " thou seest it is rich, flowery, and variegated 
 as the land it came from. One might fancy the 
 vines and vegetation of that deep soil were shoot 
 ing from this labour of the loom nay, the piece 
 is sufficient for any toilette, however ample ; see, 
 it is endless as the plains that reared the little 
 animal who supplies the texture. I have parted 
 of that fabric to many dames of England, who 
 have not disdained to traffic with one that risks 
 much in their behalf." 
 
 " I fear there are many who find a pleasure 
 in these stuffs, chiefly because their use is for 
 bidden." 
 
 " T would not be out of nature! Look; this 
 
228 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 box contains ornaments of the elephant s tooth, 
 cut by a cunning artificer in the far Eastern 
 lands; they do not disfigure a lady s dressing- 
 table, and have a moral, for they remind her of 
 countries where the sex is less happy than at 
 home. Ah! here is a treasure of Mechlin, 
 wrought in a fashion of my own design." 
 
 " Tis beautifully fancied! and might do cre 
 dit to one who professed the painter s art." 
 
 "My youth was much employed in these 
 conceits," returned the trader, unfolding the 
 rich and delicate lace in a manner to show that 
 he had still pleasure in contemplating its texture 
 and quality. < There was a compact between 
 me and the maker, that enough should be fur 
 nished to reach from the high church tower of 
 his town, to the pavement beneath; and yet 
 you see how little remains ! The London dames 
 found it to their taste, and it was not easy to 
 bring even this trifle into the colonies." 
 
 " You chose a remarkable measure for an 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 229 
 
 article that was to visit so many different coun 
 tries without the formalities of Jaw ?" 
 
 " We thought to start in the favour of the 
 church, which rarely frowns on those who 
 respect its privileges. Under the sanction of 
 such authority, I will lay aside all that re 
 mains, certain it will be needed for thy use." 
 
 " So rare a manufacture should be costly ?" 
 
 La Belle Barberie spoke hesitatingly, and 
 as she raised her eyes, they met the dark 
 organs of her companion fixed on her face, 
 in a manner that seemed to express a con 
 sciousness of the ascendancy he was gaining 
 Startled at she knew not what, the maiden 
 again added hastily, 
 
 " This may be fitter for a court lady than 
 a girl of the colonies ?" 
 
 " None who have yet worn of it so well 
 become it ; I lay it here as a make-weight 
 in my bargain with the Alderman. This is 
 satin of Tuscany; a country where nature ex 
 hibits its extremes, and one whose merchants 
 
230 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 were princes. Your Florentine was subtle in 
 his fabrics, and happy in his conceits of forms 
 and colours, for which he stood indebted to 
 the riches of his own climate. Observe, the 
 hue of this glossy surface is scarcely so deli 
 cate as I have seen the rosy light at even, 
 playing on the sides of his Appenines !" 
 
 t( You have then visited the regions in 
 whose fabrics you deal ?" said Alida, suffering 
 the articles to fall from her hand, in the stronger 
 interest she began to feel in their owner. 
 
 " Tis my habit. Here have we a chain 
 from the city of the isles. The hand of Ve 
 netian could alone form these delicate and 
 nearly insensible links. I refused a string of 
 spotless pearls for that same golden web." 
 
 " It was indiscreet in one who trades at so 
 much hazard ?" 
 
 " I kept the bauble for my pleasure ! Whim 
 is sometimes stronger than the thirst of gain ; 
 and this chain does not quit me, till I bestow 
 it on the lady of my love." 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 231 
 
 " One so actively employed, can scarce 
 spare time to seek a fitting object for the gift." 
 
 " Is merit and loveliness in the sex so rare ! 
 La Belle Barberie speaks in the security of 
 many conquests, or she would not deal thus 
 lightly in a matter that is so serious with most 
 females !" 
 
 a Among other countries, your vessel hath 
 visited a land of witchcraft, or you would 
 not pretend to a knowledge of things, that in 
 their very nature must be hidden from a stran 
 ger. Of what value may be those beautiful 
 feathers of the ostrich ? v 
 
 " They came of swarthy Africa, though so 
 spotless themselves. The bunch was had by 
 secret traffic from a Moorish man, in exchange 
 for a few skins of lachrymse christi, that he 
 swallowed with his eyes shut. I dealt with 
 the fellow, only in pity for his thirst, and do 
 not pride myself on the value of the commodity. 
 It shall go too, to quicken love between me and 
 thy uncle." 
 
232 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Alida could Dot object to this liberality, 
 though she was not without a secret opinion 
 that the gifts were no more than delicate and 
 well-concealed offerings to herself. The effect 
 of this suspicion was two-fold; it caused the 
 maiden to become more reserved in the expres 
 sion of her tastes, though it in no degree les 
 sened her confidence in, and admiration of the 
 wayward and remarkable trader. 
 
 " My uncle will have cause to commend thy 
 generous spirit," said the heiress, bending her 
 head a little coldly at this repeated declaration 
 of her companion s intentions, " though it would 
 seem that in trade, justice is as much to be 
 desired as generosity ; this seemeth a curious 
 design wrought with the needle ?" 
 
 " It is the labour of many a day, fashioned 
 by the hand of a recluse. I bought it of a 
 nun in France, who passed years in toil upon 
 the conceit, which is of more value than the 
 material. The meek daughter of solitude wept 
 when she parted with the fabric, for in her 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 233 
 
 eyes, it had the tie of association and habit. 
 A companion might be lost, to one who lives 
 in the confusion of the world, and it should 
 not cause more real sorrow than parting from 
 the product of her needle gave that mild resi 
 dent of the cloisters !" 
 
 " And is it permitted for your sex to visit 
 those places of religious retirement ?" asked 
 Alida. " I come of a race that pays little 
 deference to monastic life, for we are refugees 
 from the severity of Louis, but yet I never 
 heard my father charge these females with 
 being so regardless of their vows." 
 
 " The fact was so repeated to me, for surely 
 my sex are not admitted to traffic directly with 
 the modest sisters " (a smile that Alida was 
 half disposed to think bold, played about the 
 handsome mouth of the speaker) ; " but it was 
 so reported. What is your opinion of the 
 merit of woman, in thus seeking refuge from 
 the cares, and haply from the sins of the world, 
 in institutions of this order ?" 
 
234 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Truly, the question exceedeth my know 
 ledge. This is not a country to immure females, 
 and the custom causes us of America little 
 thought." 
 
 " The usage hath its abuses, 1 continued the 
 dealer in contraband, speaking thoughtfully; 
 " but it is not without its good. There are 
 many of the weak and vain that would be 
 happier in the cloisters, than if left to the 
 seductions and follies of life ; ah, here is 
 work of English hands. I scarcely know how 
 the articles found their way into the company 
 of the products of the foreign looms. My 
 bales contain, in general, little that is vulgarly 
 sanctioned by the law. Speak me frankly, 
 Belle Alida, and say if you share in the 
 prejudices against the character of us free 
 traders ?" 
 
 " I pretend not to judge of regulations that 
 exceed the knowledge and practices of my sex, 
 returned the maiden with commendable reserve. 
 " There are some who think the abuse of 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 235 
 
 power a justification of its resistance, while 
 others deem a breach of law to be a breach of 
 morals." 
 
 <( The latter is the doctrine of your man of 
 invested monies and established fortune ! He 
 has entrenched his gains behind acknowledged 
 barriers, and he preaches their sanctity, because 
 they favour his selfishness. We skimmers of 
 the sea" 
 
 Alida started so suddenly, as to cause her 
 companion to cease speaking. 
 
 " Are my words frightful, that you pale at 
 their sound ?" 
 
 " I hope they were used rather in accident 
 than with their dreaded meaning. I would not 
 have it said no ! tis but a chance that springs 
 from some resemblance in your callings. One 
 like you can never be the man whose name 
 has grown into a proverb ? 
 
 " One like me, beautiful Alida, is much as 
 fortune wills. Of what man, or of what name 
 wouldst speak ?" 
 
236 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 66 Tis nothing." returned la Belle Barberie, 
 gazing unconsciously at the polished and grace 
 ful features of the stranger longer than was 
 wont in maiden. " Proceed with your explana 
 tion ; these are rich velvets !" 
 
 " They come of Venice, too ; but commerce 
 is like the favour which attends the rich, and 
 the Queen of the Adriatic is already far on 
 the decline. That which causes the increase 
 of the husbandman, occasions the downfall of 
 a city. The lagunes are filling with fat soil, 
 and the keel of the trader is less frequent there 
 than of old. Ages hence the plough may trace 
 furrows where the Bucentaur has floated ! The 
 outer India passage has changed the current of 
 prosperity, which ever rushes in the widest and 
 newest track. Nations might learn a moral by 
 studying the sleepy canals and instructive mag 
 nificence of that fallen town ; but pride fattens on 
 its own lazy recollections to the last ! As I was 
 saying, we rovers deal little in musty maxims, 
 that are made by the great and prosperous at 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 237 
 
 home, and are trumpeted abroad, in order that 
 the weak and unhappy should be the more 
 closely riveted in their fetters." 
 
 " Methinks you push the principle further 
 than is necessary, for one whose greatest offence 
 against established usage is a little hazardous 
 commerce. These are opinions that might 
 unsettle the world." 
 
 " Rather settle it, by referring all to the 
 rule of right. When governments shall lay their 
 foundations in natural justice, when their object 
 shall be to remove the temptations to err, in 
 stead of creating them, and when bodies of 
 men shall feel and acknowledge the respon 
 sibilities of individuals why, then the Water 
 Witch herself might become a revenue cutter, 
 and her owner an officer of the customs !" 
 
 The velvet fell from the hands of la Belie 
 Barberie, and she arose from her seat in pre 
 cipitation. 
 
 " Speak plainly," said Alida, with all her 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 natural firmness ; " with whom am I about to 
 traffic ?" 
 
 " An outcast of society a man condemned 
 in the opinions of the world the outlaw the 
 flagrant wanderer of the ocean the lawless 
 Skimmer of the Seas !" cried a voice at the open 
 window. 
 
 In another minute, Ludlow was in the room. 
 Alida uttered a shriek, veiled her face in her 
 robe, and rushed from the apartment. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 239 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 " Truth will come to light ; 
 Murder cannot be hid long, a man s son may ; . 
 But in the end, truth will out." 
 
 Launcelot. 
 
 THE officer of the Queen had leaped into 
 the pavilion, with the flushed features and all 
 the hurry of an excited man. The exclamations 
 and retreat of la Belle Barberie, for a single 
 moment diverted his attention, arid then he 
 turned suddenly, not to say fiercely, towards 
 her companion. It is not necessary to repeat 
 the description of the stranger s person, in 
 order to render the change which instantly 
 
240 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 occurred in the countenance of Ludlow, intel 
 ligible to the reader. His eye at first refused 
 to believe there was no other present, and when 
 it had again and again searched the whole apart 
 ment, it returned to the face and form of the 
 dealer in contraband with an expression of in 
 credulity and wonder. 
 
 " Here is some mistake !" exclaimed the 
 commander of the Coquette, after time had 
 been given for a thorough examination of the 
 room. 
 
 " Your gentle manner of entrance," returned 
 the stranger, across whose face there had 
 passed a glow, that might have come equally of 
 anger or of surprise, " has driven the lady 
 from the room. But as you wear the livery 
 of the Queen, I presume you have authority for 
 invading the dwelling of the subject ?" 
 
 u I had believed nay, there was reason 
 to be certain, that one whom all of proper 
 loyalty execrate, was to be found here," stam 
 mered the still confused Ludlow. " There 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 241 
 
 can scarce be a deception, for I plainly heard 
 the discourse of my captor s, and yet here is 
 none !" 
 
 " I thank you for the high consideration you 
 bestow on my presence." 
 
 The manner, rather than the words of the 
 speaker, induced Ludlow to rivet another look 
 on his countenance. There was a mixed ex 
 pression of doubt, admiration, and possibly of 
 uneasiness, if not of actual jealousy, in the 
 eye which slowly read all his lineaments, though 
 the former seemed the stronger sensation of the 
 three. 
 
 " We have never met before !" cried Ludlow, 
 when the organ began to grow dim with the 
 length and steadiness of its gaze. 
 
 " The ocean has many paths, and men may 
 journey on them long, without crossing each 
 other." 
 
 " Thou hast served the Queen, though I see 
 thee in this doubtful situation ?" 
 
 " Never. I am not one to bind myself to 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
242 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 the servitude of any woman that lives," re 
 turned the free-trader, while a wild smile played 
 about his lip, " though she wore a thousand 
 diadems ! Anne never had an hour of my 
 time, nor a single wish of my heart." 
 
 " This is bold language. Sir, for the ear of 
 her officer. The arrival of an unknown brig- 
 antine, certain incidents which have occurred 
 to myself this night, your presence here, that 
 bale of articles forbidden by the law, create sus 
 picions that must be satisfied. Who are you ?" 
 
 " The flagrant wanderer of the ocean the 
 outcast of society the condemned in the opi 
 nions of the world the lawless Skimmer of 
 the Seas !" 
 
 " This cannot be ! The tongues of men 
 speak of the personal deformity of that wanderer 
 no less than of his bold disregard of the law. 
 You would deceive me ?" 
 
 " If then men err so much in that which is 
 visible and unimportant," returned the other, 
 proudly, " is there not reason to doubt their 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 243 
 
 accuracy in matters of more weight? I am 
 surely what I seem, if I am not what I say." 
 
 " I will not credit so improbable a tale ; 
 give me some proof that what I hear is true." 
 
 " Look at that brigantine, whose delicate 
 spars are almost confounded with the back 
 ground of trees," said the other, approaching 
 the window, and directing the attention of his 
 companion to the cove. u "Tis the bark that 
 has so often foiled the efforts of all thy cruisers, 
 and which transports me and my wealth whither 
 I will, without the fetters of arbitrary laws, 
 and the meddling inquiries of venal hirelings. 
 The scud which floats above the sea ? is not freer 
 than that vessel, and scarcely more swift. Well 
 is she named the Water Witch ! for her per 
 formances on the wide ocean have been such as 
 seem to exceed all natural means. The froth of 
 the sea does not dance more lightly above the 
 waves, than yonder graceful fabric when driven 
 by the breeze. She is a thing to be loved, 
 Ludlow ; trust me, I never yet set affections on 
 M 2 
 
244 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 woman, with the warmth I feel for the faithful 
 and beautiful machine !" 
 
 * fc This is little more than any mariner could 
 say in praise of a vessel that he admired." 
 
 " Will you say it, Sir, in favour of yon 
 lumbering sloop of Queen Anne ? Your Coquette 
 is none of the fairest, and there was more of 
 pretension than of truth at her christening." 
 
 " By the title of my royal mistress, young 
 beardless, but there is an insolence in this 
 language that might become him you wish to 
 represent ! My ship, heavy or light of foot, as 
 she may be, is fated to bring yonder false 
 trader to the judgment."" 
 
 " By the craft and qualities of the Water 
 Witch, but this is language that might become 
 one who was at liberty to act his pleasure," 
 returned the stranger, tauntingly imitating the 
 tone in which his angry companion had spoken. 
 u You would have proof of my identity ? listen. 
 There is one who vaunts his power, that 
 forgets he is a dupe of my agent, and that even 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 while his words are so full of boldness, he is a 
 captive !" 
 
 The brown cheek of Ludlow reddened, and 
 he turned toward the lighter and far less vi 
 gorous frame of his companion, as if about to 
 strike him to the earth, when a door opened, 
 and Alida appeared in the saloon. 
 
 The meeting between the commander of the 
 Coquette and his mistress, was not without 
 embarrassment. The anger of the former and 
 the confusion of the latter, for a moment kept 
 both silent ; but as la Belle Barberie had not 
 returned without an object, she was quick to 
 speak. 
 
 66 I know not whether to approve or to con 
 demn the boldness that has prompted Captain 
 Ludlow to enter my pavilion at this unseason 
 able hour, and in so unceremonious a man 
 ner," she said, " for I am still ignorant of his 
 motive. When he shall please to let me hear 
 it, I may judge better of the merit of the 
 
246 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " True, we will hear his explanation before 
 condemnation," added the stranger, offering a 
 seat to Alida, which she coldly declined. " Be 
 yond a doubt, the gentleman has a motive." 
 
 If looks could have destroyed, the speaker 
 would have been annihilated. But as the lady 
 seemed indifferent to the last remark, Ludlow 
 prepared to enter on his vindication. 
 
 " I shall not attempt to conceal that an arti 
 fice has been practised," he said, " which is 
 accompanied by consequences that I find awk 
 ward. The air and manner of the seaman 
 whose bold conduct you witnessed in the boat, 
 induced me to confide in him more than was 
 prudent, and I have been rewarded by de 
 ception. 1 
 
 " In other words, Captain Ludlow is not as 
 sagacious as he had reason to believe!" said an 
 ironical voice at his elbow. 
 
 " In what manner am I to blame, or why is 
 my privacy to be interrupted, because a wan 
 dering seaman has deceived the commander of 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 247 
 
 the Coquette ?" rejoined Alida. " Not only that 
 audacious mariner, but this this person," she 
 added, adopting a word that use has appro 
 priated to the multitude, " is a stranger to me. 
 There is no other connection between us than 
 that you see." 
 
 ci It is not necessary to say why I landed," 
 continued Ludlow ; " but I was weak enough to 
 allow that unknown mariner to quit my ship, 
 in my company, and when I would return he 
 found means to disarm my men and make me a 
 prisoner." 
 
 " And yet art thou, for a captive, tolerably 
 free !" added the ironical voice. 
 
 " Of what service is this freedom, without 
 the means of using it ? The sea separates me 
 from my ship, and my faithful boat s crew are 
 in fetters. I have been little watched myself ; 
 but though forbidden to approach certain points, 
 enough has been seen to leave no doubts of the 
 character of those whom Alderman Van Bever- 
 
248 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Thou wouldst also say, and his niece, 
 Ludlow ?" 
 
 " I would say nothing harsh to, or disrespect 
 ful of Alida de Barberie. I will not deny that 
 a harrowing idea possessed me, but I see my 
 error, and repent having been so hasty." 
 
 " We may then resume our commerce," said 
 the trader, coolly seating himself before the 
 open bale, while Ludlow and the maiden stood 
 regarding each other in mute surprise. " It is 
 pleasant to exhibit these forbidden treasures to 
 an officer of the Queen ! It may prove the 
 means of gaining the royal patronage. We 
 were last among the velvets, and on the lagunes 
 of Venice. Here is of a colour and quality to 
 form a bridal dress for the Doge himself, in his 
 nuptials with the sea ! We men of the ocean 
 look upon that ceremony as a pledge Hymen 
 will not forget us, though we may wander from 
 his altars. Do I justice to the faith of the craft, 
 Captain Ludlow ? or are you a sworn devotee 
 of Neptune, and content to breathe your sighs 
 
THE WATEll WITCH. 249 
 
 to Venus, when afloat? Well, if the damps 
 and salt air of the ocean rust the golden 
 chain, it is the fault of cruel Nature ! Ah ! 
 here is " 
 
 A shrill whistle sounded among the shrub 
 bery, and the speaker became mute. Throw 
 ing his cloths carelessly on the bale, he arose 
 again, and seemed to hesitate. Throughout 
 the interview with Ludlow, the air of the free 
 trader had been mild, though, at times, it 
 was playful, and not for an instant had he 
 seemed to return the resentment which the 
 other had so plainly manifested. It now became 
 perplexed, and by the workings of his features, 
 it would seem that he vacillated in his opinions. 
 The sounds of the whistle were heard again. 
 
 " Ay, ay, Master Tom," muttered the dealer 
 in contraband ; " thy note is audible, but why 
 this haste ? Beautiful Alida, this shrill sum 
 mons is to say, that the moment of parting is 
 arrived !" 
 
 " We met with less of preparation," returned 
 
 M3 
 
250 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 la Belle Barberie, who preserved all the distant 
 reserve of her sex, under the jealous eyes of 
 her admirer. 
 
 " We met without a warning, but shall our 
 separation be without a memorial ? Am I to 
 return with all these valuables to the brigantine, 
 or, in their place, must I take the customary 
 golden tribute ?" 
 
 4 * I know not that I dare make a traffic which 
 is not sanctioned by the law, in presence of 
 a servitor of the Queen," returned Alida, smil 
 ing. " I will not deny that you have much to 
 excite a woman s envy, but our royal mistress 
 might forget her sex, and show little pity were 
 she to hear of my weakness." 
 
 " No fear of that, lady. Tis they who are 
 most stern in creating these harsh regulations, 
 that show most frailty in their breach. By the 
 virtues of honest Leadenhall itself, but I 
 should like to tempt the royal Anne in her 
 closet with such a display of goodly laces and 
 heavy brocades !" 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 "That might be more hazardous than wise !" 
 
 "I know not. Though seated on a throne, 
 she is but woman. Disguise nature as thou wilt, 
 she is a universal tyrant, and governs all 
 alike. The head that wears a crown dreams 
 of the conquests of the sex, rather than of 
 the conquests of states ; the hand that wields 
 the sceptre is fitted to display its prettiness 
 with the pencil or the needle; and though 
 words and ideas may be taught and sounded 
 forth with the pomp of royalty, the tone 
 is still that of woman." 
 
 Without bringing into question the merits 
 of our present royal mistress," said Alida, 
 who was a little apt to assert her sex s rights, 
 " there is the example of the glorious Eliza 
 beth to refute this charge." 
 
 " Ay, we have had our Cleopatras in the 
 sea-fight, and fear was found stronger than love ! 
 The sea has monsters, and so may have the 
 land. He that made the earth, gave it laws 
 that tis not good to break. We men are 
 
252 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 jealous of our qualities, and little like to see 
 them usurped ; and trust me, lady, she that 
 forgets the means that Nature bestows, may 
 mourn in sorrow over the fatal error! But, 
 shall we deal in velvet, or is your taste more 
 leaning to brocade ?" 
 
 Alida and Ludlow listened in admiration 
 to the capricious and fanciful language of 
 the unaccountable trader, and both were equally 
 at a loss to estimate his character. The 
 equivocal air was in general well maintained, 
 though the commander of the Coquette had 
 detected an earnestness and feeling in his 
 manner, when he more particularly addressed 
 la Belle Barberie, that excited an uneasiness 
 he was ashamed to admit, even to himself. 
 That the maiden herself observed this 
 change, might also be inferred from a richer 
 glow which diffused itself over her features, 
 though it is scarce probable that she was con 
 scious of its effects. When questioned as to 
 her determination concerning his goods, she 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 253 
 
 again regarded Ludlow doubtingly ere she 
 answered. 
 
 " That you have not studied woman in 
 vain," she laughingly replied, u I must fain 
 acknowledge. And yet, ere I make a decision, 
 suffer me to consult those who, being more 
 accustomed to deal with the laws, are better 
 judges of the propriety of the purchases?" 
 
 " If this request were not reasonable in itself, 
 it were due to your beauty and station, lady, 
 to grant it. I leave the bale in your care, 
 and before to-morrow s sun has set, one will 
 await the answer. Captain Ludlow, are we to 
 part in friendship, or does your duty to the 
 Queen proscribe the word ?" 
 
 " If what you seem," said Ludlow, " you are 
 a being inexplicable ! If this be some masque 
 rade, as I half suspect, tis well maintained, at 
 least, though not worthily assumed." 
 
 "You are not the first who has refused 
 credit to his senses, in a matter wherein the 
 Water Witch and her commander have been 
 
254 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 concerned. Peace, honest Tom thy whistle 
 will not hasten Father Time ! Friend or not, 
 Captain Ludlow need not be told he is my 
 prisoner." 
 
 " That I have fallen into the power of a 
 miscreant " 
 
 " Hist ! if thou hast love of bodily ease 
 and whole bones. Master Thomas Tiller is a 
 man of rude humour, and he as little likes 
 contumely as another. Besides, the honest 
 mariner did but obey my orders, and his 
 character is protected by a superior responsi 
 bility." 
 
 " Thy orders !" repeated Ludlow, with an 
 expression of eye and lip that might have 
 offended one more disposed to take offence 
 than him he addressed. " The fellow who so 
 well succeeded in his artifice, is one much 
 more likely to command than to obey. If any 
 here be the Skimmer of the Seas, it is he." 
 
 " We are all no more than the driving spray, 
 which goes whither the winds list. But in 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 255 
 
 what hath the man offended, that he finds 
 so little favour with the Queen s captain ? He 
 has not had the boldness to propose a secret 
 traffic with so loyal a gentleman?" 
 
 " Tis well, Sir ; you choose a happy occa 
 sion for this pleasantry. I landed to manifest 
 the respect that I feel for this lady, and I 
 care not if the world knows the object of the 
 visit. Twas no silly artifice that led me 
 hither." 
 
 " Spoken with the frankness of a seaman !" 
 said the inexplicable dealer in contraband, 
 though his colour lessened and his voice ap 
 peared to hesitate. " I admire this loyalty in 
 man to woman, for as custom has so strongly 
 fettered them in the expression of their in 
 clinations, it is due from us to leave as little 
 doubt as possible of our intentions. It is 
 difficult to think that la Belle Barberie can 
 do wiser than to reward so much manly ad 
 miration !" 
 
 The stranger cast a glance, which Alida 
 
256 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 fancied betrayed solicitude, as he spoke, at 
 the maiden, and he appeared to expect she 
 would reply. 
 
 " When the time shall come for a decision, 51 
 returned the half-pleased and yet half-offended 
 subject of his allusion, " it may be necessary 
 to call upon very different counsellors for ad 
 vice. I hear the step of my uncle Captain 
 Ludlow, I leave it to your discretion to meet 
 him or not." 
 
 u The heavy footstep was approaching through 
 the outer rooms of the pavilion. Ludlow hesi 
 tated, cast a reproachful look at his mistress, 
 and then he instantly quitted the apartment, by 
 the place through which he had entered. A 
 noise in the shrubbery sufficiently proved that 
 his return was expected, and that he was closely 
 watched. 
 
 " Noah s Ark and our grandmothers!" ex- 
 claimed Myndert, appearing at the door with a 
 face red with his exertions. " You have 
 brought us the cast-off finery of our ancestors, 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 257 
 
 Master Seadrift. Here are stuffs of an age 
 that is past, and they should be bartered for 
 gold that hath been spent." 
 
 " What now ! what now !" responded the 
 free-trader, whose tone and manner seemed to 
 change at will, in order to suit the humour 
 of whomsoever he was brought to speak with. 
 " What now, pertinacious burgher, that thou 
 shouldst cry down wares that are but too good 
 for these distant regions. Many is the English 
 duchess who pines to possess but the tithe of 
 these beautiful stuffs I offer thy niece, and faith, 
 rare is the English duchess that would be 
 come them half so well !" 
 
 " The girl is seemly, and thy velvets and 
 brocades are passable, but the heavy articles 
 are not fit to offer to a Mohawk Sachem. There 
 must be a reduction of prices, or the invoice 
 cannot pass." 
 
 " The greater the pity. But if sail we must, 
 sail we will ! The brigantine knows the channel 
 over the Nantucket sands; and my life on it, the 
 
258 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Yankees will find others than the Mohawks for 
 chapmen." 
 
 " Thou art as quick in thy motions, Master 
 Seadrift, as the boat itself. Who said that a 
 compromise might not be made, when discus 
 sion was prudently and fairly exhausted ? Strike 
 off the odd florins, leave the balance in round 
 thousands, and thy trade is done for the 
 season." 
 
 " Not a stiver. Here, count me back the 
 faces of the Braganza ; throw enough of thin 
 ducats into the scales to make up the sum, and 
 let thy slaves push inland with the articles, be 
 fore the morning light comes to tell the story. 
 Here has been one among us, who may do mis 
 chief if he will, though I know not how far 
 he is master of the main secret. 11 
 
 Alderman Van Beverout stared a little wildly 
 about him, adjusted his wig, like one fully con 
 scious of the value of appearances in this world, 
 and then cautiously drew the curtains before 
 the windows. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 259 
 
 " I know of none more than common, my 
 niece excepted," he said, when all these pre 
 cautions had been observed. u Tis true the 
 Patroon of Kinderhook is in the house, but as 
 the man sleeps, he is a witness in our favour. 
 We have the testimony of his presence, while 
 his tongue is silent." 
 
 " Well, be it so," rejoined the free-trader, 
 reading, in the imploring eyes of Alida, a peti 
 tion that he would say no more. " I knew by 
 instinct there was one unusual, and it was not 
 for me to discover that he sleeps. There are 
 dealers on the coast, who, for the sake of 
 insurance, would charge his presence in their 
 bills." 
 
 " Say no more, worthy Master Seadrift, and 
 take the gold. To confess the truth, the goods 
 are in the periagua and fairly out of the river. 
 1 knew we should come to conclusions in the 
 matter, and time is precious, as there is a 
 cruiser of the Queen so nigh. The rogues will 
 pass the pennant like innocent market people, 
 
260 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 and I ll risk a Flemish gelding against a Vir 
 ginia nag, that they inquire if the captain has 
 no need of vegetables for his soup ! Ah, ha, 
 ha, ha ! That Ludlow is a simpleton, niece of 
 mine, and he is not yet fit to deal with men of 
 mature years. You ll think better of his qua 
 lities one day, and bid him begone like an un 
 welcome dun." 
 
 " I hope these proceedings may be legally 
 sanctioned, uncle ?" 
 
 " Sanctioned ! Luck sanctions all. It is in 
 trade as in war. Success gives character and 
 booty in both. Your rich dealer is sure to 
 be your honest dealer. Plantations and orders 
 in council ! what are our rulers doing at 
 home, that they need be so vociferous about 
 a little contraband ? The rogues will declaim 
 by the hour concerning bribery and corrup 
 tion, while more than half of them get their 
 seats as clandestinely ay, and as illegally as 
 you get these rare Mechlin laces ! Should the 
 Queen take offence at our dealings, Master Sea- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 261 
 
 drift, bring me another season or two as profit 
 able as the last, and I ll be your passenger to 
 London, go on Change, buy a seat in parlia 
 ment, and answer to the royal displeasure from 
 my place, as they call it. By the responsibi 
 lity of the States-General ! but I should expect, 
 in such a case, to return Sir Myndert, and then 
 the Manhattanese might hear of a Lady Van 
 Beverout, in which case, pretty Alida, thy assets 
 would be sadly diminished ! so go to thy bed, 
 child, and dream of fine laces and rich velvets, 
 and duty to old uncles, and discretion, and all 
 manner of agreeable things kiss me, jade, and 
 to thy pillow." 
 
 Alida obeyed, and was preparing to quit the 
 room, when the free-trader presented himself 
 before her with an air at once so gallant and 
 respectful, that she could scarce take offence at 
 the freedom. 
 
 " I should fail in gratitude," he said, " were 
 I to part from so generous a customer, without 
 
262 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 thanks for her liberality. The hope of meeting 
 again will hasten my return. " 
 
 " I know not that you are my debtor for 
 these thanks," returned Alida, though she saw 
 that the Alderman was carefully collecting the 
 contents of the bale, and that he had already 
 placed three or four of the most tempting of 
 its articles on her dressing-table. tc We can 
 not be said to have bargained !" 
 
 u I have parted with more than is visible to 
 vulgar eyes," returned the stranger, dropping 
 his voice, and speaking with an earnestness that 
 caused his auditor to start. u Whether there 
 will be a return for the gift, or perhaps I had 
 better call it loss, time and my stars must 
 shew !" 
 
 He then took her hand, and raised it to his 
 lips, by an action so graceful and so gentle, as 
 not to alarm the maiden until the freedom 
 was done. La Belle Barberie reddened to her 
 forehead, seemed disposed to condemn the 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 263 
 
 liberty, frowned, smiled, and courtesying, in 
 confusion withdrew. 
 
 Several minutes passed in profound silence 
 after Alida had disappeared. The stranger 
 was thoughtful, though his bright eye kindled, 
 as if merry thoughts were uppermost, and he 
 paced the room, entirely heedless of the exist 
 ence of the Alderman. The latter, however, 
 soon took occasion to remind his companion of 
 his presence. 
 
 " No fear of the girl s prating," exclaimed 
 the Alderman, when his task was ended. " She 
 is an excellent and dutiful niece, and here, you 
 see, is a balance on her side of the account 
 that would shut the mouth of the wife of the 
 first lord of the Treasury. I disliked the 
 manner in which you would have the child in 
 troduced; for, look you, I do not think that 
 either Monsieur Barberie or my late sister, 
 would altogether approve of her entering into 
 traffic so very young ; but what is done is done, 
 and the Norman himself could not deny that I 
 
264 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 have made a fair set-off of very excellent com 
 modities for his daughter s benefit. When dost 
 mean to sail, Master Seadrift ?" 
 
 " With the morning tide. I little like 
 the neighbourhood of these meddling guarda 
 costas." 
 
 " Bravely answered. Prudence is a cardinal 
 quality in a private trader, and it is a quality 
 that I esteem in Master Skimmer next to his 
 punctuality. Dates and obligations ! I wish half 
 of the firms of three and four names, without 
 counting the Co. s, were as much to be depended 
 on. Dost not think it safer to repass the inlet 
 under favour of the darkness ?" 
 
 " Tis impossible. The flood is entering it 
 like water rushing through a race-way, and we 
 have the wind at east. But fear not, the bri- 
 gantine carries no vulgar freight, and your com 
 merce has given us a swept hold. The Queen 
 and the Braganza, with Holland ducats, might 
 show their faces even in the royal exchequer 
 itself! We have no want of passes, and the 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 265 
 
 Miller s Maid is just as good a name to hail by 
 as the Water Witch. We begin to tire of 
 this constant running, and have half a mind to 
 taste the pleasures of your Jersey sports for a 
 week. There should be shooting on the upper 
 plains?" 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! Heaven forbid I Master 
 Seadrift. I had all the deer taken for the skins, 
 ten years ago ; and as to birds, they deserted us 
 to a pigeon when the last tribe of the savages 
 went west of the Delaware. Thou hast dis 
 charged thy brigantine to better effect than thou 
 couldst ever discharge thy fowling-pieces. I 
 hope the hospitality of the Lust in Rust is no 
 problem ; but blushes and curiosity ! I could 
 wish to keep a fair countenance among my 
 neighbours. Art sure the impertinent masts of 
 the brigantine will not be seen above the trees 
 when the day comes ? This Captain Ludlow is 
 no laggard when he thinks his duty actually 
 concerned." 
 
 " We shall endeavour to keep him quiet 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
266 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 The cover of the trees and the berth of the boat, 
 make all snug as respects his people. I leave 
 worthy Tiller to settle balances between us, and 
 so I take my leave. Master Alderman a word 
 at parting. Does the Viscount Cornbury still 
 tarry in the Provinces ?" 
 
 " Like a fixture. There is not a mercantile 
 house in the colony more firmly established." 
 
 " There are unsettled affairs between us. A 
 small premium would buy the obligations." 
 
 " Heaven keep thee, Master Seadrift, and 
 pleasant voyages back and forth. As for the 
 Viscount s responsibility, the Queen may trust 
 him with another province, but Myndert Van 
 Beverout would not give him credit for the 
 tail of a marten ; and so again, Heaven preserve 
 thee !" 
 
 The dealer in contraband appeared to tear 
 himself from the sight of all the little elegancies 
 that adorned the apartment of la Belle Barberie 
 with reluctance. His adieus to the Alderman 
 were rather cavalier, for he still maintained a 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 267 
 
 cold and abstracted air; but as the other 
 scarcely observed the forms of decorum in his 
 evident desire to get rid of his guest, the latter 
 was finally obliged to depart. He disappeared 
 by the low balcony where he had entered. 
 
 When Myndert Van Beverout was alone, he 
 shut the windows of the pavilion of his niece 
 and retired to his own part of the dwelling. 
 Here the thrifty burgher first busied himself in 
 making sundry calculations, with a zeal that 
 proved how much his mind was engrossed by 
 the occupation. After this preliminary step he 
 gave a short but secret conference to the mariner 
 of the India shawl, during which there was 
 much clinking of gold pieces. But when the 
 latter retired, the master of the villa first looked 
 to the trifling securities which were then as now 
 observed in the fastenings of an American coun 
 try house, when he walked forth upon the lawn 
 like one who felt the necessity of breathing the 
 open air. He cast more than one inquiring 
 glance at the windows of the room which was 
 N 2 
 
268 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 occupied by QlofF Van Staats, where all was 
 
 happily silent, at the equally immovable brigan- 
 
 tine in the cove, and at the more distant and 
 
 still motionless hull of the cruiser of the crown. 
 
 All around him was in the quiet of midnight. 
 
 Even the boats, which he knew to be plying 
 
 between the land and the little vessel at anchor, 
 
 were invisible ; and he re-entered his habitation 
 
 with the security one would be apt to feel under 
 
 similar circumstances, in a region so little 
 
 tenanted and so little watched as that in which 
 
 he lived. 
 
THE WATER WITCH, 
 
 269 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 " Come on, Nerissa ; I have work in hand, 
 That you yet know not of." 
 
 Merchant of Venice. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the active movements 
 which had taken place in and around the build 
 ings of the Lust in Rust during the night 
 which ended with our last chapter, none but 
 the initiated were in the smallest degree aware 
 of their existence. Oloff Van Staats was early 
 a-foot, and when he appeared on the lawn to 
 scent the morning air, there was nothing visible 
 to give rise to a suspicion that aught extraordi- 
 
270 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 nary had occurred during his slumbers. La 
 Cour des Fees was still closed, but the person 
 of the faithful Fran 9013 was seen near the abode 
 of his young mistress, busied in some of those 
 pretty little offices that can easily be imagined 
 would be agreeable to a maiden of her years 
 and station. Van Staats of Kinderhook had as 
 little of romance in his composition as could 
 well be in a youth of five and twenty, who was 
 commonly thought to be enamoured, and who 
 was not altogether ignorant of the conventional 
 sympathies of the passion. The man was mor 
 tal, and as the personal attractions of la Belle 
 Barberie were sufficiently obvious, he had not 
 entirely escaped the fate which seems nearly 
 inseparable from young fancy when excited by 
 beauty. He drew nigh to the pavilion, and by 
 a guarded but decisive manoeuvre, he managed 
 to come so close to the valet as to render a verbal 
 communication not only natural but nearly un 
 avoidable. 
 
 " A fair morning and a healthful air, Mon- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 271 
 
 sieur Francois," commenced the young Patroon, 
 acknowledging the low salute of the domestic 
 by gravely lifting his own beaver. " This is a 
 comfortable abode for the warm months, and 
 one it might be well to visit oftener." 
 
 " When Monsieur le Patteron shall be de lor 
 of ce manoir aussi, he shall come when he shall 
 have la volonte," returned Francois,, who knew 
 that a pleasantry of his ought not to be con 
 strued into an engagement on the part of her he 
 served, while it could not fail to be agreeable to 
 him who heard it. " Monsieur de Van Staats 
 est grand proprietaire sur la riviere, and one 
 day, peut-etre, he shall be proprietaire sur la 
 mer !" 
 
 " I have thought of imitating the example of 
 the Alderman, honest Francis, and of building 
 a villa on the coast ; but there will be time for 
 that, when I shall find myself more established 
 in life. Your young mistress is not yet moving, 
 Francis ?" 
 
 " Ma foi, non Mam selle Alide sleep ! tis 
 
272 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 good symptome, Monsieur Patteron, pour les 
 jeunes personnes to tres-bien sleep. Monsieur, 
 et toute la famille de Barberie sleep a mer- 
 veille ! Oui, c est toujours une famille remar- 
 quable pour le sommeil !" 
 
 " Yet one would wish to breathe this fresh 
 and invigorating air, which comes from off the 
 sea like a balm, in the early hours of the day." 
 
 * Sans doute, Monsieur. (Test un miracle 
 how Mam selle love de air ! Personne do not 
 love air more as Mam selle Alide. Bah ! It 
 was grand plaisir to see how Monsieur de Bar 
 berie love de air !" 
 
 " Perhaps, Mr. Francis, your young lady is 
 ignorant of the hour. It might be well to knock 
 at the door, or perhaps at the window. I con 
 fess, I should much admire to see her bright 
 face smiling from that window on this soft 
 morning scene. 1 
 
 It is not probable that the imagination of the 
 Patroon of Kinderhook ever before took so high 
 a flight, and there was reason to suspect, by 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 the wavering and alarmed glance that he cast 
 around him, after so unequivocal an expression 
 of weakness, that he already repented his 
 temerity. Francois, who would not willingly 
 disoblige a man that was known to possess a 
 hundred thousand acres of land, with manorial 
 rights, besides personals of no mean amount, 
 felt embarrassed by the request, but was 
 enabled to recollect in time that the heiress was 
 known to possess a decision of character that 
 might choose to control her own pleasures. 
 
 " Well, I shall be too happy to knock ; mais 
 Monsieur sait dat sleep est si agreable pour 
 les jeunes personnes ! On n a jamais knock, 
 dans la famille de Monsieur de Barberie, and je 
 suis sur, que Maufselle Alide do not love to 
 hear de knock pourtant, si Monsieur le Pat- 
 teron le veut, I shall consult ses Voila ! Mon 
 sieur Bevre, qui vient sans knock a la fenetre. 
 J ai 1 honneur de vous laisser avec Monsieur 
 APerman." 
 
 And so the complaisant, but still considerate 
 N 3 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 valet, bowed himself out of a dilemma, that he 
 found, as he muttered to himself, while retiring, 
 " tant soit pen ennuyant." 
 
 The air and manner of the Alderman, as he 
 approached his guest, were, like the character 
 of the man, hale, hearty, and a little occupied 
 with his own enjoyments and feelings. He 
 hemmed thrice ere he was near enough to speak, 
 and each of the strong expirations seemed to 
 invite the admiration of the Patroon for the 
 strength of his lungs, and for the purity of the 
 atmosphere around a villa which acknowledged 
 him for its owner. 
 
 a Zephyrs and spas I but this is the abode 
 of health, Patroon !" cried the burgher, as soon 
 as these demonstrations of his own bodily con 
 dition had been sufficiently repeated. " One 
 sometimes feels in this air equal to holding a 
 discourse across the Atlantic with his friends 
 at Scheveling, or the Helder. A broad and 
 deep chest, air like this from the sea, with a 
 clear conscience, and a lucky hit in the way of 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 trade, cause the lungs of a man to play as easily 
 and as imperceptibly as the wings of a humming 
 bird. Let me see ; there are few fourscore 
 men in thy stock. The last Patroon closed the 
 books at sixty-six ; and his father went but a 
 little beyond seventy. I wonder there has never 
 been an intermarriage among you with the 
 Van Courtlandts ; that blood is as good as an 
 insurance to fourscore and ten of itself." 
 
 " I find the air of your villa, Mr. Van Bever- 
 out, a cordial that one could wish to take 
 often," returned the other, who had far less of 
 the brusque manner of the trader, than his com 
 panion. " It is a pity that all who have the 
 choice, do not profit by their opportunities to 
 breathe it." 
 
 " You allude to the lazy mariners in yon 
 vessel ! Her Majesty s servants are seldom 
 in a hurry, and as for this brigantine in the 
 cove, the fellow seems to have gotten in by 
 magic ! I warrant me now the rogue is there 
 for no good, and that the Queen s exchequer 
 
276 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 will be none the richer for his visit. Harkee, 
 you Brom," calling to an aged black, who was 
 working at no great distance from the dwelling, 
 and who was deep in his master s confidence, 
 " hast seen any boats plying between yonder 
 roguish-looking brigantine and the land ?" 
 
 The negro shook his head like the earthen 
 image of a mandarin, and laughed loud and 
 heartily. 
 
 " I b rieve he do all he mischief among a 
 Yankee, an he only come here to take he breat ," 
 said the wily slave. " Well, I wish wid all a 
 heart dere would come free trader some time 
 along our shore. Dat gib a chance to poor 
 black man to make an honest penny !" 
 
 " You see, Patroon, human nature itself 
 rises against monopoly ! That was the voice 
 of instinct speaking with the tongue of Brom, 
 and it is no easy task for a merchant to keep 
 his dependants obedient to laws, which in 
 themselves create so constant a temptation to 
 break them. Well, well ; we will always hope 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 277 
 
 for the best, and endeavour to act like dutiful 
 subjects. The boat is not amiss, as to form 
 and rig, let her come from where she will. 
 Dost think the wind will be off the land this 
 morning ?" 
 
 " There are signs of a change in the clouds. 
 One could wish that all should be out in the air 
 to taste this pleasant sea-breeze while it lasts." 
 
 " Come, come," cried the Alderman, who 
 had for a moment studied the state of the 
 heavens with a solicitude that he feared might 
 attract his companion s attention, " we will 
 taste our breakfast. This is the spot to shew 
 the use of teeth ! The negroes have not been 
 idle during the night, Mr. Van Staats he-e-em 
 I say, Sir, they have not been idle and we 
 shall have a choice among the dainties of the 
 river and bay. That cloud above the mouth of 
 Rariton appears to rise, and we may J^et have 
 a breeze at west !" 
 
 " Yonder comes a boat in the direction of the 
 city/ observed the other, reluctantly obeying 
 
278 THE WATER WITCH, 
 
 a motion of the Alderman to retire to the ap- 
 partment where they were accustomed to break 
 their fasts. * To me it seems to approach with 
 more than ordinary speed." 
 
 " There are stout arms at its oars ! Can it 
 be a messenger for the cruiser ! no it rather 
 steers more for our own landing. These Jer 
 sey-men are often overtaken by the night, be 
 tween York and their own doors. Arid now, 
 Patroon, we will to our knives and forks like 
 men who have taken the best stomachics." 
 
 " And are we to refresh ourselves alone ?" 
 demanded the young man, who ever and anon 
 cast a sidelong and wistful glance at the closed 
 and immovable shutters of la Cour des Fees. 
 
 " Thy mother hath spoilt thee, young Oloff; 
 unless the coffee comes from a pretty female 
 hand, it loses its savour. I take thy meaning, 
 and think none the worse of thee, for the weak 
 ness is natural at thy years. Celibacy and in 
 dependence ! A man must get beyond forty, 
 before he is ever sure of being his own master. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 279 
 
 Come hither, Master Francis. It is time my 
 niece had shaken off this laziness, and shown 
 her bright face to the sun. We wait for her 
 fair services at the table. I see nothing of that 
 lazy hussy Dinah, any more than of her mis 
 tress. 11 
 
 " Assurement non, Monsieur," returned the 
 valet. " Mam selle Dinah do not love trop 
 d activite. Mais Monsieur AFerman, elles sont 
 jeunes, toutes les deux ! Le sommeil est bien 
 salutaire pour la jeunesse." 
 
 " The girl is no longer in her cradle, Fran 
 cis, and it is time to rattle at the windows. As 
 for the black minx who should have been up 
 and at her duty this hour, there will be a ba 
 lance to settle between us. Come, Patroon : 
 the appetite will not await the laziness of a 
 wilful girl ; we will to the table. Dost think 
 the wind will stand at west this morning ?" 
 
 Thus saying, the Alderman led the way into 
 the little parlour, where a neat and comfortable 
 service invited them to break their morning fast. 
 
280 THE WATElt WITCH. 
 
 He was followed by Oloff Van Staats with a 
 lingering step, for the young man really longed 
 to see the windows of the pavilion open, and the 
 fair face of Alida smiling amid the other beau 
 tiful objects of the scene. Francois proceeded 
 to take such measures to arouse his mistress as 
 he believed to comport with his duty to her 
 uncle and his own ideas of bienseance. After 
 some little delay the Alderman and his guest 
 took their seats at the table, the former loudly 
 protesting against the necessity of waiting for 
 the idle, and throwing in an occasional moral 
 concerning the particular merit of punctuality 
 in domestic economy as well as in the affairs of 
 commerce. 
 
 " The ancients divided time," said the some 
 what pertinacious commentator, " into years, 
 months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and mo 
 ments, as they divided numbers into units, tens, 
 hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands, 
 and both with an object. If we commence at 
 the bottom and employ well the moments, Mr. 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 281 
 
 Van Staats, we turn the minutes into tens, the 
 hours into hundreds, and the weeks and months 
 into thousands ay, and when there is a happy 
 state of trade, into tens of thousands ! Missing 
 an hour, therefore, h somewhat like dropping 
 an important figure in a complex calculation, 
 and the whole labour may be useless for want 
 of punctuality in one as for want of accuracy in 
 the other. Your father, the late Patroon, was 
 what may be called a minute man. He was as 
 certain to be seen in his pew at church at the 
 stroke of the clock, as to pay a bill when its 
 items had been properly examined. Ah ! it 
 was a blessing to hold one of his notes, though 
 they were far scarcer than broad pieces of bul 
 lion. I have heard it said, Patroon, that the 
 manor is backed by plenty of Johannes and 
 Dutch ducats." 
 
 " The descendant has no reason to reproach 
 his ancestors with want of foresight." 
 
 " Prudently answered not a word too much 
 nor too little : a principle on which all honest 
 
282 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 men settle their accounts. By proper manage 
 ment such a foundation might be made to up 
 hold an estate that should count thousands with 
 the best of Holland or England. Growth and 
 majority ! Patroon ; but we of the colonies must 
 come to man s estate in time, like our cousins on 
 the dykes of the low countries, or our rulers 
 among the smitheys of England. Erasmus, 
 look at that cloud over the Rariton, and tell me 
 if it rises." 
 
 The negro reported that the vapour was sta 
 tionary, and at the same time, by way of epi 
 sode, he told his master that the boat which had 
 been seen approaching the land had reached the 
 wharf, and that some of its crew were ascending 
 the hill towards the Lust in Rust. 
 
 " Let them come of all hospitality," returned 
 the Alderman, heartily ; " I warrant me they 
 are honest farmers from the interior a-hungered 
 with the toil of the night. Go tell the cook to 
 feed them with the best, and bid them welcome. 
 And harkee, boy ; if there be among them any 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 283 
 
 comfortable yeoman, bid the man enter and sit 
 at our table. This is not a country, Patroon, 
 to be nice about the quality of the cloth a 
 man has on his back 5 or whether he wears a 
 wig or only his own hair. What is the fellow 
 gaping at ?" 
 
 Erasmus rubbed his eyes, and then showing 
 his teeth to the full extent of a double row, that 
 glittered like pearls, he gave his master to un 
 derstand that the negro introduced to the reader 
 under the name of Euclid, and who was cer 
 tainly his own brother of the half blood, or by 
 the mother s side, was entering the villa. The 
 intelligence caused a sudden cessation of the 
 masticating process in the Alderman, who had 
 not however time to express his wonder ere two 
 doors simultaneously opened, and Frangois pre 
 sented himself at the one, while the shining and 
 doubting face of the slave from town darkened 
 the other. The eyes of Myndert rolled first to 
 this side, and then to that, a certain misgiving 
 of the heart preventing him from speaking to 
 
284 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 either, for he saw in the disturbed features of 
 each, omens that bade him prepare himself for un 
 welcome tidings. The reader will perceive by the 
 description we shall give, that there was abun 
 dant reason for the sagacious burghers alarm. 
 
 The visage of the valet, at all times meagre 
 and long, seemed extended to far more than its 
 usual dimensions, the under jaw appearing 
 fallen and trebly attenuated. The light blue 
 protruding eyes were open to the utmost, and 
 they expressed a certain confused wildness that 
 was none the less striking for the painful ex 
 pression of mental suffering with which it was 
 mingled. Both hands were raised with the 
 palms outward, while the shoulders of the poor 
 fellow were elevated so high as entirely to de 
 stroy the little symmetry that Nature had be 
 stowed on that particular part of his frame. 
 
 On the other hand the look of the negro was 
 guilty, dogged and cunning. His eye leered 
 askance, seeming to wish to play around the 
 person of his master, as it will be seen his Ian- 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 285 
 
 guage endeavoured to play around his under 
 standing. The hands crushed the crown of a 
 woollen hat between their fingers, and one of 
 his feet described semicircles with its toe, by 
 performing nervous evolutions on its heel. 
 
 "Well !" ejaculated Myndert, regarding each 
 in turn ; " what news from the Canadas ? Is 
 the Queen dead, or has she restored the colony 
 to the United Provinces ?" 
 
 " Mam selle Alide P exclaimed, or rather 
 groaned Franois. 
 
 " The poor dumb beast !" muttered Euclid. 
 
 The knives and the forks fell from the hands 
 of Myndert and his guest as it were by a si 
 multaneous paralysis. The latter involuntarily 
 arose, while the former planted his solid person 
 still more firmly in its seat, like one who was 
 preparing to meet some severe and expected 
 shock with all the physical resolution he could 
 muster. 
 
 "What of my niece? What of my geld 
 ings ? You have called upon Dinah ?" 
 
286 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Sans doute. Monsieur." 
 " And you kept the keys of the stable P 1 
 " I nebber let him go at all." 
 " And you bade her call her mistress ?" 
 " She no make answair, du tout." 
 " The animals were fed and watered as I 
 ordered ?" 
 
 " Em nebber take he food better." 
 " You entered the chamber of my niece your 
 self to awake her ?" 
 " Monsieur a raison." 
 
 " What the devil has befallen the innocent?" 
 " He lose he stomach quite, and I fink it 
 great time fore it ebber come back." 
 
 " Mister Francis, I desire to know the answer 
 of Monsieur Barberie s daughter ?" 
 
 "Mam selle no repond, Monsieur; pas un 
 syllabe!" 
 
 " Drenchers and fleams ! The beauty should 
 have been drenched and blooded." 
 
 " He m too late for dal, Masser, on honour." 
 " The obstinate hussy ! This comes of her 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 287 
 
 Huguenot breed, a race that would quit house 
 and lands rather than change its place of wor 
 ship." 
 
 " La famille de Barberie est honorable. Mon 
 sieur, mais le grand monarque fut un peu trop 
 exigeant Vraiment, la dragonade etait mal 
 avisee, pour faire des chretiens !"" 
 
 " Apoplexies and hurry ! you should have 
 sent for the farrier to administer to the sufferer, 
 thou black hound !" 
 
 " E m go for a butcher, Masser, to save he 
 skin, for he war too soon dead." 
 
 The word dead produced a sudden pause. 
 The preceding dialogue had been so rapid , and 
 question and answer, no less than the ideas of 
 the principal speaker, had got so confused, that, 
 for a moment, he was actually at a loss to un 
 derstand whether the last great debt of nature 
 had been paid by la Belle Barberie, or one of 
 the Flemish geldings. Until now, consternation 
 as well as the confusion of the interview, had 
 
288 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 constrained the Patroon to be silent, but be 
 profited by the breathing time to interpose. 
 
 " It is evident, Mr. Van Beverout," he said, 
 speaking with a tremor in the voice which be 
 trayed his own uneasiness, " that some unto 
 ward event has occurred. Perhaps the negro 
 and I had better retire, that you may question 
 Francis concerning that which hath befallen 
 Mademoiselle Barberie more at your leisure." 
 
 The Alderman was recalled from a profound 
 stupor by this gentlemanlike and considerate 
 proposal. He bowed his acknowledgments, 
 and permitted Mr. Van Staats to quit the room ; 
 but when Euclid would have followed, he signed 
 to the negro to remain. 
 
 " I may have occasion to question thee far 
 ther, 1 he said, in a voice that had lost most of 
 that compass and depth for which it was so 
 remarkable. " Stand there, sirrah, and be in 
 readiness to answer. And now, Mister Fran 
 cis, I desire to know why my niece declines 
 taking her breakfast with myself and my guest ?" 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 289 
 
 " Mon Dieu, Monsieur, it is not possible y 
 repondre. Les sentiments des demoiselles are 
 nevair decides !" 
 
 " Go then, and say to her, that my senti 
 ments are decided to curtail certain bequests 
 and devises, which have consulted her interests 
 more than strict justice to others of my blood, 
 ay, and even of my name, might dictate." 
 
 " Monsieur y r^flechira. Mam selle Alide 
 be so young personne !" 
 
 " Old or young, my mind is made up ; and 
 so to your Cour des Fees, and tell the lazy minx 
 as much. Thou hast ridden that innocent, thou 
 scowling imp of darkness !" 
 
 " Mais, pensez-y, je vous en prie, Monsieur. 
 Mam selle shall nevair se sauver encore ; jamais, 
 je vous en repond." 
 
 if What is the fellow jabbering about !" ex 
 claimed the Alderman, whose mouth fell nearly 
 to the degree that rendered the countenance of 
 the valet so singularly expressive of distress. 
 
 VOL. i. o 
 
290 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 61 Where is my niece, Sir ? and what means this 
 allusion to her absence ?" 
 
 " La fille de Monsieur de Barberie n?y est 
 pas!" cried Fran9ois, whose heart was too 
 full to utter more. The aged and affectionate 
 domestic laid his hand on his breast, with an 
 air of acute suffering, and then remembering the 
 presence of his superior, he turned, bowed 
 with a manner of profound condolence, strug 
 gled manfully with his own emotion, and suc 
 ceeded in getting out of the room with dignity 
 and steadiness. 
 
 It is due to the character of Alderman Van 
 Beverout to say, that the blow occasioned by 
 the sudden death of the Flemish gelding, lost 
 some of its force, in consequence of so unlook- 
 ed for a report concerning the inexplicable 
 absence of his niece. Euclid was questioned, 
 menaced and even anathematized, more than once, 
 during the next ten minutes, but the cunning 
 slave succeeded in confounding himself so ef 
 fectually with the rest of his connections of the 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 291 
 
 half blood, during the search which instantly 
 followed the report of Fran9ois, that his crime 
 was partially forgotten. 
 
 On entering la Cour des Fees it was, in 
 truth, found to want her, whose beauty and 
 grace had lent its chief attraction. The outer 
 rooms, which were small, and ordinarily occu 
 pied during the day by Francois and the negress 
 called Dinah, and in the night by the latter only, 
 were in the state in which they might be ex 
 pected to be seen. The apartment of the attend 
 ant furnished evidence that its occupant had 
 quitted it in haste, though there was every ap 
 pearance of her having retired to rest at the 
 usual hour. Clothes were scattered carelessly 
 about, and though most of her personal effects 
 had disappeared, enough remained to prove 
 that her departure had been hurried and un 
 foreseen. 
 
 On the other hand, the little saloon, with the 
 dressing-room and bed-room of la Belle Barberie 
 were in a state of the most studied arrangement. 
 
292 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Not an article of furniture was displaced, a door 
 ajar, or a window open. The pavilion had 
 evidently been quitted by its ordinary passage, 
 and the door had been closed, in the customary 
 manner, without using the fastenings. The bed 
 had evidently not been entered, for the linen 
 was smooth and untouched. In short, so com 
 plete was the order of the place, that yielding 
 to a powerful natural feeling, the Alderman called 
 aloud on his truant niece, by name, as if he 
 expected to see her appear from some place in 
 which she had secreted her person in idle 
 sport. But ttuV touching expedient was vain. 
 The voice sounded hollow through the deserted 
 rooms, and though all waited long to listen, 
 there came no playful or laughing answer 
 back. 
 
 " Alida !" cried the burgher, for the fourth and 
 last time, " come forth, child ; I forgive thee thy 
 idle sport, and all I have said of disinheritance 
 was but a jest. Come forth, my sister s daugh 
 ter, and kiss thy old uncle !" 
 
THE WATEB WITCH. 2Q3 
 
 The Patroon turned aside, as he heard a 
 man so known for his worldliness yielding to 
 the power of nature, and the lord of a hundred 
 thousand acres forgot his own disappointment, 
 in the force of sympathy. 
 
 " Let us retire," he said, gently urging the 
 burgher to quit the place. " A little reflection 
 will enable us to decide what should be done." 
 
 The Alderman complied. Before quitting 
 the place, however, its closets and drawers 
 were examined, and the search left no further 
 doubts of the step which the young heiress had 
 taken. Her clothes, books, utensils for draw 
 ing, and even the lighter instruments of music, 
 had disappeared. 
 
294 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 " Ay, that way goes the game, 
 
 Now I perceive that she hath made compare 
 
 Between our statures." 
 
 Midsummer Night s Dream. 
 
 THE tide of existence floats downward, and 
 with it go, in their greatest strength, all those 
 affections that unite families and kindred. We 
 learn to know our parents in the fulness of their 
 reason, and commonly in the perfection of their 
 bodily strength. Reverence and respect, both 
 mingle with our love ; but the affection with 
 which we watch the helplessness of infancy, the 
 interest with which we see the ingenuous and 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 295 
 
 young profiting by our care, the pride of im 
 provement, and the magic of hope, create an in 
 tensity of sympathy in their favour, that almost 
 equals the identity of self-love. There is a 
 mysterious and double existence in the tie that 
 binds the parent to the child. With a volition 
 and passions of its own, the latter has power 
 to plant a sting in the bosom of the former, that 
 shall wound as acutely as the errors which arise 
 from mistakes, almost from crimes, of its own. 
 But, when the misconduct of the descendant 
 can be traced to neglect, or to a vicious instruc 
 tion, then, indeed, even the pang of a wounded 
 conscience may be added to the sufferings of 
 those who have gone before. Such, in some 
 measure, was the nature of the pain that Alder 
 man Van Beverout was condemned to feel, 
 when at leisure to reflect on the ill-judged 
 measure that had been taken by la Belle 
 Barberie. 
 
 " She was a pleasant and coaxing minx, Pat- 
 roon," said the burgher, pacing the room they 
 
296 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 occupied with a quick and heavy step, and 
 speaking unconsciously of his niece, as of one 
 already beyond the interests of life, " and as 
 wilful and headstrong as an unbroken colt. 
 Thou hard-riding imp ! I shall never find a 
 match for the poor disconsolate survivor. But 
 the girl had a thousand agreeable and delightful 
 ways with her, that made her the delight of my 
 old days. She has not done wisely to desert 
 the friend and guardian of her youth, ay, even 
 of her childhood, in order to seek protection 
 from strangers. This is an unhappy world, 
 Mr. Van Staats ! All our calculations come to 
 nought, and it is in the power of Fortune to re 
 verse the most reasonable and wisest of our 
 expectations. A gale of wind drives the richly 
 freighted ship to the bottom, a sudden fall in 
 the markets robs us of our gold, as the Novem 
 ber wind strips the oak of its leaves ; and bank 
 ruptcies and decayed credit often afflict the days 
 of the oldest houses, as disease saps the strength 
 of the body. Alida ! Alida ! thou has wounded 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 one that never harmed thee, and rendered my 
 age miserable !" 
 
 " It is vain to contend with the inclinations," 
 returned the proprietor of the manor, sighing in 
 a manner that did no discredit to the sincerity 
 of his remark. " I could have been happy to 
 have placed your niece in the situation that my 
 respected mother filled with so much dignity 
 and credit, but it is now too late " 
 
 " We don t know that ; we don t know 
 that," interrupted the Alderman, who still clung 
 to the hope of effecting the first great wish of 
 his heart, with the pertinacity with which he 
 would have clung to the terms of any other 
 fortunate bargain ; "we should never despair, 
 Mr. Van Staats, as long as the transaction is left 
 open." 
 
 " The manner in which Mademoiselle Barbe- 
 rie has expressed her preference, is so very de 
 cided, that I see no hope of completing the 
 arrangement." 
 
 " Mere coquetry, Sir, mere coquetry ! The 
 o3 
 
298 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 girl has disappeared, in order to enhance the 
 value of her future submission. One should 
 never regard a treaty at an end, so long as rea 
 sonable hopes remain that it may be productive 
 to the parties. 1 ? 
 
 " I fear, Sir, there is more of the coquette in 
 this step of the young lady, than a gentleman 
 can overlook," returned the Patroon, a little 
 drily, and with far more point than he was ac 
 customed to use. " If the commander of her 
 Majesty s cruiser be not a happy man, he will 
 not have occasion to reproach his mistress with 
 disdain!" 
 
 " I am not certain, Mr. Van Staats, that in 
 the actual situation of our stipulations I ought 
 to overlook an inuendo that seems to reflect on 
 the discretion of my ward. Captain Ludlow 
 Well, sirrah, what is the meaning of this imper 
 tinence ?" 
 
 " He m waiting to see Masser," returned the 
 gaping Erasmus, who stood with the door in his 
 hand, admiring the secret intelligence of his 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 299 
 
 master, who had so readily anticipated his 
 errand. 
 
 " Who is waiting ! What does the simple 
 ton mean ?" 
 
 " I mean, a gentle um Masser say. 1 
 
 " The fortunate man is here to remind us of 
 his success," haughtily observed Van Staats of 
 Kinderhook. " There can be no necessity of 
 my presence at an interview between Alderman 
 Van Beverout and his nephew." 
 
 The justly mortified Patroon bowed ceremo 
 niously to the equally disappointed burgher, and 
 left the room the moment he had done speaking. 
 The negro took his retreat as a favourable 
 symptom for one who was generally known to 
 be his rival, and he hastened to inform the 
 young captain that the coast was clear. 
 
 The meeting that instantly succeeded was 
 sufficiently constrained and awkward. Alder 
 man Van Beverout assumed a manner of offend 
 ed authority and wounded affection, while the 
 officer of the Queen wore an air of compelled 
 
300 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 submission to a duty that he found to be dis 
 agreeable. The introduction of the discourse 
 was consequently ceremonious, and punctiliously 
 observant of courtesy. 
 
 " It has become my office," continued Lud- 
 low, after the preliminaries had been observed, 
 " to express the surprise I feel, that a vessel of 
 the exceedingly equivocal appearance of the 
 brigantine that is anchored in the cove, should 
 be found in a situation to create unpleasant sus 
 picions concerning the commercial propriety of 
 a merchant, so well known as Mr. Alderman 
 Van Beverout."" 
 
 " The credit of Myndert Van Beverout is too 
 well established, Captain Cornelius Ludlow, to 
 be affected by the accidental position of ships 
 and bays. I see two vessels anchored near the 
 Lust in Rust, and if called upon to give my 
 testimony before the Queen in council, I should 
 declare that the one which wears her royal 
 pendant had done more wrong to her subjects 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 301 
 
 than the stranger. But what harm is known of 
 the latter ?" 
 
 " I shall not conceal any of the facts, for I 
 feel that this is a case in which a gentleman of 
 your station has the fullest right to the benefit 
 of explanations " 
 
 " Hem " interrupted the burgher, who dis 
 liked the manner in which his companion had 
 opened the interview, and who thought he saw 
 the commencement of a forced compromise in 
 the turn it was taking " Hem I commend 
 your moderation, Captain Ludlow. Sir, we are 
 flattered in having a native of the province in so 
 honourable a command on the coast. Be seated, 
 I pray you, young gentleman, that we may con 
 verse more at leisure. The Ludlows are an 
 
 
 ancient and well established family in the colo 
 nies, and though they were no friends of King 
 Charles, why we have others here in the same 
 predicament. There are few crowns in Europe 
 that might not trace some of their discontented 
 subjects to these colonies, and the greater the 
 
302 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 reason, say I, why we should not be too hasty 
 in giving faith to the wisdom of this European 
 legislation. I do not pretend. Sir, to admire 
 all the commercial regulations which flow from 
 the wisdom of her Majesty s counsellors. Can 
 dour forbids that I should deny this truth but 
 what of the brigantine in the cove ?" 
 
 " It is not necessary to tell one so familiar 
 with the affairs of commerce, of the character of 
 a vessel called the Water Witch, nor of that of 
 its lawless commander, the notorious Skimmer 
 of the Seas." 
 
 " Captain Ludlow is not about to accuse Al 
 derman Van Beverout of a connection with such 
 a man !" exclaimed the burgher, rising as it 
 were involuntarily, and actually recoiling a foot 
 or two, apparently under the force of indigna 
 tion and surprise. 
 
 " Sir, I am not commissioned to accuse any 
 of the Queen s subjects. My duty is to guard 
 her interests on the water, to oppose her open 
 enemies, and to uphold her royal prerogatives." 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 303 
 
 " An honourable employment, and one I 
 doubt not that is honourably discharged. Resume 
 your seat. Sir, for I foresee that the conference 
 is likely to end as it should between a son of the 
 late very respectable king s counsellor and his 
 father s friend. You have reason then for think 
 ing that this brigantine, which has so suddenly 
 appeared in the cove, has some remote connec 
 tion with the Skimmer of the Seas !" 
 
 66 I believe the vessel to be the famous Water 
 Witch itself, and her commander to be, of 
 course, that well-known adventurer."" 
 
 " Well, Sir well, Sir this may be so. It is 
 impossible for me to deny it ; but what should 
 such a reprobate be doing here, under the guns 
 of a Queen s cruiser?" 
 
 " Mr. Alderman, my admiration of your niece 
 is not unknown to you." 
 
 " I have suspected it, Sir, returned the 
 burgher, who believed the tenor of the compro 
 mise was getting clearer, but who still waited 
 to know the exact value of the concessions the 
 
304 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 other party would make, before he closed a 
 bargain in a hurry, of which he might repent 
 at his leisure " indeed, it has even been the 
 subject of some discourse between us." 
 
 " This admiration induced me to visit your 
 villa the past night " 
 
 " This is a fact too well established, young 
 gentleman/ 
 
 " Whence I took away " Ludlow hesi 
 tated, as if anxious to select his words 
 
 " Alida Barberie." 
 
 " Alida Barberie!" 
 
 "Ay, Sir ; my niece, or perhaps I should say 
 my heiress, as well as the heiress of old Eti- 
 enne de Barberie. The cruise was short, Cap 
 tain Cornelius Ludlow, but the prize-money 
 will be ample unless indeed a claim to neutral 
 privileges should be established in favour of 
 part of the cargo !" 
 
 " Sir, your pleasantry is amusing, but I have 
 little leisure for its enjoyment. That I visited 
 the Cour des Fees shall not be denied. I think 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 305 
 
 la Belle Barberie will not be offended, under the 
 circumstances, with this acknowledgment." 
 
 " If she is, the jade has a rare squeamishness, 
 after what has passed !" 
 
 " I pretend not to judge of more than my 
 duty. The desire to serve my royal mistress 
 had induced me, Mr. Van Beverout, to cause a 
 seaman of odd attire and audacious deportment 
 to enter the Coquette. You will know the man, 
 when I tell you he was your companion in the 
 island ferry-boat." 
 
 " Yes, yes, I confess there was a mariner of 
 the long voyage there, who caused much sur 
 prise and some uneasiness to myself and niece, 
 as well as to Van Staats of Kinderhook." 
 
 Ludlow smiled, like one not to be deceived, 
 as he continued, 
 
 " Well, Sir, this man so far succeeded as to 
 tempt me to suffer him to land, under the obli 
 gation of some half-extorted promise we came 
 into the river together, and entered your 
 grounds in company." 
 
306 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 Alderman Van Beverout now began to listen 
 like a man who dreaded, while he desired to 
 catch each syllable. Observing that Ludlow 
 paused, and watched his countenance with a 
 cool and steady eye, he recovered his self-com 
 mand, and affected a mere ordinary curiosity, 
 while he signed to him to proceed. 
 
 " I am not sure I tell Alderman Van Beverout 
 any thing that is new," resumed the young 
 officer, u when T add, that the fellow suffered 
 me to visit the pavilion, and then contrived to 
 lead me into an ambush of lawless men, having 
 previously succeeded in making captives of my 
 boat s crew." 
 
 " Seizures and warrants!"" exclaimed the 
 burgher, in his natural strong and hasty man 
 ner of speaking. " This is the first I have 
 heard of the affair. It was ill-judged, to call it 
 by no other term." 
 
 Ludlow seemed relieved, when he saw, by 
 the undisguised amazement of his companion, 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 307 
 
 that the latter was in truth ignorant of the 
 manner in which he had been detained. 
 
 " It might not have been, Sir, had our watch 
 been as vigilant as their artifice was deep," he 
 continued. " But I was little guarded, and 
 having no means to reach my ship, I " 
 
 " Ay, ay. Captain Ludlow ; it is not neces 
 sary to be so circumstantial ; you proceeded to 
 the wharf, and " 
 
 " Perhaps, Sir, I obeyed my feelings, rather 
 than my duty," observed Ludlow, colouring 
 high, when he perceived that the burgher paus 
 ed to clear his throat. " I returned to the 
 pavilion, where " 
 
 " You persuaded a niece to forget her duty 
 to her uncle and protector ?" 
 
 " Thisis a harsh and most unjustifiable charge, 
 both as respects the young lady and myself. 
 I can distinguish between a very natural desire 
 to possess articles of commerce that are denied 
 by the laws, and a more deliberate and mercenary 
 plot against the revenue of the country. I believe 
 
308 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 there are few of her year.s and sex, who would 
 refuse to purchase the articles I saw presented 
 to the eyes of la Belle Barberie, especially 
 when the utmost hazard could be no more 
 than their loss, as they were already introduced 
 into the country." 
 
 " A just discrimination, and one likely to 
 render the arrangement of our little affairs less 
 difficult ! I was sure that my old friend the 
 counsellor would not have left a son of his igno 
 rant of principles, more especially as he was 
 about to embark in a profession of so much 
 responsibility. And so my niece had the im 
 prudence to entertain a dealer in contraband ?" 
 
 " Alderman Van Beverout, there were boats 
 in motion on the water, between this landing 
 and the brigantine in the cove. A periagua 
 even left the river for the city, at the extraordi 
 nary hour of midnight !" 
 
 " Sir, boats will move on the water when 
 the hands of man set them in motion ; but what 
 have I to answer for in the matter ? If goods 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 309 
 
 have entered the provinces without license, why 
 they must be found and condemned ; and if free 
 traders are on the coast, they should be caught. 
 Would it not be well to proceed to town and 
 lay the fact of this strange brigantine s presence 
 before the Governor without delay ?" 
 
 " I have other intentions. If, as you say, 
 goods have gone up the bay, it is too late for 
 me to stop them, but it is not too late to at 
 tempt to seize yon brigantine. Now I would 
 perform this duty in a manner as little likely to 
 offend any of reputable name, as my allegiance 
 will admit." 
 
 " Sir, I extol this discretion not that 
 there is any testimony to implicate more than 
 the crew, but credit is a delicate flower, and 
 it should be handled tenderly. I see an open 
 ing for an arrangement but we will, as in 
 duty bound, hear your propositions first, since 
 you may be said to speak with the authority of 
 the Queen. I will merely surmise that terms 
 should be moderate between friends ; perhaps 
 
310 
 
 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 I should say, between connections, Captain 
 Ludlow." 
 
 " I am flattered by the word, Sir," returned 
 the young sailor, smiling with an expression of 
 delight. " First suffer me to be admitted to the 
 charming Cour des Fees but for a moment." 
 
 " That is a favour which can hardly be re 
 fused you, who may be said to have a right now 
 to enter the pavilion at pleasure," returned the 
 Alderman, unhesitatingly leading the way 
 through the long passage to the deserted apart 
 ments of his niece, and continuing the blind al 
 lusions to the affairs of the preceding night, in 
 the same indirect manner as had distinguished 
 the dialogue during the whole interview . <{ I 
 shall not be unreasonable, young gentleman, 
 and here is the pavilion of my niece ; I wish I 
 could add, and here also is its mistress !" 
 
 " And is la Belle Barberie no longer a tenant 
 of la Cour des Fees?" demanded Ludlow, in 
 a surprise too natural to be feigned. 
 
 Alderman Van Beverout regarded the young 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 311 
 
 man in wonder ; pondered a moment to consider 
 how far denying a knowledge of the absence of 
 his niece might benefit the officer in the pending 
 negociation, and then he drily observed, " Boats 
 passed on the water during the night. If the 
 men of Captain Ludlow were at first imprisoned, 
 I presume they were set at liberty at the proper 
 time ?" 
 
 " They are carried I know not whither the 
 boat itself is gone, and I am here alone." 
 
 " Am I to understand. Captain Ludlow, that 
 Alida Barberie has not fled my house during 
 the past, night to seek a refuge in your ship?" 
 
 " Fled !" echoed the young man, in a voice 
 of horror. " Has Alida de Barberie fled from 
 the house of her uncle, at all ?" 
 
 " Captain Ludlow, this is not acting. On the 
 honour of a gentleman, are you ignorant of my 
 niece 1 s absence ?" 
 
 The young commander did not answer, but 
 striking his head fiercely, he smothered words 
 that were unintelligible to his companion. When 
 
312 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 this momentary burst of feeling was past, he 
 sunk into a chair, and gazed about him in stu 
 pid amazement. All this pantomine was inex 
 plicable to the Alderman, who, however, began 
 to see that more of the conditions of the arrange 
 ment in hand, were beyond the control of his 
 companion than he had at first believed. Still 
 the plot thickened rather than grew clear, and 
 he was afraid to speak, lest he might utter 
 more than was prudent. The silence, therefore, 
 continued for quite a minute, during which time 
 the parties sat gazing at each other in dull 
 wonder. 
 
 " I shall not deny, Captain Ludlow, that I 
 believed you had prevailed on my niece to fly 
 aboard the Coquette ; for, though a man who has 
 always kept his feelings in his own command, 
 as the safest manner of managing particular in 
 terests, yet I am not to learn that rash youth is 
 often guilty of folly. I am now equally at a 
 loss with yourself to know what has become of 
 her, since here she is not." 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 313 
 
 " Hold !" eagerly interrupted Ludlow. " A 
 boat left your wharf, for the city, in the earlier 
 hours of the morning : is it not possible that 
 she may have taken a passage in it ?" 
 
 " It is not possible. I have reasons to know 
 in short, Sir, she is not there." 
 
 " Then is the unfortunate, the lovely, the 
 indiscreet girl, for ever lost to herself and us . " 
 exclaimed the young sailor, actually groaning 
 under his mental agony. " Rash, mercenary 
 man ! to what an act of madness has this thirst 
 of gold driven one so fair would I could say, 
 so pure and so innocent !" 
 
 But while the distress of the lover was thus 
 violent, and caused him to be so little mea 
 sured in his terms of reproach, the uncle of the 
 fair offender appeared to be lost in surprise. 
 Though la Belle Barberie had so well preserved 
 the decorum and reserve of her sex, as to leave 
 even her suitors in doubt of the way her inclina 
 tions tended, the watchful Alderman had long 
 
 VOL. I. P 
 
314 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 suspected that the more ardent, open, and manly 
 commander of the Coquette was likely to tri 
 umph over one so cold in exterior and so cautious 
 in his advances, as the Patroon of Kinderhook. 
 When, therefore, it became apparent Alida had 
 disappeared, he quite naturally inferred that she 
 had taken the simplest manner of defeating all 
 his plans for favouring the suit of the latter, by 
 throwing herself at once into the arms of the 
 young sailor. The laws of the colonies offered 
 few obstacles to the legality of their union, and 
 when Ludlow appeared that morning, he firmly 
 believed that he beheld one, who, if he were 
 not so already, was inevitably soon to become 
 his nephew. But the suffering of the disap 
 pointed youth could not be counterfeited ; and 
 prevented from adhering to his first opinion, the 
 perplexed Alderman seemed utterly at a loss to 
 conjecture what could have become of his niece. 
 Wonder rather than pain possessed him, and 
 when he suffered his ample chin to repose on the 
 finger and thumb of one hand, it was with the 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 315 
 
 air of a man that revolved in his mind all the 
 plausible points of some knotty question. 
 
 " Holes and corners !" he muttered, after a 
 long silence, " the wilful minx cannot be play 
 ing at hide and seek with her friends ! The hussy 
 had ever too much of la famille de Barberie, 
 and her high Norman blood about her, as that 
 silly old valet has it, to stoop to such childish 
 trifling. Gone she certainly is," he continued, 
 looking again into the empty drawers and 
 closets, " and with her the valuables have dis 
 appeared. The guitar is missing the lute I sent 
 across the ocean to purchase, an excellently 
 toned Dutch lute, that cost every stiver of one 
 hundred guilders, is also wanting, and all the 
 hem the recent accessions have disappeared. 
 And there too, are my sister s jewels, that I 
 persuaded her to bring along, to guard against 
 accidents while our backs are turned, they are 
 not to be seen. Frangois ! Frangois ! thou 
 long tried servitor of Etienne Barberie, what 
 the devil has become of thy mistress ?" 
 
316 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Mais, Monsieur/ returned the disconsolate 
 valet, whose decent features exhibited all the 
 signs of unequivocal suffering, " she no tell le 
 pauvre Francois ! En supposant, que Monsieur 
 ask le capitaine, he shall probablement know." 
 
 The burgher cast a quick suspicious glance at 
 Ludlow, and shook his head, to express his 
 belief that the young man was true. 
 
 " Go ; desire Mr. Van Staats of Kinderhook 
 to favour us with his company." 
 
 " Hold," cried Ludlow, motioning to the 
 valet to withdraw. " Mr. Beverout, an uncle 
 should be tender of the errors of one so dear as 
 this cruel, unreflecting girl. You cannot think 
 of abandoning her to so frightful a fortune !" 
 
 " I am not addicted to abandoning any thing, 
 Sir, to which my title is just and legal. But 
 you speak in enigmas. If you are acquainted 
 with the place where my niece is secreted, 
 avow it frankly, and permit me to take those 
 measures which the case requires." 
 
 Ludlow reddened to his forehead, and he 
 
THE WATEtt WITCH. 317 
 
 struggled powerfully with his pride and his 
 regrets. 
 
 " It is useless to attempt concealing the step 
 which Alida Barberie has been pleased to take," 
 he said, a smile so bitter passing over his fea 
 tures, as to lend them the expression of severe 
 mockery ; " she has chosen more worthily than 
 either of us could have believed ; she has found 
 a companion more suited to her station, her 
 character, and her sex, than Van Staats of 
 Kinderhook, or a poor commander of a Queen s 
 ship !" 
 
 " Cruisers and manors ! what in the name of 
 mysteries is thy meaning ? The girl is not here ; 
 you declare she is not on board of the Coquette, 
 and there remains only " 
 
 " The brigantine !" groaned the young sailor, 
 uttering the word by a violent effort of the will. 
 
 " The brigantine !" repeated the Alderman, 
 slowly. " My niece can have nothing to do 
 aboard a dealer in contraband. That is to say, 
 Alida Barberie is not a trader." 
 
318 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 " Alderman Van Beverout, if we wish to es 
 cape the contamination of vice, its society must 
 be avoided. There was one in the pavilion of 
 a mien and assurance the past night that might 
 delude an angel. Ah ! woman ! woman ! thy mind 
 is composed of vanities, and thy imagination is 
 thy bitterest foe !" 
 
 " Women and vanities !" echoed the amazed 
 burgher. " My niece, the heiress of old Etienne 
 Marie de Barberie, and the sought of so many 
 of honourable names and respectable profes 
 sions, to be a refugee with a rover! always 
 supposing your opinions of the character of the 
 brigantine to be just. This is a conjecture too 
 improbable to be true." 
 
 " The eye of a lover. Sir, may be keener 
 than that of a guardian call it jealousy 
 if you will would to Heaven my suspicions 
 were untrue ! but if she be not there, where is 
 she ?" 
 
 The opinion of the Alderman seemed stag 
 gered. If la Belle Barberie had not yielded to 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 319 
 
 the fascinations of that wayward, but seductive 
 eye and smile, to that singular beauty of face, 
 and to the secret and often irresistible charm 
 that encircles eminent personal attractions, when 
 aided by mystery, to what had she yielded, and 
 whither had she fled ? 
 
 These were reflections that now began to 
 pass through the thoughts of the Alderman, as 
 they had already planted stings in the bosom of 
 Ludlow. With reflection, conviction began 
 slowly to assert its power. But the truth did 
 not gleam upon the mind of the calculating and 
 wary merchant with the same instinctive readi 
 ness that it had flashed upon the jealous facul 
 ties of the lover. He pondered on each circum 
 stance of the interview between the dealer in 
 contraband and his niece, recalled the manner 
 and discourse of the former, drew certain gene 
 ral and vague conjectures concerning the power 
 which novelty, when coupled by circumstances 
 of romance, might exercise over a female fancy, 
 and dwelt long and secretly on some important 
 
320 THE WATER WITCH. 
 
 facts that were alone known to himself, before 
 his judgment finally settled down into the same 
 opinion as that which his companion had 
 formed with all the sensitiveness of jealous 
 alarm. 
 
 " Woman and vagaries !" muttered the 
 burgher, after his study was ended. " Their 
 conceits are as uncertain as the profits of a 
 whaling voyage, or the luck of a sportsman. 
 Captain Ludlow, your assistance will be needed 
 in this affair, and as it may not be too late, since 
 there are few priests in the brigandne always 
 supposing her character to be what you affirm 
 my niece may yet see her error, and be dis 
 posed to reward so much assiduity and attach 
 ment." 
 
 " My services shall always be ready, so long 
 as they can be useful to Alida Barberie," re 
 turned the young officer with haste, and yet a 
 little coldly. " It will be time enough to speak 
 of the reward when we shall have succeeded." 
 
 " The less noise that is made about a little 
 
THE WATER WITCH. 321 
 
 domestic inconvenience like this the better ; and 
 I would therefore suggest the propriety of 
 keeping our suspicions of the character of the 
 vessel a secret, until we shall be better in 
 formed." 
 
 The captain bowed his assent to the proposal. 
 
 " And now that we are of the same mind in 
 the preliminaries, we will seek the Patroon of 
 Kinderhook, who has a claim to participate in 
 our confidence." 
 
 Myndert then led the way from the empty 
 and melancholy Cour des Fees, with a step that 
 had regained its busy and firm tread, and a 
 countenance that expressed far more of vexation 
 and weariness than of real sorrow. 
 
 END OF VOL. J. 
 
 LONDON : 
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