'UHIVERSIT7 
 
KIT, AND THE MERMAN'S FAMILY. 
 
YARNS OE AN OLD MARINER. 
 
 MARY COWDE-N* OLARKE. 
 
 'T were a pity 
 
 To stint the wondrous to the kuown, and leave 
 Imagination not a world to conquer. 
 
 We thus may welcome fresh true wonders, 
 Most Sinbad-like, nor give up dear astonishment. 
 
 I could hear such mixture 
 Of truth and fiction for a summer's day. 
 
 LEIGH HUNT. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 ^TD S H IE IP 
 
 1868. 
 
 IRD. 
 
C71K5 
 
 VOLUME OF ADVENTURES 
 
 |s ^ffcttionateig f ttstrilub 
 
 TO 
 
 JOHN AND- EMILY ROLT, 
 
 BY THEIR FRIEND, 
 
 MARY COWBEN CLARKE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PREFATORY AND INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 THE SWALLOW FAMILY ; THE YOUNGER ONES* LOVE OF FICTION J 
 - THE ELDERS' OPINIONS OF FANCY AND MATTER-OF-FACT ; IMAG- 
 INATION AND REALITIES. KIT BAM. HIS FIRST YARN. THE 
 
 ISLAND OF FALSE APPEARANCES, 7 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 KIT'S SECOND YARN. HIS SHIP-MATE, JOHN PAUL. THE RAIN- 
 BOW AND THE GOLDEN KEY. THE ROCKY VALLEY. THE OCEAN 
 
 OF IMAGINATION. THE LONE MOTHER AND CHILD, .... 42 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF KIT'S YARN OF THE LONE MOTHER AND CHILD. 
 HER STORY. KALLISAH. FELIX. NEW ASSOCIATES, . 69 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 KIT'S THIRD YARN. A PEEP INTO FABLE- LAND. TITTA, THE 
 
 ITALIAN CABIN-BOY. STEVENS, THE MATE. THE STORM. THE 
 
 DECISION OF THE DICE. THE WRECK, . . 97 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SEQUEL OF THE WRECK. UBERTO AND BIONDELLO. THE LIT- 
 TLE BAHBER. KING IMBECILIO, PRINCESS EUDORA, AND LORD 
 
 IGNORIO. BARON FEROCCIO, AND THE LADY ELLENA, ... 126 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 KIT GOES IN SEARCH OF UBERTO. THE MANSION OF OLD ERUD1TO. 
 
 QUADRATA. THE RETURN TO THE CITY. KIT SETS SAIL 
 
 AGAIN. THE GRANITE ISLAND. THE HORSE OF BRASS. THE 
 
 FEAST OF THE SATYRS, 159 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ABODE OF SUBTILIA. DRUSILLA. THE ENCHANTED FOUN- 
 TAIN. ERUDITO'S GIFT. THE LAKE, AND ISLAND RETREAT. 
 
 SIR LIONEL. THE MYSTIC RINGS, 189 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE DIAMOND MERCHANT. WILL WAVELANCE'S ISLAND. SCYLLA 
 
 AND CHARYBDIS. THE SIRENS. POLYPHEMUS . EGYPT. THE 
 
 MUMMY SLAVE, . 217 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE PIGEONS OF ST. MARK. THE PHANTOM GONDOLA, AND THE 
 
 DOOMED MAN. BARBARA. THE HARZ FOREST. THE BROCKEN 
 
 MOUNTAIN. KARL. LEOPOLD, 243 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LUCERNE. LAKE OF THE FOUR CANTONS. THE DEVIL'S BRIDGE. 
 
 GENOA. THE SINGER AND THE PRISONER. TITTA'S MOTHER. 
 
 THE LONE HOUSE, 278 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE FIRE AT SEA. THE ISLAND OF OMBROSA. VELATA, . 307 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE NORTHERN SEAS. THE GIGANTIC WANDERER. THE KRAKEN. 
 
 THE SEA-SERPENT. THE ALBATROSS. THE MERMAID. THE 
 
 GROTTO. THE SUBTERRANEAN JOURNEY. THE NATION OF THE 
 
 ANTHROPOPHAGI. CONCLUSION, 338 
 
0V IHB 
 
 V SITT 
 
 THE 
 
 STRANGE ADVENTURES 
 
 OP 
 
 KIT BAM, MARINER, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PREFATORY AND INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 THE SWALLOW FAMILY ; THE YOUNGER ONES 5 LOVE OF FICTION ; 
 THE ELDERS' OPINIONS OF FANCY AND MATTER-OF-FACT, IMAG- 
 INATION AND REALITIES. KIT BAM ; HIS FIRST YARN ; THE 
 
 ISLAND OF FALSE APPEARANCES. 
 
 " MAMMA," said Dick Swallow to his mother, one 
 evening 1 , during 1 the holidays, " before the candles 
 come, and Fanny and I have our game of chess 
 together, I wish you 'd tell us one of your famous 
 long stories, as you used to do." 
 
 " I fear, my dear boy," replied his mother, "that 
 you and your sister have exhausted my stock of ' fa- 
 mous stories ? (as you are so polite as to call them), 
 long ago ; besides, you are too old now to care for 
 stories, surely ; you hope to go to college in a couple 
 
8 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 of years, and are very often quite a man already, you 
 know, in your own opinion. " 
 
 " And yet, mother, I really think I shall never be 
 too old to like a good long story, " answered Dick. 
 " In the first place, listening, instead of reading, is 
 such pleasant, lazy work such complete rest, after 
 a day's fag at Latin and Greek. And, then, when the 
 stories are about fairies, and spirits, and strange 
 adventures, such as yours used to tell of, I feel as if 
 they took me out of the horse-in-a-mill routine of 
 books and study, which is all very right and useful, 
 of course, and must be attended to, but which makes 
 one long for amusement and rest, I mean rest for 
 the thoughts and the head, as much as cricket, and 
 rowing, and going to bed, are rest for the limbs after 
 sitting many hours at lessons." 
 
 " I sometimes feel the same thing, mamma," said 
 his sister Fanny ; " I often wish I had one of your 
 old stories of an evening to amuse me after lessons 
 and my duty-walk are over ; an interesting story is 
 such pleasant rest ; and, you know, I am not allowed 
 to read novels yet they are ' too old ' for me, it is 
 said." 
 
 " I know well your love of stories, my dears ! " 
 said their mother ; " and I agree with you that there 
 are few things afford so perfect a relaxation to the 
 mind as fiction, and its pleasant appeals to the imag- 
 ination. You, Dick, will soon form an acquaintance 
 with the fine old poets ; their lovely classical stories, 
 and beautiful fancies, will prove a grand resource for 
 you as a relief from severer studies ; and you, my 
 dear Fanny, may, in a year or two, hope to enjoy 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 9 
 
 with me those interesting fictions from the pen of 
 some of our best authors, which have so well depicted 
 the stage of human life, its various hopes, disappoint- 
 ments, aspirations, duties, and feelings ; and which 
 form a not inapt introduction to the world itself, 
 where you will some day be called upon to act your 
 part. But it is not well too early to anticipate the 
 amusement, and even instruction, to be derived from 
 such a course of reading ; and, meantime, I will own 
 that you are both deprived of a pleasant source of 
 amusement, if it is decreed that you are ' too old 7 for 
 the stories of your childhood, and that the poets and 
 novelists are ' too old J for you. I have been think- 
 ing, therefore, that, as my own story-telling powers 
 are exhausted, I will endeavor to procure you another 
 source of entertainment of the like kind, which may 
 supply the want you feel ; and that your favorite 
 twilight hour may still be spent in the way you both 
 love so well, in listening to a long story/ 7 
 
 " Capital, mamma ! " exclaimed both the young 
 Swallows, joyfully, as they jumped up to give her 
 a hearty kiss ; for, though Dick had nearly attained 
 the manly age of fourteen, and his sister Fanny was 
 but a year younger, yet they both frequently ex- 
 pressed their joy in a burst of childish rapture, and 
 were generally as gay as larks. The nature of their 
 education had made our two young friends simple in 
 their manners, though sensible in their heads ; their 
 hearts were young, though their minds were strong, 
 active, and well-stored. They had been brought up 
 under the superintendence of their mother, a woman 
 of keen sensibilities, yet firm judgment. She had 
 
10 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 indulged their fancy, while she had secured solid 
 instruction ; and the result was, that, though Dick 
 could construe Virgil, or work many of the problems 
 in Euclid, and Fanny was a good modern linguist, 
 and an accomplished needlewoman and housekeeper, 
 yet they both of them still loved a long twilight tale, 
 and listened to it with all their old-young delight. 
 They were childlike, though not childish, in taste 
 and feeling ; and their manners were unconven- 
 tional, and unlike 'the little old men and women we 
 now-a-days often meet with in young people of their 
 age. 
 
 "Your father tells me he has invited his old ship- 
 mate, Kit Bam (of whom you have often heard him 
 speak), to come and spend the remainder of his days 
 close by us/ 7 resumed their mother ; " the little cot- 
 tage in the lane, just by the clump of beech-trees, at 
 the back of our grounds, has been prepared for him, 
 and we expect that he will arrive from town to-day, 
 and take possession of his new abode. Indeed, I 
 should not wonder if it is the reception of his old 
 friend which detains papa at this very moment, for 
 it is much after his usual hour of return from his 
 walk. I dare say he is now at the cottage welcom- 
 ing his favorite Kit, and settling him in his new 
 home. We will ask papa to go with us to-morrow 
 morning to see his old friend, that we may make his 
 acquaintance/' 
 
 " That will be pleasant ! " said Dick. 
 
 " If he is pleasant," added Fanny, in a lower tone. 
 "Do you know Mr. Kit Bam, mamma?" inquired 
 she. "Is he pleasant ? Is he good-natured ? " 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 11 
 
 " Very good-natured/ 7 replied her mother; " and 
 very pleasant especially pleasant he will seem to 
 you both ; for he has seen a vast deal, and passed 
 through a great many adventures in his time, so that 
 he has plenty of long stories to tell if you can coax 
 him to relate them ; and I know you have rather a 
 knack in persuading those from whom you have 
 hopes of a story, Fanny. " 
 
 Next morning, forth the party sallied ; the day was 
 bright, the birds wer& singing cheerfully ; the young 
 people were in high spirits at the idea of the new 
 acquaintance they were about to make ; and their 
 parents were happy in the thought that they had 
 secured a comfortable asylum near them, and the 
 enjoyment of complete repose in his old age, to one 
 whose youth and maturer years had been faithfully 
 employed in a course of active exertion, uncomplain- 
 ing hardship, many perils, and ceaseless wandering. 
 Across the lawn, skirting the fish-pond, between the 
 flower-beds, by the arbor, down the gravel-walk, 
 along the avenue, out at the little wicket-gate, into 
 the lane, all flowery with hedge-row climbers and 
 plants the honeysuckle, the dogrose, the hawthorn, 
 the briony, and all bowery with hedge-row trees, 
 the maple, the oak, the elm, and the ash, on passed 
 the four walkers, till they came to a cottage in a 
 small garden, that was screened off from the lane by 
 a quickset hedge. Through a slight opening in this 
 hedge Captain Swallow looked, and beckoned to his 
 wife that she should silently follow his example. 
 
 " Does not the dear old fellow look a perfect pic- 
 ture of contented comfort ? " asked he, in a whisper, 
 
12 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Dick and Fanny peeped too. Sitting on a bench 
 in the sun, they saw an old man with gray hair, a 
 very brown face, and still browner hands, which were 
 folded carelessly together round a thick, knotty stick, 
 that lay between his knees. He wore coarse dark 
 blue clothes, that looked too big for him ; indeed, so 
 big and so loose, that they appeared as if they would 
 have held an additional set of legs and arms without 
 any inconvenience to the limbs already there. On 
 his head was a shiny glazed % hat ; so shiny that it 
 made our young friends wink as they looked at it 
 sparkling and glistening in the bright sun ; but, as it 
 was worn perched very forward, it shaded the old 
 man's own eyes, without his suffering any apparent 
 annoyance from the ends of black ribbon which dan- 
 gled from its brim, and occasionally fluttered into the 
 corner of one of them, as he gazed thoughtfully at a 
 hive of bees that stood near him. 
 
 " It ; s a home-loving though a wandering life/ 7 
 they heard him murmur ; " they range freely abroad 
 in the pure air and sunshine, and collect stores of 
 sweet and pleasant things to enjoy quietly in their 
 wintry days. They ? re strangely like men, those 
 bees; the flowery fields and the wide ocean, the 
 warm hive and the snug cottage, a wandering 
 youth and a tranquil old age, are each their portion ; 
 and, then, the honey-juice of blossoms, and the pleas- 
 ant hoard of sweet fancies and recollections, that the 
 bee and the man both gather in their early rambles, 
 are equally the gift of a bounteous Creator. And how 
 well the little things manage it all ! They 're as 
 orderly and as handy at their work, and get as little 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 13 
 
 in each other's gangway, as a ship's crew mustering 
 'all hands' at the call of the boatswain's whistle. 
 Ay, ay, sir ; this way, captain ; " added the old 
 mariner, a moment after, as he started up from his 
 seat on hearing his friend's voice saluting him with 
 a hearty cheer, while the party approached arid 
 entered the little garden gate. "This way, madam ; 
 this way, my young lady," continued he, as he 
 bustled about to do the honors of his new house to 
 his visitors. 
 
 He showed them the straight rows of cabbages 
 and potatoes, and carrots, and onions, in the orderly 
 little garden, and. gathered a posy of sweet-williams 
 and bachelors'-buttons for Fanny and her mamma. 
 He showed them the draw-well, with its bucket quite 
 handy, and told them that the water was as fresh 
 and bright as crystal ; as a proof of which he took 
 some up in the hollow of his hand, and let it fall in 
 sparkling drops from his palm, which he once raised 
 to his lips, as if willing to confirm his words by 
 drinking some .- though, on second thoughts, he let 
 that handful fall, too, sprinkling it over the flowers, 
 remarking, with a sly smile at the captain, "that 
 they liked it, poor things ; it did them good ! And 
 yet I can remember times when I would have given 
 more for that handful of fresh water, than for all the 
 wine that ever was crushed, either from grapes or in 
 a jovial cup," added he, with a thoughtful look that 
 often came over his weather-beaten countenance, 
 giving a strange contradiction, to his usual careless, 
 sailor-like manner and appearance. He showed them 
 the bees next, saying, "they were tight lads foi 
 
14 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 work." He took them into the snug cottage, with 
 its cosey sitting-room and comfortable bed-room, and 
 said it was as warm a berth as heart could desire ; 
 and that it was just like his shipmate 7 s kind way, to 
 think of getting it rigged for him to turn into in his 
 old age. 
 
 While Kit was grasping their father warmly by the 
 hand, and saying this in a hearty tone to their 
 mother, Dick whispered to Fanny, " I wonder whether 
 he 7 d tell us one of his stories now. I should like to 
 hear some of his adventures. 77 
 
 " I think he must be too tired to-day to talk much, 
 after his journey yesterday, 77 said Fanny ; " besides, 
 he 7 s busy and taken up with papa and mamma now, 
 and I don 7 t like to interrupt him. 77 
 
 Soon after their parents took leave ; and, as they 
 walked home, their mother told Fanny she had over- 
 heard how considerate she had been towards their 
 old friend ; but that she and her brother should come 
 and spend an hour or two every afternoon with him, 
 if they pleased. Accordingly, that very afternoon, 
 the moment the cloth was removed, the young Swal- 
 lows were darting off, when their father cried out, 
 "Hallo ! youngsters, whither so fast? I never saw 
 you in such a hurry to run away from a dish of cur- 
 rants and cherries before ! 77 
 
 Dick and Fanny both began in a breath to reply : 
 but their mother said, smiling, "Nevermind; take 
 your dessert on some leaves, and away with you, and 
 1 7 11 explain to your father. 77 
 
 "They aje off to renew their acquaintance with 
 old Kit, I suppose, 77 said Captain Swallow, when his 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 15 
 
 children had vanished ; ' ' they appeared to be pro- 
 digiously taken with him this morning as, indeed, 
 he seemed to be with them. Well, they '11 amuse 
 him, and help to make the dear old fellow's time pass 
 pleasantly.' 7 
 
 " They rather hope he will amuse them, I be- 
 lieve/ 7 said their mother ; " they have a passion for 
 long stories, and I should think he has plenty to tell 
 them/ 7 
 
 "Yes, he has, indeed; Kit will spin you a yarn 
 as long as a ship's cable, only once set him a talk- 
 ing, 77 replied the captain. " But do you think all 
 these strange adventures and wonderful histories of 
 his are quite the sort of thing for the children to lis- 
 ten to, my dear ? Kit has a knack of relating mar- 
 vels that I very much suspect never had any exist- 
 ence but in his own brain ; for, though he 7 s as true 
 and honest a chap as ever lived, he has a spice of 
 romance in him, that, 1 7 ve a notion, has led him to 
 see all his adventures with a fanciful eye. You 
 know all we sailors have the reputation of being 
 a superstitious set ; our life naturally engenders 
 strange beliefs and extraordinary imaginings. While 
 surrounded, for the most part, by grand natural ob- 
 jects, sky and ocean, the sun, the moon, the stars, 
 yet we are, nevertheless, shut within a narrow 
 limit, and confined in our daily intercourse, for days 
 and weeks together. This circumscribed life has, in 
 Kit's instance, been even enhanced by many solitary 
 wanderings. Frequently thrown apart from his own 
 species, an indulgence in silent musing, and a habit 
 of following his own whimsical thoughts, joined to 
 
16 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 a great taste for imaginative reading, and an origi 
 nally contemplative disposition, have combined to 
 make him unusually credulous, even for one of us 
 sailors. Don't you think, therefore, his yarns will 
 be apt to set their wits a wandering and a wool-gatli-: 
 ering, when maybe it would be better that they 
 should be hove-to, steady, and brought alongside more 
 useful things, safe in the harbor of knowledge ? " 
 
 " Even during Dick's holidays they both work 
 hard at their lessons in the morning/' replied his 
 wife; "and while they work 1 try to keep their 
 young heads steady and attentive, and really intent 
 upon storing up as much useful information as possi- 
 ble, that they may secure the all-important advantage 
 of a solid education. But, the more careful I am 
 that they shall not think of anything else while they 
 are at study, the more anxious I am that they should 
 have plenty of amusement at other times and no 
 amusement do they like so well as what they call ' a 
 long story.' While they work, let them work with 
 their whole souls ; and when they play, let it be as 
 heartily. The very nature of the narratives they will 
 hear from your old friend, too, will form a judicious 
 contrast to the matter-of-fact, practical sort of acquire- 
 ments I have endeavored to lead them to cultivate, as 
 being better fitted to their station in life than mere 
 flimsy accomplishments ; and, as I think the tendency 
 of the present age (in which they will be called upon 
 to act their part) is perhaps rather too strictly utilita- 
 rian in its nature, so this will be best counteracted 
 by the appeals to the imagination and fancy that will 
 be made by Kit's stories, which may form a kind of 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 11 
 
 introduction to the classical fictions they will read 
 by and by. We are too apt, I think, now-a-days, to 
 heap upon bewildered childhood an accumulation of 
 dry facts, scientific scraps, and hard information, 
 which, ill-arranged, ill-digested, and unrelieved by 
 lighter matter, only serve to render young people 
 the prating, superficial, addle-brained little pragma- 
 tists which they too frequently are. Let them have 
 sterling knowledge, by all means, but let them have 
 holiday of the mind, too. 77 
 
 " I think you are right in the main, my love/ 7 said 
 the captain, smiling at his wife's warmth; "for, 
 though 1 7 ve often regretted that my early love of 
 the sea and a sailor 7 s profession led me to neglect the 
 opportunity of learning while young, and so have 1 , 
 been compelled to blunder through life, more of a 
 dunce than you, in your wifely partiality, would, 
 perhaps, be willing to allow ; yet I have known some 
 of the happiest moments of my existence from an 
 ardent enjoyment of nature, and a passionate love of 
 the beautiful. 77 
 
 " And if we too strictly exclude the cultivation of 
 the imagination and fancy in young people, 77 replied 
 his wife, " I am sure we deprive them of these very 
 sources of happiness you speak of. ' My mind to 
 me a kingdom is ! 7 and surely the region of idea is 
 its most precious dominion. The poetry and ro- 
 mance of thought are the best solace for daily toil, 
 and the surest refuge from the inevitable common- 
 places of every-day existence. I feel sure we shall 
 do well in permitting our children to take an interest 
 in all the wild tales and travellers wonders of old 
 2 
 
18 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Kit, while we are careful, at the same time, to instil 
 sound principles, an earnest love of truth, and a ven- 
 eration for the light of wisdom. 77 
 
 "Very true/ 7 said the captain. "Besides, Kit, 
 though a sailor and a wanderer, is anything but a 
 common man. His natural love of romance and ad- 
 venture gave a tone of sentiment and imagination 
 to his thoughts, and led him to observe and reflect 
 upon what he saw. He was always noted among us 
 for a lad extremely fond of reading, whenever he 
 could find time and get hold of a book ; and this, 
 joined to his naturally ardent fancy, his good simple 
 heart, and his strict sense of honor and moral worth, 
 gave him a cultivated and refined tone of mind, very 
 different from what his station in life might lead one 
 to expect. Therefore, on the whole, I do not know 
 but what his society is the very thing we could 
 desire for our children ; for, at the same time that he 
 amuses their fancy, and excites their love of the 
 marvellous, he will lead them to reflect, and draw a 
 moral from most of his narratives, wild and even 
 mystical as they may be. 77 
 
 Meantime, the young Swallows reached the cot- 
 tage of their new-old friend. They found him com- 
 fortably seated in a wooden arm-chair near the hearth 
 (though, the season being early, there was no fire in 
 the grate), with his legs stretched out at full length 
 and crossed easily over one another, his arms folded, 
 and his eyes glancing occasionally towards the model 
 of a ship that stood on a table in the corner of the 
 room, though they were more frequently employed 
 in gazing through the little cottage casement at the 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 19 
 
 soft glories of the setting sun, in which he seemed 
 to read and revolve innumerable memories of the 
 past. Between his lips rested a short pipe, from 
 which he drew lazy puffs at long intervals, as if 
 rather from habit than actual enjoyment ; though now 
 and then it became firmly clenched between his 
 teeth, as he murmured a lengthened " Ah ! 'm ! " 
 and shook his head slowly, and closed his eyes 
 dreamily ; though, when they were open, they 
 were keen, gray, piercing eyes, and looked at the 
 sunlight with as steady and unwinking a gaze as an 
 eagle's. But they wore a kind and even tender 
 expression as they suddenly fell upon the figures of 
 our two young friends as they appeared at the open 
 door, which was thrown back to admit the sweet 
 breath of the evening air, rich with the odor of the 
 flowers in the cottage garden. 
 
 " I hope we don't disturb you/ 7 said Fanny, as she 
 stole softly to the old man's side; "but we know 
 you have some wonderful stories to tell, and we want 
 you to tell them to us, if you please ; and you have 
 a good thinking face on now, and we hope you '11 
 begin directly, if you could be so good as to remem- 
 ber one, could you? Would you, do you think, 
 Mr. Bam ? " She said this with a childlike mixture 
 of eagerness and timidity, while she put her arms 
 round his large blue sleeve, and hugged it close and 
 winningly. The old mariner's face looked so pleas- 
 antly towards her, as she urged her entreaty, that 
 she could not help letting her hand glide round his 
 huge blue collar, and rest for an instant on the bald 
 spot at the top of his head, and then drawing it ca- 
 
20 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ressingly down his silver hairs, and smoothing his 
 withered cheek, marked with a thousand minute red 
 lines, while her own round rosy one crept nearer to 
 it, she whispered a repeated, " Could you be so very 
 kind, do you think, Mr. Bam ? " 
 
 "To be sure I will, my lass my dear young 
 lady ! Disturb me ? that you don't, my dears ! Ee- 
 member ? of course I can ; want of memory 's not 
 rny failing. But I say, my dear lass," continued the 
 old mariner, affectionately, " when you look in my 
 eyes in that way, with a smile so like your father's 
 (God bless him !), just call me Kit, plain Kit, as he 
 always does ; and not Mr. Bam, which sounds formal, 
 and is moreover a name I somehow never particu- 
 larly liked. What ? s your name, my man ?" added 
 he, turning to her brother. 
 
 " Eichard Dick/ 7 answered he. 
 
 " Ay, Dick ! that 7 s right ! your brave father's 
 name. Come and sit here in the corner, Dick, my 
 fine fellow ; and you, my lass, what 7 s your name ? 
 0, Fanny ; come and perch close to me on the other 
 side." 
 
 "But the story, Mr. I mean, my darling old 
 Kit ; won't you begin and tell us your story ? " 
 
 He smiled at her eagerness. "I should begin, I 
 believe, by telling you, that though I was born in a 
 quiet little inland village, never boy had greater 
 hankering after a wandering life, or a more ardent 
 desire to go to sea. My longing to behold other 
 scenes, and take part in those active exertions that 
 engaged my fellow-creatures in the world beyond, 
 filled me with intolerable craving, and rendered the 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 21 
 
 monotony of our simple village existence insupport- 
 ably wearisome to me. Often did my father check 
 me for the repining spirit which this restless desire 
 for change engendered in me, and would exclaim, in 
 the pity of a wiser experience : ' Poor lad ! thou little 
 know'st what thou wishest for ! J My mother had a 
 brother living at a small seaport town about forty 
 miles' distance, on the nearest coast to the part of 
 the country where our village was situated ; and to 
 this uncle's house I was once sent by my father, not 
 without a hope, I believe, that the rough usage 
 which he knew I should meet with there would have 
 the desired effect of sickening me of a town life, and 
 the wear and tear of the world, and so lead me to 
 love and return to my own quiet home. For this 
 uncle was a hard, money-loving man ; and his wife 
 was a hard, money-loving woman, and, moreover, a 
 shrew, with a loud, shrill voice, fierce eyes, thin lips, 
 and bony arms, who thought the chief virtue of the 
 mistress of a house was to scold her servants for 
 faults they might possibly commit some time or 
 other, and to give them continual orders about work 
 they were at the moment doing. 
 
 " My uncle had persuaded rny father to send me to 
 him, that he might ' push my fortune, and give me a 
 lift in the world, instead of letting me rot in an out- 
 of-the-way village all my life/ as he expressed it ; so 
 he proceeded to 'show his ideas of promotion and 
 worldly advancement, by installing me, immediately 
 on my arrival, in the honorable post of errand-boy, 
 in which office were included the slight duties of 
 cleaning knives, brushing boots and shoes, washing 
 
22 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 dishes, chopping wood, drawing water, lighting 
 tires, scrubbing floors, cleaning windows, taking 
 down and putting up the shop shutters, opening the 
 door (which, as my thrifty aunt-mistress let lodgings, 
 was a charge that kept me trotting up and down the 
 kitchen stairs like a canary-bird incessantly hopping 
 from perch to perch), carrying trays that were too 
 heavy for the bit of a girl who passed for the maid- 
 of-all-work to the establishment, running with letters, 
 parcels, and messages, for the lodgers, besides occa- 
 sionally helping my uncle in his business, which was 
 that of a shoemaker. 
 
 " Of all these various duties there were none I 
 performed so willingly as those which in any way 
 helped to save my poor little fellow-servant, ' the bit 
 of a girl ' I spoke of. She was a thin, hollow-eyed, 
 pale-faced creature, bleached and smoke-dried with 
 perpetual dwelling in a town air ; and yet I thought 
 her pretty, from a meek, patient look she had. She 
 would fix her soft blue eyes with a sort of helpless 
 fascination on the flashing fierce ones of her mistress, 
 while she was giving her ' a good set-down/ as she 
 called it ; and with her quivering lips, and submiss- 
 ively imploring eyes, poor Molly would stand there 
 to be rated as ' a good-for-nothing, idle slut/ and ' a 
 bold-faced, staring minx/ till my blood boiled with a 
 sense of wrong that all my own hardships failed to 
 excite in the like degree. 
 
 "And yet these hardships of my own were bad 
 enough. Coarse and grudgingly-given food ; inces- 
 sant labor ; want of the pure country air, to which I 
 had been accustomed from infancy ; brutal, unkind 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 23 
 
 usage ; violent, abusive language ; little or no rest 
 for I was up early and down late ; all these were 
 but harsh substitutes for the peaceful existence I had 
 hitherto led in my native village ; where, if I worked 
 hard, it was in the fresh free air, and with those who* 
 loved arid fostered me. Still, these, my first rude 
 experiences of life from home, did not lead rne to 
 wish for a return to that home. I longed, it is true, 
 to escape from this bondage, this miserable drudgery 
 (so doubly irksome to one of my peculiar dispo- 
 sition), but itAvas that I might wander forth to 
 those scenes which my fancy still portrayed to me 
 as full of joy, animation, and beauty. My only con- 
 solations, during those ten dreary months that I spent 
 at my uncle's, were the few stolen opportunities I 
 found of devouring a book, now and then, or of 
 creeping down to the sea-shore and indulging my 
 visions about those far-distant lands, that lay 
 stretched away beyond the ocean, and which my 
 imagination painted in the most vivid and alluring 
 colors. Innumerable castles in the air did rny boyish 
 fancy build, of taking my poor, little, gentle Molly 
 away from her thraldom, and of setting sail together 
 for some delightful island, where we might live 
 happy and free the livelong day, with no one to 
 thwart or control us. In those charming day-dreams 
 I pictured her to myself the queen of our beautiful 
 solitude, wandering hand in hand with me through 
 shady groves, and flowering thickets, and majestic 
 woods, where the birds should be our sole com- 
 panions ; and there, I thought, her blue eyes would 
 lose those dark rings that encircled them : there her 
 
24 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 cheeks would become dimpled and rosy, and her lips 
 would smile instead of tremble. Poor, meek, gentle 
 Molly ! " 
 
 Here Kit sighed and paused for a moment, then 
 *he resumed : "One morning poor Molly told me, 
 with tears in her eyes, that her mistress had bid her 
 clean the windows, arid that she was afraid. ' But I 
 will do them/ said I ; ' that 's always my job/ But 
 she reminded me that I was going on an errand to a 
 place at some little distance from the town that day 
 for my uncle ; arid, therefore, her mistress insisted 
 that, as I could not do them, Molly should, as nothing 
 would induce her to put off the regular day for clean- 
 ing the windows. I comforted her as well as I 
 could, assuring her that I would make the utmost 
 haste, so that I might be back in time to prevent 
 her doing what she so much dreaded. But every- 
 thing, that unhappy day, was fated to turn out in 
 misery. I was detained late by my uncle before I 
 set out ; I was detained at the house to which I was 
 sent ; I was detained on my road back by an acci- 
 dent which nearly ended in a child being run over. 
 I had scarcely helped to rescue the infant from its 
 dangerous vicinity to the wheels of the cart, and 
 seen it safely placed in its mother's arms, when I 
 resumed the quick pace which I hoped would still 
 enable me to return in time. I reached the entrance 
 to the town ; I turned into the street where my 
 uncle lived ; but I had scarcely done so, when I per- 
 ceived a large crowd assembled before his house, 
 who surrounded something that lay upon the pave- 
 ment. I will not pain your tender hearts, my dears, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 25 
 
 by dwelling upon the horror of that moment ; suffice 
 it to say, that, on making my way through the crowd, 
 I found my poor Molly stretched upon the ground, 
 bleeding and lifeless ! Her cruel mistress had in- 
 sisted upon her getting outside the upper window to 
 clean it ; the poor girl had missed her footing ; she 
 fell, and was killed upon the spot. As I approached 
 they were lifting her from the earth tenderly, and 
 conveying her into the house. Her cap had fallen 
 off, and her comb dropped from her long hair upon 
 the pavement. I picked it up mechanically, and 
 followed those who were bearing the body, like one 
 in a fearful dream. I scarcely heard my uncle's 
 voice, though he was storming loudly as I entered 
 the shop. I found, a few minutes afterwards, that 
 he was raving at me for my having loitered so long 
 on my errand ; but I stared at him, with dry eyes 
 and a parched mouth, for some time, without making 
 out the sense of what he was talking about. At 
 length he drew a letter from his pocket, saying : 
 ' But here 7 s what releases me from all further care 
 of you, you lazy lout, you ! Your father ? s dying, and 
 you are to go home to your mother ; she sent me this 
 letter to say so this morning ; so pack up your alls, 
 and begone ! Off with you at once, and good rid- 
 dance of bad rubbish ! Nothing but plagues and 
 troubles in this world, I do think ! ' As he finished 
 speaking, he took up his work again ; and I, merely 
 repeating (in a tone which I could not think of after- 
 wards without shuddering), ' Your father ? s dying, 
 and you are to go home to your mother/ turned 
 round, and went out of the shop. I remember 
 
26 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 shivering, and feeling a sharp pain shoot through my 
 limbs, as I passed close to the spot where my poor 
 Molly had lain dead so lately. I remember looking 
 vacantly at her comb, which remained unconsciously 
 clutched in my fingers ; and I remember something 
 of walking through the streets, and taking the road 
 which led across the country towards my village 
 home, and which happened to be the same I had 
 traversed in the morning on my luckless errand ; but 
 I recollect nothing else till I found myself leaning 
 heavily and faintly against the parapet of a little 
 bridge that crossed the road near where the accident 
 had happened to the child that morning. How long 
 I remained thus I do not know, but the first thing I 
 was conscious of was a pair of little chubby, bare 
 arms clinging round my neck, and a voice saying : 
 ' Ay, kiss him, and hug him, and love him, Billy, for 
 he saved your life this morning, that he did ! ? I 
 looked up, and found it was the poor woman with 
 her child, who was so nearly run over, and whom 
 she was holding close to me that he might thank me 
 in his baby way. I verily believe the poor little 
 infant returned me life for life at that moment, and 
 was an instrument in the hands of Providence for 
 bringing relief to my overburthened heart ; for I burst 
 into tears, and thus found vent for the grief and 
 sorrow that had struck me such cruel blows in the 
 death of my poor Molly, and my father's danger, 
 and had made me unable to shed one tear, until that 
 time. 
 
 " Seeing me ill and sorrowful, the kind woman 
 took me into her cottage, which was close by, where 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 27 
 
 she gave me some food, and made me lie down upon 
 her bed for a couple of hours, telling me that, even 
 if I could not sleep, it would be better to take some 
 rest, as I should, set out on my journey all the 
 stronger for it. But heaven sent the blessing of 
 sleep to support the poor boy in his early trouble, 
 and I did not awake till the afternoon, when .my 
 kind friend told me she had thought of a good plan 
 for me, which was no other than to get a lift in the 
 wagon that would pass by, before evening, on its 
 way to the part of the country where our village 
 was situated. She knew the wagoner, she said, and 
 she would speak to him for me, and tell him how 
 well I deserved help. Well, my dears, I reached 
 home, but it was too late ! My father had died of 
 the fever that he had taken suddenly, and I found 
 that my poor mother was rapidly sinking under the 
 same disease, which, joined to the fatigue and anx- 
 iety of nursing him, carried her off in three days 
 after my return ; so that, in the course of one week, 
 I followed both parents to their graves. Nothing 
 consoled me so well, under the grief I suffered for 
 their loss, as the recollection that I had never yielded 
 to my ardent desire to become a sailor while they 
 lived ; but now that they were gone, and I had no 
 tie to bind me to home, my old longing for the sea 
 returned with greater force than ever. To my desire 
 for wandering was now added a disgust towards the 
 land, that amounted to loathing. I thought that 
 those who spoke of the perils and dangers of the 
 ocean strangely overlooked the equal risks that 
 existed on the shore. Had I not lost my dear and 
 
28 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 only friends by violent and painful deaths, though 
 they had never stirred abroad ? As my thoughts 
 dwelt in horror upon the mangled form of my poor 
 Molly, and the fevered sufferings of my dear parents, 
 I asked myself whether winds, and waves, and 
 stormy shipwrecks, could have worse terrors. Again 
 the vision of the sea, the vast, the boundless ocean, 
 arose to my imagination as the only free and unlim- 
 ited range for man's spirit, and I yielded to my 
 insatiable craving by setting forth the very next day 
 on my voyage of life. 
 
 " I have already kept you so long, my dears, talk- 
 ing of my early sorrows, that I shall not stay to tell 
 you all the particulars of my difficulties in getting a 
 berth on board a ship ; suffice it to say, that I did at 
 last contrive to obtain one, and was likewise so for- 
 tunate as to find my captain and shipmates as kind a 
 master and as pleasant companions as ever fell to 
 the lot of a poor cabin-boy on first going to sea. It 
 will frequently happen, in the course of my after ad- 
 ventures, that I shall have to allude to the early 
 friends I made among the crew, in that first cruise 
 of mine ; but I shall not stop to describe them now, 
 as it is getting nearly time for you to return home, 
 and I want to tell you a bit of a yarn before you go, 
 that you may n't think all my adventures are ri..- 
 melancholy as those of my childhood were. 
 
 " In one of my wanderings, it was some timo citej 
 my first voyage, I was sent ashore, with another 
 sailor arid a young boy, by the captain, to get a sup- 
 ply of fresh water. The latitudes we were in then 
 being very hot, and the atmosphere very stifling, we 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 29 
 
 had been for some days greatly distressed on board 
 ship for the want of this important provision, so that 
 it became absolutely necessary to seek water, not- 
 withstanding there was some risk in so doing. Many 
 of the men had demurred when the captain had first 
 talked of landing, others had evaded the task, and 
 all had muttered hints of dread and dislike of this 
 place, though it was fair and inviting to all appear- 
 ance, saying, it was as well to perish of thirst at 
 sea, as to tempt a still more horrible fate on this 
 shore, from which no one was ever known to return. 
 My natural love of adventure, and my usual habit 
 of obedience, however, made me at once accept the 
 task, when the captain selected me for the purpose ; 
 and one of the least cowardly of the other sailors 
 and the boy having been appointed to accompany 
 me, we accordingly lowered the boat, and rowed to 
 land, which in itself certainly presented anything 
 but a hostile aspect. Trees, of ^he most beautiful 
 shape and foliage, stretched forth their palmy 
 branches with assurance of a cooling and luxurious 
 shade ; the sands, over which the waves rippled in 
 gentle undulation, were of the most dazzling white- 
 ness, and were strewed with innumerable shells of 
 the most vivid color and varied form ; birds, of 
 bright and glowing plumage, glanced from tree to 
 tree, uttering melodious cooings, intermingled with 
 gay outbursts of joyous, thrilling song ; and the 
 grass, which lay like a soft green carpet beneath the 
 trees beyond the sands, was sown with a thousand 
 many-colored flowers ; while a sparkling stream of 
 clear water flowed like a silver thread through the 
 
30 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 brilliant landscape, affording the most delicious 
 promise of the needed refreshment. My two com- 
 panions, on beholding this rivulet, forgot their fears, 
 and, pushing the boat gently aground, sprang ashore, 
 and ran to enjoy the desired draught, heedless of my 
 earnest entreaties that they would stay to help me 
 take the casks out of the boat. Knowing the anx- 
 iety of the captain to secure the desired supply, and 
 the extreme state of suffering to which the crew 
 were reduced from its want, as well as having the 
 habit of always punctually observing the old rule of 
 ' duty first, and pleasure afterwards/ I remained 
 steadily at my post, lifting out the casks and vessels 
 we had brought with us as well as I could by myself, 
 though not without some impatience at my compan- 
 ions' desertion. I have never in my life, my dears, 
 had reason to repent my adherence to the rule I 
 spoke of just now, which should form a chief one in 
 the conduct of everybody, particularly in that of a 
 sailor ; but in the instance I am now relating it was 
 of singular service to me. Just as I had succeeded 
 in rolling one of the casks ashore, I raised my head 
 towards my companions, with the intention of calling 
 to them again to come and help me, when I was 
 struck with terror and indescribable dismay at what 
 I beheld. The sailor had gained considerably on the 
 steps of the young boy, and had preceded him by 
 some minutes in arriving at the brink of the beauti- 
 ful streamlet. Here he had thrown himself down in 
 all the rash eagerness of ardent thirst, and had swal- 
 .owed several long draughts of the tempting liquid, 
 when, on rising from the ground with a gesture of 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 31 
 
 luxurious satisfaction, and while I almost seemed to 
 hear the sigh with which he yielded himself to the 
 exquisite enjoyment of allayed thirst, I saw him no 
 longer ; he had vanished entirely from my wonder- 
 ing eyes ! I placed my hands involuntarily before 
 them for an instant, and then again strained them in 
 the endeavor to make out this marvellous disappear- 
 ance. In vain ! the man had totally vanished from 
 the scene. The spot where he had stood an instant 
 before, and where he had intercepted my view of the 
 fatal rivulet, was utterly vacant ; and there was no 
 one to be seen but the advancing boy, who, struck, 
 like myself, by the miraculous disappearance of his 
 comrade, had halted for a moment in consternation, 
 but was now hastening forward again. I shouted to 
 him to return ; I implored, I threatened ; but to no 
 purpose. Goaded alike by his amazement, his curi- 
 osity, and his raging thirst, he speeded on to the 
 fatal brink, as if fascinated to his destruction ; and, 
 to my unspeakable horror, I beheld him share the 
 same fate as his companion ! 
 
 " Whether they faded into the air, whether they 
 merged into the shining water beside them, or 
 whether they sunk into the earth beneath their feet, 
 I was equally unable to determine, and all my efforts 
 to discover the actual cause of their unhappy doom 
 were unavailing. I could not, however, fail to con- 
 nect their fate with the mysterious rivulet, and, 
 though parched with thirst, and ready to sink with 
 exhaustion, the result of my terror and exposure 
 to the noon-day sun, I firmly resolved I would not 
 yield to the sort of fascination; scinch I was sensible 
 
32 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 was fast creeping over me, and urging me to go and 
 drink also ; but, turning my eyes resolutely away 
 from the tempting shore and alluring stream, I looked 
 in the direction of the ship, determining to row back 
 to her immediately, while I had strength and courage 
 left. These, however, had very nearly forsaken me 
 altogether, when I discovered that the ship was 
 rapidly receding from my view, and that she was, in 
 fact, making all sail away from this dangerous and 
 dreaded place. Giving myself up for lost, I uttered 
 a cry of agony, and sunk on the sands in despair ; 
 when, reflecting on the weakness and folly of such 
 self-abandonment, I summoned sufficient energy to 
 crawl beneath the shade of one of the spreading 
 palm-trees, where, stretched on the velvet turf, I 
 could yield with greater safety to the overwhelming 
 drowsiness and stupor which was stealing over my 
 senses. My sleep, however, was fevered and rest- 
 less. Visions of delicious cool draughts tantalizingly 
 held to my parched lips, and snatched away at the 
 moment of enjoyment, tortured and disturbed my 
 repose. I beheld translucent waves within an inch 
 of bathing my feet ; I saw showers of silver spray 
 burst in a thousand sparkling drops just a hand's- 
 breadth from my aching brow ; I vainly struggled to 
 plunge my burning hands into a crystal vase that 
 seemed placed but a pace or two from the tree be- 
 neath which I lay ; but, as I eagerly pressed forward 
 to seize it, it eluded my grasp, and, assuming the 
 form of the departing ship, seemed to vanish in a 
 double mockery, which so stung and maddened me 
 that I started and awoke with a deep groan. On 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 33 
 
 unclosing my eyes, the first object they encountered 
 was a human face hanging over me with an expres- 
 sion of interest and wonder ; and, springing up to 
 be on my guard, I found it belonged to a short, queer 
 little being, about three feet high, who began making 
 a series of sharp, quick bows, strutting hither and 
 thither, laying his hand on his breast, winking his 
 eyes, and chattering very fast, though unintelligibly ; 
 but this, joined to his gestures, which were anything 
 but uncourteous, inspired me with a feeling of the 
 ludicrous rather than of the terrible, so that I soon 
 concluded that I had nothing to fear, especially as 
 the creature's size rendered him no very formidable 
 antagonist, even should he prove himself to be one, 
 instead of a friend. 
 
 " Trusting, therefore, to these conclusions, I made 
 signs to him that I was perishing with thirst, and 
 that I entreated him to help me to some means of 
 allaying the fever that consumed me ; when he 
 stepped forward, and, nodding consequentially twice 
 or thrice, he took me by the hand (which he con- 
 trived to do with a very patronizing air, notwith- 
 standing the difference in our height), and led me 
 from the spot. But what was my consternation 
 when I found that he was leading me towards the 
 fatal streamlet ! and how quickly did all my first 
 misgivings of him revive when I found that this 
 abominable little dwarf actually made signs to me 
 that I should drink ! I started back in abhorrence, 
 and was just about to give way to my desire to pun- 
 ish him for his treachery by pitching him into the 
 water head foremost, when I reflected that, as he 
 3 
 
34 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 was the only creature I had met with in this appa- 
 rently uninhabited region, I absolutely depended on 
 him for assistance and relief, and that I had better 
 not destroy him till I had tried whether I could not 
 make him of use to me. 
 
 " I accordingly made signs to him that he should 
 drink first, which, however, he immediately declined 
 by stepping back, laying his hand on his breast as 
 before, with innumerable jerking bows, sharp twink- 
 lings of his eyes, and a profusion of grimace arid 
 chattering. He then pointed to a tree at a little 
 distance, on which grew several clusters of a ruddy, 
 juicy-looking fruit, and, perceiving that I hesitated, 
 he ran towards it, and, making a sudden and agile 
 spring, he succeeded in plucking down a branch, 
 and gathered three or four of the finest-looking, 
 which he immediately proceeded to eat, nodding and 
 smiling and winking at me all the while, with a sly, 
 sagacious leer of triumph and encouragement. 
 
 " The sight of this delicious fruit, which streamed 
 with juice as the dwarf opened and sucked it, was 
 irresistibly tempting to me ; and, satisfied with the 
 precaution I had taken, I recklessly seized some, and 
 buried my dry, parched lips in the rosy refreshment. 
 No bad effects, however, followed my rash act ; on 
 the contrary, the cool, pulpy repast quite invigorated 
 me, and I felt not only my strength repaired and 
 my spirits revived, but my confidence in my dimin- 
 utive acquaintance was partially restored by the 
 pleasant meal he had been the means of procuring 
 for me. 
 
 "I accordingly advanced towards him, and shook 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 85 
 
 him heartily by the hand, as the best means of ex- 
 pressing to him my good faith. This salutation he 
 received with his usual struts, shrugs, and grimaces, 
 and ended by standing on tiptoe and endeavoring to 
 hit me a smart slap on the back : which friendly effort, 
 falling short, only produced a feeble tap on the edge 
 of my blue jacket. 
 
 " However, he seemed to feel that amity was now 
 reestablished between us, and so, taking me by the 
 hand again, which he did by placing his little fingers 
 round mine, in the same style of protection and sus- 
 taining care with which a nursery-maid would lead 
 along her young charge, he conducted me under the 
 trees, along the smooth grass, and then across a field 
 or two, where, to my surprise, I saw wheat growing 
 with all the signs of cultivation and human care. 
 Beyond 'these fields I beheld a hut, rudely built, but 
 surrounded by a garden and an orchard, and bearing 
 marks of order and habitation. But what made me 
 look at this hut with peculiar attention was its re- 
 markable size, and the large proportions of its doors, 
 windows, and general dimensions. I had no sooner 
 remarked this, and had concluded from that very 
 circumstance that it could not be the residence of 
 my diminutive guide, than I perceived that he was 
 conducting me straight towards the garden-gate, 
 through which we immediately passed, and soon 
 after found ourselves standing before the tall door of 
 the hut. The dwarf, still clutching my hand, stepped 
 up upon the door-sill, stood on tiptoe, strained his 
 little person to the 'utmost, and succeeded in lifting 
 the huge , knocker with the tips of his finger-nails, 
 
36 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 letting it drop again with a ponderous single knock, 
 which somehow fell upon my heart like a note of evil 
 warning. 
 
 " I had hardly time to reflect upon this, and to 
 entertain thoughts of extricating my hand from the 
 dwarf's grasp, which, though small, was as tight as 
 a vice, when the door was opened by a figure that 
 made my heart quail with dread. 
 
 " It was that of a monster some eight or nine feet 
 high, who glared at us with red flaming eyes, set 
 round with flaxen lashes, and brows that gave a 
 strange, weak, silly look to his great features ; and 
 his wide nose and big mouth gaped horribly as he 
 smiled a ghastly welcome, and displayed enormous 
 gums, as red, and almost as thick, as beet-roots. 
 
 " I shuddered, and closed my eyes involuntarily ; 
 but when I opened them again, and would have re- 
 treated, I found the door made fast behind me, and 
 that I was in the hut with the malicious dwarf and 
 the terrible giant. 
 
 " The two were soon engaged in a vehement con- 
 versation, of which I immediately guessed I was the 
 object, from the frequent glances that they each 
 directed towards me ; but it was not long before I 
 found I had more to dread from the polite attentions 
 of the detestable little dwarf, with his eternal bow- 
 ings and scrapings, than from the mighty arm of the 
 giant, who had filled me with such terror by his 
 frightful eyes and vast grinning gums. At one pe- 
 riod of their conference, when the dwarf became ex- 
 ceeding wroth, and was making as if he would 
 rush towards me, the giant suddenly and effectually 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 37 
 
 stopped him by putting his forefinger on the top of 
 his head ; and, at last, finding, I suppose, that it was 
 hopeless arguing the point any longer with his obsti- 
 nate little comrade, he ended the dispute by opening 
 a door and poking me into a side room, where, upon 
 recovering my breath from the force of the giant's 
 push (which, though doubtless intended for a gentle 
 one, was sufficiently powerful to fling me down upon 
 my hands and knees into a corner), I found myself a 
 close prisoner, without a hope of escape. The door 
 was fast locked, and the window, being accommo- 
 dated to the giant's height, was far above my head ; 
 and, moreover, there was no chair or table by which 
 I could hope to climb up to it, and endeavor to make 
 my way out. Indeed, there was no furniture of any 
 kind in the apartment, which seemed to be used as 
 a sort of store-room to the farm, if farm the hut 
 could be called, for on all sides were ranged high 
 shelves, on which lay provisions of many kinds, such 
 as loaves, butter, cheese, eggs, and several sorts of 
 fruits, among which I perceived some of those deli- 
 cious juicy rosy-cheeks, that I had enjoyed so much 
 soon after my first meeting with the hated dwarf. 
 
 " The peril of my situation, and the dread of in- 
 censing still further those creatures in whose power 
 I now so completely was, could not prevent my feel- 
 ing the pangs of hunger and thirst to so violent a 
 degree that the sight of these stores high above my 
 reach filled me with insupportable longings, and 
 made even my desire of escape yield to the imme- 
 diate wish to obtain some of this tempting food. 
 
 "Inspired by this ardent craving, I seized off my 
 
38 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 hat and flung it up at one of the shelves, in the hope 
 of sweeping down some of the good things with it ; 
 but, alas ! it only brought down one of the rosy- 
 cheeks and an egg, which latter, of course, was 
 smashed to bits by the fall ; and, what was worse, 
 my hat had pitched right on to the shelf, and re- 
 mained there. However, I made the best of my 
 misfortune, by % devouring the fruit and draining every 
 drop of the juice it contained ; but I had hardly knelt 
 down upon the floor, carefully endeavoring to sip a 
 little of the yolk from the broken egg, before I heard 
 the key turn softly in the door, and in an instant 
 after beheld the broad round face of the grinning 
 giant peering in at me. I was about to start up 
 with a cry of alarm and entreaty, when I perceived 
 that the big monster was making signs to me to 
 be quiet, and at the same time pointing- over his 
 shoulder stealthily with the huge thumb of his other 
 hand. 
 
 "I remained perfectly still, upon which he ad- 
 vanced into the room, and, coming towards me, he 
 perceived the remains of the shattered egg, and then 
 glancing up, he discovered on the shelf my unfortv- 
 nate hat, which plainly betrayed the source of the 
 accident. To my great surprise, however, and no 
 less relief, he took up the offending missile with a 
 smile of pity, as if he understood and commiserated 
 the hunger which had driven me to this expedient 
 for obtaining food : and then, placing it with would- 
 be gentleness on my head, though the weight of 
 his descending hand, as he playfully patted it on, 
 nearly stunned me, he proceeded to break open 
 
0* THK 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
KIT, THE G-IANT, AND THE DWARF. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 39 
 
 two loaves, and, placing a pat of butter and a lump 
 of cheese within them, between the crumb, he thrust 
 them hastily into my hands, and strode back to the 
 door, beckoning me to follow him silently. This I 
 did, of course, and entering the same room I had 
 been in before, on first coming to the hut, I saw the 
 remains of a repast spread on the table, at one end 
 of which sat the dwarf, reclining in an arm-chair, 
 with a half-emptied goblet of wine before him, his 
 tooth-pick in his hand, his mouth open, his head 
 thrown back, and his eyes closed in a profound 
 i- lumber. The friendly giant led me past this sleep- 
 ing enemy, and I had hardly time to wonder within 
 myself at all this deferential observance on the part 
 of this strong creature towards one whom one blow 
 < f his huge fist would have annihilated in an instant, 
 \vhen I found that we had proceeded through the 
 door of the hut, and were making our way across 
 the garden towards the orchard. I felt almost as 
 much perplexity as gratitude at the conduct of the 
 giant ; for I could not account for his generosity 
 towards me, and even doubted now that he was 
 really aiding me to escape, so forbidding was his 
 aspect, arid so at variance was his terrible appear- 
 ance with his kind demeanor. But I soon had a 
 convincing proof of the real goodness of his inten- 
 tions towards me ; for, seeing a brook running be- 
 neath the hedge which formed the boundary between 
 the garden and the orchard, I was stooping down to 
 assuage the thirst which still tormented me, when 
 the giant suddenly snatched me by the shoulder, and 
 forcibly upheld me and prevented my drinking, while 
 
40 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 his vehement gestures and eager expression of coun- 
 tenance warned me to forbear. In an instant the 
 truth flashed upon me ; it was the fatal stream ! 
 the same rivulet whose pernicious waters had doomed 
 my comrades to destruction before my eyes that very 
 morning ! I drew back in dismay, and, struck with 
 the conviction of my friendly giant Vgenuine benev- 
 olence, I seized his immense hand between both 
 mine, and pressed it fervently to my lips. He seemed 
 pleased with this token of my gratitude ; then, lead- 
 ing me back a few paces towards a well that stood 
 in the garden, he drew for me a bucket of the deli- 
 cious element, and watched me with grim benignity, 
 while I revelled in its limpid coolness, and not only 
 drank deep consoling draughts, but laved my face 
 and hands in the long-desired water. Soon, how- 
 ever, he resumed his careful solicitude for my safety, 
 and, glancing uneasily towards the hut, as if he 
 feared the awakening and approach of the dwarf, he 
 gave me to understand I must now hasten away im- 
 mediately. I once more hugged his enormous hand 
 to my breast, and prepared to depart ; while he, 
 hastily snatching up a small keg that lay among 
 some other vessels by the well-side, filled it with 
 fresh water, and, slinging it on my back, he hurried 
 me across the orchard and through a little gate, 
 which he closed upon me as soon as I had emerged 
 into the open fields. His evident awe of the dwarf 
 had impressed me with a like fear of him, and had 
 impelled me to fly with the utmost speed from his 
 hated neighborhood as soon as I was thus free to do 
 so ; but when I had reached the sea-shore, and, to 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 41 
 
 my groat joy, found my boat still floating in the kind 
 of small bay where I had left it in the morning, I 
 sprung into it, and as I rowed away from this fated 
 shore indulged in regret at having so abruptly 
 parted from the friendly giant, though I could not 
 but rejoice at my safe delivery from the malicious 
 dwarf. At the same time I could not avoid ponder- 
 ing on the strange events that had happened to me 
 on this lone island, if island it were ; and when re- 
 viewing the wonderful disappearance of my com- 
 rades, the remarkable behavior of the dwarf and the 
 giant, so singularly in contrast with their several 
 aspects, and the extraordinary way in which I had 
 been misled and deceived throughout by appear- 
 ances, I could never recur in imagination to that 
 spot without naming it in fancy the Island of False 
 Appearances. But it is getting late, my dear young 
 people," said Kit, interrupting himself, "and though 
 it is very pleasant chatting away to you of old ad- 
 ventures, yet I must leave off now, lest we should 
 not be allowed to spin yarns together any more." 
 
 " Good-by, then, dear Kit," said Fanny, affec- 
 tionately ; "we shall be sure to come again to-mor- 
 row evening for another story ; and you '11 tell us 
 one, won't you ? " 
 
 The old man nodded a smiling assent, and the two 
 young folks returned home at a pace that betokened 
 light and happy hearts. 
 
42 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 KIT'S SECOND YARN. HIS SHIPMATE, JOHN PAUL. THE RAIN- 
 BOW AND THE GOLDEN KEY. THE ROCKY VALLEY. THE 
 
 OCEAN OF IMAGINATION. THE LONE MOTHER AND CHILD. 
 
 " Now, then, my dear Kit ! " exclaimed Fanny, as 
 she and her brother bounced into the old mariner's 
 cottage on the following evening, " now, then, for 
 another yarn ! But, in the first place, I want you to 
 tell me all about the very first adventure you ever 
 had. What was the first strange event that ever 
 happened to you ? And how old were you ? " 
 
 "0, but first, Fanny, I want Kit to finish his yarn 
 about the Island of Appearances/ 7 said Dick, " and 
 to tell us how he managed after he had got away 
 from the wicked dwarf and the amiable giant/ 7 
 
 " Well, but which of you am I to obey ? " said Kit, 
 laughing. " I can't do what you both wish at once, 
 can I ? 77 
 
 "Then tell Dick what he wishes he 7 s the eld- 
 est ; 77 ' " Tell Fanny what she wishes she 7 s the 
 youngest ; 77 exclaimed both the young Swallows, in 
 a breath. 
 
 " You are both good/ 7 said the old man, smiling, 
 " to be so willing to give up to each other ; but per- 
 haps 'eldest 7 or 'youngest 7 are bad reasons. If a 
 lad 7 s given up to because he 7 s the eldest, it 7 s only 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 43 
 
 adding another chance to the usual ones, that he in 
 made a selfish, domineering man by the over-indul- 
 gence of his mother and sisters ; and if a girl is 
 given up to because she 7 s the youngest, it 's only 
 teaching her to be more exacting and whimsical than 
 younger ones are apt to be. However, 1 '11 give 
 your sister her way this time, Dick, my friend, for a 
 reason that I don't know is much wiser than the one 
 you thought of, but which will do for us two, because 
 we are gallant men, are n't we ? We '11 give Fanny 
 her wish, because she 's a woman, eh ? shall we ? " 
 
 The young folks laughed merrily, and then Kit, 
 nodding and laughing too, began his second yarn. 
 
 " My first strange adventure happened to me as I 
 was returning from my first voyage with that pleas- 
 ant ship's company that I mentioned to you yester- 
 day. It was a calm afternoon ; the weather had 
 been serene and beautiful for many days ; we were 
 sailing on a smooth sea, with only just breeze enough 
 to send us merrily on. The captain was in his cabin 
 enjoying his cigar and his glass of grog after mess ; 
 the sailors were all grouped lazily about, either chat- 
 ting to each other in quiet talk, or lolling idly on 
 different parts of the deck, half-dozing, or, perhaps, 
 thinking, for there was nothing particular to do, and 
 all hands were at ease. I was hanging listlessly 
 over the side, watching the rippling waves as they 
 danced and sparkled beneath my eyes, while my 
 thoughts were in that state, half-idle, half-employed, 
 which I believe some people call musing. My fancy 
 carelessly wandered over some of the early scenes 
 of my infancy, when, quite a child, I had toddled 
 
44 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 about the floor of our small cottage, watching my 
 mother engaged about some household work ; insig- 
 nificant trifles floated indistinctly to and fro before 
 me ; I saw the sanded hearth, and the deal tables 
 and chairs, snow-white with my mother's housewifely 
 care ; I heard the wooden clock tick, arid the cat 
 purr, and even the clatter of the tea-cups and saucers 
 as they were ranged on the board for our evening 
 meal. These slight home fancies were succeeded, or 
 rather crossed and checkered, by curious things that 
 had been told me at different times by some of my 
 favorite shipmates, Will Wavelance, Geoffrey Tabard, 
 John Paul, Edmund Faery, and others, who would 
 spin yarns by the hour together, when any one of 
 them and I kept watch together. Well, I can't tell 
 how it was, I could not make it out at the time, 
 and I can't even now say exactly how it happened, 
 
 but, in the midst of this dreamy state, I suddenly 
 found myself plunging and flouncing in the open sea, 
 and buffeting with the waves for dear life. I sup- 
 pose I must have lost my hold, and slipped over the 
 side, while I was wandering and wool-gathering 
 among all that cross-fire of fancies and odd notions, 
 but, however, there I was, sure enough ; and, what 
 was worse, I could not swim fast enough to gain 
 upon the ship, and no one on board seemed to be 
 aware of my having fallen overboard, nor could I 
 make them hear my cries, shout and bawl as I would, 
 
 and pretty lustily I did that, you may be sure. For- 
 tunately, I was a good swimmer ; and, though my 
 heart sank within me when I found that I could 
 neither overtake the ship nor make the crew hear me, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. ' 45 
 
 yet still it did not fail me altogether, and I swam on 
 with tolerable courage for some time, knowing that 
 I could not be very far from land, which we had seen 
 at intervals for some days past, as if it were the coast 
 of some large continent. At length I became con- 
 scious that my power would soon be exhausted, and 
 I cast about eagerly in my mind how I could best 
 husband it, to enable me to reach land in safety. I 
 remembered hearing that if you could but hold your- 
 self perfectly still in the water, and allow yourself to 
 lie flat on your back, you might float with ease and 
 safety. I contrived carefully to assume this position ; 
 and, the weather being calm, and the tide flowing in, 
 they favored my endeavors, and it was not long be- 
 fore I found myself gently drifting right on to the 
 desired land, which proved to be a shelving, sandy 
 shore, and very convenient for my purpose. I had 
 no sooner effected my safe landing than I threw my- 
 self on my knees, and returned heartfelt thanks to 
 God for my preservation ; and then, having allowed 
 myself half an hour's rest after my toilsome swim- 
 ming, I proceeded to explore the place where I was, 
 and to find out whether it would not afford some 
 means of satisfying the hunger of which I began to 
 feel sensible. 
 
 " The country was fertile and beautiful, but there 
 were no marks of habitation, and the few birds and 
 animals I met with were so little alarmed by my 
 appearance, that I felt convinced they had no human 
 beings to dread. Though this relieved me from fear 
 of meeting with savages or other foes, yet it consid- 
 erably lessened my hope of finding any means of 
 
46 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 assuaging my growing appetite for food. As I 
 walked on, my attention was attracted by the ma- 
 noeuvres of a bee that was wrestling in the cup of a 
 beautiful bell-shaped flower, and seemed to be almost 
 unable to extricate himself, either clogged by the 
 weight of wax he had collected, or detained by the 
 sticky nature of the petals of the flower on which 
 he walked, or rather stumbled along buzzingly. I 
 stopped to help him out of his uncomfortable strait, 
 and I soon had the pleasure of seeing him dart away 
 in a hurried manner, as if he thought he had better 
 return home in case of a change of weather. He 
 did not fly far, however, for I saw him settle on a 
 neighboring tree, where he went straight to a small 
 crevice in one of the lower branches, and crept in 
 with his load. If I could but help myself to a little 
 of that wild bee's store, thought I, in return for the 
 service I have just rendered him ! A feast of honey 
 would be no bad thing ! I went towards the tree, 
 and, with a little climbing, soon reached the branch 
 which, as I conjectured, contained the bee's nest, 
 with a considerable store of honey. Indeed, I was 
 soon convinced that all this large collection was not 
 owing to the industry of my little friend alone, for 
 out flew a dozen or more of his hive-mates, as soon 
 as I had helped myself to a handful of their store. 
 Whether my little friend the bee had prepossessed 
 his companions in my favor, by having informed 
 them of the assistance I had just given him, or 
 whether they were naturally hospitable, and willing 
 tli at I should enjoy a share of their good things, I 
 know not ; but certain it is that they left me per- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 47 
 
 fectly unmolested ; and I, rejoiced to be spared an 
 attack of their stings, sat at rny ease in the tree, 
 enjoying my feast, which was soon enhanced by my 
 pulling, off some of the cones or pods which grew on 
 the boughs near me, and finding that thoy contained 
 a sort of floury substance very like wheat ; so that 
 I do not know that I ever eat a better treat of bread 
 and honey in all my life. 
 
 " The scene was beautiful ; my meal was pleasant, 
 and seasoned by that best of sauces, hunger ; my 
 heart was light with the feeling of recent deliverance 
 from peril, and I gave myself up to the pleasurable 
 feeling of the moment, without suffering myself to 
 be depressed by the thought of any coming evil that 
 might possibly be in store for me. Even the uncer- 
 tainty of food and lodging for the night I would not 
 permit to interfere and perplex me then ; and I have 
 frequently had reason, my dears, to be thankful to 
 the Almighty for having blessed me with this happy 
 temper of mine a power of enjoying the passing 
 good, without meeting a coming misfortune half 
 way. 
 
 "Presently I had cause to admire that keen fore- 
 knowledge of weather which my friend the bee had 
 shown himself to possess in common with all his 
 tribe ; for, as I sat dangling my feet from my com- 
 fortable perch on the branch, and enjoying myself as 
 I told you, I felt a drop of water fall on my nose, and 
 presently another on my eyelid that made me wink, 
 and then another, and, in a few moments, more and 
 more ; and at last I perceived that there was rain 
 coming down fast. It did not incommode me much 
 
48 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 where I sat, so well did the boughs and leaves of the 
 tree screen me from the wet ; I therefore remained 
 where I was, and enjoyed the beauty of the landscape 
 under the influence of the passing shower. And 
 very lovely it was ! The trees, the grass, the distant 
 hills, faded gradually from the rich golden hue in 
 which they had been previously bathed by the after- 
 noon sun, and were shrouded in a soft gray veil, that 
 only permitted their graceful outlines to be partially 
 revealed. Then fell the slanting rain-shower ; and 
 presently the rays of the sun, gaining power, darted 
 their magic light across the scene, and turned all to 
 glistening beauty. A thousand diamonds gemmed 
 each leaf and spray, bright flashed the still-falling 
 rain-drops, and clear and distinct shone the distant 
 hill-tops against the rich back-ground of the purple 
 clouds. Suddenly all became steeped in a gorgeous 
 many-colored splendor, and I felt that I was in the 
 midst of a stately rainbow. Often, when I had beheld 
 this magnificent object at sea, and its far-stretching 
 arch spanned the entire heavens, I had thought with 
 tender awe of its symbolic significance of God's 
 mercy to man, and admired it as one of the most 
 elevating as well as beautiful objects in creation ; 
 but now my whole mind was occupied with some- 
 thing I had heard one of my shipmates say about 
 the rainbow. It was John Paul ; I believe he had 
 some other name, some surname, but I never heard 
 him called anything but John Paul among our crew. 
 Well, once when we stood together at the ship's 
 prow, admiring a majestic lainbow that lay across 
 the heavens before us, John Paul told me that he had 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 49 
 
 heard it frequently affirmed in his native land, Ger- 
 many, that on the spot where the rainbow rises a 
 golden key is to be found. Now I thought of this ; 
 now that I felt in the very centre of the rainbow 
 itself, as it were, I thought of this tale of the spot 
 where it rises, and of the golden key, and I won- 
 dered whether I was not actually on the very place 
 indicated. 
 
 " I looked vaguely on the ground, with certainly 
 but a very faint idea of seeing my hope realized, 
 when what was my astonishment to behold lying on 
 the grass, at a few paces from me, a golden key ! I 
 started forward and seized my prize eagerly ; and in- 
 deed such was the joy that took possession of me, as 
 I gazed on it with wonder and admiration at its rich- 
 ness and beautiful shape, that I could scarcely for- 
 bear clasping it to my heart, or pressing it to my 
 lips. It was a strange, indescribable rapture that I 
 felt as I examined this new-found treasure again and 
 again. A sort of unaccountable transport glowed in 
 my heart, and made my veins thrill with glad ecstasy. 
 And yet I knew not why I should be so delighted 
 with the discovery of this key. I have said it was 
 rich, and of a beautiful shape. It was so, for it was 
 of gold, and its wards were formed of graceful lines 
 and curves, that delighted the eye by their variety 
 and harmonious proportion. Still, singular to say, 
 it was extremely simple withal ; and I believe that 
 it was this extreme simplicity, joined to its magic 
 beauty, that filled me with such wild and almost 
 absurd admiration. My next feeling was one of 
 wonder to what or to where it belonged. Did it 
 4- 
 
50 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 open some mysterious castle ? Did it make fast 
 some concealed treasure, of which I was to be the 
 fortunate discoverer? Did it close in some crime 
 from the eye of day ? or did it withhold from the light 
 some wondrous knowledge ? 
 
 " I was recalled from my revery about the key by 
 perceiving that the shades of evening were gradually 
 stealing over the landscape, and that I must speedily 
 make up my mind as to what I had best do for a 
 berth to sleep in. Not a trace of hut, cabin, or habi- 
 tation of any kind, was there to be seen, and the hills 
 were too distant for me to hope to be able to reach 
 them in time for me to find a cave to sleep in. At 
 length I resolved to climb up again into my friendly 
 tree, which had already afforded me such excellent 
 shelter ; so, after having sought about till I found 
 some berries on a bush near at hand, I made a toler- 
 ably hearty supper on these, as I did not wish to tax 
 the hospitality of my friends the bees too heavily, 
 and then I went to bed with the best cheer I might. 
 I had no sooner fallen asleep, however, than my 
 dreams took the color of the events which had so 
 lately occupied my waking thoughts. I fancied that 
 I was still in the lonely spot where I had found the 
 golden key, and that I sat on a grassy mound intently 
 gazing upon it, while I revolved all the questions 
 concerning its shape and purpose which had recently 
 perplexed me. 
 
 " As I gazed, methought I was sensible of an in- 
 creased brilliancy in the rainbow-tinted atmosphere 
 that still suffused every surrounding object, and, on 
 raising my head to discover the cause, my eyes 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 51 
 
 encountered those of a being who was gazing on me 
 with an aspect of benign encouragement. 
 
 " Its figure was that of a young seraph, and was 
 robed in a garment of shining white. Two curious 
 wings, of vivid and varied hue, sprung from his 
 shoulders ; his limbs were of the most graceful mould, 
 and bespoke strength and swiftness, combined with 
 delicacy ; while the exquisite features that composed 
 his countenance shone with a radiant expression of 
 goodness, intelligence, and happiness, that was 
 more than mortal. As I looked up to this lustrous 
 stranger, with respectful admiration and attention, 
 his lips parted with a serene smile, and he spoke 
 with a voice of silver sweetness. 
 
 "'Happy human being I ' said the vision; 'you 
 hold in your hand the means of a beatitude seldom 
 attained in perfection by your race. It is within the 
 reach of almost all ; and yet how few are the happy 
 ones who resolutely stretch forth their hand to seize 
 the blessings contained in its dominion ! Even you, 
 mortal, are ignorant of its value ; you know not how 
 to use the means actually within your power in 
 your very grasp ! ; 
 
 " The figure glanced at the key I held in my hand, 
 and continued : ' That key, rightly used, conveys to 
 the owner unbounded wealth, exhaustless treasures, 
 in realms apart from the common haunts of men. 
 But beware of seeking these riches sordidly, or with 
 an unhallowed motive ; the key will never turn, the 
 lock will never yield. That key, in the hands of one 
 with a pure heart and clear brain, renders him more 
 potent than a monarch, more mighty than an einpe 
 
52 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ror, and possessing more rule over his fellow-men 
 than a conqueror at the head of a vast army. That 
 key, truly applied, lets in the free light of heaven to 
 the deepest and darkest dungeon that ever disgraced 
 the earth, and leads forth the closest prisoner that 
 ever pined for life and liberty. Bright, and with 
 honest mastery, that key discloses exalted arid infinite 
 blessings ; rusty, consigned to neglect, or, worse 
 than all, misused, it becomes a blight and a withering 
 curse to its possessor/ 
 
 "I shuddered ; the voice ceased ; I recovered, and 
 looked up ; but, alas ! the vision had departed, and 
 left me uninstructed as to the way in which I was to 
 set about gaining the requisite knowledge as owner 
 of the key. The pang of disappointment I endured 
 gave me such pain, that I awoke with a start. I 
 found the dawn just breaking, and the chill of the 
 morning air so benumbed my limbs, that I was glad 
 to descend from my tree couch, and try what exer- 
 cise would do towards restoring warmth and vigor 
 to them. I walked sharply forward then, in the 
 direction of the hills, and soon I found the motion 
 bring not only elasticity to iny frame, but comfort 
 and animation to my spirits, which had been some- 
 what depressed by the baffling dream ; so that, by the 
 time the sun rose in all his majesty, I was in a fit 
 state of energetic resolve and buoyant hope, to pay 
 him my morning salutation, and to offer up my devo- 
 tions to the bountiful Creator of all good, with a 
 grateful and trusting spirit. By the time I reached 
 the hills, my appetite, sharpened by early exercise, 
 warned me that I was quite ready for breakfast, and 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 53 
 
 bade me look keenly in search of something that 
 might supply me with one. From a slight rift in a 
 gentle eminence a little further on, all overhung with 
 flowering shrubs, and droopin-g brambles, and floating 
 garlands of a kind of wild honeysuckle, I saw a little 
 rill trickling forth ; and I was just admiring this 
 natural fountain, and congratulating myself on this 
 pleasant substitute for tea or coffee, after a long 
 morning's walk, when, peering about in its neighbor- 
 hood for a seat, where I might rest myself, while I 
 enjoyed a cool draught of the refreshing beverage, I 
 suddenly found I had scared a flock of birds, some- 
 thing like our plovers. They rose in a body into the 
 air, at my abrupt appearance, though they evidently 
 did not fear me much, as they settled again very 
 shortly, and not far off. 
 
 " On approaching the spot whence they had risen, 
 and which was a sort of sheltered grassy nook not 
 far from the fountain, I found, to my great joy, a 
 number of eggs, scattered about in clusters here and 
 there, which made me guess that these creatures 
 used this pleasant spot as a sort of general nest for 
 their community. You may imagine I did not scruple 
 to help myself to some of their treasure, and a very 
 excellent meal of eggs and spring-water did I make. 
 After breakfast I resumed my journey, and about ten 
 o'clock, as I guessed by the sun, I had surmounted 
 the chain of hills. On descending the other side, I 
 found myself in a rocky valley, wild and desolate 
 beyond description. There was a sort of dull, leaden 
 atmosphere, too, that hung over this dreary spot, 
 which rendered its sterile features still more gloomy 
 
54 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and repulsive, though they were sufficiently austere 
 in themselves. Steep rocks, of one uniform dull gray 
 color, frowned, in rude grandeur, on every side, and 
 seemed inaccessible to all human footsteps. Stern, 
 sullen, arid, and blank, the barren monotony of the 
 scene struck a chill to the heart, and cast an oppress- 
 ive weight on the spirits. I traversed the valley with 
 listless, aimless steps, and with a jaded supineness 
 of feeling that was more insupportably wearisome 
 than the hardest labor or the most irksome tasks 
 could have been. I dragged my limbs along, and 
 yet I seemed to have no object in proceeding. How 
 was this inert apathy changed, however, into joyful 
 energy and thrilling expectation, when I arrived on 
 the other side of the dreary valley, and beheld in the 
 granite wall of rock, which formed its opposite bound- 
 ary, a key-hole, a distinct, well-defined key-hole, 
 and one that instantly struck me as being of similar 
 dimensions with my new-found treasure of the pre- 
 vious evening, the wondrous golden key ! I drew 
 it forth from my bosom, where I had carefully se- 
 cured it, and was about to apply it eagerly to the 
 lock, when the words of the vision flashed upon my 
 memory, and I hesitated, with a timid doubt of my 
 own unworthiness and inefficiency for the task before 
 me. The key was to be ' rightly used/ ' truly ap- 
 plied ; ; did these require any previous consideration 
 or study ? It was to be directed by the hands of one 
 who had a ' pure heart and a clear brain ; ; did I 
 possess either ? I hardly knew, young and inexpe- 
 rienced as I was, how to resolve these questions. 
 But I thought, ' I do know that I shall use it without 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 55 
 
 one sordid or unhallowed motive ; for I do not par- 
 ticularly covet riches or power, and it is solely with 
 a hope of strange adventure and new incidents that 
 I feel urged to try the power of the golden key. 
 Besides, neglect and rusty disuse are equally to be 
 avoided by its possessor ; let me then endeavor to 
 apply it honestly and trustfully/ Stepping lightly 
 forward, then, and breathing a short but fervent 
 prayer to heaven that my enterprise might prosper, 
 with a throbbing but resolute heart I placed the key 
 in the lock. I had no sooner done so, than a strain 
 of solemn music pealed forth as of a rich and deep- 
 toned organ in some cathedral aisle ; a soft and gra- 
 cious perfume pervaded the atmosphere, and the 
 granite rocks parted before me, and disclosed a 
 scene of sublime beauty. I beheld a wide expanse 
 of ocean steeped in the most gorgeous sunshine ; 
 the waves heaved and fell in glowing undulations 
 of light ; the sky blazed in noon-day splendor, and 
 reflected lustrous brilliancy on the gray rocks that 
 surrounded the valley, gilding even their dulness. 
 I stepped forth to meet this burst of radiance, when 
 the granite gates of the rocky valley closed immedi- 
 ately behind me, and I then perceived that I had 
 inadvertently left the key in the lock on the other 
 side. I felt little temptation, it is true, to return to 
 the dreary monotony of the rocky valley ; the rather, 
 as I reflected that the key had already done its office 
 in having introduced me to this new and glowing 
 region, so-inviting and so full of promise. 
 
 " I gazed with rapture on this grand expanse of 
 ocean, and felt all my early love of the sea revive 
 
56 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 in full force, with an added sense of beauty that 
 swelled my heart, and filled my eyes. Mingled awe 
 and admiration possessed my soul as I contemplated 
 this ever-heaving bosom of Mother Nature, which 
 conveys her children to behold all those distant 
 wonders that fill the imagination, and dilate the 
 heart with burning desire to wander forth, and come 
 face to face with their marvellous reality. I felt 
 even physical effects of this yearning of the spirit ; 
 my chest expanded, my breathing was deep yet 
 hurried, my fingers were clutched in impatient con- 
 vulsion, and my feet curled and writhed with the 
 vehemence of my longing to set forth at once. As I 
 stood thus pantingly, and strained forth my eyes, I 
 distinguished, amid the dazzling undulations of the 
 waves, a small object, which proved to be a boat ; it 
 was not moored, but balanced lightly to and fro, as ii 
 beckoning me to put forth upon that glowing ocean. 
 A few plunges enabled me to reach it, as it lay close 
 in shore, and, stepping in, I yielded myself up to the 
 delight of finding myself launched upon the alluring 
 waters, taking no thought of rudder, compass, ot 
 sails, but feeling a sort of lulling though blind faith 
 in the power of this slight vessel to convey me pros- 
 perously to some desirable haven. 
 
 " I had proceeded thus some hours, feeling neither 
 hunger nor thirst, so absorbed was I with the delight 
 of this new world of waters, when towards evening I 
 became sensible that I was approaching land. I 
 folded my arms, and, drooping my head a little, I 
 closed my eyes, and yielded to a sort of dreamy re- 
 pose, between sleeping and waking, partly the result 
 
KIT BAM, MARIXEK. 57 
 
 of the strong emotions I had felt during 1 the day. As 
 I sat thus, I was roused from my soothing composure 
 by a something that pressed softly and warmly across 
 my feet. I know not why, but I did not unclose my 
 eyes immediately ; when I was still more startled by 
 feeling the warm soft object move, then followed a 
 gentle cooing sound, and, on opening my eyes, 1 
 beheld, to my infinite astonishment, a little child 
 crawling over my feet, and stretching forth its fat, 
 dimpled hand to my knee with, a winning murmur of 
 entreaty, as if it besought me to take it up and caress 
 it. In the utmost amazement, I took it in my arms, 
 and set it on my knee, and pressed its soft, bloom- 
 ing cheek to my bosom, while I kissed its fair, curly 
 head, and uttered an incoherent exclamation of ten- 
 derness and surprise. The little creature only fixed 
 its large blue eyes upon mine for a moment, smiled, 
 repeated his cooing murmur, and then replaced his 
 head against my breast with affectionate pleasure, 
 and the loving confidence of childhood. 
 
 " It seemed about a year or fifteen months old, and 
 too young to walk ; but how could it have come into 
 my boat ? Had it dropped from the clouds ? Was 
 it wafted through the air ? Had it been borne 
 hither floating on the waters ? I kissed its bright 
 hair, and folded its chubby limbs in my arms again 
 and again, as if to convince myself of its reality, 
 and actual presence ; for I could hardly believe my 
 senses, that a lovely, living child was actually in the 
 boat with me. 
 
 " It seemed to like its., new friend and its snug 
 berth, for it nestled close to me, and sung a little 
 
58 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 under-song to itself, as of cooing 1 contentment. As 
 we neared land, however, it raised its head and 
 began to struggle slightly in my embrace, as if it 
 wished to free itself from my encircling arms. I 
 withdrew them ; the infant slid down through my 
 knees, and before I could distinguish how it was, or 
 by what means he reached as far, I beheld him on the 
 prow of the boat, half crawling, half clinging to the 
 side. I uttered an exclamation of terror almost 
 amounting to a screajn ; when, as I rose to spring 
 forward and rescue him from his dangerous situation, 
 I beheld the little urchin rise, totteringly, to an 
 upright position, and while he uttered a musical 
 crowing laugh as he nodded to me in baby triumph, 
 he stood perched and balancing for a moment, and 
 then, expanding a pair of curiously-folded wings, as 
 he remained hovering for a few seconds more, he 
 suddenly darted away over the sea, and flew swiftly 
 towards the land. The secret was now at once ex- 
 plained he had flown into my boat. Yet a more 
 perfectly human creature than the little fellow 
 seemed could hardly be. His flesh was mottled, 
 firm, and dimpling, and yielded to the pressure of 
 my fingers with the true elasticity, yet smooth sur- 
 face, which distinguishes the limbs of childhood. 
 
 ' ' By this time I had arrived close to the shore, and 
 as I prepared to land, I perceived a young woman 
 standing near the water's edge, holding a child in 
 her arms, which I soon discovered to be no other 
 than my winged visitant. I stepped out of the boat, 
 and approached them, when I observed my little 
 . friend stretch forth his hands towards me, and in 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 59 
 
 another moment he sprung out of his mother's arms, 
 and, flying towards me, fluttered against my breast, 
 till I clasped him fondly to me. The woman uttered 
 a cry of alarm, and, springing after the child, ex- 
 claimed, wildly, ' Felix ! Felix ! ' 
 
 " I was much surprised to hear her speak in Eng- 
 lish ; but, anxious to relieve her alarm as speedily as 
 possible, I said, cheerfully, ' Never fear, dear madam ; 
 your boy is as safe with me as in your own arms ; he 
 and I have made acquaintance before. 7 
 
 " Her surprise at hearing me speak thus equalled 
 my own ; but I went on endeavoring to reassure her, 
 in which task I found some difficulty, for I think I 
 never, in the whole course of my life, met with a 
 person so little within the control of reason when 
 under the influence of her fear or anxiety. 
 
 " When she had a little recovered from her terror, 
 which I think was rather from beholding how con- 
 tentedly her boy nestled still with me than from any 
 arguments of mine, she proposed our going to her 
 habitation, that I might take some repose and refresh- 
 ment, as well as relate to her by what strange acci- 
 dent I had found my way thither. This made me 
 recollect the boat in which I had arrived ; and I looked 
 towards the sea, in the hope of seeing it still near the 
 shore. In vain, however ; without moorings, without 
 fastening of any kind, it had drifted away with the 
 ebbing tide, and I descried it in the distance lightly 
 dancing to and fro on the waves, as I had first beheld 
 it in the morning ; but now each moment receding 
 still further amid the world of waters, until it was 
 entirely lost to view. 
 
60 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " I turned with a half sigh to my guide, as she led 
 me towards her habitation, which proved to be a kind 
 of cavity, naturally formed in the rock lofty, spa- 
 cious, and commodious enough ; but I soon ceased 
 to feel any regret as I hugged the beautiful child in 
 my arms, and thought of all the endearing ways of 
 this new little friend of mine. 
 
 " After I had made a hearty repast of some fruit, 
 milk, and a kind of cake or bread which my hostess 
 set before me, I was preparing to comply with the 
 request she had previously made, that I would tell her 
 how I came to this place, when she interrupted me, 
 by telling me that she would hear my story on the 
 morrow, when I should be better recovered from my 
 fatigue ; and that she would now show me where I 
 could rest for the night. 
 
 " ' The cave is so spacious/ said she, with a feeble 
 smile, ' that it would afford many spare bedrooms, 
 did we need them for numerous visitors ; but, as it 
 is, you can take your choice of one of them, and I 
 will arrange some skins in it as well as I can for your 
 accommodation, hoping that you will enjoy a com- 
 fortable night's rest/ 
 
 " Her manner was quiet, and marked by a sort of 
 apathetic indifference that chilled me, and forbade 
 the warm thanks that sprung to my lips, and with 
 which I was about to reply ; indeed, she looked like 
 one so lost to outward objects, and to be so wholly 
 possessed by some absorbing inward sorrow, that 
 all unnecessary words seemed an impertinence, and 
 merely an intrusion on her melancholy. For some 
 time after she had left me to repose I was unable to 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 61 
 
 sleep, from pondering on her singular manner and 
 evident misery, as well as indulging in many con- 
 jectures relative to her winged boy, arid the strange 
 histories which doubtless belonged to them both ; but 
 by degrees her pale unhappy face blended its hues 
 with the rosy ones of her little son's countenance ; 
 the mother's woe-stricken lines became confused with 
 the chubby rounded cheeks of the infant ; my 
 thoughts faded into inaction, and I slept profoundly. 
 " When I awoke the next morning the sun's rays 
 were making their way through the crevices of the 
 rock, and darting bright reproach into the part of the 
 cavern where I lay ; for I had fully intended being 
 up with the earliest dawn, in order to assist my 
 hostess as much as possible by forwarding some of 
 the household arrangements before she should herself 
 get up. However, to the great relief of my con- 
 science, I found that she was not yet stirring ; for, 
 like many people who give way to an overwhelming 
 grief, she had acquired a habit of lying in bed a 
 very foolish habit, by the by, my dear young friends ; 
 for there is an animating principle and a strengtherx- 
 ing stimulus in the fresh morning air which early 
 risers alone know how to value properly. Had this 
 poor woman sought the healthful courage imparted 
 by the custom of early rising, she would have per- 
 haps been better able to meet and sustain her mel- 
 ancholy fate. But you will find, as I proceed to tell 
 you all I afterwards learned of my unhappy hostess, 
 that this was not the only point in which she dis- 
 covered a want of wisdom and knowledge of what 
 was best for her. 
 
62 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " To return to the first morning of my acquaintance 
 with her. On issuing from the portion of the cavern 
 where I had slept, I found, to my joy, as I told you, 
 that my hostess was not yet up. I passed through 
 the principal space in the cave where I had supped 
 on the previous evening, which might be called the 
 dining-room ; and after arranging matters here to 
 the best of my power (for you must know that a 
 sailor learns to turn his hand to anything, and can 
 make a bed, or sew on a button, with any chamber- 
 maid or workwoman of them all), I went out into a 
 sort of enclosed space near the cave, which was 
 surrounded by a neat paling, and where I observed a 
 cow and two or three goats grazing, evidently ready 
 to be milked ; and having provided myself with a 
 wooden vessel that lay near at hand, I prepared to . 
 perform this office as well as I could. Considering 
 that I had never learned to milk a cow, for my 
 father had been far too poor to keep one, I managed 
 pretty well on the present occasion ; and I had already 
 made good progress in my work, having finished 
 with the cow, and was beginning with one of the 
 goats, when I heard a little merry laugh not far from 
 me, and, looking up in the direction whence the 
 sound proceeded, I perceived the winged boy perched 
 on the paling close by. When he saw by my nod- 
 ding and smiling that I had discovered him, he flew 
 towards me, and settled on my shoulder ; and there 
 he stood fluttering and hovering, half on tip-toe, 
 half held up by his quivering spread wings, while he 
 tried to steady himself by clasping his dimpled arms 
 round my head. ' Steady, Felix ! steady, boy, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 63 
 
 steady ! ' cried I, while he laughed and crowed with 
 delight ; and thus his mother found us when she 
 came, soon after, to summon us to breakfast. 
 
 " She seemed reconciled now to the attachment 
 which had evidently sprung up between her son and 
 me, and bore to see him in my arms with a compla- 
 cency very different from her wild alarm of the pre- 
 vious evening. So we returned to the cave in very 
 sociable style ; the child frolicking about us, first 
 fluttering to his mother, and then back to me again, 
 for he could evidently fly much better than he could 
 walk. But though this poor woman made me wel- 
 come in the cave, and, in her negligent fashion, 
 allowed me to feel that my arrival at this place was 
 nowise disagreeable to her, yet it was long before 
 her melancholy reserve yielded to my efforts at con- 
 solation ; while my cheerful endeavors to draw her 
 into conversation, and a more comfortable train of 
 thought than the one which habitually engrossed her, 
 were for some time met by a chilling apathy that 
 was inexpressibly discouraging. After the first 
 morning, when she had heard my history, and the 
 account I gave of my adventure in reaching this 
 shore, she had expressed no more curiosity, and ap- 
 peared to take no further interest in my presence. 
 She seemed to have made up her mind that I was a 
 nowise dangerous associate for her child ; and beyond 
 this she appeared to have no thought about me, but 
 remained absorbed in moody grief, and wrapt in 
 silence. The gayety and cheerfulness natural to my 
 age of course rendered me a more acceptable com- 
 panion to little Felix than his poor young mother, 
 
.64 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 with her pale face and moping ways, could be to 
 him ; and, when she wandered away, as was her daily 
 custom, to the sea-shore, where she would sit for 
 hours gazing fixedly across the wide ocean, he would 
 remain by my side, and watch me while I worked, or 
 gambol with me when I indulged him, after the morn- 
 ing labor was done, with a game of play. Happy days 
 were those I spent with this fascinating little being ! 
 He was so beautiful, so graceful, so full of joy and 
 innocent mirth, and yet so gentle and winningly 
 affectionate ! Dear, charming Felix ! How my heart 
 doted on your bewitching loveliness ! And how I 
 longed to make it a means of wiling your poor mother 
 from her useless, her pernicious indulgence in her 
 hopeless grief! At length, with the courage inspired 
 by this thought, I would follow her to the lonely seat 
 among the rocks, where she was accustomed to re- 
 main buried in her melancholy musings ; and, seem- 
 ing merely to follow the lead of my young companion, 
 I would induce him to frolic and play his pretty 
 gambols where she might observe them, and become 
 inspired by their cheering influence. For some time 
 this went on, she scarcely appearing to notice us or 
 our romping, till I almost despaired of ever winning 
 her to a smile or a remark ; when one day we were 
 returning to our noontide meal, after a morning spent 
 among the rocks, she gazing as usual drearily "and 
 silently over the sea, and Felix and I having fairly 
 worn ourselves out with a violent romping-bout, 
 accompanied by roars of laughter ; he had now fallen 
 fast asleep in my arms as I bore him home ; and she 
 suddenly spoke to me of her own accord. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 65 
 
 " ' You are a kind youth, Kit/ she said, ' and have 
 been most patient and good with me and my sor- 
 rows ; bearing with my moody silence, forbearing to 
 intrude upon my secrets, and yet gently and affec- 
 tionately seeking to relieve me from the burthen of 
 their solitary endurance. But it is too late ! Had I 
 met with you sooner, could I have earlier learnt 
 the lesson taught me by your wise cheerfulness, and 
 imitated the wholesome energy with which you meet 
 your hardships by activity and courage, instead of 
 yielding to despondence, had I not weakened my 
 powers, and exhausted even my spring of hope, by 
 supine lamentation and unavailing regret, I might 
 have profited by your friendly help, and have be- 
 lieved that a future was still in store for me. But it 
 is too late ! 7 she repeated, with a deep sigh. 
 
 " ' Why too late ? 7 exclaimed I, eagerly. ' With 
 such a treasure in your possession as this dear child, 
 with such a motive to make life dear to you, 
 with darling little Felix to keep a brave heart for, 
 why despair ? why talk of its being too late ? Why 
 should it be too late ? ' 
 
 " 'I am dying/ said she, sadly, but quietly ; ' I am 
 dying, Kit, though your young, hopeful eyes cannot 
 see it. I feel too surely that my unhappy lot, with 
 my want of submission to the Almighty's decree, and 
 my unmindfulness of the blessings he has vouchsafed 
 to me to relieve the misery of my fate, has worn 
 away my existence, and as certainly brought my life 
 to a close as if I had deliberately drunk poison. 7 
 
 " I was inexpressibly shocked, and could not utter 
 a word in reply as she paused. 
 5 
 
66 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " Presently she resumed : ' I should have no right 
 to pain your young heart by this declaration, had I 
 not a hope of interesting your sympathy, and induc- 
 ing you to promise aid and protection to my poor 
 Felix, to my poor motherless boy, as I feel con- 
 vinced he will shortly be. Alas ! in all probability 
 then entirely an orphan. 7 
 
 " This last word seemed to excite her grief beyond* 
 the power of control, for she burst into a flood of 
 tears, bitter, and frightfully vehement ; but, after a 
 few minutes, she made a strong and convulsive effort, 
 and, mastering her emotion with evident difficulty, 
 she resumed : ' It is your due, Kit, that you should 
 learn all the particulars of my sad story ; you who 
 have been so true a friend to me, and will, I hope, 
 continue your loving kindness to my boy hereafter ; 
 you who have so considerately respected my grief 
 hitherto, and restrained all expression of curiosity, 
 ought to have nothing withheld from you ; therefore, 
 by to-morrow, I will endeavor to gain composure and 
 courage to relate to you my history, and by what 
 accident I arrived here. 7 
 
 " The next day, accordingly, when we were seated 
 in the usual nook among the rocks, with Felix play- 
 ing at our feet, busily engaged in pouring out and 
 replacing the shining contents of .my purse, with 
 which employment I had purposely provided him, to 
 occupy his attention during his mother's relation, 
 she began her story as follows. But/ 7 said Kit, 
 suddenly breaking off, and interrupting himself, " I 
 fear it is getting time for you two to be off home ; so 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 6*7 
 
 I '11 tell you what she told me when you come here 
 to-morrow evening 1 ." 
 
 " Well, dear Kit, we '11 go, then/ 7 replied Fanny, 
 leaving the old man's side reluctantly. " Come 
 along, Dick ; though I do long to hear the poor lady's 
 story, and more about the little Felix, with his 
 curious wings, yet we must do as Kit wishes, or 
 'perhaps he '11 play the tyrant, and refuse to tell us 
 any more of his wonderful stories." 
 
 " But, Fanny, I must ask him one question before 
 we go," said her brother. " I want to know, Kit, 
 whether the golden key really did bring you riches, 
 and wealth, and power, and all the grand things 
 mentioned by the vision ? Did you ever find them 
 after opening the gates of the rocky valley, and sail- 
 ing across that bright sea ? " 
 
 11 My dear lad," answered the old mariner, thought- 
 fully, " I have often asked myself the same question. 
 And, in pondering over the matter, I have come to 
 this conclusion : that the key admitted me through 
 those ponderous barriers from the desolate, sterile 
 valley, and led me to the shore of that resplendent 
 sea, which I have always since named the Ocean 'of 
 Imagination ; for it conducted me to the life I had 
 always sighed for from earliest childhood, a life of 
 adventure, of romantic incident, and of ever-shifting 
 scenes of beauty and entrancing strangeness, worth 
 more to me than suniless heaps of treasure, or mines 
 of costliest gems. I have fancied that a hearty en- 
 joyment of life, a power of abstracting my mind 
 from the disagreeables and hardships of travel, while 
 I dwelt with rapture on the ideas it conveyed, and 
 
68 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the keen sense of gratification with which I was 
 able to extract enjoyment from all my adventures 
 under circumstances which might have depressed 
 arid discouraged a less ardent imagination than mine, 
 was, in fact, the sumptuous gift bestowed upon me 
 by the possession of the key ; and I do not know but 
 that I have had reason to receive it with more grati- 
 tude than any other treasure whatsoever. 77 
 
 The old mariner, at the conclusion of this speech, 
 bidding his young friends gravely and affectionately 
 farewell, they sped away home. 
 
*klT BAM, MARINER. 69 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 CONTINUATION OP KIT'S YARN OF THE LONE MOTHER AND CHILD. 
 HER STORY. KALLISAH. FELIX. NEW ASSOCIATES. 
 
 THE next evening, when the two young Swallows 
 were comfortably ensconced in the old mariner's cot- 
 tage, Dick snugly crouching on one side of him, and 
 Fanny hugging his other arm as usual, Kit thus re- 
 sumed his yarn, where the lone mother was begin- 
 ning to tell him her story. 
 
 " ' My first misfortunes began/ she said, ' with the 
 loss of my poor mother, who was sickly and weak- 
 spirited, and unable to contend with the grief of dis- 
 covering that her husband was an habitual drunkard. 
 He had contrived to deceive her with regard to this 
 defect in his character until after their marriage ; but 
 when once he had gained his point in inducing her 
 to become his wife, he had relapsed into his usual 
 excesses, and brought her to an early grave with 
 shame and regret before I had reached the age of 
 six years. My second calamity was my father's 
 marrying again, and giving me for a step-mother a 
 hard, cruel woman, who ill-used me, and made me 
 little better than a servant to her own children, who 
 were born in rapid succession after her union with 
 my father. On this little family I had to wait from 
 
tO THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 morning till night, endure all their caprices, and 
 abide by their ill-tempers, their mother's exactions, 
 and my father's injustice. I sunk into a mere abject 
 drudge, and was so broken-spirited, that when, at 
 the age of eighteen, I found that I had engaged the 
 attention and sympathy of a young midshipman who 
 came to lodge at the house next door to that in 
 which we lived, and that he often took occasion to 
 talk to me and manifest an interest in my fate, I 
 could only at first conclude that he was jeering at 
 me, and mocking my suffering by a pretended kind- 
 ness and solicitude. Soon, however, he contrived to 
 convince me that his sympathy was sincere, and that 
 it had produced an ardent attachment for me, which 
 no time could weaken or destroy. 
 
 " 'For one who had been from childhood the un- 
 ceasing object of unkindness ; neglect, and cruelty, to 
 inspire such an affection was as the opening of new 
 life, the disclosing of an earthly heaven. I yielded 
 myself impetuously to this unexpected prospect of 
 happiness ; and finding my young lover impatient to 
 make me his before his next voyage should take 
 him away for an indefinite period, and, possibly, 
 separate us forever, I gave him my hand with a joy 
 equal to his own at receiving it, and became the 
 wife of Felix Morton. Mere boy and girl as we both 
 were (for my husband was scarcely twenty), we 
 stayed not to calculate the importance of the step 
 we had taken, or the consequences in which it would 
 involve us : we loved with all the warmth and reck- 
 less ardor of youth ; we married, and were for a 
 time as happy as mortals could desire, notwithstand- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 71 
 
 ing- the threatening event which marked the very 
 first day of our clandestine union. Too much in 
 awe of my father and tyrannous step-mother to con- 
 sult them in the affair, or to dream of asking their 
 consent, we were married privately, one morning, at 
 a neighboring church ; and, returning to our respect- 
 ive homes, I learned by a singular chance, in the 
 course of the afternoon, that my Felix's ship had 
 sailing-orders, and that she was to leave port that 
 very evening. In the utmost agitation I flew through 
 the garden to my lover's lodging to learn the truth, 
 and found a small, hurried note, bidding me a dis- 
 tracted adieu, and informing me of his having been 
 compelled to obey his captain's orders, which were 
 to execute some commission at a neighboring town 
 to our own, which was a seaport ; that he should 
 thus be detained till a late hour in the evening, 
 indeed, until only within a short hour of the one 
 fixed for the ship's weighing anchor ; and that he, 
 therefore, conjured me to meet him, if possible, on 
 the quay at that hour, that he might assure me of his 
 constant affection, his unshaken faith, and -his firm 
 hope of meeting again at some happier time, when 
 he might claim his beloved bride, and make her all 
 his own. I was absolutely stunned with this dread- 
 ful news. The thought of parting with my new- 
 made husband, whom I adored so passionately, was 
 worse than death to me. This being, so frank and 
 handsome, so generous, so brave, yet so gentle, 
 so animated, yet so tender! this being, who had 
 first taught me the bliss of loving and being loved ; 
 who had raised and cherished the poor, despised 
 
72 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 outcast, and inspired her with hope and self-respect ; 
 could it be that this being was to be torn from me 
 just as I had learned to cling to him as my only 
 earthly treasure ? Buried in grief, I returned to my 
 miserable home, and resumed my usual drudgery, de- 
 vouring my sobs and tears of anguish, and conceal- 
 ing them as well as I could from observation. 
 
 " ' Towards evening, however, while I was endeav- 
 oring to devise some means of stealing down to the 
 quay unperceived, my father called me to him, and, 
 after making some harsh remark upon my red eyes 
 and sulky ways, he bade me go and fetch him some 
 liquor from a public house at a tolerable distance 
 from where we lived, but which had a name for sell- 
 ing good spirits. I was preparing to obey him, when 
 my step-mother employed me about something for 
 one of the children, which detained me so long as to 
 exasperate my father, who was subject, like most 
 intemperate men, to fits of violent passion. He took 
 me by the shoulder, and, bestowing a hearty curse 
 upon me, turned me out of doors, bidding me begone, 
 like a good-for-nothing lazy slut as I was. My heart 
 was almost broken with this cruelty of my father's, 
 coming in the midst of the grief from which I had 
 been previously suffering, and I fled through the 
 darkening streets with a sort of mad bewilderment. 
 ' Begone ! ' I exclaimed wildly, repeating my father's 
 words ; ' ay, begone ! would I could be gone, indeed, 
 and return no more to this wretched home, where I 
 have never known anything but injustice and ill- 
 treatment ! that I could be gone gone far away 
 with my own Felix, my own dear husband ! ' I paused 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 73 
 
 for an instant, struck with the recollection that this 
 must be about the very hour he had spoken of as 
 being the one when he had hoped to meet me pre- 
 vious to his departure. I hurried on, forgetful of 
 aught but Felix and my anxiety to see him, when, 
 iust as I was emerging from a dark, narrow street, 
 which led straight on to the quay, close to that part 
 where I knew his vessel lay, and where the crew 
 were busy finishing her last preparations for sea, he 
 perceived me, and sprang forward to clasp me in his 
 arms, drawing me, as he did so, within the shadow 
 of the houses in the narrow street. Here he ear- 
 nestly repeated the passionate protestations of regret, 
 constancy, and hope, which his note had expressed, 
 and learnt, in return, from me, my deep affliction, as 
 well as the recent cause I had to dread and detest 
 my home more than ever. 
 
 " ' " This shall not, must not be ! " exclaimed he, 
 with a vehement burst of emotion ; " she must not 
 return to be trampled on and destroyed by her hate- 
 ful relations. Who will protect her when I am away ? 
 She will sink and die before I can return to rescue 
 her. She must be saved, and at once ! ;? 
 
 " ' He paused for a few seconds in deep thought ; 
 and then, with the energetic decision which marked 
 his character, strode a few paces up the narrow street, 
 drawing me still with him, towards a small shop, 
 dimly lighted by a flaring tallow candle, and in which 
 they sold slop-clothes and other ship's stores. Enter- 
 ing the shop, and bidding me wait close outside, Fe- 
 lix purchased a suit of coarse dark-blue clothes, of a 
 lad's size, and, quickly returning to me, he whispered, 
 
74 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 "There is still time for my -project, Nanny, if you 
 will be a brave girl, and do as I would have you ; but 
 keep a stout heart, and lose not a moment/ 7 
 
 "'I answered as boldly as I could (for his presence 
 somehow always inspired me with greater courage 
 than I could muster at any other time) ; and he then 
 proceeded hurriedly to explain that he wished me to 
 equip myself in the sailor-boy's suit he had just 
 bought, and that in this disguise he hoped I should 
 escape observation sufficiently for him to smuggle 
 me on board ship, and carry me off with him. The 
 hope of release from my bondage, but far more the 
 thought of escape with my beloved husband, excited 
 me to act with promptitude and resolution ; and, ac- 
 cordingly, I no sooner comprehended his design, than 
 I retired quickly into a deserted yard or wharf not 
 far from where we stood, and there, behind some 
 broken casks and ship-lumber, I effected an expedi- 
 tious change of clothes, and returned to my lover, who 
 declared that I now looked as trim a little cabin-boy 
 as he would wish to see. It was by this time neces- 
 sary to hasten back to the quay, and join those going 
 on board. We were just in time, for a rough voice 
 calling out, " Now, then, where are those lads ! here, 
 you boys, look alive there ! " pushed me onwards with 
 a group of young sailors who were loitering about, 
 and among whom I had immediately* mingled, on 
 reaching the spot; and thus, amid the bustle and 
 darkness, I found myself hurried on deck, whence 
 Felix soon contrived to convey me below unnoticed 
 by any one. It was of course not very long that I 
 could remain undiscovered ; arid the presence of a 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 75 
 
 cabin-boy more than their number was perceived by 
 the crew before many days had elapsed. However, 
 a feigned story of my being a runaway lad, whom 
 love of the sea had rendered a truant from the home 
 of his parents, and had induced him thus to steal a 
 berth, found credit with the captain, who was the 
 uncle of my Felix, and probably not unwilling to 
 connive at what he believed to be a scapegrace trick 
 of his nephew's to introduce a favorite comrade or 
 school-fellow on board his ship. The other officers 
 and sailors were always jealous of Felix, and of the 
 fancied favoritism with which his captain treated him 
 on the score of relationship ; but it was some time 
 before I discovered this enmity on their part, or, in- 
 deed, awoke to the perception of anything but the 
 single, all-engrossing fact of my being with my hus- 
 band, and the constant object of his love and fond at- 
 tention. While I was wrapped in this dream of hap- 
 piness, I was the most enviable, the most blest of 
 mortals ; but, alas ! the time came when I could no 
 longer remain blind to the murmurs of discontented 
 feeling and vindictive jealousy that prevailed among 
 my Felix's shipmates against him, and my awakening 
 from my dream of bliss was as abrupt and alarming 
 as my previous repose had been balmy and secure. 
 The first thing which startled me to a sense of his 
 danger were the rough taunts of one of the subordi- 
 nates of the crew, in reply to some order which Felix 
 had given him as midshipman, and his superior offi- 
 cer. The man ended by muttering, " A pretty thing, 
 indeed, to be ordered about by a whipper-snapper of 
 a boy, who is himself led in tow by a petticoat or 
 
76 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 what ought by rights to be one, or to wear one, it ? s 
 all the same thing/ 7 
 
 " ' This hint at the discovery of my sex and dis- 
 guise made me tremble for my secret, but still more 
 for the safety of rny husband, which I felt to be 
 perilled by what might be considered an act of insub- 
 ordination if represented to the captain malignantly, 
 as the man's manner showed it would be, if reported 
 at all. 
 
 " ' The next day I had fatal confirmation of all my 
 worst fears. 
 
 "'While sitting below, each moment expecting 
 Felix, for he took every opportunity of stealing down 
 to see me when his duty would .permit, I heard loud 
 voices, and tokens of vehement contention, on deck ; 
 and, creeping up the companion with knocking knees 
 and a beating heart, I beheld a scene of confusion 
 and altercation of which I only too surely and at 
 once comprehended the meaning. The sailor who 
 had so brutally taunted Felix on the previous day 
 stood forward, loudly charging my husband with 
 having secreted a woman on board, and taxing the 
 captain with undue partiality and favoritism, in 
 having connived at this breach of discipline on the 
 part of his nephew. The man was warmly supported 
 in his accusations by the majority of the crew, and, 
 as the captain scarcely repelled the charge, but pro- 
 ceeded to rebuke them severely for their own insub- 
 ordination and mutinous behavior, in thus daring 1 
 to dispute his justice and arraign his conduct, the 
 remainder of the men gradually fell from him, and 
 left him standing side by side with Felix alone 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 77 
 
 together. I. would have sprung forward to the spot 
 where they stood, but I was so hemmed in and im- 
 peded, by the crowd of men who now all occupied 
 the side of the deck where 1 was, that I could not 
 force my way through them. 
 
 " ' I should tell you that we had by this time been 
 about six weeks or nearly two months at sea, and we 
 were, at the period I speak of, in the offing of a large 
 continent, that cannot, I feel sure, be far from where 
 we at present are, and which I have always believed 
 to be just visible from the point of rock on which we 
 are seated. 7 
 
 "The lone mother paused, and pointed with her 
 trembling hand to a dim speck just perceptible on 
 the horizon, which she believed to be the land she 
 spoke of. Her pale face and quivering lips showed 
 what a severe restraint she had been putting on her 
 feelings, in order to narrate her sad tale collectedly 
 and intelligibly ; but the effort evidently cost her 
 dear, and was made at the expense of strength, and 
 even vitality. She resumed, however : 
 
 "'The mutiny once begun, it increased rapidly, 
 and all the long-concealed wrath and jealous doubts 
 of the captain and his nephew flamed forth in open 
 rebellion, and avowed threats of vengeance, threats 
 which were cruelly and speedily fulfilled, and carried 
 into fatal execution. Finding all their menaces fail 
 in subduing Captain Morton's inflexible notions of 
 their respective duties, and that they could not make 
 him yield one jot of his command, or promise one 
 point of their manifold exactions, they suddenly 
 agreed to end the dispute at once by placing him 
 
78 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and his detested nephew in an open boat, cutting 
 them adrift, and letting* them find their way ashore 
 as they best might, whilst they themselves would 
 seize the ship and command her as they chose. On 
 hearing this horrible sentence passed on my beloved 
 husband, I staggered and reeled, as if struck by a 
 heavy blow ; and, as I gasped forth a shriek for 
 mercy, Felix heard me, and our eyes met in one 
 mute expression of anguish. It was our farewell 
 look, as brief and intense as our joys had been ; I 
 never beheld my Felix more I fainted. 
 
 " ' Would to Heaven I had never recovered from 
 that death-like swoon, which, at least, spared me 
 the sense of my misery/ resumed the poor young 
 creature, after a pause of emotion such as seemed to 
 deprive her of several hours, nay, days of life, and 
 bring her nearer to the grave, as it were, before my 
 eyes ; ' but, when I returned to consciousness, I heard 
 remarks from the mutinous ruffians around me which 
 evinced plainly their regret that, instead of having 
 been left behind, a mere useless burden on their hands, 
 to remind them of their guilt, I had not been turned 
 adrift with my friends. How fervently I echoed 
 their regret in the depths of my heart, you may easily 
 imagine, Kit ; but I gave no token of hearing or 
 seeing aught that passed ; and, at length, after 
 various proposals for getting rid of so troublesome a 
 witness of their misdeeds, some even going so far as 
 to talk of knocking me on the head and pitching me 
 overboard at once, I heard them determine upon 
 putting me ashore on the first land we touched at. 
 In the course of a few hours we neared this place. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 79 
 
 I felt them lift me up from the spot where I lay, still 
 apparently insensible ; and, so utterly devoid was I 
 of any thought or care of life, now I had lost all that 
 ' rendered it of any value to me, that not one murmur 
 of remonstrance did I utter, not one token of anima- 
 tion did I give to prevent their consigning me to 
 this living death. I remained in a kind of dumb 
 stupor, almost like a corpse in their arms, as they 
 lowered me into a small boat in which I was rowed 
 to land, where they placed me on a ledge of rock, 
 just beyond the sands, the boat then returning to 
 the ship, which set sail again immediately. Not one 
 sensation approaching to regret or added horror, at 
 thus finding myself abandoned on a lone shore to 
 perish, was I conscious of feeling. My one great 
 grief had swallowed up and effaced all lesser and 
 merely personal considerations. If I felt anything 
 at all, it was a kind of vague wonder (which I re- 
 member crossed rny mind in the strange way that 
 the like trivial fancies will wander into one's brain 
 at such moments) that these ruffians, who could 
 cold-bloodedly doom me to such a fate, should yet 
 lift me gently, and with an almost cautious softness, 
 as they conveyed me from their vessel to the boat, 
 and from the boat to the shore. But I think there 
 is a sort of natural and innate tenderness that in- 
 spires every sailor, however rough, when he touches 
 a woman. 
 
 " ' Heaven help me ! I surely needed tenderness 
 then, or never poor creature did in this world ! I 
 verily believe I should have remained there without 
 moving a limb or exerting a muscle towards my own 
 
80 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 preservation, when, as I lay, I suddenly became con- 
 scious of warm human breath close to my face, as 
 if some one were leaning over to examine me nearly ; 
 and, as I listlessly opened my eyes (for nothing 
 could rouse me to any feeling half so active as that 
 of surprise), I beheld a black countenance close to 
 mine, and peering into it anxiously and wonderingly. 
 '"I closed my eyes again, with a deep sigh ; but 
 soon felt that soothing and prodigal attentions were 
 bestowed upon me, and the most earnest means 
 taken to restore me to sensation and life. I felt my 
 head gently raised, and placed caressingly on the 
 bosom of a young girl, who knelt beside me, mur- 
 muring words of affectionate soothing, which, though 
 uttered in an unknown tongue, were in melodious 
 tones. Her dark exterior concealed a heart glowing 
 with kind feeling, and beneath her swart skin throbbed 
 a bosom instinct with every generous impulse and 
 feminine softness. Poor, meek, affectionate, un- 
 selfish Kallisah ! Your gentle goodness arid foster- 
 ing care were but ill met and rewarded by my sullen 
 grief and despondent apathy ! When I look back 
 now, with the clearer vision of approaching death, to 
 this period, I feel how blamably ungrateful and un- 
 mindful I was of the boon accorded to me by a mer-- 
 ciful Creator, in the shape of this simple black girl, 
 who would have been a comfort and support to any 
 less ^YJlfully repining spirit than mine. As it was, I 
 rather yielded to than accepted her cherishing care ; 
 and permitted her attention and hospitality, instead 
 of receiving them with the warmth of welcome and 
 mutual affection. From that first evening, when, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 81 
 
 finding me alone and perishing, she restored me to 
 consciousness, and led me to her cave, her conduct 
 was marked by one unceasing course of lavish solici- 
 tude and prodigal attachment; met on my part I 
 now shame to feel and avow by unthankful negli- 
 gence, cold indifference, and mere selfish indulgence 
 in my own sorrow. 
 
 " ' Day after day, week after week, month after 
 month, did I yield to my absorbing misery; and, 
 wandering away from her companionship, would sit 
 brooding on this rocky point in solitary despair, 
 gazing over the wide waters, fixing my eyes on the 
 dim speck of the horizon which I believed to be the 
 land that contained all I held dear my beloved 
 husband, from whom I had been so rudely torn, and 
 so cruelly and eternally separated. 
 
 11 ' Here would 1 sit for hours, absorbed in this one 
 engrossing idea, delivering myself over to voluntary 
 gloom and despair. Not once did I seek help and 
 courage from the society of Kallisah, or by relieving 
 her from part of her household duties give wholesome 
 exertion to my frame, and, by using the body, en- 
 deavor to strengthen the mind. Equally unmindful 
 of her feelings, wounded, as they must be, by my 
 cold, ungrateful neglect, as of my own moral health, 
 I suffered myself to become a mere inert lump of 
 uselessness, and the morbid victim of a diseased 
 imagination. Even the conviction that I was shortly 
 to become a mother had scarce power to raise me 
 from my lethargy, or turn my thoughts to any sub- 
 ject apart from the one which filled my soul with a 
 single yearning desire, and kept my straining eyes 
 6 
 
82 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 fixed on that dimly-seen, far-away, coveted shore. 
 Some lines that I had once read in an old play-book 
 often wandered into my musing brain, and I would 
 frequently mutter to myself, 
 
 " Like one that stands upon a promontory, 
 
 And spies a far-off shore where he would tread, 
 Wishing his foot were equal with his eye ; 
 And chides the sea that sunders him from thence, 
 Saying he '11 lade it dry to have his way. ' ' 
 
 11 ' But, more than all, more than any hope of lading 
 the sea dry, did I long for wings, for wings that I 
 might skim the surface of the waters, and clear the 
 space that held me from my Felix. Had I but 
 wings ! Then would I soar over these relentless 
 waves that rolled in ceaseless mockery of my an- 
 guish, raising eternal barriers between me and my 
 beloved, and there would I find blessed peace in his 
 arms. Had I but the power of flight ! This was the 
 longing desire that haunted me, ever, and ever, and 
 ever. What wonder, then, that, when my baby was 
 born, he was born with wings ? An angel-token, 
 sent from heaven, of warning for past misused facul- 
 ties, of hopeful strength for the future. 
 
 " ' The advent of this cherub, truthfully read and 
 rightly used, might have proved such a token to his 
 poor mother ; but, weakly passive by nature, and 
 totally unskilled in mental discipline, she was re- 
 gardless of the blessed influence, and remained blind 
 to the alleviations with which Heaven had balanced 
 the one great sorrow in her lot. But keenly, though 
 tardily, awake as I am to my mistaken existence, 
 an existence consumed rather than spent, I must 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 83 
 
 not dwell upon my sad story longer than necessary, 
 Kit. You must have heard enough to learn a seri 
 ous lesson of the folly and wickedness of allowing the 
 mind to dwell unhealthfully upon one single thought, 
 and of permitting the imagination to become dis- 
 eased, and to destructively prey upon the body. I 
 will merely tell you the events that succeeded the 
 birth of my boy, during which period of pain and 
 suffering I was waited upon and tended, night and 
 day, by my gentle Kallisah, the tenderest and most 
 solicitous of nurses. The whole time I was thus 
 confined to the cave, she would quietly sit by the 
 side of my bed, heaping up the skins with which it 
 was spread, arranging them beneath my weary head, 
 and comfortably disposing them around my exhausted 
 frame ; her skill in herbal preparations, and cooling 
 drinks from fruit and berry, was inexhaustible ; and 
 they were administered to iny fevered lips with tones 
 of healing comfort and soothing encouragement. 
 Her affectionate nature inspired her with devices that 
 supplied the place of experience and skill ; and, as 
 I gradually recovered, she would, with unwearied 
 patience and inventive fancy, beguile the passing 
 hours in relating her history by means of emphatic 
 tones and expressive gestures. I learned that she 
 had been carried off by a Slave-ship from her native 
 country ; that, in the course of the voyage, a British 
 vessel had attacked the one in which she was, and 
 that, with the cruelty frequently practised by slave- 
 ships under pursuit, the captain had thrown her 
 overboard, with many others of her wretched com- 
 panions, into the sea, to lessen his freight to the pre- 
 
84 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 scribed number of victims, should he be overtaken 
 and examined. Young and active, she had contrived 
 to swim on shore ; alone, however, for, whether taken 
 up by the British ship, rescued by other means, or 
 drowned in the sea, she could not tell, but not one 
 of her unhappy companions had ever reached that 
 land. Hardy, and from childhood accustomed to 
 depend greatly on her own exertions for obtaining 
 the means of existence, she readily found food in 
 this fertile place, which abounded in fruit and vege- 
 tables of various kinds ; the cave afforded her com- 
 modious shelter, and the pursuits of her early savage 
 home had taught her skill sufficient to add many 
 advantages to these natural ones of mere food and 
 shelter. She fashioned rude tools, which enabled 
 her to put a paling round the enclosed space in 
 which she kept her cows and goats ; a well-directed 
 missile from her practised hand, and impelled by the 
 strength of her youthful arm (the vigor of which no 
 enervating habits of civilized life had weakened and 
 impaired), would frequently procure her the comfort 
 and luxurious warmth of some wild animal's skin for 
 her couch ; and thus, when my destiny threw me on 
 this shore, it came that she was so well provided 
 with means for the hospitable welcome with which 
 her kind nature prompted her to greet the poor wan- 
 derer. How was it that I could remain insensible 
 to so much goodness as shone conspicuous in the 
 gentle character of this child of nature, enshrined 
 though it was in an ebon casket ? But it was not 
 the dark exterior, it was the mist of self-indulgence 
 and uncontrolled passion, that veiled my eyes, and 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 85 
 
 shrouded the priceless gem from my view ! But no 
 more of this ! Suffice it that not even her gentle 
 tendance in my time of trouble effected the cure of 
 my mental blindness. It was decreed that by her 
 loss alone could I be brought to a sense of the inval- 
 uable treasure I possessed in her, with the conse- 
 quent perception of my own previous ingratitude, 
 and the perverse aid which it had afforded Fate in 
 my martyrdom. 
 
 " ' One evening, not very long before your arrival 
 here, Kit, when Felix was little more than a twelve- 
 month old, I returned to the cave somewhat - sur- 
 prised that I had not been fetched home by the faith- 
 ful Kallisah, who used to bring Felix to my rocky 
 seat, and then return with us to the afternoon meal, 
 which her own activity and skill had meanwhile pre- 
 pared. I found my boy alone, restless, and almost 
 fretful at the absence of his affectionate nurse and 
 playfellow, who was nowhere to be seen. I com- 
 forted the child, and, taking him in my arms, we 
 sought through all the recesses of the cave, through 
 all the neighboring nooks of the rock, in the pad- 
 dock, everywhere around, but in vain no Kallisah ! 
 Nor did she come that evening, or that night, through 
 the dark hours of which I kept restless vigil, listen- 
 ing vainly for her approaching steps, and striving 
 to still the moaning and plaintive wail of my little 
 Felix, who was uneasy at missing his kind and lov- 
 ing friend. 
 
 " ' Next morning, as soon as the sun had risen, 
 taking my child in my arms (for he had now fallen 
 into a heavy slumber, in which I dared not leave 
 
86 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 him, lest he should wake in my absence), I set forth 
 in quest of my faithful companion, dreading some 
 fatal accident had befallen her, as nothing else, I 
 felt, would have prevented her returning to us be- 
 fore. My fears were too speedily verified. I had 
 not proceeded many hundred paces into the little 
 wood which skirts the grassy plains adjoining the 
 cave, before I beheld my poor Kallisah stretched 
 beneath the trees, a disfigured, lifeless corse ! Her 
 dark skin prevented the appearance of any discolor- 
 ing marks of tfie poison, but the swollen flesh, the 
 starting eye-balls, the distorted mouth, told but too 
 plainly the secret of her death, and gave distinct 
 evidence of her having been attacked by a serpent, 
 and mortally wounded by its deadly fang. The 
 thought of sparing my child from the horror of this 
 ghastly spectacle gave me strength to dig a hasty 
 shallow grave in the soil, which was fortunately of a 
 light and crumbling nature ; and with the help of 
 boughs and leaves I succeeded in concealing the 
 body of my hapless friend, and affording it the re- 
 spect of a slight though bowery tomb ; so that, by 
 the time Felix awoke, I had not only conveyed him 
 from the spot, but had saved him from any risk of 
 encountering so sad an object, in case his wings 
 should by chance convey him to this neighborhood. 
 For I should tell you that his power of flight had 
 preceded the ability to run alone, which generally 
 begins to manifest itself, I believe, in children of 
 about his age ; and I often dreaded that this gift of 
 winged strength in my boy might prove a source of 
 anxiety to me, lest he should wander beyond my 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 87 
 
 care, and inflict upon me the pang of losing a second 
 Felix. However, he has never hitherto been able to 
 effect any long flight, arid I suppose it was in at- 
 tempting one of greater distance than usual, in the 
 direction of the sea, that, caused him to seek rest 
 and protection in your boat when you were approach- 
 ing this shore. If a mother's judgment may be 
 trusted on such a point, his wings are an additional 
 charm to the many beauties that render him one of 
 the loveliest and most interesting beings that ever 
 breathed ; and his affectionate loving nature shows 
 itself in every infantine caress and tender fondling 
 which he lavishes on his poor mother, as well as in 
 the constancy with which he long pined after his 
 faithful nurse, the lost Kallisah ! But it is this 
 singular beauty of his, both in frame and nature, 
 that makes me surpassingly anxious with respect to 
 his future fate, and bids me secure your friendship 
 and protection for my orphan child. 7 
 
 " The lone mother fixed her eyes wistfully on mine 
 as she paused, and after I had, in a few warm and 
 fervent words, assured her that my affection for the 
 interesting little creature equalled, if possible, her 
 own, and that nothing should henceforth part me 
 from him while we both lived, she pressed my hand, 
 and concluded her story in the following words : 
 
 " 'For my own part, I shared the regret of my 
 little one for the loss of Kallisah, and mourned for 
 her as* perseveringly as he did ; but her death first 
 opened my eyes to the error of my past conduct, and 
 awakened fears for the future. Should my child be 
 deprived of my care, as he had been of hers, by any 
 
88 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 adverse and unforeseen accident, what was to become 
 of him ? These thoughts, and many other associated 
 reflections, now shared my lonely musings with the 
 one theme which had formerly been their only object ; 
 for so inveterate a thing is, a habit of revery, and an 
 indulgence in solitude, that I still wandered daily to 
 my rocky seat, and pursued my usual contemplation 
 of the wide and ever-restless sea. . In this state of 
 awakened conscience and motherly solicitude you 
 found me, Kit, on your arrival ; and I had not known 
 you long, before your frank nature, your generous 
 anxiety to win me from my sorrows, and, above all, 
 your evident attachment to my boy, led me to con- 
 fide in you, and place all my hope for my boy's 
 future welfare in your promise to adopt him. This 
 hope is now realized by your assurances, in which I 
 have full faith ; and I have nothing now left to wish 
 for, but that I may be speedily called to meet my 
 beloved husband in a happier and a better world/ 
 
 " The poor young mother rose as she finished 
 speaking ; for the sun was declining from the merid- 
 ian, and Felix began to show symptoms of hungry 
 anxiety to return to the cave, that he might have his 
 dinner, which had been delayed somewhat beyond 
 his usual hour by the long narrative his mother had 
 been giving me. 
 
 " She was greatly exhausted, and did not rally at 
 all after our meal ; so that, when I took leave of her 
 for the night, my fears were joined to her own con- 
 victions that she was not destined long to remain on 
 this earth, and they kept me some time awake in 
 sorrowing sympathy for her fate. Just as I was 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 89 
 
 sinking into a feverish slumber, however, I thought 
 I heard a stifled groan, followed by a feeble cry. I 
 started up, and listened intently, as I hurried on 
 some clothing, and prepared to hasten forth. As I 
 listened, the cry was repeated, and I was not long in 
 finding my way through the labyrinths of the cave 
 towards the space occupied by my hostess as her 
 own sleeping apartment. It was near the outer 
 part of the cavern ; and, through some fissures and 
 chasms of the rock, the light of a southern moon 
 streamed in rays of softened splendor, and revealed 
 to me a scene which will never be effaced from my 
 memory. The poor young mother lay lifeless on her 
 couch, while her child had crawled along the bed 
 towards her on his hands and knees, and was hang- 
 ing over her in all the terror and grief of finding her 
 insensible to his cries and inarticulate entreaties. 
 As he knelt there in the moonlight, looking at her 
 motionless form, with his bent head, his drooping 
 wings, and his little clasped hands extended towards 
 the object of his infantine grief, they looked like a 
 marble group of Death, mourned by Seraph Inno- 
 cence. But I recovered from the spell by which I 
 was held for a moment, in contemplation of this 
 touching picture, and soon rallied all my courage to 
 soothe and comfort my baby friend ; and it was not 
 very long before I succeeded in wiling him from the 
 side of his dead mother. But, though he was gentle, 
 and yielded quietly to all my efforts to beguile his 
 grief, I could perceive that he had not the usual 
 facile spirits of childhood. He dwelt, with a per- 
 tinacity foreign to his age, on the idea of his depart- 
 
90 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ed mother, and the remembrance of her pale face 
 haunted his young imagination. He drooped vis- 
 ibly ; and even after she had been removed (for I 
 had taken the opportunity, one night when he was in 
 a profound sleep, to pay her the last sad duties of 
 interment) he would seek her still with wistful eyes, . 
 and evidently missed her in her accustomed seat and 
 wonted places. I had buried her in a grassy spot of 
 earth close to the nook among the rocks where she 
 had spent so many lonely hours, and had pleased 
 myself with the thought that it was in all probability 
 the very spot she would herself have best approved. 
 Hither her little son would now frequently draw me, 
 as if aware of the vicinity where his mother lay ; but 
 it was in all probability from a fond clinging to the 
 place where he had so frequently beheld her, on 
 the rocky seat, commanding a view of the sea. 
 
 " He and I were sitting here, one day, he fluttering 
 to and fro, taking short circling flights over the sea, 
 and skimming lightly just above the surface of the 
 waves, while I flattered myself with the pleasing 
 hope of his reviving health and spirits, when sud- 
 denly I heard voices at a little distance ; and, on 
 listening attentively, I heard them again, and be- 
 came more and more convinced that they were 
 human tones, and proceeded from that part of the 
 sea-shore beyond the rocks which lay between it and 
 the spot where I had landed. I placed Felix softly 
 on the rocky seat, and, charging him to remain there 
 till I came back, I hastened in the direction whence 
 I had heard the voices. On arriving at the sea- 
 shore, which formed a sort of miniature bay on the 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 91 
 
 coast, I perceived a party of sailors who had just 
 landed from a boat that lay to, and who were in evi- 
 dent quest of fresh water. I went towards them, 
 and offered my services to lead them to a spring 
 which welled forth its delicious waters near to the 
 cave which formed my habitation, as I could then 
 provide them with rest, shelter, and food, with a 
 draught of milk in addition to the water they sought, 
 and which I knew would prove welcome refreshment 
 to seafaring men. They accepted my proposal with 
 the same frankness with which it was made, and we 
 returned in the direction I had come. This led across 
 the rocks, as I have said, towards the spot where I 
 myself had originally landed, and then to the cave 
 itself close by. As we crossed the rocky pass, I 
 looked eagerly for Felix, arid approached the seat 
 where I had left him, a few paces in advance of the 
 party. An instant after, I heard the report of a gun 
 close behind me, and the words, ' By Jove ! I saw a 
 curious large bird fly up ! I '11 have him ! ? I sprang 
 forward just in time to catch my little Felix in my 
 arms as he sunk bleeding on the grassy mound which 
 covered the remains of his poor mother. An affec- 
 tionate look, a fluttering sigh, an expiring breath, 
 and the gentle spirit of this angel child had fled to 
 its kindred heaven, leaving his mortal frame in my 
 embrace, inanimate and motionless, winged though 
 it was ! 
 
 " The whole seemed like a dream, so quickly had 
 it all passed. But, alas ! it was too fatally true, and 
 ] had indeed lost the lovely cherub who had twined 
 himself s/> closely about my heart, and engaged so 
 
92 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OP 
 
 powerfully my best affections. But a few moment? 
 since instinct with life and beauty, and now dead 
 gone forever ! 
 
 " The sailors, awed by the accident which their 
 heedless love of sport had occasioned, tendered me 
 their rough but honest sympathy. Aided by them, 
 we soon dug a grave for my poor lost Felix, and he 
 was laid gently and reverently by the side of his 
 dead mother in her grave ; arid, when they were 
 covered with the grassy sod again, and hidden for- 
 ever from my view, my manhood failed me, and I 
 wept bitter tears. I turned from the spot hallowed 
 by so many mournful recollections. I was followed 
 by the party of strangers ; and the cares of hospi- 
 tality in which their presence necessarily involved 
 me did the usual part of unselfish exertion in form- 
 ing a distraction for my thoughts, and aiding me to 
 throw oif my load of sorrow for a time. It was 
 agreed among my guests that they should spend a 
 night on land with me ; and that on the next day 
 we should all set sail, they taking me away in their 
 company, as the thought of remaining in this place 
 was now become insupportable, bereft as I was of all 
 that endeared it to me. But when night came, and I 
 was left alone, after having seen to the accommoda- 
 tion of all the party, the weight of my grief returned 
 upon me again. I resolutely struggled against its 
 oppressive ascendency, and endeavored to soothe 
 myself with the reflection that my little Felix was 
 now at rest with his mother, who had loved him so 
 well ; and that he was thus secured against the pos- 
 sible evils that might have attended his future fate. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 93 
 
 Singularly gifted as he was, might not his mother's 
 fears have predicted truly that he was unfitted for an 
 existence among the common run of human beings ? 
 And, as it was more than probable that my thirst for 
 adventure and active life would lead me to quit this 
 solitary shore, should I not then have exposed him 
 to the risk of mingling with an uncongenial race ? 
 Somewhat consoled with these thoughts, I yielded 
 to their composing influence, and slept. 
 
 " A solemn apparition visited my slumbers, and 
 inspired gracious comfort and elevating trust. Me- 
 thought I beheld the moonlit group of mother and 
 child, as I had witnessed it in the cavern, on the 
 night of her death ; but, in my present dream, her 
 marble countenance beamed with a heavenly joy, 
 and her young boy's face reflected the hopeful smile 
 which irradiated hers. The scene faded, and was re- 
 placed by the outlines of the seat among the rocks, 
 with the adjacent grassy mound that enclosed the 
 remains of the lone mother and child ; but, as I 
 gazed, and the traces of the well-known spot as- 
 sumed distinctness, I beheld my sweet Felix in his 
 mother's arms, their countenances still wreathed in 
 smiles ; while close beside them stood a youthful, 
 manly form, which I knew, me thought, at once, for 
 that of Felix Morton, the long-mourned husband. 
 The figure pointed proudly and fondly to his wife 
 and child, and bent his eyes with benignant approval 
 upon myself; then, while the group turned eyes of 
 loving gratitude towards me in tender farewell, they 
 expanded their wings (with which the parents were 
 now furnished in common with their seraph child), 
 
94 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and all throe floated gently away through the air 
 across the sea, and, soaring, were soon lost to view 
 amid the realms of light beyond the sky. 
 
 " Next morning, invigorated and consoled by this 
 beatific vision, I arose with new strength and spirits 
 for my reentrance into the world, and its various 
 duties and pursuits ; and I prepared to set forth with 
 my new associates in quest of fresh adventures. I 
 had not joined them long, however, before I found 
 they were not companions greatly to my taste. The 
 crew were not exactly bad men, but they were self- 
 ish, addicted to low tastes, coarse almost to brutality, 
 and ignorant ; which last word, perhaps, accounts for 
 all their other characteristics. The captain was vain, 
 capricious, weak to a fault, and a glutton ; and the 
 mate, who had headed the party that landed for fresh 
 water on the shore where I had lately sojourned, was 
 a hard, wiry man, with thin white lips, and eyes that 
 never looked any one directly in the face who chanced 
 to address him suddenly. 
 
 11 Let me own that I early felt a prejudice against 
 this man, when I learned that he was the person who 
 had fired the unlucky shot which destroyed my little 
 Felix. But, as I was conscious of my prejudice, I 
 endeavored not to let it sway me unfairly, knowing 
 that the accident was unintentional ; and that, there- 
 fore, neither this, nor the man's mere looks, ought to 
 warrant my entertaining an actual dislike towards 
 him, until I found more substantial reasons in his 
 conduct and actions. 
 
 " Instead of the books, and intelligent conversa- 
 tion, that formed the chief delights of my earliest 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 95 
 
 friends, the shipmates of my first voyage, these pres- 
 ent associates took pleasure i games of hazard, 
 betting, etc., and their usual consequences followed 
 idle habits, frequent bickerings, coarse language, 
 with mutual ill-will and mistrust of each other. I 
 would not condemn the use of harmless pastime for 
 sailors, or banish amusement from among them ; far 
 from it. But let them, if they are wise, choose 
 games of skill rather than of chance, and abjure all 
 betting and laying of wagers, as breeders of discord 
 and vice. I did all I could to dissuade my new 
 acquaintances from continuing their practice, by en- 
 deavoring to introduce what I believed to be more 
 attractive, as well as higher pursuits ; but I soon 
 discovered that it merely caused me to be looked 
 upon as a troublesome meddler, and I accordingly 
 contented myself with declining to join their favorite 
 kind of sports, while I bore, as well as I could, their 
 taunting hints of my being ' a conceited young prig, 
 and a miserly youngster, who wanted to save his 
 money. 7 The faculty of bearing taunts good-humor- 
 edly I have always found to be an excellent means 
 of disarming malice, as well as a good sort of disci- 
 pline for one's own temper. I would have all youths 
 cultivate it in their outset of life, my dear Dick, and 
 also the power of steadily, as well as good-humor- 
 edly, saying 'No/ when asked to join in a pursuit 
 you think dishonorable, or even frivolous. This is a 
 power especially valuable on board a ship, which is 
 a sort of world in miniature, where you have to 
 create a character for yourself among your asso- 
 
96 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ciates, and to teach them to esteem and respect as 
 well as like you. 
 
 " To return to the crew, of which I at this time 
 formed one : They continued their mode of recrea- 
 tion, in which they were unchecked, as unobserved, 
 by their captain, who found his own peculiar diver 
 sion in dressing himself, contemplating himself when 
 dressed, and pampering his appetite to the utmost of 
 the limited extent within his power a seafaring life 
 not affording many opportunities of epicurean indul- 
 gence. All these employments, of course, occupied 
 a great deal of his time, and prevented his having 
 much leisure for making himself acquainted with the 
 pursuits of his men during their hours of relaxation, 
 or for endeavoring profitably to direct their tastes 
 and amusements. 
 
 " One day, but I declare/ ' said Kit, interrupting 
 himself "it is getting late, so we must break oft* our 
 yarn for this evening. Good-night, my dear young 
 friends. " 
 
 " I 'm so sorry we must go ! " said Fanny. " I 'm 
 always fond of the words ' One day ' in a story, 
 and so impatient to listen on ; because then I know 
 there 's something new going to happen." 
 
 " But you shall hear to-morrow what happened 
 ' one day/ my lass/ 7 said the old mariner ; " and so 
 once again, good-night, and be off with you both, 
 without another word ! " 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 97 
 
 CIIAPTEE IY. 
 
 KIT'S THIRD YARN. A PEEP INTO FABLE-LAND. TITTA, THE 
 
 ITALIAN CABIN-BOY ; STEVENS, THE MATE. THE STORM. THE 
 
 DECISION OF THE DICE. THE WRECK. 
 
 " ' ONE day ! ' Well, Kit, 'one day ! ' " exclaimed 
 both the young Swallows, as they flew breathlessly 
 into the old mariner's cottage, early the following 
 evening, "now tell us all about what took place 
 ' one day/ when you had joined your new ship's 
 company. 7 ' 
 
 " Why, 'one day/ when I had been among them 
 about a fortnight/' said Kit, " and had had time to 
 make up my mind a little as to what kind of chaps 
 they were, as I told you last evening, we neared the 
 coast of a country that seemed flourishing and beau- 
 tiful ; and nothing would suit the captain but that 
 one of the crew should go ashore and fetch him some 
 game, and a pine-apple or two for his table. The 
 men were most of them deeply engaged in a game 
 of loo, I think they called it, and the others were a,s 
 anxiously interested about the issue of some wager 
 or other depending on a rat-hunt down in the hold of 
 the vessel ; so that I found it would be acceptable to 
 all parties if I offered to undertake the execution of 
 this commission myself. This suited me exactly; 
 for I felt no objection to a few hours' absence from 
 7 
 
98 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 company so little congenial to me, as well as from 
 my always being ready for anything that promised 
 change and novelty of adventure. 
 
 " On landing, I found I was in the vicinity of a 
 village, that seemed to form one of the suburbs to a 
 large town that lay about a mile and a half distant 
 from the spot where I then was. Mindful of my 
 commission, I looked everywhere about for pines, 
 and pheasants, or partridges. None, however, could 
 I spy, though I looked diligently around. Neat cot- 
 tage gardens, trim orchards, paddocks, and meadows, 
 were there on all sides, much as in England, remind- 
 ing me of my own lovely native village ; and then I 
 recollected that a simple country hamlet would not 
 be so likely to afford the delicacies I sought, as a 
 large town ; so in the direction of the one I perceived 
 in the distance I forthwith determined to proceed. 
 As I walked through the village, I noticed that I 
 met not a single human being, and just as this cir- 
 cilmstance struck me, happening to glance in at a 
 cottage window, I beheld a comely tortoise-shell Cat 
 busily engaged in frying some veal-cutlets that were 
 hissing in a pan on the fire. As I watched her, I 
 was amused to see the gravity and orderly manner in 
 which she pursued her culinary avocations, press- 
 ing the morsels now and then gently with a fork, and 
 shifting them occasionally in the pan, that they 
 might not burn. When they were nearly done to 
 her satisfaction, she drew off the gloves she had 
 worn to preserve her hands from the scorching effects 
 of the fire (which slight circumstance told me at 
 once that she could be no mere common cook), and, 
 
UHI7BESIT7 
 
A SNUG- DINNER. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 99 
 
 tying a neat white apron on, she proceeded to lay the 
 cloth ; and then, drawing an arm-chair to that part of 
 the dinner-table where she had placed the lemon and 
 cayenne by the side of a plate and folded napkin, 
 she quickly dished the cutlets, and, placing them on 
 the table, ran towards a side door that led to a small 
 parlor, and called to some one, saying, ' Dinner 7 s 
 quite ready, captain. 7 This was answered by a voice 
 that said, ' And 1 'm quite ready for dinner, I can 
 assure you, Mrs. Capsicum, my darling ! ; and then 
 in walked an old Goat in faded regimentals, with his 
 gouty legs swathed in flannels. He seemed to me to 
 be a retired half-pay officer, who, having been a rover 
 in his youth, had settled down comfortably and soberly 
 in his old age by marrying his housekeeper ; who ap- 
 peared, indeed, to be quite a domestic animal, and to 
 take excellent care of her lord and master. I left 
 them coseyly seated opposite each other, enjoying 
 their meal, just as he had leaned across the table to 
 chuck her under the chin, while he tossed off a glass 
 of old madeira to her good health, with a playful 
 wink. 
 
 " A little further on, I came to a humble porch 
 with a low plank placed across the door ; and, peep- 
 ing in, I beheld, ranged along the sanded floor, half a 
 dozen dwarf benches, on which were perched rows of 
 tender fledglings, and almost callow nestlings, whoso 
 infant studies were superintended by a grave old 
 Owl, birch-rod in hand, who raised her spectacled eyes 
 from the primer she held in the other, as she glanced 
 towards me, to discover what intruder darkened the 
 doors of her dame-school. 
 
100 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " In a meadow, just on the outskirts of the village, 
 I saw a large party of Grasshoppers enjoying a 
 hearty game of Cricket ; and among them I observed 
 a Bat, who flitted about to and fro, doing great ex- 
 ecution, and taking a remarkably active part in the 
 game. 
 
 " As I hastened on, and entered the town, I over- 
 took a demure-looking Hen, a schoolmistress, mar- 
 shalling her pretty Chickens two by two, as they 
 returned from a rural walk, and gathering them 
 carefully under her protective wings at the least 
 approach of danger. I saw her cast a very anxious 
 and suspicious glance at a Wolf, on the opposite side 
 of the way, walking arm-in-arm with an innocent 
 little Lamb, whom he was luring to destruction, by 
 leading her to a milliner's window, and pointing to a 
 chip bonnet trimmed with orange-blossoms and bridal 
 veil, while he induced her to listen to his false vows. 
 
 " I found I was now in the principal .street of the 
 town, for there was plenty of bustle and some very 
 showy shops ; but not one poulterer's or fruiterer's 
 could I discover, where I could make the purchases 
 I came for. As I stood on the pavement, irresolute 
 what I had best do, a state carriage rolled by, in 
 which sat a sleek and portly Mare, whose gown and 
 chain sufficiently bespoke the principal civil func- 
 tionary ; while, on the seat opposite sat a lively 
 Turtle, entertaining his -friend with rich aldermanic 
 jokes and fat unctuous jests, on their way to the 
 Hall of Justice. 
 
 " Then came by a handsome chariot, in which re- 
 clined a skilful Leech, in a suit of shining black, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 10 J 
 
 with a neatly-powdered wig and a gold-headed cane, 
 as he drove towards the mansion of a graceful Swan, 
 celebrated for her beauty, her stately mien and 
 aristocratic airs, who was one of his best lady-pa- 
 tients. 
 
 " Presently I was jostled, as I stood on the pave- 
 ment, by two friends who passed arrn-in-arm, one of 
 whom, a great Boar, held the other tightly by the 
 button-hole, and insisted upon inflicting an evidently 
 unwelcome long story upon his companion, a Hog, 
 who remained as obstinate as a pig, and only replied 
 by an occasional grunt of disgust, declaring it made 
 him as sulky as a bear to be so badgered. 
 
 " As I had made up my mind, by this time, that I 
 would not return to the ship with my errand unac- 
 complished, I determined to wait where I was until 
 the following morning, in hopes of better success ; 
 and, as it was now past five o'clock, I looked about 
 in search of a hotel where 1 might dine and secure a 
 bed for the night. I perceived a respectable-looking 
 tavern at a little distance, bearing the sign of the 
 1 Hook ; ' and, entering, I found in the hall the land- 
 lord, a grinning Fox, who bowed to the ground as he 
 assured me I could have a well-aired bed, and that a 
 dinner should be prepared for me immediately. He 
 told me he would send a chambermaid to show me to 
 my room ; and, while I awaited her coming, I per- 
 ceived a Cormorant in a small private room on one 
 side of the passage, gorging a profuse dinner, in- 
 cluding 'every delicacy of the season/ all by him- 
 self ; and on the opening of a door opposite I ob- 
 tained a view of the commercial room, where two 
 
102 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 grinning Spoonbills and a Wagtail were enjoying a 
 poor little lark between them, and cutting up a mis- 
 erable snipe that seemed roasted to rags. 
 
 " The chambermaid, a brisk, busy little Bee, now 
 approached, and flitted up stairs before me ; and I 
 had not to wait very long for my dinner, which was 
 served by a smart young Dog of a waiter, who fetched 
 and carried the several dishes to and fro with great 
 fidelity and assiduity. He appeared to be a cross 
 between a terrier and a poodle, though the next 
 morning, when I gave him my parting fee, he mani- 
 fested tokens of being rather of the spaniel breed ; 
 for he fawned upon me prodigiously, and almost licked 
 my hand. When the third course of the dinner was 
 served, however, he proved himself an admirable 
 pointer, as the game came upon table, and through- 
 out the meal was a faithful and attentive guide to 
 the various tit-bits, when I was blind to my own gas- 
 tronomic interests by selecting less excellent morsels 
 than his practised scent enabled him to discover for 
 me. He showed great sagacity upon other points, 
 too ; for, during dessert, meditating how I should 
 pass the evening, I inquired of him what amusements 
 there were in the town, and what theatres were 
 open, when he replied, that, if he were me, he should 
 endeavor to obtain a stall at the opera, as there was 
 an excellent company here now. He was very elo- 
 quent upon this subject, and, indeed, appeared to be 
 quite a musical connoisseur, and well versed in all 
 the opera cabals and theatrical tittle-tattle, for he pro- 
 ceeded to say : ' 0, yes, sir, you must go this even- 
 ing. The celebrated prima donna, the Nightingale, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 103 
 
 appears to-night in her favorite character of Norma. 
 There is also an excellent tenor a fine game-cock 
 who is known under the sobriquet of ' Chanticleer.' 
 He certainly is first-rate ; but he has the defect of 
 being a dreadful intriguer, getting up all sorts of 
 shameful cabals in the theatre ; trying to make the 
 public believe that the Nightingale is as hoarse as a 
 raven, by getting his friend the Puffin, who is the 
 editor of our leading journal, to write all sorts of fibs 
 about her ; and he has even been known to send a 
 flock of Geese into the pit on the nights of her new 
 characters. The fact is, Chanticleer is never satisfied 
 unless he has all his own way in the theatre, and 
 is made perfect cock of the walk. The right of crow- 
 ing over the rest to this extent is disputed with him 
 by the leader of the band, a pert Sparrow, who is 
 never satisfied unless he is playing first fiddle where- 
 ever he is. It is rumored/ pursued my voluble in- 
 formant, ' that the great Star-fish is expected down 
 here shortly, to play a round of all his grandest tragic 
 characters ; but, as they propose giving him the off- 
 nights with the Nightingale (who, in my opinion, is 
 a perfect duck), it is expected that he will decline 
 the offered engagement. There was a foolish Donkey 
 who attempted to draw in comedy, about a month 
 since ; but he only proved himself an ass, and not 
 worth his salary of thistles/ The impudent Dog, my 
 waiter, rattled off all this theatrical scandal and chit- 
 chat with a glib ease that took away my breath ; but 
 he was presently called away by the chambermaid, 
 who rated him for a lazy hound, an idle cur, a con- 
 temptible mongrel, and I know not what offensive 
 
104 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and discourteous names besides. Not feeling much 
 inclination to go and shut myself up in a hot theatre, 
 for it was a lovely evening still, I strolled out for 
 another lounge through the streets, feeling sure of 
 meeting with plenty to amuse me till bed-time. 
 
 " The first thing I saw were three or four old Cats, 
 with baskets and bags hanging on their arms full of 
 worsted-work, tatting and netting, netting and knit- 
 ting needles ; they were evidently going out to a 
 tea-party, a dish of scandal, and a hand at cards. In 
 their company there was a younger one, a playful 
 little Puss, who frisked hither and thither, and 
 seemed immensely to disconcert her aunts, the old 
 tabbies, by her kittenish tricks. Later, I noticed a 
 grave black Tom, their footman, proceeding with a 
 lantern, umbrella, several pairs of pattens and clogs, 
 and a heap of calashes and cloaks, for his mistresses, 
 to fetch them home after their card-party. 
 
 " My attention was attracted to the cab of an old 
 Lion, who was lolling back, driving easily and com- 
 placently, with his eye-glass stuck in one eye ; on 
 the seat beside him I perceived a roll of paper, so 
 that I immediately guessed he was going out to read 
 a new manuscript play to a circle of admiring friends. 
 At the back of the cab swung a spruce young Tiger, 
 in white knee-cords and top-boots. 
 
 " I sauntered on past a cigar-shop, where I beheld 
 three or four foolish young Puppies, among whom I 
 distinguished my impudent Dog of a waiter, smartly 
 dressed, and smoking with the rest ; all evidently 
 flattering themselves that they looked the height of 
 fashion, and the supreme of gentlemanly elegance 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 105 
 
 I also passed a large, well-lighted gaming-house, up 
 the steps of which were flocking a crowd of Gulls, 
 Eooks, Pigeons, and Geese, in company with several 
 Ponies. This was not the only place in the town 
 where I met with Gulls ; on the contrary, they 
 seemed to abound in most of the public thorough- 
 fares. I noticed a group of them in red coats, loiter- 
 ing near a barrack or guard-house, while a few more, 
 in the guise of country clowns, stood gaping and 
 staring at a Kite, who wore the cap and many- 
 colored floating ribands of a recruiting-officer. 
 Others, too, I observed peering earnestly in at a lot- 
 tery-office window, where the prizes were displayed 
 in large figures ; and still larger numbers were lin- 
 gering in the doorway of a railway-share office, where 
 they were joined by a herd of Stags. Out of one 
 of the inns of court I saw a Shark issue forth dressed 
 like a lawyer, and followed by a clerkly Pike, who 
 endeavored to satisfy the numerous complaints of a 
 shoal of client Gudgeons, who glided swiftly in their 
 wake, vainly endeavoring to snatch a few crumbs of 
 comfort about some pending suit. 
 
 " There was a mischievous Monkey goading and 
 worrying a slow Tortoise and an obstinate Mule that 
 he had harnessed together, in order that he might 
 grin and chatter at this ill-assorted pair he was try- 
 ing to drive ; but not one creature of my own race 
 did I perceive throughout my walk that evening. 
 However, although I met no human inhabitant in 
 this country, yet I saw traces which indicated that 
 they were not unknown here ; for, in one of the 
 public squares of the town, I saw some monuments 
 
106 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 which appeared to be raised in honor of individuals 
 of the species, who seemed to be renowned in this 
 land. They were marble statues, placed on pedestals 
 which severally bore the names of Phsedrus, La Fon- 
 taine, Gellert, Lessing, arid m Gay; and it could not 
 be for the beauty of their form that these statues 
 were erected, for among them IP noticed one of a 
 little, crooked, hump-backed fellow, whose pedestal 
 displayed the word ^Esop. 
 
 11 The next morning I rose betimes, determined 
 to pursue my search for the game and pine desired 
 by my captain still more diligently than I had done 
 on the previous evening ; and, despairing of meeting 
 with what I wanted in the town, as it contained 
 neither t>f the shops that sold the articles I wanted, 
 I sallied forth into the country again, only stopping 
 for five minutes to look at a gay wedding party that 
 came trooping out of a church door as I passed. A 
 pair of Turtles came first (the bride all of a flutter), 
 and were followed by a circle of attendant Ring-doves, 
 their relations ; then the happy couple, mated for 
 life, hopped into a travelling carriage with fcur 
 horses, and set off on their wedding tour, that they 
 might enjoy a short flight abroad before they settled 
 down in their new cage, and prepared to build a nest 
 for any young ones with whom they might hereafter 
 be blest. 
 
 " I walked many miles before I discovered what I 
 wanted. At last, about midday, to my great joy I 
 approached a large preserve of game belonging to a 
 fine estate ; and here I doubted not 1 should suc- 
 ceed, as I beheld some glorious pheasants hanging 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 107 
 
 their sleek tails from the branches, and flitting about 
 in great numbers among the trees. I was just pre- 
 paring to secure a brace, when I recollected that I 
 had no right to help myself to these birds without 
 asking leave of their owner ; for, though they were 
 wild creatures originally, they were evidently not so 
 here, but fed and preserved carefully. I walked on 
 towards the great house, which I observed at a little 
 distance, in the hope of meeting some one who could 
 grant me the permission I hoped to gain ; when, on 
 peeping over a park paling, I beheld a gentlemanly 
 Bull, of prepossessing appearance, sauntering along 
 beneath the shady trees at an easy pace, with his 
 hands carelessly folded together behind his back, 
 beneath his coat-tails. He was talking with two 
 friends of his, neighbors ; the one, an Otter, a keen 
 sportsman, and the other, a Beaver, the owner of a 
 fine estate, containing both land and water. I found 
 out these circumstances by their conversation, as 
 well as that the gentlemanly Bull was a large landed 
 . proprietor, and, indeed, master of the house, the park, 
 the preserves, and the whole domain around us. He 
 and his friends were deep in talk about the country, 
 the government, the rights of landlords, the game- 
 laws, &c., and I heard the gentlemanly Bull say, 'I 
 never have stood for the county, and I never wish to 
 be a member of parliament I leave that for Rats 
 and Cameleons ; but I do say this, I will have my 
 game respected, and I never will forgive a poacher. 7 
 " ' Why, now, you know, Squire Bull/ replied the 
 Otter, ' that your low is always worse than your gore ; 
 and as to "never forgiving a poacher/' didn't you let 
 
108 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 that fellow off, the other day, that was found sneaking 
 in your preserves, only because he told some whining 
 excuse about his wife and family starving, which 
 made you order hirn some good broth for them, and 
 some bread and cheese for himself, telling him, with 
 a pretendedly gruff bellow, that they were far fit- 
 ter food for such as he and his than hares and 
 pheasants ? ; 
 
 " ' And when that farmer was brought up before 
 your brother magistrate/ added the Beaver, ' for 
 carrying a gun in the shooting season, and the chap 
 talked some shuffling palaver about its being very 
 hard to have his grain devoured, and his young crops 
 destroyed, did n't you burst out into a loud roar that 
 startled the court, and declare that the man was in 
 the right ? ' 
 
 " The gentlemanly Bull looked down and blushed 
 deeply at these retorts from his friends, whose charges 
 he could not deny, and, with a bashful admission of 
 his weakness, owned that he did not mind giving his 
 game, but that he hated to have it taken. 
 
 " On hearing this, I took courage, and, stepping 
 lightly over the paling, I presented myself before 
 the three country gentlemen, and, making a low 
 obeisance to Squire Bull, I presented my captain's 
 compliments, arid told him what I sought in his 
 name. 
 
 " The gentlemanly animal replied with a benevo- 
 lent courtesy of manner that did not belie his agree- 
 able aspect and bland expression of countenance ; 
 for, desiring I would offer his compliments in return 
 to my captain, he called to a Hind who stood at a 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 109 
 
 little distance, in a countryman's frock, and bid him 
 go with me up to the great house, and see that his 
 orders were executed with regard to my having what 
 game I chose, with a couple of the finest fruit his 
 pinery could afford ; ending all with requesting me 
 to be sure and drink a large mug of home-brewed 
 ale in his kitchen before I left the premises Having 
 enjoyed his good cheer with extra relish for the 
 hearty manner in which it was bestowed, and having 
 drunk the gentlemanly Bull's health, with sincere 
 wishes for his continued prosperity (of which he 
 made such excellent use), and long life to him, I 
 quitted the estate, and made the best of my way to 
 the sea-shore, and on board ship, delighted with my 
 trip, and pleasant peep into what I could conclude 
 to be no other than the far-famed Fable-Land. Con- 
 trary to my expectation, I escaped all reproach from 
 the captain on the score of my delay and night's 
 absence. He was too well satisfied with my success 
 in procuring him the desired delicacies, to grudge 
 the time spent in obtaining them. The ship pro- 
 ceeded on her voyage, and the only circumstance 
 that relieved the disagreeable monotony of my exist- 
 ence among people so repugnant to me as her crew, 
 was a sort of attachment that had sprung up between 
 myself and a poor Italian lad, called Titta, who had 
 been picked up as an extra cabin-boy at Genoa, some 
 weeks since, when the ship was short of hands. 
 
 " It was a feeling of sympathy for his forlorn 
 condition that first awakened this attachment on my 
 part ; for, from his speaking a different language from 
 themselves, the men, who were too brutal to make 
 
110 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 any effort to understand or communicate with one so 
 insignificant in their eyes, either jeered at his ' foreign 
 lingo/ or neglected and despised him altogether. My 
 sympathy was afterwards heightened by indignation, 
 when I found that Titta (which is the abbreviation for 
 Battista, one of the commonest of Italian Christian- 
 names) was the constant object of Stevens' injustice 
 and cruel tyranny. This Stevens (the mate, whom 
 I before mentioned as having excited an early prej- 
 udice in my feelings towards him, by his ill-looking 
 countenance, and by his having occasioned the death 
 of my little Felix) seemed to take a malicious pleas- 
 ure in heaping insult and contumely of all kinds 
 upon young Titta, besides savagely setting him tasks 
 beyond his strength, subjecting him to needless 
 hardships, and exposing him to continued damp and 
 unduly protracted watches. 
 
 " To all these injuries from his tyrant would Titta 
 most frequently submit with patient resignation, and 
 a jspirit of resolute endurance that might have touched 
 a less vindictive villain than Stevens. At other 
 times he would suffer with an air of dogged sullen- 
 riess and dull obedience to the mate's commands, as 
 those of his superior officer, and, as such, to be im- 
 plicitly observed, however unjust or irksome ; but 
 there were moments when this usual bearing of poor 
 Titta' s was exchanged for one of haughty reprisal, 
 and then the Italian lad's dark gleaming eyes would 
 flash with proud disdain, reproach, and even defiance. 
 
 " Such instances, however, were rare, and evi- 
 dently kept so by the ceaseless care and constant ex- 
 ertion of poor Titta himself, who maintained a strong 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. Ill 
 
 guard upon his temper. He would bite his lips 
 till the blood sprung, to repress the escape of a bit- 
 ter expression. I have seen him close his eyes to 
 veil their bright flashes, and imprison the indignant 
 tears, while his pale, sallow cheek would assume an 
 almost livid tint with the effort to check the sobs that 
 swelled his heart to bursting. 
 
 "One night I had an early watch, after which, 
 creeping below with the usual eagerness of a sailor 
 for sleep, secure of being ' as fast as a church ' within 
 two seconds of his head touching his pillow after 
 turning into his hammock, I stumbled over a cabin-boy 
 who lay stretched across some planks below decks, 
 and which only just prevented his lying in a pool of 
 water that saturated the place just there. Perceiving 
 it was Titta, I asked him how he came to sleep in 
 such a damp, unwholesome spot ; when, telling me it 
 was appointed by Stevens as his usual berth, he 
 thanked me, but said he did not much care about it, 
 and only wished that was the worst he had to bear. 
 
 " This drew more expressions of sympathy from 
 me, with questions as to what could be the cause of 
 so much ill-will arid malice on the part of Stevens, 
 and if Titta himself could assign any grounds for the 
 determined enmity he had evidently excited. 
 
 " ' But too well/ replied the cabin-boy, in a hoarse 
 whisper. ' I have observed the kind feeling you 
 have for me and my sufferings, Kit, and have fre- 
 quently desired an opportunity of thanking you for 
 it, and of giving you my confidence in return. No 
 occasion has hitherto offered for speaking to you 
 unheard, and I do not choose any one but my friend 
 
112 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 to be acquainted with my sufferings, and to give me 
 their pity/ continued the Italian, in a proud tone ; ' I 
 cannot stoop to receive commiseration from such 
 men as the rest of our crew but from a kind heart 
 like yours, Kit, it will be a comfort and a joy to me ; 
 so, if you do not mind the damp, and the darkness, 
 and the rats, I don't, they are my bedfellows too 
 often, you can creep down here beside me, where 
 we shall be sure not to be overheard. 7 He then pro- 
 ceeded to tell me his simple history ; how he had lived 
 happily all his days with his mother and his pretty 
 sister Peppina, in a little hut among the hills, not far 
 from Genoa ; that they had never known any trouble 
 but poverty, and had never felt that as long as they 
 could get polenta or risotto enough to eat, until Pep- 
 pina had reached sixteen years of age, when a young 
 goatherd in the neighborhood fell in love with her, 
 and she with him, and that then they all for the first 
 time regretted they were so poor as to prevent any 
 hopes of marriage for the young couple. While 
 things were in this state, and Titta was earnestly de- 
 siring to hit upon some method of making a fortune, 
 that he might give it all to his dear Peppina and her 
 lover, this ship had arrived in the port of Genoa, and, 
 the captain offering the situation of cabin-boy to 
 Titta, he had eagerly closed with the proposal, as the 
 desired means of obtaining money for his darling sis- 
 ter. Meanwhile this sister had been seen by Stevens, 
 and her beauty had made so strong an impression 
 upon him, that he had left no course untried to pre- 
 vail upon her to give up the young goatherd, and 
 accept himself 'The evening before we set sail/ 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 113 
 
 proceeded Titta, and I could hear the gasping agita- 
 tion of his voice through its whispered tones, as he 
 clutched my hand in his feverish grasp, ' that evening 
 I overheard the villain endeavoring to persuade my 
 Peppina to break her faith with her young lover, 
 Gianni, to leave our fond mother and our humble 
 cottage, and to go far away over the sea with him, 
 where he would make her a princess of some beauti- 
 ful island, and deck her in silks and satins, with 
 bright jewels and a golden crown. Peppina knew 
 better than to trust to his white face and black heart ; 
 and she told him firmly that she would not give up 
 those she loved to be made queen of the world. This 
 so exasperated him, that, muttering something about 
 knowing what was for her good better than she did, 
 and carrying her off whether she would or no, the 
 ruffian was just about to throw his arms about her, 
 and lift her from the spot by force, when I stepped 
 forward, and bid him release my sister at his peril, 
 as I had a stiletto, and knew how to use it. He 
 flung her from him with a sneer, muttered a deep 
 curse, and, turning on his heel, left us abruptly, 
 
 " l Eager to carry out my project of earning money, 
 and thinking I was secure of the captain's protection 
 from any ill-usage on the part of this man, should he 
 hereafter resent the course I had taken in this scene, 
 I hesitated not to fulfil my engagement, by sailing in 
 the ship, as cabin-boy, on the following day. But, 
 alas ! I knew not how little reliance is to be placed 
 on a weak master, too supinely devoted to his own 
 luxuries to care whether justice is dealt among his 
 subordinates ; or how ingenious in torture a villain 
 
114 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 can be, who has to resent a by-gone injury inflicted 
 on his victim by himself. By insinuation arid ex- 
 ample, he contrived to inspire his shipmates with 
 contempt and dislike of me ; and, by careful manage- 
 ment, he conveyed enough of distrust and suspicion 
 into the mind of his captain, on my account, to cause 
 him to issue an order that I should be closely 
 searched, and disarmed of my stiletto. After this, 
 Stevens pursued his malignant hatred towards me 
 with impunity ; and I, feeling myself in his power 
 and totally defenceless, ceased to contend with my 
 fate, and endeavored to submit without murmur to 
 what I could not resist. I am too proud to bewail 
 what I cannot repel ; besides, I feel that when I 
 look at him indignantly I recall to him the recollec- 
 tion of my sister, and I would not have even her 
 image come near him, to be sullied and polluted by 
 his contemplation. 7 
 
 " I could hear that my companion ground his teeth 
 fiercely, as he gave utterance to the proud writhings 
 of his wounded heart ; but he added, more softly : ' I 
 have hoarded up all my scanty earnings, Kit, in the 
 hope of one day returning with them to the hut 
 among the hills ; but I have sometimes, of late, 
 thought that I am never destined to see my loved 
 home more ; I have a presentiment that I shall never 
 live to return, and I want you to promise that the 
 task of taking this hard-earned money to the mother 
 and sister to secure whose happiness and pros- 
 perity I would encounter even worse suffering than 
 mine has been shall be yours, your task, for the 
 sake of your poor friend Titta. You will not refuse 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 115 
 
 me, Kit ? You will grant my request will you not, 
 Kit ? ' The poor lad uttered all this in his broken 
 English (which I have repeated in distinct words, 
 that you might the better comprehend, my dear 
 young friends), but with an earnestness of tone, and 
 a vehemence of gesture, which won my assurances 
 of interest and consent. At the same time, I endeav- 
 ored to dissuade him from entertaining any super- 
 stitious doubt of his surviving to execute his own 
 wishes with regard to the money, but told him I 
 hoped to come to see him in Italy, some day, when 
 he was coseyly settled at home, with his mother and 
 sister, in the hut among the hills. He only shook his 
 head with a mournful smile, while he persisted in 
 showing me the small sum which he had secured in 
 the corner of his neck-handkerchief, and of which he 
 made me again promise to take charge, and convey 
 as he desired, in case I should survive him. 
 
 " After I had given him my solemn promise that 
 nothing should prevent my fulfilling his wishes if I 
 had life, we parted for the night ; he with an ap- 
 pearance of greater calm and satisfaction than I ever 
 witnessed in him before, and I filled with compas- 
 sion and sympathy for this hapless youth. These 
 feelings caused me to encounter Stevens, the next 
 morning, with increased disgust and aversion ; but 
 soon all other thoughts gave way to anxiety about 
 the threatened change of weather ; for, towards the 
 afternoon, there was every appearance of a coming 
 storm, and all hands were now aloft to prepare every- 
 thing close-reefed and trim against the expected con- 
 test with the elements. The sun sunk in sullen maj- 
 
116 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 esty, surrounded by angry, lowering, copper-colored 
 heaps and heavy masses of purple vapor, interlaced 
 with green streaks ; whilst across the heavens swept 
 tracks of rose-colored clouds, sinister in their very 
 beauty of tint, and foretelling violent wind. Night 
 closed in with an awful calm, and a pause terrific in 
 its very stillness ; and then, suddenly, the tempest 
 burst forth in all its fury, and raged incessantly for 
 several hours. The billows rose mountain high on 
 every side of us ; the wind howled, and tore among 
 the shrouds and rigging with boisterous force ; the 
 lightning darted its impetuous forked flames ; the 
 thunder rolled its solemn deep-toned wrath ; and in 
 the midst struggled our laboring vessel, the seeming 
 victim of the surrounding elements, and the disputed 
 sacrifice of fire, air, and water. The scene was sub- 
 lime in its awful peril ; and, while my eyes swam, 
 and my ears rung with the confusion of threatening 
 sights and sounds that stunned and bewildered me, 
 yet I was conscious of one added horror on that 
 dreadful night, apart from aught of storm or tem- 
 pest. 
 
 "About mid-watch I was startled by a piercing 
 shriek, that thrilled high above the crash and din of 
 the thunder-peals, and penetrated sharp athwart the 
 keenest whistling of the storm-blast, claiming atten- 
 tion by its shrill appeal of human agony. I made my 
 way in the direction of the yell, but could perceive 
 nothing in the dense obscurity which then shrouded- 
 every object. Suddenly a vivid flash of lightning 
 revealed to me the figure of Stevens, standing alone, 
 trembling from head to foot, his face and lips of a 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 117 
 
 livid pallor that glared a ghastly spot of white in 
 the dark space around, while his eyes seemed start- 
 ing from their sockets, as they remained fixed on the 
 foaming waters, boiling and surging beyond the 
 ship's stern. 
 
 " Here his gaze seemed to be riveted, without any 
 power of his to withdraw it ; for, after having ac- 
 costed him, asking whether he had called, if he had 
 heard aught, or wanted help, a second flash again 
 gave him to my view in precisely the same attitude, 
 while he answered shortly that he had heard nothing, 
 wanted nothing, and bade me roughly begone and 
 not stand there watching him, waving me back with 
 his arm, at the same time that his head and eyes 
 maintained the same position, and remained unswerv- 
 ingly fixed in the exact direction I had first beheld 
 them. I shrunk back, appalled, for the man looked 
 like one spell-bound, and under the influence of some 
 terror stronger than any arising from the storm and 
 its perils. The whole of that dreadful night I kept 
 fearful watch, alternately contemplating the tempest 
 and musing on the strange trance of terror in which 
 I had found Stevens. As morning dawned the tem- 
 pest abated, and the captain, with some negligent 
 commendation of my exertions and active conduct 
 during the past night, dismissed me to my hammock, 
 where I slept some hours profoundly. When I 
 awoke, and rose to my usual avocations, I was sur- 
 prised to see Titta nowhere about, neither below, 
 nor on deck, nor among the shrouds, nor, in short, 
 in any part of the ship. I asked one of the men (who 
 was somewhat less brutal than the rest) where the 
 
118 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 boy was ; and he answered that he feared he had 
 been swept overboard in the storm during the night, 
 for that none of them had seen anything of him 
 since the previous evening. ' Poor lad ! ' added the 
 fellow, with the remorse which too often seizes ob- 
 tuse people only when too late, ' I am sorry now I 
 evar jeered him ; and made game of his being a 
 ? Talian for he could ri't help that, you know! I 
 wish I hadn't teased him, now that he 's drownded, 
 poor lad ! 7 
 
 " That night, it so happened that it was this same 
 man's turn to keep the mid-watch ; and, as he was 
 ill, and I felt pleased with his expression of regret 
 for poor Titta, I offered to serve the watch in his 
 stead. 
 
 " The weather was now clear and calm over head, 
 though the sea still rolled with the heavy swell which 
 always continues some time after the turbulent com- 
 motion of a storm ; and, as I gazed into the dark-blue 
 canopy of heaven, I offered heartfelt devotion and 
 thanksgiving for my preservation through the late 
 tempest. 
 
 "As my thoughts thus ascended skyward, they 
 were recalled abruptly by a singular hissing noise, 
 that sounded directly astern. I crept softly towards 
 the spot, and there beheld Stevens in the same rigid 
 attitude of terror as I had seen him last njght about 
 the same hour. His eyes were still fixed with a 
 stricken stare upon the tumbling billows that rolled 
 in the wake of our ship ; and his colorless cheeks 
 and quivering bloodless lips still shaped the hideous 
 patch of white in the centre of sombre midnight. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 119 
 
 My quiet approach, and my being screened from his 
 view by standing somewhat apart, caused my pres- 
 ence to be unperceived by him ; and I could not help 
 remaining rooted to the spot in a sort of fascination 
 of horror, to observe this spell-bound man. There 
 was a sort of faint, singular gleam that seemed to 
 proceed from the spot upon which his gaze was 
 riveted, and which shed a dim reflection upon the 
 brow of the figure before me, so that I was able to 
 see him distinctly. I could perceive that his con- 
 vulsed lips were flecked with foam, and that they 
 could not repress his agitated breathings, which ex- 
 haled in a series of lingering, gasping, hissing utter- 
 ances, which seemed as if they were impelled forth 
 by a power not his own, and occasionally seemed 
 almost to form themselves into incoherent and invol- 
 untary words. ' Thy sister ! So, Titta, so ! ' were 
 the first intelligible sounds I distinguished ; then 
 followed : ' that blackened throat witnesses against 
 me ! 7 while the muttered sentences hissed forth in 
 the articulation of the rattlesnake. His hands 
 clenched, his eyes strained eagerly, his form writhing 
 and dilating, as ' So, Titta, so ! 7 again hissed from 
 his frothed lips, and he looked more like a serpent 
 than a human being. I recoiled in horror ; but the 
 next moment I perceived his limbs relax, his staring 
 eyes close, his lips become mute ; and, as the sin- 
 gular gleam (for it could scarcely be called light) 
 faded into darkness, I beheld him stagger along the 
 deck, retreat towards his own cabin, and I saw him 
 no more that night. 
 
 " The horror of this scene, and the circumstances 
 
120 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 of its repetition, haunted me fearfully through that 
 night and the next day; and I resolved to change 
 watches with the man who had the coming midnight 
 oae, in order that I might have an opportunity of 
 observing Stevens again. A frightful surmise, that 
 had crossed my mind when I first heard of poor 
 Titta's disappearance, had recurred more forcibly 
 since, and was now gaining the strength of convic- 
 tion. As the mid-watch came on, I perceived that 
 Stevens was on deck also, walking about in a con- 
 strained manner, and as if acting under involuntary 
 impulse. I purposely kept my station not far from 
 the stern of the vessel, and this circumstance seemed 
 to annoy and perplex him not a little. He seemed 
 to be afraid of expressing openly his desire that I 
 should avoid that vicinity, but he spared no efforts 
 to draw me away by stratagem more towards the 
 bow of the ship. As the time crept on, he grew 
 evidently more and more uneasy, and even con- 
 descended to assume a familiar and almost friendly 
 tone of conversation, in the hope of diverting my 
 attention, and withdrawing me from the fatal spot. 
 At length he feigned to remember something that 
 wanted attending to or doing at the head of the 
 ship, and despatched me to look to it immediately. 
 I went forward, but came back in a few seconds, as 
 I knew that it must be just upon midnight. I shall 
 never forget the black scowl with which he saw me 
 return to his side again. I beheld it by the reflection 
 of the faint gleam astern, which shone forth just as 
 he seemed about to make some angry exclamation ; 
 when, instead of uttering it, his figure became sud- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 121 
 
 denly struck into rigidity, and assumed the attitude 
 of intense horror, in which I had seen it twice pre- 
 viously. His foaming lips again hissed forth their 
 terrible sounds ; his eyeballs once more started from 
 their sockets in that riveted gaze ; but, though he 
 was powerless to avert his looks, he seemed to be 
 conscious of my presence, and waved his arms in 
 furious token to me to be gone. But I was deter- 
 mined to abide by my purpose, and I nerved myself 
 to watch steadily through the whole time that this 
 strange spell should endure. It held the stricken., 
 wretch for about the space of a quarter of an hour, 
 during which period I saw and heard enough to con- 
 vince me that I had done him no injustice in believ- 
 ing him to be the murderer of poor Titta ; but, when 
 the trance ceased, and his limbs relaxed, and he was 
 able to control his strained vision, the first use he 
 made of his restored powers was to spring upon me, 
 with mingled reproaches and threats. I shook off 
 the reptile, for I was stronger as well as younger 
 than he, and the baffled miscreant shrunk away, mut- 
 tering curses and vows of vengeance. 
 
 " The next morning, as I was casting about in my 
 mind how best to state my accusation of the mur- 
 derer to my captain, I was summoned to his pres- 
 ence to attend a charge of murder which was alleged 
 against myself. I learned that Stevens had been 
 beforehand with me ; finding that I had discovered 
 his foul secret, and that I should probably not be 
 long in revealing it, and publicly accusing him of 
 the fatal deed, he determined to have the advantage 
 of precedence, and throw discredit on the tale I 
 
122 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 should relate of him, by previously staining my own 
 reputation. 
 
 " I found that he had ingeniously contrived to 
 throw suspicion on the circumstance of a body hav- 
 ing been found in the grave opened for the reception 
 of my little Felix's remains. He declared that he 
 believed the buried female who was discovered there 
 to have been the victim of my cruelty, and to have 
 fallen by my hand ; and such was the vehemence 
 with which he declared that, since this conviction 
 .had struck him, nothing should prevail upon him to 
 consort further with a murderer, and that therefore 
 he demanded my immediate imprisonment, until I 
 could be tried at the first civilized country we arrived 
 at, that it was not very long before he succeeded in 
 bringing many of the crew round to his opinion, 
 and several loudly declared that, for their parts, they 
 did not like consorting with a murderer either. 
 
 " The captain, in his weak, inconclusive way, now 
 declared that it was really very shocking, and that 
 he positively could not tell what to think. 
 
 11 ' What is very shocking ? ' asked I, indignantly ; 
 ' nothing has been proved against me yet. Is it very 
 likely that, if I had murdered a woman, I should lead 
 strangers to her ^ery grave, and bid them dig it 
 open ? ' 
 
 " Stevens here reminded them that I was in such 
 a state of grief at the time when I lost my little 
 Felix, that I probably had not reflected on the con- 
 sequences of anything I then did. This allusion to 
 my winged darling, together with the consciousness 
 that it was to this very wretch hiirself that I owed 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 123 
 
 his destruction, joined to the abhorrence I felt for his 
 recent deeds and present treachery, inspired me 
 with such rage and loathing, that I hastily retorted 
 his charge, arid accused him of having murdered the 
 cabin-boy, Titta. An accusation thus rashly and 
 abruptly made of course brought with it rather the 
 appearance of retaliation than an honest detestation 
 of crime ; and looked more like a desire of revenge, 
 and a mean attempt to screen myself by attaching 
 blame to another, than a simple disclosure of truth. 
 I soon read the mischief I had done to my own 
 cause in the countenances of those around me ; and 
 it is not the only time in my life, my dear young 
 friends, that I have observed how fatally a rash 
 word, an impetuous action, or an ill-advised step, 
 may injure a righteous cause. It is well, therefore, 
 in emergencies of vital importance, to keep strict 
 watch upon the temper, and hold the judgment cool 
 and prepared. 
 
 "Had I acted with more moderation and wisdom 
 on the present occasion, it might have been better 
 for me ; as it was, I found the men had not only made 
 up their minds that my accusation of Stevens was a 
 mere false subterfuge, but that they were making a 
 halfjesting proposal to the captain that the question 
 of my guilt or innocence should be. decided by throws 
 of the dice, as it was impossible now to return to the 
 shore we had so long quitted, to collect proofs of the 
 murder with which I stood charged. 
 
 " ' Certainly not ; it is out of the question to re- 
 trace our way/ said the captain ; ' that would be sad 
 loss of time indeed ; ; and with those words he dis- 
 
124 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 missed the reconsideration of the cause until another 
 day, as he declared himself quite tired, and worn to 
 death with so much talking. 
 
 " I found myself now, however, an object of 
 marked avoidance and detestation to my shipmates ; 
 and the proposal which had originated jestingly was 
 soon resumed and debated in earnest. There was a 
 sort of novelty and excitement in the idea which 
 possessed a certain charm for their betting souls ; 
 and, unable to withstand the temptation of a game 
 where the stake involved a fellow-creature's freedom 
 or condemnation, nay, his very existence, they were 
 not long in coming to a decision ; and, as it was now 
 near noon, they made preparation for throwing the 
 dice at midday. 
 
 " I vainly entreated them to wait till night, when 
 they should have an opportunity of beholding confirm- 
 ation of my words ; but they jeeringly replied they 
 would decide my fate first, and they would attend to 
 the matter of Stevens 7 alleged misdeeds afterwards. 
 I glanced towards the mate as I uttered this allusion 
 to the appalling vision in which his remorse held 
 him nightly spell-bound ; but he stood with his arms 
 folded and his head bent, silently watching the ar- 
 rangements the men were making for casting the 
 dice; and it was only by a slight shudder, and a 
 paling of the lip, that I discovered he had noticed 
 what I said. It was a horrible mockery that was 
 enacted in the full blaze of that noontide sun ! The 
 men stood round the board on which the dice were 
 successively cast, their countenances agitated by 
 bad passions, and absolutely void of one feeling of 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 125 
 
 compunction for the deed they were about to perpe- 
 trate, or for the victim who was its object. I gazed 
 vacantly on the scene, unable to gather the results 
 of their play, for I knew not so much as what throws, 
 or combinations of throws, had been agreed upon to 
 decide my fate ; when, just as a loud, brutal huzza 
 from the men, and a glance of malignant triumph 
 from the white face of Stevens, had informed me of 
 my doom, a tremendous shock was felt on board, so 
 violent as to cast most of the crew prostrate, and a 
 few minutes more sufficed to show that the ship had 
 struck upon a rock, and was going to pieces. 
 
 " But/ 7 said Kit, interrupting himself, " it is time 
 to leave off; so good-night, and good-by ! " 
 
 " Good-by, dear Kit/ 7 echoed both his young 
 listeners, with the deep-drawn sigh which showed 
 they had been unconsciously holding their breath in 
 profound attention ; " good-night, and good-by ! " 
 
126 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SEQUEL OF THE WRECK. UBERTO AND BIONDELLO. THE LIT- 
 TLE BARBER. KING IMBECILIO, PRINCESS EUDORA, AND LORD 
 
 IGNORIO. BARON FEROCCIO, AND THE LADY ELLENA. 
 
 " WELL, Kit, what happened when the ship struck 
 upon the rock, and went to pieces ? " asked Dick, 
 the next evening. 
 
 " And how did you escape from the wreck ? " 
 added his sister. 
 
 " Immediately the nature of the disaster was as- 
 certained," replied Kit, " for the crew had been so 
 deeply engaged in their wicked pursuit that they 
 had not kept a strict look-out enough to be aware of 
 the rocks that lay ahead, and on which our ship 
 struck with such fatal force, all hands were in requi- 
 sition to provide for their safety ; but, with the usual 
 brutal selfishness which uniformly characterizes an 
 inveterate gamester, they one and all devoted their 
 efforts solely to securing their own individual rescue, 
 losing sight of the general good, and forgetful that, 
 in neglecting the salvation of the whole, they might 
 probably involve their own risk of ultimate peril 
 and loss. 
 
 " And thus it proved ; for, being at some distance 
 from land, and the ship splitting and sinking more 
 rapidly than could have been believed, they all en- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 127 
 
 deavored to seize the boats, and, crowding into them 
 rashly as fast as they could, many were drowned in 
 the very outset, and boat after boat was sunk arid 
 lost, with the weight of the numbers that Overloaded 
 them. The last that survived was the long-boat ; but 
 as I swam rapidly towards it, in the hope of being 
 taken up, I beheld the white face of Stevens glaring 
 upon me, as he leaned forward, and hit me a smart 
 blow on the hand (which I had placed on the side of 
 the boat) with a cutlass ; and I had hardly darted 
 back with the pain of the wound, and a bitter feeling 
 of despair, when I beheld the boat drawn towards 
 the fast-sinking ship ; and I had scarcely time to exert 
 my utmost strength to swim beyond the whelming 
 circle, when I beheld both ship and boat sucked into 
 the dreadful vortex, and plunged beneath the abyss 
 of waters. 
 
 "I struggled hard for my deliverance, and toiled 
 with all my might to gain the land, which seemed to 
 elude all my efforts to reach it, and to recede in 
 proportion as I advanced. Spent and exhausted, I 
 did just contrive to make my way as far as the shal- 
 low water, through which I crawled wadingly, and 
 then sunk down on the sands at the very brink, in- 
 sensible. 
 
 "The first thing of which I felt conscious, on re- 
 turning to life, was being drawn from my perilous 
 situation, and placed gently on the higher and drier 
 part of the sand ; and then of a sweet voice, which 
 said, ' 0, no, dear Uberto, he is not dead ; he must 
 not die. Raise his head a little on to your knee ; there 
 see, he opens his eyes ! ' 
 
128 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 "I looked towards the gentle speaker, and saw a 
 youth bending over me with soft, kind eyes, in which 
 I read anxiety for my recovery, and tender goodness 
 of nature mingled with bright intelligence. 
 
 " 'His hand is badly wounded/ said the person 
 who was supporting my head, as he raised the right 
 wrist carefully, to examine the cut cruelly inflicted 
 by Stevens, but which was, in fact, the means of my 
 preservation. I perceived that the last person who 
 spoke was a somewhat elder, taller, and more robust 
 youth than the one I had first beheld ; but while I 
 gazed his features swam indistinctly before me, I 
 felt faint, and closed my eyes again. 
 
 " I was not perfectly insensible, though, for I heard 
 the sweet voice of the first youth utter a sorrowing 
 exclamation ; and then I heard the other reply, ' I 
 will lift him into the shadow of those bushes, out of 
 the sun ; and if you will stay and watch by the poor 
 fellow, Biondello, I will run home for a cordial for 
 him, which I hope will give him strength enough, 
 with my assistance, to reach the cottage/ 
 
 "'Do so, dear Uberto/ answered the soft voice, 
 ' and I will take care of him meanwhile/ 
 
 " The elder youth, having effected his purpose of 
 placing me in the shade, ran off at a quick pace, and 
 left me alone with the one whom he had called Bion- 
 dello, and who immediately set about binding my 
 wounded hand with his handkerchief, which he tore 
 into strips for the purpose, and applied with a light- 
 ness and delicacy of touch that a surgeon might 
 have envied. The relief from pain which this dress- 
 ing afforded me, and the refreshment of the cool, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 129 
 
 shady nook, caused me to revive ; and it was not 
 long before I was able to sit up and tender my ac- 
 knowledgments to my young protector, for his share 
 in my rescue from the waves, and for the relief his 
 gentle care had since afforded me. 
 
 " He received my thanks with modest grace, and 
 yet with a noble air that well became his beautiful 
 features and high-bred appearance ; his look and car- 
 riage were equally gracious arid dignified, and I no- 
 ticed that he wore a velvet riding-suit, rich, though 
 of a dark, sober hue, and simple fashion. 
 
 "Presently there was the sound of approaching 
 footsteps, and the voices of people in apparent quest 
 of some one. Biondello started up, and, after listen- 
 ing for an instant, he said rapidly to himself, ' They 
 seek me ; they must not find him, or meet Uberto ; ' 
 then hurriedly addressing me, the youth added, 
 ' Stranger, you will remain here ; Uberto will soon 
 return, and lead you where you can have shelter and 
 refreshment. Farewell ! we may meet again ; but, 
 meanwhile, silence and discretion ! ? 
 
 " He placed his finger on his lips with a sweet, 
 serious expression, and, waving his hand in graceful 
 adieu, he glided away to meet those who approached, 
 and seemed to lead them back the way they came ; 
 for I soon heard the receding steps of the whole 
 party, while I merely caught the words, 'Alone! 
 unattended ! wandering by the sea-shore ! these soli- 
 tary rambles cause me great uneasiness, lest your 
 highness should meet with any . 7 Here the voice 
 died away, and I heard no more until I was roused 
 by Uberto, who hurried towards me with the cordial, 
 9 
 
130 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 raised me from the reclining posture into which I 
 had again sunk on the departure of Biondello ; and 
 when I was sufficiently restored to be able to walk, 
 conducted me towards his dwelling, and bade me 
 welcome with a courtesy and good breeding that 
 savored of a higher station than the one indicated by 
 his attire, which was that of a shepherd. 
 
 "After he had set food before me, and congratu- 
 lated me on my escape, waiving the thanks I ear- 
 nestly proffered, with a hearty, good-humored warmth 
 of manner, and a frank assurance that he had only 
 aided his friend Biondello to save me from the waves, 
 and draw me ashore, he begged I would lie down 
 and rest myself for an hour or two, while he went to 
 look after his flock, which he had somewhat neglect- 
 ed that morning while enjoying a ramble on the sea- 
 shore. 
 
 " He pointed to a large wooden settle that stretched 
 across one side of the table towards the hearth ; and. 
 opening the door of the apartment which led imme- 
 diately into the porch, he quitted the cottage with 
 a friendly nod and an easy freedom of mariner that 
 made me feel at home at once, and as if I had 
 known him for eighteen years, at least, that is to 
 say, all our life ; for our respective ages each ap- 
 peared to comprehend little more than that period 
 of time. 
 
 " When he left me, however, I was by no means 
 inclined to sleep ; my frame was too well inured to 
 hardships not to be almost restored to its usual vigor 
 by the refreshment and aid I had already received ; 
 and my mind was too busy revolving the circum- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 131 
 
 stances that had recently befallen me, in the new 
 acquaintance I had made with the two youths, to 
 permit any indulgence in slumber before night should 
 come on. 
 
 "The afternoon sun streamed through the flaunt- 
 ing branches of roses and jasmine that embowered 
 the cottage casement, and showed me the room that 
 I was in to be no more like the abode of a simple 
 shepherd, than the bearing of the youth himself 
 assorted with the lowly calling which his dress be- 
 spoke. The apartment, though humble in the ex- 
 treme, looked far more like the closet of a student 
 than the interior of a shepherd's hut ; for around the 
 walls on all sides were shelves closely packed with 
 books, books, and books of all shapes and dimensions, 
 from the thin, tall folio to the compact duodecimo ; 
 from the portly quarto to the medium octavo. They 
 were ranged in various groups, from the historic mag- 
 nificence of twelve, the biographic importance of 
 four, the romantic interest of three, down to the 
 precious single volume, ^with its quaint lore and con- 
 densation of wisdom compressed into its few odd 
 pages. But, through all this profuse company of 
 books, there was not one fine coat among them ; 
 their bindings were all homely, even unto shabbi- 
 ness, though they looked worn with loving use, 
 and not injured by slovenry or neglect. Besides the 
 one on which my repast had been served, there was 
 another table, spread high and wide with more books, 
 and which also bore materials for writing. Even on 
 the settle beside me were strewed one or two books, 
 
132 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 which, on examination, I knew enough to be aware 
 were Greek and Latin classic poets. 
 
 " In my eagerness to learn more of this shepherd- 
 philosopher, I rose, and, strolling through the cottage 
 porch, all fragrant with the flowery bloom that dis- 
 tilled its sweets, as it crept around door and win- 
 dow in rich profusion, I issued forth into the open . 
 air, and made my way across some meadows, in the 
 direction I had seen taken by my host when seeking 
 his flock. I found myself in a lovely, peaceful 
 valley, undisturbed by sight or sound but those of 
 Nature in her serenest aspect of beauty ; and, 
 directed by the tinkle of a distant sheep-bell, I wan- 
 dered on till I came to a grassy plain on the slope of 
 a hill, where lay scattered the fleecy treasure of my 
 host, cropping their evening meal beneath his watch- 
 ful care ; for he sat at a little distance, under a shady 
 tree, enjoying a book, while his sheep enjoyed their 
 meal, and his lambs their frisking, sportive game of 
 play. 
 
 " He rose to meet me when he observed my ap- 
 proach, and, closing his book, said he was glad to 
 find I was sufficiently recovered to be able to take so 
 long a walk. I replied by telling him of my admira- 
 tion of his cottage-study, arid of my longing to know 
 more of its master. 
 
 " He smiled, and said my surprise at finding so 
 many books in the possession of a poor scholar would 
 cease when he informed me that they had been the 
 gift of his uncle Erudito, of whose vast library they 
 formed but a slight portion. That his venerable 
 relation had spent one period of his life in that cot- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINKK. 133 
 
 tage, during which he had taken great pleasure in 
 forming the mind of Uberto, and of infusing into his 
 nephew's spirit the same earnest love of knowledge 
 that inspired his own, he himself being one of the 
 most celebrated scholars in the country. That he 
 had for the last three years gone to reside at a lone 
 and romantic house he possessed among the moun- 
 tains inland, where he could pursue his favorite study 
 that of the stars ; giving the books and the cot- 
 tage to Uberto, as his parting token of love and 
 fatherly regard. ' The flock, my sole parental in- 
 heritance, supplies all my wants/ said Uberto, in 
 conclusion, ' and as long as I can enjoy my peace- 
 ful shepherd-life out-of-doors, and my treasury of 
 books in-doors, my utmost desires of wealth are ful- 
 filled/ 
 
 "Then collecting his flock, and wending home- 
 wards, he spoke of Biondello, and asked me how it 
 was that he had left me before he himself could 
 return. I told him how Biondello had been sought 
 by some people whom I had not seen, and I was 
 about to add what I had overheard, when Biondello 7 s 
 last words, ' meanwhile, silence, and discretion ! ' 
 echoed in my ears their soft tones, and I checked 
 myself. 
 
 "Uberto, however, replied: 'I hardly wonder 
 at his having quitted you abruptly. Though I have 
 known Biondello myself a long time, and in some 
 respects intimately, yet there has always been some- 
 thing about him that I could not precisely fathom 
 a sort of mystery connected with him that I could 
 not discover ; but, indeed, I have never greatly cared, 
 
134 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 or muck sought to know what this mystery might be, 
 but have contented myself with enjoying the pleasure 
 of his society on his own terms, without seeking to 
 inquire into what he evidently withholds. Any allu- 
 sion to his birth or station, or what he is at all beyond 
 the engaging youth I know and see, appears to dis- 
 tress and vex him ; and I care not to trouble our calm . 
 and pleasant intercourse by any unseasonable ques- 
 tions. It is now more than two years since I first 
 beheld him, and the action in which I found him 
 engaged led me to love him as soon as I saw him. 
 Our friendship begun from that moment, and has 
 continued ever since. 7 
 
 " ' What were the circumstances under which you 
 first beheld him ? ' asked I ; ' if I may indulge more 
 curiosity than you have permitted yourself to exer- 
 cise with regard to this interesting Biondello/ I 
 added, with a smile. 
 
 " ' There is a small brook, crossed by a plank and 
 handrail, close to our cottage/ replied Uberto. ' One 
 morning, on approaching this spot, I beheld a youth 
 leading carefully my poor blind Martha (the old 
 woman who keeps my humble home in order for me), 
 who, it seems, had missed her footing in crossing the 
 frail bridge I mentioned, had fallen into the brook, 
 and had been rescued thence by the youthful 
 stranger, who was now soothing 'her with his gentle 
 voice, and tenderly supporting her homewards. The 
 youth (who you will guess was no other than Bion- 
 dello) continued to press her to lean upon him, 
 though his slight figure seemed to afford but a slen- 
 der hope of much strength, and utterly regardless 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 135 
 
 of his rich hunting-suit, which might be soiled in the 
 muddy contact of the old woman's dripping clothes. 
 This humanity and freedom from selfish fastidious- 
 ness (too rare among the class to which his dress be- 
 spoke him to belong) prepossessed me at once in his 
 favor. I addressed him with thanks for his care of 
 rnyj>oor old dame, relieved him from her burden, and 
 we proceeded towards my cottage together ; for I 
 then learned that he had originally been coming 
 thither, when he met with the adventure of the blind 
 woman. He told me that he had a great thirst for 
 knowledge, with little 0r no means of acquiring any ; 
 that his mother had early inspired him with a vene- 
 ration for learning, and had bid him seek it with un- 
 swerving diligence when she should be no more ; that 
 she had often spoken to him of the profound wisdom 
 and philosophic lore of my venerable uncle Erudito, 
 and had desired him to spare no entreaties to obtain 
 his friendship and secure his instruction ; that, ac- 
 cordingly, since the death of his mother, he had 
 never ceased desiring to carry out her wishes ; and 
 that now, when he had somewhat recovered the shock 
 of his bereavement, he had hastened hither, in obe- 
 dience to her solemn injunctions. 
 
 11 ' He appeared struck with dismay when I informed 
 him of the departure of my uncle. He gazed mourn- 
 fully round upon the books, as if deploring this sud- 
 cleri bar to his hope of becoming acquainted with their 
 contents; and he looked so touching in his innocent 
 sadness, as he sat with clasped hands and tearful 
 eyes, that I bade him take courage, and said that if 
 he liked I would help him in his difficulty. 
 
136 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ti < ' 
 
 r You ? ' said he, with his sweet voice, for you 
 may have noticed that Biondello has a remarkably 
 sweet voice, as he looked up in my face with blush- 
 ing eagerness and renewed hope. 
 
 " ' I will : I shall not make you so good a master, 
 to be sure, as my clever uncle ; but he has kindly 
 taught me a good deal, and, if you like, I will teach 
 it to you again, and we can, at any rate, go on until 
 you know as much as I do. Thus, then, our acquaint- 
 ance began, and thus was our friendship established 
 as master and pupil/ continued Uberto ; ' Biondello 
 comes to my cottage as often as he pleases for his 
 lessons, which most frequently take place in the little 
 study, but occasionally we carry our books into the 
 open air, sometimes sitting under a tree in the vicinity 
 of the flock, and sometimes wandering along the sea- 
 shore, as we fortunately did this morning, when we 
 discovered you on the sands. But, though I cannot 
 help fancying, from Biondello's manners, appearance, 
 and dress (for the dark hunting-dress he invariably 
 wears seems to be costly, though simple), that he is 
 of high rank and birth, yet he always comes alone 
 and unattended, as if he dreaded observation ; and I 
 have noticed that after our lessons, when I offer to 
 walk with him part of the way 0:1 his road home, he 
 never permits me to accompany him beyond a certain 
 point, but always insists on my returning when we 
 have reached the farthest verge of the little wood 
 which lies between this valley and the city, where I 
 imagine is his abode. I know little of the great city, 
 seldom having occasion to quit this peaceful valley, 
 which contains all I desire upon earth ; and less 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 137 
 
 of the court which holds its state there ; for, even if 
 my inclination led me to seek its glittering wonders, 
 my humble station would preclude any hope of gain- 
 ing admission to behold them. But sometimes I have 
 imagined that my friend Biondello is no other than 
 the heir of Lord Ignorio, the prime minister, who I 
 have heard has a son of that name ; and, from all I 
 have ever heard of the father, he is the very man to 
 render it necessary for a child of his to seek knowl- 
 edge (if he have any thirst for it) with secrecy and 
 mystery. However, if such be the enigma of my 
 friend's incognito, I do not care to master its solu- 
 tion while it is his whim to preserve it intact/ 
 
 " We had by this time reached the cottage, and 
 evening closing in, after a frugal but pleasant meal, 
 rendered doubly so by my host's conversation and 
 hearty manners, he showed me to the room formerly 
 occupied by his uncle as a bed-chamber, and left me 
 to enjoy a sound night's rest, which I did, undisturbed 
 by one of the many reflections and cogitations that 
 had doubtless frequently employed the brain of its 
 former learned occupant. Next morning Uberto, 
 playfully remarking that his solitary humor ought 
 to be no guide for me, a stranger, who would doubt- 
 less like to see some of the lions of the neighboring 
 metropolis, strongly advised my paying a visit to the 
 great city beyond the wood, telling me I might bring 
 home an account of all the wonders I had seen, to 
 amuse him after his morning ramble with his sheep. 
 Accordingly, soon after breakfast, I set forth, and 
 entered the city long before mid-day. I found it like 
 most other large cities I have ever seen, with grand 
 
 '''~^fe s 
 
 
 
138 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 streets and grand shops, plenty of wealth and plenty 
 of squalor, large lofty houses and poor lowly dwell- 
 ings, luxurious carriages mingling with heavy-laden 
 carts, and easy opulence everywhere neighbored by 
 bustling commerce, laboring poverty, or needy beg- 
 gary. 
 
 " I stopped for a moment to look into a jeweller's 
 shop, my eye being caught by the dazzling heaps dis- 
 played in the window ; and then I passed on to the 
 next, a bookseller's, thinking, at the moment, that, if 
 I had money, how much more welcome a present I 
 could carry home to Uberto from the second shop 
 than the first, when a little dapper man, a barber, 
 who had been observing me, stepped across the street, 
 and pointing back to his shop on the other side of the 
 way, asked me if I would not like to be shaved. 
 
 " I put my hand to my smooth chin, which, it must 
 be owned, advanced but small claims, as yet, to his 
 services, and looked him smilingly in the face, shak- 
 ing my head expressively, as a sufficient answer. 
 But, nowise abashed, he smirked, and bowed, and 
 said, 
 
 " ' But your hair, sir ; perhaps you would like to 
 have it cut ? Its luxuriant growth would be improved 
 by a little trimming, I venture to think, and may, 
 perhaps, suggest 
 
 11 While he was obsequiously uttering this speech, 
 it occurred to me that a rest in his barber's chair 
 would not be unwelcome to me after my sauntering 
 walk through the town, and that I niight possibly 
 pick up some amusing intelligence the while from 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 139 
 
 this polite little man, whose calling proverbially in 
 eluded that of a newsmonger. 
 
 " I accordingly suffered him to lead me across the 
 way, to his shop ; and he had no sooner commenced 
 operations on my head, than I began to question hirn 
 a little concerning the current talk of the . town, the 
 state of politics there, the court gossip, and whether 
 he knew anything of the Lord Ignorio. 
 
 " ' His right honorable lordship, the prime minis- 
 ter? To be sure I do/ replied the little man, con- 
 sequentially ; ' his lordship is my excellent good 
 friend and constant patron. I have not only his own 
 right honorable beard under my hands every morn- 
 ing, but I have the honor of dressing his daughter 
 the Lady Ellena's lovely curls, and his son Count 
 Biondello's hair, with the prospect of the future 
 culture of the latter's moustachios and whiskers, 
 when Heaven shall, in its own good time, invest the 
 youth with these insignia of manhood. Indeed, it is 
 not from any want of zeal on the part of my right 
 honorable patron, Lord Ignorio, that I have not the 
 beard and hair of majesty itself under my jurisdic- 
 tion ; but the fact is/ and here the little barber 
 dropped his voice to a confidential whisper, ' the 
 fact is, there is much, very much, my dear sir, to be 
 understood in these matters that does not appear on 
 the surface, wheel within wheel, my dear sir ; 
 counteracting interests, cabals, and intrigues without 
 end, considerations of policy, prudence, expediency, 
 and I know not what, prevent skill and peculiar 
 fitness from receiving their due weight in court ap- 
 pointments. I name no names/ added the little 
 
140 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 barber, almost breathless with the importance of his 
 communication, and the mystery attached to it. 
 ' But this I will say, that, considering the high influ- 
 ence which Lord Ignorio doubtless possesses with 
 the most illustrious personage in this kingdom, it 
 must be some of the motives I have just alluded to 
 which caused a certain person's appointment to the 
 post of court-barber, instead of your humble servant. 7 
 
 " 'Then Lord Ignorio's influence with his majesty 
 is very great ? ; asked I, as soon as I could edge a 
 word into the midst of my barber's stream of talk. 
 
 " 'His right honorable lordship's power near the 
 throne is undoubted and enormous,' replied the little 
 man ; ' so undoubted and so enormous, indeed, that it 
 does not fail to raise the jealousy and enmity of the 
 base-minded populace, who contend that it is not 
 well for their aged monarch to be so wholly led by a 
 man who, they say, is well known to be an unlet- 
 tered, ignorant, obstinate man, entertaining the great- 
 est contempt for intellectual power, and believing 
 the whole glory and greatness of a nation to consist 
 in her military achievements, and the extension of her 
 dominions. These absurd slanders of my noble pa- 
 tron (if, indeed, I ought to call them slanders, when, 
 for my part, I venture to think, and may, perhaps, 
 suggest, that they are admirable principles for a 
 prime minister), but these opinions of the popu- 
 lace concerning my right honorable patron have 
 arisen partly from the circumstance of his having be- 
 trothed his only daughter, the Lady Ellena, to the 
 commander-in-chief and generalissimo of the forces, 
 Baron Feroccio, and from his universally laboring 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 141 
 
 to promote the military advantages of the country, 
 to the neglect, and even prejudice, of her civil, 
 commercial, artistic, and financial interests. Count 
 Biondello, too, his lordship's son, seems to have in- 
 herited his father's predilections, and to be a worthy 
 successor in his views ; for, notwithstanding it is 
 whispered that he is rather a wild youth, and^given 
 to follow his own lordly will, which 1 venture to 
 think, and may, perhaps, suggest, are very allowable 
 indications of his high rank and aristocratic con- 
 sciousness of privilege and impunity, but, notwith- 
 standing these rumors, I say, it is believed that he 
 has, at present, quitted the court with the intention 
 of going to the wars and joining Baron Feroccio, 
 his sister's betrothed, under whom he will probably 
 serve a few campaigns incog. This sudden disap- 
 pearance of Count Biondello from court was, by 
 some, attributed to dread of a match which, it is 
 understood, was contemplated by our venerable mon- 
 arch, King Imbecilio, who, in his partiality for his 
 favorite minister, had thought of bestowing his only 
 child, the Princess Eudora, on Lord Ignorio's son, 
 Count Biondello, in marriage. Now, sir, you must 
 know a little oil will, I venture to think, and may, 
 perhaps, suggest, be an improvement to your hair, 
 sir. No ? 0, very well ; no oil quite simply as 
 you please, of course. Well, sir, as I was saying/ 
 continued the little barber, resuming the thread of 
 his discourse, which he had abruptly snapped, with a 
 professional solicitude about my head, ' as I was 
 saying, you must know that the Princess Eudora is 
 a very peculiar person, if I may venture to think and 
 
142 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 suggest such a thing of a royal individual very 
 peculiar. She not only will never permit any one to 
 touch her hair, which she always dresses arid arranges 
 herself, according to her own particular notions 
 of grace and beauty, a thing which, I venture to 
 think, and may, perhaps, suggest, is very unladylike, 
 not to say unprincessly, savoring of plebeian inde- 
 pendence, and low, artist-like individuality of taste, 
 wholly unbecoming her distinguished rank and sta- 
 tion ; not only has she this peculiarity, but she is 
 said to have a decided abhorrence for show and 
 proper dignity, which she calls ostentation and pride ; 
 she despises homage and observance as servility and 
 fawning, and talks of fashionable ease and courtly 
 polish as frivolity and folly ; she has even been 
 heard to censure war and conquest as wasteful bur- 
 thens on the state, and is well known to prefer study 
 to amusement. No wonder poor Count Biondello 
 should take fright at the proposal of a union with such 
 a woman, even though she be a princess of the royal 
 blood, and heir apparent to the throne ; for I ven- 
 ture to think, and may, perhaps, suggest, that a bpok- 
 ish, learned wife is not formed to be a very eligible 
 companion, or a very attractive mistress, to a gay 
 soldier. Poor young man ! and poor old man, too, if 
 all be true that I hear/ pursued the little barber ; ' for 
 I understand that the poor old king, her father, is 
 sometimes perfectly desperate about her odd ways 
 and whimsical notions, and is ready to run distracted 
 at the little sense she has of what is. due to her posi- 
 tion, when she avows her sympathy with the very 
 poorest and most abject of the people, creatures 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 143 
 
 that you would not touch with my pole, long as it is, 
 and ragged and dirty as they are, declaring that 
 even their vices are more to be pitied than blamed, 
 desiring the amelioration of their condition above all 
 things, studying her own improvement for their sake, 
 reading and thinking, instead of dressing and visit- 
 ing, and, in short, committing a thousand eccentric 
 absurdities, enough to break a father's heart, espe- 
 cially a kingly father's.' 
 
 " The little barber concluded his speech just as his 
 officiation with my hair came to a close ; so, rising 
 from my seat and paying him, I took my leave, with 
 many thanks for his entertaining gossip and court 
 news. As I quitted his shop, and proceeded in the 
 direction which I knew would lead me towards the 
 part of the country where lay the valley and Uber- 
 to's cottage beyond the wood, a carriage drew up to 
 the edge of the pavement, and, stopping near to 
 where I stood, a person stepped out and addressed 
 me. He had on a coat covered with gold lace, car- 
 ried a gold stick in his hand, and looked like a court 
 footman. Making a low bow, he told me he was 
 instructed to fetch me to the palace immediately, as 
 his majesty, King Imbecilio, desired to speak to me. 
 I of course immediately obeyed, and was conveyed 
 speedily to the very place concerning which, its 
 doings, and some of the people who figured in its 
 circle, I had just been hearing so much. 
 
 " I was ushered straight into the presence-cham- 
 ber, where sat an aged man, on a throne, whose 
 countenance seemed to be compounded of vacant 
 insipidity and foolish wonder, and whose weak as- 
 
144 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 pect and silly expression inspired but little respect, 
 notwithstanding the grandeur of his position, and 
 the magnificence by which he was surrounded. On 
 each side of the throne were ranged splendidly- 
 dressed guards, in brilliant uniforms ; and around 
 stood troops of jewelled noblemen, robed in rich 
 velvets and silks, while snowy plumes waved from 
 their caps, and gave animation and life to the scene. 
 But what chiefly attracted my eyes, amid all this 
 gorgeous array, was a figure that sat on a couch 
 placed in close vicinity to the throne, and whom I 
 immediately guessed to be the king's daughter, 
 Princess Eudora. She was attired in simplest white, 
 but from the slight circlet that crowned her princely 
 brow a lustrous veil of golden hair fell in clustering 
 profusion over shoulders, bosom, and waist, and 
 made her the brightest object in that bright scene. 
 
 " Her face, too, was of surpassing beauty ; the 
 white polished temples shone with intellectual su- 
 premacy, her eyes beamed forth mingled softness 
 and spiritual elevation, the roses of her mouth 
 bloomed sensibility and ever-fresh gentleness and 
 gracious kindness, intelligence and sweetness spar- 
 kled and played alternately, or blended harmoniously 
 in every expressive feature, and the brilliancy of her 
 complexion, together with her radiant tresses, shed 
 a sunshine around the spot, as if a youthful Aurora 
 had sat there to dazzle human vision. 
 
 'I gazed entranced upon this beauteous figure, 
 struck by some vaguely-remembered impression, as 
 well as by the present one, when my attention was 
 recalled by the king's addressing me, and my eyes 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 145 
 
 fell again upon the foolish, wondering face of the old 
 man, whose gray hairs were the sole thing in his 
 appearance that claimed genuine respect. I knelt to 
 him, while he told me that, having heard I was a 
 stranger who had been cast ashore, the sole survivor 
 from the vessel which was wrecked off that coast the 
 previous day, he had sent for me to see what could 
 be done to relieve the destitute condition to which I 
 doubtless found myself reduced by this accident ; 
 and, as he was struck by my stalwart appearance, 
 good height, and the athletic proportions of my frame 
 (which promised great strength when I should reach 
 maturity), he resolved to bestow upon me a post in 
 his army, and would engage to give me the command 
 of a troop on the first signal proof I should give of 
 bravery and military ardor. 
 
 "His majesty paused, evidently expecting that I 
 should be transported with this mark of his bounty ; 
 but when I had a little recovered my amazement, I 
 ventured to state that, so far from ever expecting to 
 distinguish myself by military ardor, or zeal for a 
 profession of which I had ever felt a scrupulous aver- 
 sion, from its involving the necessity of putting a 
 fellow-creature to death, I must beg respectfully to 
 decline his majesty's intended boon, and to relinquish 
 any claim upon his compassion from my late acci- 
 dent, as I hoped speedily to be in a condition to 
 resume my sailor life, until when, I was contented 
 to be obliged to a generous friend for the means of 
 present subsistence. 
 
 "King Imbecilio appeared to be about to return 
 some angry reply, when his daughter rose from her 
 10 
 
146 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 couch, and, laying her hand gently on her parent's 
 arm, murmuring, ' Nay, dear father ' she went 
 on to whisper something earnestly to him, while I 
 started, struck once more by some vague remem- 
 brance suggested by those soft tones ; then, turning 
 towards me, she added, ' Go, friend ! you are right, 
 perhaps, but go now, and at once/ She waved her 
 hand graciously, but firmly, gentleness and dignity 
 in every look, while I, dropping for an instant to her 
 feet, and pressing the hem of her white garment to 
 my lips, promptly withdrew from the royal presence. 
 
 " I once again wended my steps towards the coun- 
 try, pondering on my visit to court, and stopped not 
 until I reached Uberto's cottage, where I entertained 
 my host with an account of all I had seen and heard 
 on my visit to the great city. 
 
 "He seemed to dwell most on what I had heard 
 from the little barber concerning Count Biondello, 
 Lord Ignorio's son ; observing that the circumstance 
 of the youth's disappearance confirmed what he had 
 some time suspected ; and that what mere report had 
 represented as wildness, wilfulness, and determi- 
 nation to follow his own predilection for war, might, 
 in reality, be a resolute determination to pursue the 
 path of knowledge unthwarted by his unlettered 
 father, and so render himself worthy of his promised 
 bride, and of hereafter reigning with her. 
 
 " ' And this promised bride, this beautiful princess 
 herself, 7 added Uberto, after a moment's pause, ' she 
 must needs be a glorious creature, Kit ; and, of all 
 your wonders, the only one I should care to see/ 
 
 " The next day I wandered down to the sea-shore, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 14*7 
 
 that I might see if there were any trace of my un- 
 happy shipmates, or any portion of the wreck to be 
 discovered on the sands ; but not a vestige, not a 
 token, did I find ; I was apparently the only one 
 saved from that luckless crew ; and, as I returned, 
 I failed not to render fervent thanks for my preser- 
 vation. 
 
 " On entering the porch of the cottage, I heard the 
 voice of Uberto reading aloud, and, as I lingered for 
 an instant to look into the little study ere I crossed 
 the threshold, I saw him seated on the oaken settle, 
 with Biondello by his side, who was looking up into 
 his face, and drinking in every word that fell from 
 his lips with avidity, and devoted attention. The 
 two youths made a nice picture, sitting thus ; the 
 eager pupil, with his soft eyes and rosy mobile lips, 
 the very personification of listening, earnest docility ; 
 the grave master, with his high-minded look, his im- 
 pressive delivery of the lofty theme, and his benign 
 interest for the neophyte beside him, looked like the 
 genius of Instruction. The younger lad had cast 
 aside his dark velvet cap, and wore a sort of crimson 
 silk net, of Spanish fashion, which contrasted well 
 with his fair hair and still fairer skin ; the elder one 
 in his simple rustic guise, his glowing cheek em- 
 browned by open air and healthful exercise, arid his 
 dark chestnut locks clustering close round his noble 
 forehead, broad and high in the expanse of intellect, 
 they looked two rare and exquisite specimens of 
 youthful and manly beauty. 
 
 " After I had indulged my fancy for a few mo- 
 ments, by contemplating them thus in silence as 
 
148 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 they sat together, I advanced from the porch and 
 entered the little study, just as Uberto had concluded 
 his period, and Biondello had ejaculated, ' Sublime 
 wisdom ! ' The cadence of the voice struck me, as 
 those soft tones fell again upon my ear, and I paused 
 involuntarily ; while Biondello, raising his eyes, met 
 mine, and read something in their expression that 
 caused a bright crimson blush to flash into his face, 
 then to spread, until it suffused his very throat, that 
 lay bare beneath the open collar of his hunting-vest, 
 thrown partially back on account of the heat. 
 
 " But he also seemed to read in my face something 
 that reassured him, for he recovered himself by the 
 time Uberto had said : ' You were so absorbed in the 
 old philosopher's doctrines, Biondello, and are, more- 
 over, so unaccustomed to any one else's presence in 
 this solitary study of ours, that you had forgotten I 
 have a guest in the stranger whom I helped you to 
 rescue from the waves the other morning/ 
 
 " So saying, he introduced us to each other with 
 his usual ease and courteous freedom of manner, and 
 the lesson proceeded, while I took up a curious old 
 volume, full of quaint illuminations and strange pic- 
 tures, that I might relieve the students from my ob- 
 servation, while I pursued my own train of thought, 
 and the revery into which I had fallen. Ever and 
 anon I glanced furtively at the younger one, as his 
 low soft tones reached my ear when replying to some 
 question or remark of his instructor, and each time I 
 gathered fresh confirmation of my surmise. ' The 
 close net of crimson silk does well/ I thought ; ' it is 
 a good device for concealing that lustrous wealth of 
 
KIT BAM ; MARINER. 149 
 
 tresses ; but, having once beheld their full radiance, 
 I can divine them beneath their silken screen/ 
 
 " The lesson finished, we all three went forth 
 together, and sauntered through the valley towards 
 the little wood, beyond which lay the city. As we 
 approached the trees, we saw a little stray lamb 
 wandering by itself, and Uberto, willing to restore it 
 to the flock, retraced his steps, bidding me accom- 
 pany Biondello through the wood, as far on his way 
 home as he chose to have an escort. 
 
 "Thus left alone together, I could see the bright 
 flush once more suffuse Biondello's cheek and throat ; 
 but I cast my eyes gravely on the ground, with as 
 much unconsciousness as I could assume, determined 
 that I would be guided entirely by what I should 
 discover to be the wishes of my companion. 
 
 "I was not long kept in suspense, however. 
 After a few moments 7 bashful irresolution, the grace- 
 ful being beside me stopped, and, with dignified can- 
 dor, said, ' I perceive you have penetrated my secret, 
 Kit ; you have discovered who I really am ; but I 
 perceive, also, that you have respected my mystery, 
 and have repaid the service I rendered you in saving 
 your life, by strictly observing the injunction I gave 
 you, of " silence and discretion/ 7 Could you but 
 know how difficult has been my path hitherto, how 
 beset with obstacles and impediments I have been 
 through ' life in my endeavor to fulfil my duty hon- 
 estly and conscientiously, you would not wonder at 
 my having recourse to this disguise to obtain what 
 I could not otherwise achieve. Ignorance, preju- 
 dice, and parental authority injudiciously exercised, 
 
150 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 hemmed me in, and prevented my attaining what my 
 soul thirsted for, knowledge and wisdom ; but, 
 feeling that on my freedom from the thraldom of nar- 
 row-minded views depended not only my own en- 
 lightenment, but in that enlightenment the future 
 welfare of thousands, I resolved to brave all risks, 
 and devote myself to study, reflection, and intellect- 
 ual acquirement, in the humble guise of an unknown 
 youth ; this secluded valley, the abode of the schol- 
 arly Erudito and his nephew, apart from courtly 
 trammels, and screened from impertinent interfer- 
 ence, has been the happy scene of my education ; 
 and I trust to your good faith, Kit, in preserving my 
 secret scrupulously, for the continuance of my 
 scheme, and for the security of the results with 
 which I hope to see it ultimately crowned. Kemem- 
 ber, to you and Uberto I am Biondello still. From 
 him, particularly, guard my secret carefully. Once 
 more, then, " farewell ; and, silence and discretion ! " 
 
 " A moment more, and I was left quite alone be- 
 neath the trees ; and, ruminating on what I had just 
 heard, I returned slowly to the cottage. 
 
 " Next day, I hoped in vain to see Biondello 
 again ; all the morning I could scarcely attend to 
 the book which Uberto was reading aloud to me, as 
 we sat together beneath our favorite tree, for think- 
 ing of Biondello, and looking for his arrival. The 
 subject of the volume was interesting to me, it 
 was a book of voyages and travels, but my atten- 
 tion perpetually wandered, and at length Uberto 
 perceived it, and said : ' I don't wonder at your 
 being interested in Biondello, and longing to see 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 151 
 
 tnore of him. He is certainly the most fascinating 
 of human beings, and I myself am conscious of feel- 
 ing that my old liking arid affection for my gentle 
 pupil has of late deepened and strengthened into an 
 attachment that is becoming a part of my very exist- 
 ence. His presence is a joy and delight to me ; his 
 absence saddens and depresses me. I am haunted, 
 when he is away, by the musical echo of his soft 
 tones, and his gentle smile plays ever fitfully before 
 me, making me pine to bask in its kindly warmth 
 again, as if it were a vital principle. I reason with 
 myself, and endeavor to wean myself from the fasci- 
 nation which this youth's society possesses for me ; 
 for if, as I suspect, he is indeed Lord Ignorio's son, 
 how should I hope to retain forever the companion- 
 ship of one so high-born, and so remote in position 
 from myself? Count Biondello, the mature noble- 
 man, will forget his humble shepherd-master ; and 
 the instructor of the gentle lad, Biondello, will long 
 in vain to see his old pupil. 7 
 
 " Uberto paused, with a deep sigh and a troubled 
 look, very different from the usual calm expression 
 of his thoughtful, though frank and open counte- 
 nance. But his brow cleared as I said, energetically : 
 ' Do not think it ; Biondello will never forget the 
 friend of his youth ; his nature is too noble/ 
 
 " Uberto grasped my hand with cordial warmth, 
 as he replied : 
 
 " ' True ; ^ou do him better justice than I do, in 
 the selfishness of my exacting attachment. 7 
 
 "He turned, as he spoke, to go homewards, and I 
 saw that he, too, partook of my anxiety for the 
 
152 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 arrival of Biondello. Afternoon came, however, but 
 still the youth did not appear ; and I heard Uberto 
 repeat his deep sigh as he put away the books on 
 the shelves which he had spread on the study-table 
 that morning, in the hope of his beloved pupil's 
 advent, a hope that he now evidently relinquished, 
 though with reluctance. 
 
 " Restless and uneasy, he then proposed our walk- 
 ing forth again into the open air ; and we naturally 
 enough took the direction of the little wood. Our 
 thoughts being preoccupied, we as naturally walked 
 on in silence ; but the exclamation which burst from 
 us both at the same moment showed plainly the sub- 
 ject which had employed them severally and alike. 
 
 " ' There he is ! ' we suddenly ejaculated, as Bion- 
 dello emerged from the wood, and hurried towards 
 us. 
 
 " His manner and appearance filled us with alarm. 
 His dress was disordered, and his face was pale and 
 agitated ; he trembled violently, and looked back 
 every now and then in the direction whence he came, 
 as if he dreaded pursuit. 
 
 " 'What is the matter, Biondello V asked Uberto, 
 forcing himself to be calm, that he might the better 
 soothe his young friend's agitation. < What has 
 happened ? What has alarmed you ? ' 
 
 " ' There has been a frightful scene there/ gasped 
 the youth, pointing in the direction of the city ; ' a 
 popular tumult ; the people have risen "in defence of 
 their rights ; they have proclaimed their abhorrence 
 of the late government, denounced the prime minis- 
 ter as their chief enemy, attacked his house, re- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 153 
 
 quired him to surrender himself to their custody, 
 and are preparing to dictate terms to the king. 7 
 
 " Biondello appeared to be about to add something 
 more, as he looked appealingly into his friend's face ; 
 but at that moment he seemed to hear a noise in the 
 wood that sounded to him like approaching pursuit ; 
 for, gasping faintly, and pointing in the direction of 
 his fears, his limbs failed him, and he would have 
 sunk to the ground, had not Uberto caught him in 
 his arms, and supported him from falling. 
 
 " ' He has swooned ; help me to bear him to the 
 cottage, Kit, and we will get old Martha to help us 
 to revive him/ said Uberto, with the same deter- 
 minately calm manner, as if he resolved not to let 
 his anxiety master his power of being useful to his 
 friend. 
 
 11 We bore Biondello into the little study, and 
 placed him on the oaken settle ; but, in so doing, by 
 some accident the crimson silk net became detached, 
 and fell upon the floor. With it fell the bright gold 
 tresses ; they poured forth, in their luxuriant abun- 
 dance, like the sun's rays streaming in at the lattice 
 of a morning chamber ; and the beautiful woman lay 
 revealed beyond all power of disguise. 
 
 " I raised my eyes to Uberto 's countenance, to see 
 the effect of this sudden discovery upon him. It 
 was electrical ; all traces of his forced calmness had 
 vanished, and his features worked with uncontrollable 
 emotions of surprise and agitation ; his lips were 
 parted, and quivered sharply ; his nostrils dilated, 
 and his face was pale, then flushed abruptly ; his 
 eyes were fixed in passionate sadness upon the lovely 
 
154 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 prostrate figure before him ; but I noticed that his 
 appearance betokened, not so much sympathy and 
 alarm for his young friend, as some powerful inward 
 struggle of his own, with which he was contending. 
 His emotion was so evident, and shook him so 
 strongly, that I involuntarily exclaimed, 
 
 " ' Uberto ! ' 
 
 " He started ; then, muttering something of seek- 
 ing old Martha's aid, he abruptly lifted one of the 
 golden ringlets to his lips, with reverent fervor, for 
 one instant, and sped from the room. The old blind 
 woman soon after came to my assistance, and, with 
 some cordial restorative and a glass of fair water, 
 we tried every means to restore our sweet patient. 
 
 " The fainting-fit was obstinate, however ; pre- 
 vious anxiety and alarm, together with the fatigue 
 of the long, hurried walk, had thrown her into a deep 
 swoon, and it was long before it yielded to our joint 
 efforts. At length tokens of returning conscious- 
 ness manifested themselves ; her eyes opened, and 
 languidly sought those of her friend, her instructor ; 
 but, perceiving no Uberto, she closed them faintly, 
 and leaned against poor blind Martha, who knelt 
 beside her, and uttered soothing words to the gentle 
 young creature who had once supported her feeble 
 steps. The kindly heart, that had never repressed 
 its natural tenderness, or refined its sympathy 
 towards the suffering poor, because they happened 
 to be of inferior station, now drew comfort from this 
 aged crone in return, and, placing her arms round 
 the old woman's neck, she suffered the tears to flow 
 from her closed lids, and laid her young cheek 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 155 
 
 Against Martha's withered one, in simple womanly 
 claim of loving consolation. It was the true spark 
 of nature asserting itself, and proclaiming equal 
 kindred between prince and peasant, in the moment 
 of mutual sorrow and kindliness. 
 
 " I left them together, and -with drew to seek 
 Uberto, somewhat surprised at his absence during 
 his guest's recovery, and not a little anxious con- 
 cerning himself, when I recalled the state of struggle 
 and agitation in which he had abruptly quitted the 
 little study. But I could find him nowhere ; I had 
 soon been through the rooms in the cottage, and was 
 preparing to set forth and search the valley in all his 
 wonted places, when on the table in my chamber I 
 perceived a paper, addressed to myself. I snatched 
 it up, and read as follows : 
 
 " ' The struggle is over. I should be unworthy 
 of the wise teaching of my venerable instructor and 
 more than father did I not endeavor to prove myself 
 able to choose integrity and honor when opposed to 
 selfish inclination. I could not see her, and refrain 
 from uttering the new wild passion which has sud- 
 denly sprung from my old fond affection for my 
 beloved pupil. I now read the enigma ; she has 
 taken her brother's name, that she might gain the 
 education of a man. To you, Kit, I leave the charge 
 of protecting and serving this noble creature, since 
 so dear a privilege is denied to me by a fatal obstacle. 
 Shield her carefully from all harm, and conceal her 
 from all eyes in my humble cottage, as long as she 
 may deem concealment necessary. Should she in- 
 
156 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 quire for her hapless friend, tell her that he is gone 
 on an indispensable mission to old Erudite's house ; 
 she need never know the motive which really ban- 
 ishes me thither, and imperatively bids me quit Bioii- 
 dello forever I Once more let me call her by that 
 cherished name. Farewell, Biondello ! Farewell, 
 kind friend Kit ! UBERTO.' 
 
 " As I gazed upon the paper, and debated with 
 myself for a moment or two whether I would pre- 
 serve his secret or show the letter at once to account 
 for his absence, it struck me forcibly that mystery is 
 always a bad thing, and to be avoided, if possible, 
 and that, moreover, in the present case, it had 
 already been productive of misunderstanding and 
 suffering ; so I quickly resolved that I would have 
 no reserves, but at once give Biondello the power of 
 judging fully what was now best to be done. As I 
 revolved these thoughts, I reflected that I must no 
 longer use the old familiar name of Biondello, but at 
 once recognize the Princess Eudora, by treating her 
 with the observance due to her rank, since all dis- 
 guise was now at an end. 
 
 " I entered the little study, accordingly, with all 
 the more homage in my heart, as well as in my out- 
 ward bearing, for seeing her simply seated there on 
 the old oaken settle, in the dark hunting-suit, with 
 blind Martha, the object of her former kind help, as 
 her sole attendant, instead of occupying a throne, 
 crowned and robed, with a dazzling retinue around 
 her. Dependent thus on me alone for help and pro- 
 tection, she inspired me with more respect and hon- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 157 
 
 oring admiration than when I had beheld her the 
 brilliant centre of that gorgeous presence-chamber. 
 I approached then deferentially, kneeling on one 
 knee ; but she smiled, and raised me, observing that 
 a wandering princess should hold no state. She 
 thanked me with earnestness for having been so true 
 a knight to her in guarding her secret with so much 
 discretion, and then, with a playfulness which showed 
 that her spirits had revived with her recovery, yet 
 with a blush that became her well, she added, 
 
 " 'But where is my other true knight and still 
 older friend, my dear master Uberto ? why is he not 
 here to receive the thanks of his pupil, and to aid his 
 new friend in her difficulties ? ; 
 
 " For all answer, I placed his letter in her hands. 
 Her cheek heightened its bloom when she began to 
 read, but paled as she continued. 
 
 " ' Gone, and bids Biondello farewell forever ! 7 she 
 at length exclaimed. ' But this " her brother's 
 name ! " "a fatal obstacle ! " what may this 
 mean ? ' added she. 
 
 " I explained that Uberto had always believed his 
 mysterious pupil to be no other than Lord Ignorio's 
 son, Count Biondello ; that he now, doubtless, con- 
 cluded her to be the Lady Ellena, Count Biondello's 
 sister ; and that the well-known circumstance of the 
 Lady Ellena's betrothment to Baron Feroccio was, 
 most probably, the ' fatal obstacle ' to which he 
 alluded. 
 
 11 ' Fatal mystery ! ' exclaimed Eudora ; ' why did 
 I not trust entirely one so virtuous and high-minded 
 as the noble Uberto ? 0, my dear master, my kind 
 
158 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 instructor ! why are you not here to save your poor 
 Biondello ? ' 
 
 " The princess then told me that she had come 
 hither that afternoon with the intention of seeking 
 the aid of Uberto and myself, arid of asking his 
 counsel and judgment to assist her and her father in 
 this % emergency of the popular insurrection. 
 
 11 1 bid her highness avail herself to the utmost 
 of her true knight's poor services, which, though 
 humble, were heartily proffered ; and she, with that 
 blended gentleness and dignity, sweetness and grace, 
 which distinguished her, saying that one faithful 
 warm heart was of more value to a prince than a 
 hundred lukewarm swords, it was agreed upon be- 
 tween us that I should, on the morrow, set forth to 
 the mansion of old Erudito in search of Uberto, and 
 entreat his return in her name. 
 
 " But it is very late, my young friends," said the 
 old mariner, breaking off; " it is nearly time you 
 were going to bed, as the Princess Eudora did, at- 
 tended by old Martha ; and, though the roof was 
 humble, and her attendant poor and blind, yet, had 
 she not been kept awake by anxiety, it is probable 
 that she would have enjoyed as sound sleep in the 
 cottage, after the fatigues of the day, as she had 
 ever done in her father's palace." 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 159 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 KIT GOES IN SEARCH OF UBEETO. THE MANSION OF OLD ERUDITO. 
 
 QUADRAT A. THE RETURN TO THE CITY. - KIT SETS SAIL 
 
 AGAIN. THE GRANITE ISLAND. THE HORSE OF BRASS. THE 
 
 FEAST OF THE SATYRS. 
 
 " Now for the disguised princess ! " exclaimed 
 Fanny, as she and her brother took their usual 
 places in Kit's cottage, the next evening. 
 
 " Did you find Uberto at his uncle's house, Kit ? " 
 inquired Dick. 
 
 " The next morning/' answered the old man, "just 
 as I was setting out from the cottage, to proceed in 
 quest of him, I beheld a large troop of horsemen 
 enter the valley, and, by the time I had returned to 
 inform the princess of their approach, they swelled 
 into a large train, that, with much pomp and cere- 
 mony, marshalled its way straightforwards in the 
 direction of the cottage. 
 
 " The princess, perceiving at once that they were 
 aware of her presence there, and were, in all proba- 
 bility, envoys charged with some message to her, as 
 their peaceful procession indicated no hostile ap- 
 proach, she bid me inquire their will, and, if it were 
 as she supposed, to usher the heralds into her pres- 
 ence at once. When I had obeyed her instructions, 
 I found that she had divined truly the object of their 
 
160 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 coming. Two reverend men, elders of the city, who 
 headed the procession, dismounted from their horses, 
 and entered the little study, where they found the 
 princess awaiting their approach with simple, unaf- 
 fected dignity. They must have been well pleased 
 to have found her thus, surrounded by the books from 
 whjich she had reaped such fruitful harvest and col- 
 lected so manifold and valuable stores of knowledge ; 
 for it proved that they came as representatives of 
 their fellow-citizens 7 wishes that the Princess Eudora 
 should assume the crown and govern them in future 
 by virtue of the wisdom she had acquired, and ac- 
 cording to the dictates of her own discreet, virtuous> 
 and gentle nature. It appeared that her merits had 
 gained her the hearts of the people, and that, when 
 they had. revolted against a military tyranny, and had 
 refused longer submission to the ignorant and narrow- 
 minded sway of Lord Ignorio, who, they felt, gov- 
 erned them in reality, through the medium of his 
 influence over the weak old king, their nominal 
 sovereign, they determined to enforce the minister's 
 resignation, the foolish monarch's abdication, and to 
 raise the Princess Eudora to the throne, secure of 
 their rights beneath her mild rule and wise judg- 
 ment. 
 
 "But she asked them, in reply , how they thought 
 she would prove herself wise and virtuous by accept- 
 ing a throne which her parent had just been com- 
 pelled to abdicate ; or how she would be likely to 
 confirm their partial opinion of her, were she to wear 
 a crown so lately stript from the brows of her old 
 father. Would these acts give earnest of present 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 161 
 
 merit in her, or afford promise of future happiness to 
 them ? She entreated her loving countrymen to re- 
 consider their proposal, and to reflect upon one which 
 she had to make to them in return. This was, that, 
 as they had banished Lord Ignorio from his station 
 of prime minister, because they traced their chief 
 wrongs to his injudicious counsels and his baneful 
 influence with the king, she proposed that "they 
 should elect a new minister in the late one's stead, 
 whose known worth and tried wisdom would insure 
 that his guiding aid and valuable suggestions should 
 always be skilfully and beneficially employed in 
 directing the king to promote the welfare of his liege 
 subjects. 
 
 " Seeing approval and admiration of her filial con- 
 duct depicted in the countenances of the two reverend 
 envoys, the princess proposed to return with them 
 forthwith, and accompany them back to the city in 
 person. On leaving the cottage, and preparing to 
 mount the white palfrey which they had brought with 
 them in the hope of prevailing on their chosen sove- 
 reign to return at once, the princess was received 
 with a burst of acclamation from the numbers who 
 formed the procession, and she was escorted back to 
 the city in triumph. Arrived at the palace, she 
 hastened to her old father, and, leading him from the 
 chamber where he had been kept under a sort of 
 guard, respectful but strict, until the ultimate deci- 
 sion of the princess and the people should be made 
 known, she led him to a window that overlooked a 
 spacious square, which was now thronged by a vast 
 concourse of the inhabitants ; and here she addressed 
 11 
 
162 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the people in behalf of her father, conjuring them to 
 return to their allegiance, and not to force her to 
 reign by an act of filial outrage, but to let her be still 
 a faithful daughter and their loving princess. She 
 repeated her proposal to elect a new minister, whose 
 worthy counsels should inspire and aid their aged 
 sovereign, and ended by proposing to them, as a fit 
 person to fill the important office of state counsellor 
 and prime minister, the nephew of the well-known 
 sage and philosopher, Erudito. 
 
 " When the shout of applause which rung through 
 the multitude at the conclusion of the princess' ad- 
 dress ceased, and the color which had mounted to 
 her cheek as she spoke subsided also, she resumed 
 with fresh energy, as if resolved that no private emo- 
 tion should interfere with the public tribute due to 
 the excellences of her friend and master, and she 
 went on to say, with modest firmness : ' We would 
 have entreated the venerable Erudito himself to 
 come and aid us, my friends, had he been younger 
 and more able to endure the fatigues of public life ; 
 as it is, his wise retirement and prudent devotion to 
 study and quiet leisure plainly evince that such a 
 sacrifice ought not to be asked at his hands ; but his 
 nephew, gifted by nature, educated by his learned 
 relative, generous in heart, sound in principle, simple 
 in conduct, in the full vigor of youthful manhood, 
 and capable of highest self-devotion, he is the very 
 being of all others fitted to be your prime minister, 
 the guardian of his country's welfare and honor, and 
 the counsellor of your aged monarch. 7 
 
 "The Princess Eudora retired amid the acclama- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 163 
 
 tions of the people ; and the news soon rung through 
 the city that the old king was restored to his throne, 
 that Erudito's nephew, Uberto, was to be elected 
 prime minister, and that their beloved Eudora, by 
 choosing to remain but a princess at present, was 
 proving herself still more worthy to be a queen 
 hereafter. 
 
 " When she had a little recovered from her late 
 excitement, I ventured to ask permission to approach 
 the couch where she lay, and proffered what I guessed 
 would be the best restorative to her spirits and in- 
 ward hope. I offered my services to set out imme- 
 diately to fetch Uberto, and inform him of what had 
 happened. The princess smiled her old gentle smile, 
 and said, in those winning tones that I had so loved 
 in Biondello, ' My true knight still ! to offer to de- 
 part even at this hour ! Faithful, kind heart ! 7 Then 
 she added, in a lower voice, ' Tell him nothing, but 
 of the call his countrymen make upon his services ; 
 that will suffice to rouse his noble heart, I know. 
 Once again, silence and discretion/ 
 
 " ' No token from Biondello ? Not a word V in- 
 quired I, wishing to take some comfort to my friend, 
 and emboldened by the thought of his suffering 
 letter. 
 
 " Eudora paused for an instant in maiden hesita- 
 tion, then faltered, ' Tell him that Biondello is 
 safely returned to his friends, and happy, could he 
 but once see the old days again, when he sat by the 
 side of his master in Uberto's little study/ 
 
 " I knelt to kiss her hand, and set forth imme- 
 diately ; for the afternoon was far advanced, and I 
 
164 
 
 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 feared that evening would close in before I could 
 proceed far on my journey ; so that I should have to 
 pass the night in the wild and desolate district which 
 I had heard lay between the city and the place where 
 old Erudito had chosen his retirement. 
 
 " At first my way was pleasant enough ; it led 
 across the peaceful valley that I knew so well, where 
 Uberto's cottage was situated, and where I had spent 
 so many pleasant hours with that kind and noble 
 friend. His flock were nibbling their green supper, 
 as I passed, and I thought of their absent master, as 
 I looked at the lad who had been left in charge of 
 the fleecy creatures by the thoughtful provision of 
 Eudora ; she had desired him to remain here, not 
 only as shepherd, but in order that Martha might 
 have some one with her in the cottage at night, 
 the faithful blind woman staying to take care of the 
 home of her kind master, and arrange his books 
 against his return, which she fondly hoped would 
 not be long delayed. 
 
 /' When I reached the foot of the mountain range 
 that rose abruptly on the opposite side of the valley, 
 I turned to gaze once more on the tranquil spot, 
 praying that I might be destined to return to it ere 
 long with my friend ; and, as my eye rested on the 
 minarets and spires of the distant city beyond, that 
 lay bathed in the last rich glow of the departing 
 w Astern sun, I joined that other noble-hearted being 
 in my aspirations, and blended their joint names in 
 my prayers for their happiness. Then turning to the 
 east, which looked as if its dark blue sky had deep- 
 ened many shades during the few moments that I 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 165 
 
 had turned my gaze upon the splendors of the sun- 
 set, I began my toilsome ascent, trusting to the 
 active exertion requisite in attaining the summit for 
 sufficient warmth to protect me against the sharp, 
 chilling wind that was beginning to be perceptible in 
 this mountainous region, and to spring up with the 
 decline of day. My path became more rugged and 
 difficult as it became more steep, but I knew I could 
 not wander far from my right road, as I had heard 
 Uberto mention that his uncle 's abode lay due east 
 from the cottage, and after the sun set I could guide 
 my course by the stars, which fortunately shone out 
 soon after. 
 
 " As night came on, the way grew wilder and 
 wilder ; I could distinguish yawning caverns and 
 deep rifts and chasms on either side of me, that 
 spread wide their hollow jaws, as if they were gi- 
 gantic animals standing ready to devour me ; gloomy 
 pine-trees waved their spiring bodies to and fro in 
 the night- wind, as if mocking and beckoning to me ; 
 lofty, towering rocks sprung up sheer from the side 
 of the narrow ledge on which I sometimes had to 
 make my way, and threatening cliffs overhung their 
 mighty heads above me, as if nodding destruction 
 from their stony sleep. Ever and anon, I was star- 
 tled by the sharp cry of some bird of prey, that 
 flapped its powerful wings and sailed across a neigh- 
 boring ravine, roused by my approach and the un- 
 usual echo of a human footstep ; and then, at in- 
 tervals, I heard the prolonged howl of the wolf, the 
 wailing, discordant yell of the hyena, with its hor- 
 rible mingling of weeping complaint and malicious 
 
166 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 laughter, and once I heard the deep roar of a distant 
 lion. I looked up hopefully, beyond the crags and 
 caverns, into the blue sky, that covered all with its 
 blessed canopy, and kept my heart firm, in the midst 
 of that wild scene, by thinking of the friend who 
 had so lately passed through it, sustained only by 
 just principle, and a consciousness of doing what he 
 felt to be right and honorable. ' And shall I, who 
 possess hope of coming happiness for those I love, 
 to support and encourage me, be less brave-hearted 
 than he ? Let me be worthy of his example, of his 
 hospitable kindness to the shipwrecked mariner, and 
 let me go boldly on to carry tidings of joy to his 
 stranded hopes. 7 
 
 " Such thoughts as these elevated and strength- 
 ened me, and led me trustfully on through the per- 
 ilous path of that lonely night, and, when morning 
 dawned, I found myself but a few hours' journey 
 from the mansion of old Erudito. Mayhap about 
 eleven o'clock I reached his abode, which was a 
 quaint, curious building, of irregular form, sur- 
 mounted by a lofty observatory, and situated in the 
 very heart of this remote and solitary region. I 
 knocked at a small wicket that stood in one angle 
 of the rough wall that enclosed the tenement, and, 
 after waiting a few moments, the gate was opened 
 by an odd little figure, that looked singularly in 
 keeping with the quaintness of all around. It was 
 that of a little squat girl, with a square face, set upon 
 square shoulders, which surmounted as square a 
 skirt, terminated by two splay feet with square toes. 
 Ker face looked as if it were covered with strained 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 167 
 
 parchment, instead of skin, in the middle of which 
 was stuck a small flat nose ; her eyes looked like 
 two pierced holes, and her mouth like a straight slit 
 cut across the said parchment with a pair of scissors. 
 I think I never beheld a more ugly little body in all 
 my life ; for, though she seemed not to be more than 
 eighteen, she had none of the grace or beauty that 
 mere youth itself bestows on the person. She bobbed 
 a quick little ducking curtsey, in reply to my inquir- 
 ies, and led me into the house, while she went to 
 inform her old master of my arrival. She had not 
 waddled away above two minutes, when I heard a 
 quick, firm step, and in another moment my hand 
 was warmly grasped in that of Uberto. He took 
 me, at once, to his uncle's study, where the vener- 
 able sage greeted me with a cordiality and energetic 
 kindness that contrasted well with the snows of age 
 crowning his reverend head, and showed how green 
 and fresh philosophy keeps the hearts of her votaries. 
 As vivid and as keen, too, did the feelings of this 
 old man prove themselves still to be, when I dis- 
 closed the object of my mission, and told him of the 
 universal call made by his countrymen upon the 
 talents and virtues of his nephew ; how they looked 
 to him as the future guardian of their best interests, 
 and how his sovereign confirmed their election by 
 his own wishes to have Uberto as his prime minister. 
 Seeing that his nephew hesitated, Erudito said : 
 
 '"Demur not, my son. Obey the call of your 
 countrymen, and prepare to fill the honorable post 
 they assign you. Far from me would it be to coun- 
 sel you to seek the paths of ambition, and quit the 
 
168 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 peaceful haunts of simple, rural life, and calm, con- 
 templative study, for the delusive hope of rising as 
 a statesman. But summoned, as you are, to the 
 helm of the government, by the people's confidence 
 in your virtue and their conviction of your ability, 
 you have no right to withstand the appeal ; it is your 
 duty to respond, and accept it, with steadfast faith 
 and modest reliance on your own purity of con- 
 science, and high resolve to devote yourself solely 
 to the promotion of their welfare. 7 
 
 " ' But the motive which banished me hither 
 faltered Uberto. 
 
 " ' It was a worthy one, and acted upon in the 
 spirit of self-denial and strict rectitude, my son/ re- 
 plied the sage ; ' but I feel by no means sure that 
 it was not hastily and inconclusively formed, and 
 that, if your mind had had longer time to exercise 
 its judgment, you might not have resolved upon 
 absence, as a necessary sacrifice on your part/ 
 
 " The young man looked into his uncle's eyes, 
 where played a benignant light, almost amounting to 
 a smile ; then, turning to me, he murmured, 
 
 "'AndBiondello?' 
 
 " I repeated the precise words I had been bid to 
 use as BiondehVs message ; and Uberto, uttering one 
 deep sigh, merely said, 
 
 " ' Be it so ! The good of my native land must be my 
 hope now. In that I '11 find my happiness and life. 7 
 
 " Once resolved, he lost no time in setting out, 
 and, after taking a cordial leave of old Erudito, who 
 gave me a small volume, of curious worth, as a 
 parting gift, we left his mansion on our way home. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 169 
 
 The path through the mountains, viewed by daylight, 
 and in the company of a friend, seemed far less wild 
 and perilous than it did in the lonely night-time, and 
 Uberto beguiled its tedium by cheerful conversation 
 and animated discussion. He seemed to avoid, with 
 peculiar care, all allusion to the agitating scene 
 which had preceded his departure from his cottage 
 home, as if he did not choose to trust himself with 
 so interesting a subject ; but he spoke frankly of his 
 hopes of filling his new appointment worthily and 
 beneficially, of his venerable relative Erudito, of the 
 young heart and mind that dwelt in his old frame, 
 and of his contented solitude, where he saw no hu- 
 man being but Quadrata, the odd little damsel I had 
 seen on my arrival. 
 
 " I smiled involuntarily, as I recollected this quaint 
 little fright, and Uberto, observing it, said, 
 
 " ' Ay, to you, who know nothing of her but her 
 strange ugliness, I don't wonder at your smiling at 
 my uncle's choice of a handmaiden ; but he, with 
 the eyes of true wisdom, can descry the loveliness of 
 honesty, cheerful activity, faithful service, soft nurs- 
 ing, thoughtful tendance, zealous care, watchful as- 
 siduity, and constancy of attachment, beneath the 
 parchment skin and angular figure of poor little 
 Quadrata.' 
 
 "We reached the valley towards nightfall, and 
 Uberto resolved to remain at the cottage till morn- 
 ing, when he might present himself to his sovereign, 
 at the palace, and tender in person his required de- 
 votion and service. 
 
 " Accordingly, next day we proceeded to the court, 
 
170 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and were at once, ushered into the royal presence. 
 All was precisely as I had beheld that brilliant scene 
 on a former occasion ; but the figure that occupied 
 the couch by the side of the old king was now veiled 
 not only by her luxuriant shining hair, but was 
 covered from head to foot by a gauze of golden 
 fabric that fell in bright folds to the very floor. 
 Uberto stood forth with firm, manly dignity in that 
 august assembly, his handsome intellectual head 
 and simple attire forming no inapt contrast with the 
 glittering crowd that stood around. It seemed as 
 if the shepherd-god, Apollo, had descended amidst 
 mortals to assist and guide them with the glorious 
 wisdom they lacked. 
 
 " With noble yet modest words, Uberto then knelt 
 and tendered his services to his country and his 
 sovereign, and vowed to devote them zealously arid 
 faithfully in so righteous a behalf to his life's end. 
 
 " The aged monarch raised him, accepting him as 
 the minister chosen by the voice of the people, and 
 welcomed by himself; adding that it had been further 
 resolved that the hand of the Princess Eudora, his 
 daughter, should be conferred upon him in marriage, 
 to strengthen his attachment to the throne and the 
 interests of the kingdom, by an alliance with the 
 heiress-apparent to the crown. 
 
 " ' In choosing such a husband for my child/ said 
 the old king, in conclusion, ' my people secure to her 
 a more congenial consort than I formerly meditated 
 in the son of Lord Ignorio, and to themselves in 
 future a wiser monarch than I fear I have made 
 them ; but I shall thus have the comfort, in my old 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 171 
 
 age, of seeing the happiness of my daughter and of 
 my people both insured. 7 
 
 " Uberto paused, as if grieved to respond to these 
 gracious words of his sovereign by aught but grate- 
 ful acquiescence : but, collecting fortitude from a 
 conviction of what was the only righteous course for 
 the sake of all parties, he, in simple but firm words, 
 avowed that he was compelled to decline the in- 
 tended honor of the princess 7 alliance, for that his 
 affections were irrevocably fixed upon another ob- 
 ject. 
 
 "'Let not your majesty or her highness reflect 
 upon me for my sincerity/ he said. 'Feeling as I 
 do that my attachment, though hopeless, is eternal, 
 I do not dare to outrage the princess by marrying 
 her to a man with a dead heart. I have bid adieu 
 forever to love, and devote myself to patriotism 
 alone. ; 
 
 "He knelt, inclining lowly and reverently to the 
 veiled princess, and withdrew from the presence. 
 
 " As we passed through a long gallery of the 
 palace, a young page followed us hastily, and said 
 that he was charged to request we would follow him 
 to an apartment where the person who sent him de- 
 sired an interview with Uberto and myself. 
 
 " Somewhat surprised, we obeyed, and found our- 
 selves led into a large ante-room, at one end of 
 which there was a small door, towards which the 
 page mutely pointed, and withdrew. Uberto looked 
 at me for an instant, then advanced towards the 
 small door, which he opened, and we beheld the 
 little cottage study, its humble walls, its shelves of 
 
172 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 well-worn books, its simple wooden table, and the 
 old oaken settle all, as if suddenly transported by 
 magic within the walls of the palace. Uberto sprung 
 forward ; for on the oaken settle lay the well-known 
 dark velvet hunting-suit, and the crimson silk net that 
 bound the temples of his beloved pupil. He seized 
 it passionately, and, pressing it to his lips, cried, 
 ' Biondello dear, dear Biondello ! ' 
 
 " ' I am here ! ' murmured the soft toaes of a voice 
 close beside him. 
 
 " He raised his eyes, and beheld the veiled prin- 
 cess, who had glided quietly into the room mean- 
 while. Uberto' s gaze fastened upon the golden 
 screen from beneath which he had heard the sounds 
 that thrilled to his heart's core. ' Biondello' s voice ! ' 
 he exclaimed. 
 
 "'I am here ! ' was again breathed gently, as the 
 veil of golden tissue fell at her feet, and the natural 
 veil of golden tresses alone shaded the beautiful 
 blushing face of Biondello. Eudora, Uberto' s pupil, 
 friend, and mistress, all revealed in one ! 
 
 " He knelt to receive assurance of the delicious 
 truth ; while she, eager to reward his self-denying 
 honor and loving constancy, told him all her story, 
 from her early thirst for knowledge, feeling its neces- 
 sity to enable her worthily to fulfil her "high destiny ; 
 her seeking his cottage in obedience to her dying 
 mother's injunctions ; her assuming disguise that she 
 might gain the sterling education of a man, the 
 better to fit her for reigning hereafter ; her adopting 
 the name of him once destined for her husband ; her 
 studying so happily in the cottage under the tuition 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 173 
 
 of her shepherd-master ; her seeking his aid ; her 
 grief at his flight ; her joy at his return, doubled and 
 trebled by his noble refusal of Eudora for the sake 
 of the lost Biondello ; all, all was told, up to the 
 very moment when she had prepared this blissful 
 surprise for him in the very scene of their former 
 happy pursuits. 
 
 "'I have had this room fitted up for my study, 
 Uberto/ added she ; ' the very model, as you see, of 
 our peaceful, happy one in the cottage. Here, when 
 wearied with cares of state, or oppressed with the 
 splendors and hollow grandeur of court life, will we 
 repair to seek in quiet reading and placid contempla- 
 tion repose and refreshment. Here, too, in this 
 humble study, and from these well-worn books, may 
 we gather wholesome lessons of modesty, self-scru- 
 tiny, and gentle forbearance towards others, as well 
 as comfort, hope, and gratitude, towards the bounte- 
 ous Giver of all good. 7 
 
 " It was not long before I had the pleasure of wi1> 
 nessing the completion of the happiness of my friend 
 Uberto in his marriage with the Princess Eudora. 
 But, after the nuptials, which were celebrated with 
 great magnificence, and amid the universal rejoicings 
 of the people, my old love of wandering returned 
 upon me with its usual force ; and now that I could 
 no longer hope to be of any use to my friends, I 
 asked and obtained permission to leave the court, 
 and once more go to sea. My generous friends 
 would fain have loaded me with rich gifts and costly 
 tokens of their remembrance ; but I said that at my 
 age, and with my wandering tastes, I could have no 
 
1*T4 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 possible use for wealth ; however, I told the princess 
 that there was i one precious gift in her power to 
 bestow upon me, if she would pardon the presump- 
 tion of my solicitation in consideration of the rever- 
 ential love which dictated the request. Her gentle 
 voice and smile then encouraged me to beg for one 
 of those shining tresses, as a memorial of the touch- 
 ing scenes with which they were so tenderly asso- 
 ciated, scenes in which I had once borne a part, 
 and which would ever be remembered by me with 
 affectionate interest and love for my two dear and 
 honored friends. 
 
 " She turned, with her usual dignity and winning 
 grace, towards her husband, saying, ' Those tresses 
 are all Uberto's now ; but he shall sever one for you, 
 and it shall be our joint gift. 7 And, when her hus- 
 band divided the lock from her fair head, she placed 
 it in a small crystal locket, set round with large dia- 
 monds, which she took from her bosom, and, placing 
 the chain which held it round my neck, she said, 
 ' The contents I know you will keep ever, for the 
 sake of your loving friends ; but promise me, Kit, 
 that, should you at any future time want money, you 
 will convert the'se gems into a more available shape 
 for use than they are at present, which will do well 
 enough now as a small compass for a sailor's hoard, 
 and permit of his carrying it always about his per- 
 son. Farewell ; think sometimes of your friends 
 Uberto and Eudora, as they often will of their true 
 knight Kit.' 
 
 " The ship in which I now set sail could boast of 
 a very superior crew to those among whom I had 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 175 
 
 last been in company. They were a light-hearted, 
 excellent set of fellows, with a good-natured captain 
 at their head, arid I spent my time very easily and 
 agreeably among them. Indeed, on recalling to 
 memory their many good qualities and sociable dis- 
 position, I cannot reconcile their conduct in sailing 
 away without me with what I remember of the ; r 
 general behavior. For it was this very ship that I 
 told you of in my first yarn, that sailed away and 
 left me on the Island of False Appearances. I can 
 only account for it by imagining that they thought 
 I had fallen a victim to the fatal streamlet, as well as 
 my unfortunate companions/' 
 
 11 0, then, now we shall hear what you did when 
 you got away from the malicious dwarf, by the help 
 of the amiable giant," said Dick Swallow. 
 
 "Yes," replied Kit; "I may as well go on at 
 once from that period of my history, for no particular 
 adventure happened to me in the interval of our 
 leaving the country of King Imbecilio, with the ex- 
 ception of the frightful drought from which we suf- 
 fered for some days previous to our arriving at the 
 island, where we landed in search of fresh water, as 
 I mentioned to you. The remembrance of that dread- 
 ful thirst, and its accompanying evils, even now 
 comes over me with a horrible sense of pain when- 
 ever it crosses my mind. The sea and sky were of 
 one lurid copper hue, and seemed to spread in scorch- 
 ing sheets of blazing metallic substance around us, re- 
 flecting fierce, unrelenting defiance upon our parched 
 mouths and blistered skins. Burning heat glowed 
 above with intolerable fervor upon our aching heads, 
 
1*76 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and languid, moistureless eyeballs, that sought relief 
 in vain from the waters below, which seemed but a 
 vast dazzling mirror, ^doubling and intensifying the 
 surrounding furnace. Fevered and exhausted by 
 exposure to such sufferings, no wonder that my two 
 comrades rashly sought relief at all risks, and em- 
 braced even death in the shape of irresistible fresh, 
 cool, delicious spring-water. 
 
 " But, to resume the thread of my yarn : When I 
 quitted the shore in the boat that afternoon, I had a 
 notion that I was among a sort of cluster of islands, 
 that did not lie very far apart from each other in 
 those seas ; so I rowed away for some time straight 
 from the land I had just left, in the hope that I might 
 reach some other before evening should close in. 
 Night, however, came on while I was still in the 
 open sea, and naught could I see but water around 
 me and sky above. The blue arch of heaven deep- 
 ened and deepened the tone of its azure expanse, and 
 then out carne the blessed stars to cheer and revive 
 me with their hopeful eyes. I gazed towards those 
 countless orbs, and let my spirit take free range 
 amid the firmament, where a supreme law appoints 
 their mighty course, and bids them shed consoling 
 radiance upon the humblest midnight wanderer. 
 From the trackless paths of ocean, from the dreary 
 waste of waters, as from the stifling crowds and most 
 populous haunts of his fellow-mortals, may the spirit 
 of man ascend in yearning aspiration on a starry 
 night ; and, seeking communion with those sublime 
 creations of the Almighty in their unfathomable 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 177 
 
 remoteness, feel himself elevated as if to the presence 
 of his God. 
 
 "My soul strengthened and my arm nerved by 
 this contemplation, I rowed stoutly on, till suddenly 
 I became aware that I was nearing land, though it 
 seemed to be sterile and unpromising, so far as I 
 could discern by starlight. 
 
 " The shore seemed to be composed of steep rocks ; 
 for, on approaching, I found that the sea rose in 
 breakers against the masses of hard, stony cliff that 
 projected their inhospitable fronts, as if to bar my 
 advance, and refuse any response to my hope of 
 effecting a landing there. However, my exhausted 
 frame and limbs, weary with so many hours 7 rowing, 
 warned me not to be easily baffled in seeking repose 
 and shelter ; I therefore kept off shore as well as I 
 could, while I endeavored to coast round in search 
 of some favorable cavern, where I could creep in for 
 the night, or succeed in finding some rather less rug- 
 ged access than any which had hitherto presented 
 itself. 
 
 " At length I came to a kind of craggy inlet, on 
 one side of which the rocks shelved down to the 
 water's edge so low that I believed I could climb up 
 on to them from the boat, which, with some difficulty, 
 I succeeded in doing. But I had no sooner attained 
 this flat shelf of rock, than I perceived that I had 
 quitted my little vessel without having taken the 
 precaution of first landing the provisions that had 
 been given me by the friendly giant, and which, from 
 all that I could see around, was the only food I 
 should be likely to procure that night. I was ac- 
 12 
 
178 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 cordingly compelled to leap back into the boat, 
 though it was tossed about so by the surge that it 
 was a narrow chance I did not plunge into the waves 
 instead. However, I succeeded in securing the pre- 
 cious keg of well-water, and the two loaves in which 
 the giant had enclosed the butter and the cheese, 
 and then I contrived to scramble up once more on to 
 the shelving platform of rock beside them, though, 
 the instant I had done so, the thought flashed across 
 me that I had no means of mooring rny little vessel. 
 No bush, no tree, not even a stump or a jagged 
 point of rock, to which I could lash the rope and 
 secure the boat. Even if it escaped uninjured by 
 the breakers, I could scarcely expect that it would 
 remain in the bay where it now was ; and, if it 
 drifted away before morning, what chance of escape 
 had I from this stony shore, where my first welcome 
 had been so inhospitable and unpromising ? But 
 every spark of hope, with respect to the frail bark, 
 was speedily destroyed by the boiling waves ; they 
 tossed it to and fro, and flung it against the savage 
 rocks, that threw it contemptuously back ; and thus, 
 almost as I gazed, I beheld my sole means of retreat 
 dashed to pieces before my very eyes. I comforted 
 myself as well as I could with the only glimpse of 
 consolation I had at that moment the heart to per- 
 ceive ; which was, my having fortunately preserved 
 the food and water from perishing with the boat. 
 So, determining to avail myself to the utmost of this 
 alleviating circumstance in my situation, I made a 
 hearty meal of one of the half-loaves, some of the 
 butter and cheese, and a draught from the keg. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 179 
 
 After this, feeling refreshed, I secured the remainder 
 of my provisions, by placing them carefully on a 
 sheltered ledge in a rift of the rock, and I determined 
 to set out in search of some more comfortable shelter 
 for the night than that barren, flattened reef could 
 afford. I walked on some time, in the hope of meet- 
 ing with a more fertile spot inland ; but not a vestige 
 of a tree, shrub, or plant, was to be seen. Not only 
 were there no trees, or so much as a ragged stunted 
 bush, anywhere about, but there was not even the 
 least trace of verdure or vegetation of any sort, to 
 clothe the bare sterile rock which spread everywhere 
 beneath my feet, as far as the eye could reach. Not 
 a blade of grass, not a patch of moss, not a solitary 
 slender lichen, sprung from the callous monotony 
 around all was sullen, obdurate, unyielding granite. 
 What was my dismay, when, after walking for about 
 two hours, I found that I approached the sea-shore 
 again, a shore precisely like the one I had just 
 quitted, a mere flattened reef of rocks ; and that, in 
 fact, I was imprisoned in a small desert island, con- 
 taining absolutely nothing to support nature, but 
 was a mere huge granite slab, set in the midst of the 
 ocean. I felt like one of those poor isolated insects 
 I had noticed when a boy some luckless ant, or 
 beetle, that had by mischance strayed upon a float- 
 ing leaf, and was carried away in strange waftage 
 along the current of a brook or pond. Like that 
 poor perplexed creature, I felt prompted to run 
 hither and thither in mad bewilderment, and spend 
 my strength in vain efforts to extricate myself from 
 my hapless position. I checked these rash thoughts, 
 
180 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 howevt,*, as I best might, and lay down on the bare 
 rock, humbly and trustfully, grateful, at least, that 
 there was the starry canopy above me, instead of a 
 stormy and adverse sky. 
 
 " With the first dawn of light I arose, and, forlorn 
 as iny situation undoubtedly was, 1 could not be in- 
 sensible to the beauties of that early morning, rising 
 in mid ocean, and shedding its glories upon one 
 desolate human being, apart from all his race in 
 granite solitude. Blessed prodigality of Nature ! 
 that lavishes its wonders on desert wastes where no 
 eye may ever mark the marvellous beauty, content 
 to work its own bounteous decrees in magnificent 
 profusion. 
 
 " Eoseate clouds replaced the gray dawn ; golden 
 ' streaks mingled their brilliant lines athwart the east, 
 and then spread in radiant suffusion over all the 
 heavens, ushering the majestic approach of the sun, 
 that rose resplendent and supreme. I knelt in invol- 
 untary homage, offering my devotions to the Lord of 
 the universe, the beneficent Creator of that glorious 
 luminary, no less than of the human atom who thus 
 beheld him arise, and who lifted his heart to their 
 common Father. I now prepared to retrace my 
 steps, endeavoring to find my way back to the spot 
 where I had landed, and where I had concealed the 
 food and water, of which I began to feel sensible 
 want. At the same time I reflected that I must 
 husband my provisions carefully, as I had no pros- 
 pect of replacing them when they should be ex- 
 hausted. But I soon found that my first difficulty 
 would be to discover them ; for, so great was the 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 181 
 
 monotony of all around, so precisely was one por- 
 tion of the scenery like another, and so little did one 
 mass of rocks differ from the rest, that I spent the 
 whole of that day in endeavoring to distinguish the 
 particular ledge of rock in which I had deposited my 
 sole means of subsistence. Night closed in before I 
 had discovered it, although I searched diligently in 
 many a chasm and rift of several reefs of flattened 
 and shelving rock that appeared to me to be the one 
 on which I had first effected a landing. Like it they 
 certainly were, but so unvaryingly similar, so per- 
 plexingly akin, were they in feature and form, so 
 utterly undistinguishable in their general appearance 
 as well as particular detail, that I was compelled to 
 abandon my quest, at any rate until another day 
 should dawn, and lend me its light. 
 
 " The pangs of hunger, as well as the growing 
 horrors of my 'situation, combined to keep me awake 
 the greater part of that night, and I resumed my 
 search the next day exhausted as well as dispirited. 
 I endeavored to calculate on what side of the island 
 the particular reef could lie by recalling the position 
 of the stars at the time I landed, as well as by the 
 direction in which I had beheld the sun rise the 
 ' previous day, which of course indicated to me the 
 eastern quarter of the island ; but I found the long 
 fast I had sustained was beginning to have its effect 
 upon my faculties, which I felt were becoming con- 
 fused and indistinct in the process of thinking. An- 
 other night darkened upon me, with the added horror 
 of approaching illness ; for I felt fevered and restless, 
 besides being conscious of a sort of wandering in 
 
182 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 my mind. This last feeling increased to such a 
 degree before morning, that next day I was in a 
 strong fit of the seaman's disease, the calenture, or 
 home-longing, that haunted me with terrible distinct- 
 ness and pertinacity for some hours. The granite 
 island had faded completely from my sight, and I 
 beheld the entire scene of my dear native village, 
 with the vivid force of reality. There was the 
 church-spire against the back-ground of an English 
 sky, pale blue, flecked with light, fleecy clouds ; 
 the church itself, with its glistening windows reflect- 
 ing the mild rays of the evening sun ; the simple 
 church-yard, with its green mounds and plain grave- 
 stones ; there was the little wicket-gate leading to 
 the village green, with the humble cottages skirting 
 its sides, and straggling towards the green lane that 
 led away into the high-road ; there were the fields, 
 dotted with sheep and grazing cattle, the neat or- 
 chards, the little gardens, every well-known object 
 was there, palpably, visibly. Not only did I see these 
 things actually before me, but my other senses aided 
 the delusion, and I heard the gentle lowing of the 
 kine, the bleating of the sheep, the barking of a dis- 
 tant watch-dog, the music of the church-bells, and 
 the murmur of children's voices as they sported on 
 the village green. My tears flowed, and my heart 
 panted to be gone, that I might melt into this tran- 
 quil scene, arid be forever at rest. As I gazed, me- 
 thought my mother issued from the door of our cot- 
 tage-home, and beckoned smilingly to her sailor-son. 
 I followed, as I fancied, and saw her point towards 
 the oaken cupboard, that contained refreshment for 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 183 
 
 her poor wanderer. In my delirium I rose to my 
 feet, and, pursuing the direction of my mother's 
 hand, I went forward towards what seemed in my 
 heated imagination to be the small cupboard in the 
 cottage-wall ; when, on putting forth my hand to 
 grasp the food I saw, I found that I held the very 
 loaves that I had secreted on my first arrival, and 
 that I in fact was guided in my fevered vision to the 
 precise spot, the rift in the rock, which I had sought 
 so long in vain. 
 
 " You may imagine that, though very stale, never 
 had bread tasted so deliciously to me before ; and the 
 keg, kept fresh and cool beneath the shelter of the 
 rock, poured forth its pure contents to my parched 
 lips, with a refreshment that no wine, however rare, 
 could have produced. I slept well and soundly that 
 night, and, when I awoke in the morning, I found, to 
 my inexpressible joy, that my fever had abated, and 
 that I felt healthful and strong enough to form very 
 energetic resolutions of revolving some means of 
 escape from my granite prison. But how were these 
 means to be found ? Not a morsel of wood any- 
 where to make a raft, not a single stick to fasten 
 my handkerchief to, that I might hoist it as a signal 
 in case any ship should fortunately pass within hail. 
 But not a vessel, not a -sail, could I descry ; the sea 
 all around looked smooth arid unruffled, and was as 
 undisturbed and unproductive a monotony as the 
 granite slab which formed my prison. 
 
 " Utterly baffled, and all my hopes of help by self- 
 exertion thus reduced to naught, I stood mutely 
 inactive, with folded arms, and a sort of dull resigna- 
 
184 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 tion to the inert neutrality that my fate forced upon 
 me, when suddenly I was struck by observing a glit- 
 tering object high in the air, which, as it advanced 
 and gradually descended, I perceived to be a horse 
 of burnished brass. It alighted not far from the 
 spot where I was, and then stood as still as a stone, 
 looking as immovable as the granite island itself. I 
 shaded my eyes with my hand, as I gazed at this 
 wondrous horse, which dazzled like the unclouded 
 sun ; and I tried to recollect what I had heard one of 
 my early shipmates, Geoffrey Tabard, once tell me 
 about just such a horse of brass. 
 
 "It was of fine proportions, and of great breadth 
 of chest, all formed for swiftness and endurance, just 
 as Geoffrey had described it to me ; and I remem- 
 bered that he told me of its possessing the power of 
 conveying its master to whatever quarter of the 
 earth he pleased to ride, within the compass of a 
 day ; or, if he desired to soar like an eagle, it would 
 bear him, without danger, through the regions of 
 birds to the place of his destination, and that in its 
 progress it was so staid and so soft that its rider 
 might sleep, without fear, upon its back. Then, 
 remembering how Geoffrey had explained that in its 
 management there required no other skill than the 
 turning of a pin that was fixed in its ear, I deter- 
 mined boldly to avail myself, if possible, of the 
 means this brazen steed offered of quitting the gran- 
 ite island. 
 
 " I therefore approached resolutely, and laid my 
 hand upon the rein, which was a bridle of curious 
 workmanship, encrusted with jewels, and then the 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 185 
 
 horse begun to trample and caper, as if he recog- 
 nized one who was acquainted with his nature. I 
 mounted, turned the pin, and left it to the discretion 
 of my charger to conduct me whithersoever he 
 pleased, believing that, as he delivered me from 
 peril, he would best know where to take me for my 
 future good. We soared gently aloft, and he bore 
 me through the air and across the sea, till we ap- 
 proached land, when, stooping from his flight, the 
 horse alighted in a grassy plain, where I dismounted. 
 Then, after remaining a few moments, as if rooted 
 to the ground, and quiet as a stone again, he sud- 
 denly rose from the earth, and the horse of brass 
 soared away, and vanished from my sight. 
 
 " I waved a grateful farewell to him, and turned 
 to look round upon the place in which he had left me. 
 I found I was in the neighborhood of a thick wood, 
 and, as I felt the rays of the noontide sun somewhat 
 oppressive, I sought the refreshing shade of the 
 trees, and wandered for ome time beneath them, 
 enjoying the cool air and the green luxurious repose 
 of the bowery spot, affording such exquisite contrast 
 with the hard, barren monotony of the place I had 
 just quitted, the dreadful granite island. I revelled 
 in the sweet smell of the wood, a mingled odor of 
 wild-flowers, boughs, blossoms, mossy bark, and 
 teeming earth ; I, as it were, bathed my eyes in the 
 verdant freshness of the overhanging leaves, the 
 clear azure of the sky that peeped between the foli- 
 age, and the soft purple haze that appeared to suffuse 
 the ground beneath the trees ; I bared my brow to 
 the pure breath of heaven, my senses seemed steeped 
 
186 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 in refreshment, and I felt as if I drank in reviving 
 influence at every pore. 
 
 " Presently I heard a sound of rural merriment ; 
 I looked up, and beheld a troop of fauns and satyrs 
 coming through one of the forest glades, shouting 
 and singing a shepherd rhyme, and making the 
 woods echo with their rnerry piping and gladsome 
 revelry. On they came, wearing the ground with 
 "their horned feet and backward-bent knees, leaping 
 like wanton kids in pleasant spring, and joyful as the 
 birds, while with them came dancing, hand in hand, 
 nymphs and light-footed hamadryads, waving green 
 branches, all just as I had heard Edmund Faery (an- 
 other of the early friends of my first voyage) many 
 and many a time describe them to me, when he had 
 told me of these wood-born people ; his very words 
 came into my memory, so vividly had he painted 
 them. Though they were rude-favored, misshapen 
 creatures, with their frowning foreheads surmounted 
 by rough horns, and their strange limbs hairy and 
 hoofed, yet there was an air of natural goodness 
 about them, and guileless enjoyment, that inspired 
 confidence and liking. The procession stopped in 
 an open grassy spot, where the glade widened, not 
 far from the place in which I stood ; and then I saw 
 the merry, busy crowd prepare for a rustic feast by 
 spreading the ground with boar's and kid's flesh, 
 goodly fowls and birds, piles of rosy fruit, and heaps 
 of green and purple grapes, intermingled with drink- 
 ing-horns, flagons, and swollen wine-skins. 
 
 " The jolly company were just about to seat them- 
 selves around on the grass, when, espying me, they 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 187 
 
 set up a boisterous shout that made the welkin ring ; 
 then, gently grinning, they, by grotesque becks and 
 barbarous courtesy, signified to me that I should 
 approach and share their repast, while two buxom 
 nymphs sprang forward, and, playfully crowning my 
 head with green coronals, and wreathing me round 
 with vine garlands, they led me towards their wood 
 companions, and, with uproarious mirth, pressed me 
 down upon a mossy seat in the midst of them. 
 
 " Nowise averse, I enjoyed their wild hospitality, 
 and shared their hearty merriment, eating and drink- 
 ing my best, and mingling my voice with their joy- 
 ous shouts and sportive songs ; but, when I began 
 to perceive that joviality was merging into mad ex- 
 cess, and jocund hilarity was fast becoming mere 
 tumult and noise, I bethought me that my human 
 discretion had best take means to withdraw from the 
 company of these wild wood-gods while I yet pre- 
 served my senses. Thanking them, therefore, for 
 their courtesy and good cheer in one more rousing 
 cup, which I resolved should be the last, I seized the 
 opportunity, when their attention was occupied in 
 pressing some vast bunches of grapes into a huge 
 bowl, and crowning it with garlands, that they might 
 drink a loving cup round to the health of old Syl- 
 vanus, and, quietly rising, I stealthily effected my 
 escape among the neighboring leafy coverts, and 
 soon lost sight of the uproarious train, thinking how 
 closely my situation resembled that of some tem- 
 perate guests of whom I had heard in civilized life, 
 who were compelled to abscond by stratagem from 
 
188 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the indiscreet society of some too hospitable human 
 host. 
 
 " I wandered on beneath the trees, until I came to 
 the skirts of the wood, where I beheld a stately 
 mansion. 
 
 " But I must tell you to-morrow what adventures 
 befell me there, my dears/ ' said the old mariner, 
 " for it is too late to spin any more yarns to-night/ 7 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 189 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 THE ABODE OP SUBTILIA. DRUSILLA. THE ENCHANTED FOUN- 
 TAIN. ERUDITO'S GIFT. THE LAKE, AND ISLAND RETREAT. 
 SIR LIONEL. THE MYSTIC RINGS. 
 
 " You left off last evening just where you came in 
 sight of a stately mansion, Kit/' said both the young 
 Swallows, in a breath, when they were next seated 
 happily with their dear old friend, the mariner. 
 
 " I bent my steps towards it/' resumed Kit, " and 
 shortly approached the high bronze gates which 
 formed the entrance to this lordly domain ; they 
 yielded to my hand, and I advanced through a long 
 avenue that led straight to the flight of marble steps 
 surmounted by the portal of the mansion. On each 
 side of the avenue stretched a fine park, and in the 
 vicinity of the house I saw plantations and thick 
 shrubberies, that bespoke beautiful pleasure-grounds 
 and lovely gardens, fit for voluptuous retirement. I 
 ascended the flight of steps, and found that the por- 
 tal, like the bronze gates, gave way at once beneath 
 the pressure of my hand ; and I entered a lofty hall 
 of dazzling white marble, from the centre of which 
 rose a staircase that, after a short flight, diverged, 
 and led to the rooms above. I went straight up to 
 the first landing, where I found a magnificent suite 
 of rooms, draped with rich hangings, and ornamented 
 with gilded mouldings and cornices ; superb pictures 
 
190 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 decorated the walls ; luxurious couches, soft carpets, 
 mirrors, candelabra, and vases, were everywhere 
 around in costly profusion. But I saw no one ; I 
 met not a single person amid all this splendor : not 
 one occupant in this stately household. I wandered 
 on through many rooms, all grand, all betokening 
 lordly habitation, but still not a soul could I see ; 
 through many more, above, around, and below, but 
 all was silent and deserted, and I strayed on alone, 
 quite alone, without a sound but my own echoing 
 footsteps, or the sight of a human countenance, ex- 
 cepting an occasional glimpse of my own as I passed 
 some huge mirror that reflected my wandering figure, 
 and startled me with its unexpected motion amidst 
 this still and silent solitude. I descended again to 
 the marble hall, where I perceived some windows 
 reaching to the ground, that opened on to the broad 
 terrace which occupied the back of the mansion, and 
 commanded a view of the gardens and pleasure- 
 grounds. I stepped forth, and stood for some time 
 to admire the beauty of the scene that lay stretched 
 before me, while I mused upon the strange deser- 
 tion of a place so bountifully endowed. I gazed 
 forth upon the lovely pleasaunce, the green alleys, 
 the' brilliant flower-beds, the bowery alcoves, the 
 graceful statues and silvery fountains, that diversified 
 the tasteful elegance of the surrounding grounds, 
 when, suddenly, my ear caught the sound of a plain- 
 tive voice uttering a low, wailing lamentation. I 
 looked hastily round, but no one could I see ; and, 
 indeed, the sound was too stifled and distant for it 
 to have proceeded from any one in the open air, or 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 191 
 
 near to me. I listened, and, hearing the plaintive 
 sound repeated, I crept softly in the direction 
 whence it seemed to proceed. It led me to the end 
 of the terrace, and then, descending a few steps, I 
 heard it more distinctly, and found that it seemed to 
 issue from a low angle of the building among some 
 flowering shrubs, that grew in a cluster near to the 
 foot of the terrace. As I stooped towards them I 
 distinguished these words, uttered in the disconsolate 
 tones which had before reached my ear : ' Ah me, 
 unhappy Drusilla ! Why bemoan thy miserable fate ? 
 Why indulge in useless complaint, when there is no 
 one near to listen and console ? Wretched, wretched 
 maid ! Lost, abandoned, deserted by all, cease to 
 deplore thy cruel doom, but let grief do its work, 
 break thy heart at once, and die ! ? Much moved by 
 this melancholy plaint, and by the touching voice of 
 woe in which it was uttered, I strained my eyes 
 eagerly through the slender branches which screened 
 the portion of the building whence the voice seemed 
 to issue, and I discovered a low, grated window 
 close to the ground ; on looking still more intently, 
 I could distinguish behind the bars the figure of a 
 beautiful damsel, who was wringing her hands 
 piteously, casting her weeping eyes up to Heaven, 
 while she gave way to those bitter lamentations 
 which I had overheard. I no sooner perceived her 
 than I endeavored to make her aware of my pres- 
 ence, and to offer my services in aid of her distress. 
 I cut away some of the branches of the flowering 
 shrub that intervened, and, approaching as near to 
 the grating as I could, I begged her to believe that 
 
192 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 there was one near anxious to assist and console her, 
 would she but accept his services, and direct him 
 how best they could be exerted in her behalf. The 
 fair damsel, after the first blush of surprise at my 
 sudden appearance, smiled graciously, and told me 
 that she was an unhappy prisoner, confined in that 
 lonely dungeon by the arts of a wicked enchantress, 
 Subtilia, whose abode was the luxurious mansion 
 that reared its walls above the cell of her victim ; 
 and then the damsel, who told me that her own name 
 was Drusilla, asked me how I had contrived to escape 
 the observation of Subtilia, and gain access to the 
 neighborhood of her dungeon, so as to discover its 
 situation. I informed her of my having entered the 
 house, of my having wandered all over it without 
 encountering any one, and of my subsequent visit to 
 the terrace, whence I had been fortunately led by 
 the sound of her voice to the discovery of her im- 
 prisonment, from which I now longed so eagerly to 
 be the means of her deliverance. She thanked me 
 warmly for my proffered aid, and then, recurring to 
 the former portion of my speech, where I had re- 
 counted my having found the mansion empty, she 
 said : ' Then Subtilia is absent ; she is doubtless 
 gone on one of her errands, fraught with mischievous 
 peril to knights and damsels who have unhappily 
 provoked her admiration or her wrath ; for her par- 
 tiality towards the one sex is as fatal as her malig- 
 nant hatred of the other. Had she seen you, gallant 
 stranger/ added Drusilla, with a complimentary 
 glance, ' it is more than probable that you would 
 never have been permitted to emerge from her abode, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 193 
 
 even so far as to the terraces and gardens. She is 
 an avowed admirer of handsome youths, and loves 
 to see bravery and beauty swell her train of fol- 
 lowers/ 
 
 11 1 felt abashed by this open flattery of Brasilia's, 
 and hastened to check its course, by leading the con- 
 versation back to her own misfortunes, asking her if 
 she could account for the animosity which had led 
 Subtilia to cast her into the dungeon where she now 
 languished. 
 
 " ' Alas, no ! ' exclaimed the damsel, casting her 
 eyes modestly down ; ' unless it be that these poor 
 charms have excited her envy, and drawn her enmity 
 upon their unhappy possessor.' 
 
 " I looked at her as she stood there, in her blush- 
 ing beauty, with the bright tears streaming over her 
 glowing cheeks and glistening upon her coral lips, 
 like dew-drops trembling in the cup of a rose, and, 
 notwithstanding her consciousness and vanity, which 
 revolted my better taste, I could not help admiring 
 her loveliness, and permitting myself to be biased 
 in her favor by the irresistible attraction of youth, 
 softness, and distress. 
 
 " I bade her command me ever, vowed to deliver 
 and protect her, though at the peril of my life, and 
 besought her to bestow some token of her regard 
 and acceptance of my devotion to her cause. 
 
 " The damsel blushed and smiled, and then, press- 
 ing one fair arm through the bars of her prison-win- 
 dow, she permitted me to kiss her white hand, on 
 which I perceived a heart-shaped ruby ring. Trans- 
 ported with her condescending softness, I would fain 
 13 
 
194 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 have drawn this ring from her finger and placed it 
 on my own ; but she suddenly withdrew her hand, 
 and, telling me the ring might perhaps be iny guer- 
 don when I should have succeeded in delivering her 
 from the power of Subtilia, she told me that I had 
 best avail myself of the enchantress 7 absence, by 
 returning immediately to the house, seeking the way 
 to the dungeon-door, and so freeing Brasilia from 
 prison before the return of her enemy should inter- 
 fere with our plans. I agreed to the reasonableness 
 of this proposal, and asking Brasilia if she could 
 afford me any indication of the direction in which the 
 passage leading to the dungeons lay within the house, 
 she told me that she had been conveyed thither from 
 the great hall of white marble blindfold, and that, 
 therefore, she possessed no clue wherewith to guide 
 me in my search. However, doubting not that I 
 should be able easily to discover the way, and anx- 
 ious to lose no more time in endeavoring to effect 
 Brasilia's escape, I bade her farewell, and hastened 
 to retrace my steps along the terrace, and return to 
 the house. 
 
 "Arrived once more in the marble hall, I paused 
 a moment to calculate, as well as I could, the prob- 
 able direction of the dungeon, when, opening a door 
 to the right, I found myself in a long gallery, lead- 
 ing to a beautiful conservatory, filled with rare flow- 
 ers of every shape and hue. Convinced that this 
 could not form the approach to the subterranean 
 range of prisons destined for the reception of Sub- 
 tilia's victims, I returned to the hall, where I again 
 debated in what direction I had best proceed. I 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 195 
 
 observed that several doors stood ranged on the two 
 opposite sides of this hall, leading into galleries right 
 and left through the extensive wings of the mansion ; 
 so, as I had no means of deciding which of these 
 galleries was the passage I sought, I determined to 
 go regularly through them all, in the hope of discov- 
 ering the one I so ardently desired. The second 
 door I opened admitted me into a gallery, at the end 
 of which I found myself in a spacious library ; the 
 third led to a superb aviary ; another to a saloon of 
 rarest sculpture; another to a well-proportioned music- 
 room ; each to various retreats of refined amusement 
 and elegant leisure, but none that bore the remotest 
 likelihood of conducting me to the range of dungeons 
 beneath the building, which I longed as eagerly to 
 find as others had probably desired to avoid. At 
 length, at the end of one of the galleries, I beheld a 
 staircase, that led down windingly to a.dark vaulted 
 passage ; and, though evening was by this time clos- 
 ing in, I hesitated not to descend at once, hoping 
 that I had at last discovered the way to the prison 
 of the lovely Drusilla. The passage was of stone, 
 and echoed drearily beneath my feet, as I proceeded, 
 groping carefully on either side, to find the dungeon 
 doors, which I concluded could not now be far dis- 
 tant. 
 
 '' I traversed this gloomy abyss long in vain, and 
 became somewhat alarmed when I found that not 
 a recess, not a vestige of a door or opening of any 
 sort, could I discover along its uniform blank stone 
 walls ; and that, instead of coming to any end or 
 egress, the vaulted passage went on and on, in appa- 
 
196 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 rently interminable length, and made me feel as if I 
 had entered a dreary labyrinth, in which there was 
 an equally hopeless chance of returning as of pro- 
 ceeding to the hitherto expected result. However, 
 this very conviction of the difficulty of finding my 
 way back, joined to the strong desire I had to find 
 the dungeons, with the belief that this must be the 
 approach to them, led me to persevere in my prog- 
 ress onward, and I toiled on in darkness and diffi- 
 culty, but in unwearied search. It was like thread- 
 ing the mazes of a perplexed and oppressive dream ; 
 but I was determined not to be baffled, if possible, in 
 my search for the place of the beautiful damseFs 
 confinement, and so on, and on, and on, I continued. 
 But, at length, I felt a current of cooler air, and 
 then the atmosphere around me freshened and fresh- 
 ened, until I emerged from a low arched portal, and 
 found myself suddenly without the walls of Subtilia's 
 abode. 
 
 "I gazed around me in surprise, for the moon was 
 shining brilliantly, and had risen high enough in the 
 heavens to show me that some hours must have 
 elapsed while I was toiling through that dark vaulted 
 stone passage, which was probably only a subter- 
 ranean labyrinth, ranging beneath the whole extent 
 of the building, and forming a secret means of egress 
 from the mansion. I found- that it had brought me 
 out beneath the avenue in front of the edifice, and 
 the brilliant moonshine which silvered the tops of 
 the lofty trees, and shed soft lustre upon every sur- 
 rounding object, enabled me to find my way readily 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 197 
 
 to the principal entrance ; and I once more returned 
 to the marble hall. 
 
 " Before I resumed my search through the few 
 doors that yet remained unopened by me, I deter- 
 mined to repair to the grated window of Brasilia's 
 prison, that I might inform her of the fruitless search 
 I had hitherto made, and, by assuring her that I 
 meant immediately to return and prosecute it further, 
 account for the suspense in which she had been de- 
 tained, and revive her hope for future success. I 
 hastened along the terrace, and was soon at the low 
 grated window ; but what was my dismay when I 
 received no reply to my reiterated calls upon the 
 fair damsel's name ! I urged her, by every earnest 
 expression I could imagine, to take pity on my un- 
 easiness, and to relieve the torture I suffered in her 
 behalf ; I conjured her to believe that the delay in 
 her deliverance had been occasioned by no want of 
 ardor on my part, and that if it was this circum- 
 stance that offended her' and kept her silent, I en- 
 treated she would at least have compassion on my 
 fears for her, and assure me of her presence by a 
 single word. 
 
 " But I pleaded in vain ; no sound, not a sigh, 
 reached my ear, and I became convinced that the 
 dungeon no longer contained its fair tenant. In- 
 deed, the moon shone so brightly that I should have 
 discovered the figure of the damsel, had Brasilia still 
 occupied her prison ; but not a line, not a hint, of 
 her fair shape could I distinguish, to break the uni- 
 form darkness of the space into which I gazed. 
 Amazed and dispirited, I arose from the kneeling 
 
198 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 position I had assumed, the better to peer down 
 through the dungeon window, and wandered on 
 through the moonlit gardens, musing vainly on the 
 cause of my mistress 7 strange disappearance. The 
 title I had given to Drusilla, in my revery, struck 
 upon my fancy, and I paused to consider what reason 
 I had to look upon her in the light of a lover. 
 
 " ' I have seen her but a few hours, I know nothing 
 of her qualities, and yet I talk of her as my love 
 my mistress my future bride ! Do I love her ? Do 
 I wish to pass my life with her ? Do I really desire 
 to* devote my future existence to this damsel, to the 
 formation of her happiness and my own in our 
 union ? ? I asked myself these questions, and was 
 surprised to find how the remembrance of her beauty 
 was the sole response, and how that faded before 
 the recollection of her evident coquetry and vanity, 
 which had been thrown into shadow, while my eyes 
 were dazzled with her personal charms, in the pres- 
 ence of the fair Drusilla. 
 
 "My own conduct, too, did not satisfy me, upon 
 reviewal, any more than hers in the interview be- 
 tween us. As I thought over these things, I drew 
 from my bosom the little volume that had been 
 Erudito's parting gift, and which I always kept, there 
 securely, together with Eudora's crystal locket. I 
 had noticed that the little volume bore the title of 
 ' The Book of Self-Disenchantment ;' and I now turned 
 over its pages, while I revolved my own behavior, 
 as if consulting its truths in aid of my self-scru- 
 tiny. The vivid rays of the moon lent me their 
 light, land there was a native effulgence in the book 
 
' KIT BAM, MARINER. 199 
 
 itself, that enabled me to trace the characters, as if 
 I had been in the broad sunshine. And yet it was 
 not exactly that I read the volume. It was rather 
 as if I were looking into a mirror ; the leaves seemed 
 to present to me a sort of mental looking-glass, in 
 which I beheld a transcript of motives, words, and 
 actions. I saw reflected, as it were, my own views, 
 feelings, and thoughts, with a clear outline of causes 
 and consequences. I saw the coxcombry of my own 
 deportment to Drusilla, as vividly as I had lately 
 beheld her coquetry of manner towards myself; I 
 perceived that I was misled by foolish vanity, whe*i 
 I had fancied, for a moment, that I, a rough sailor 
 youth, could be comely in a fair lady's eyes, or that 
 she could possibly entertain a serious liking for a 
 stranger of but half an hour's acquaintance. 
 
 " As I gazed into Erudito's gift, and contemplated 
 this reflection of my own inner self, I was startled to 
 hear a deep sigh breathed close to my ear, as if some 
 one were looking over my shoulder into the open 
 pages of the little volume which I held in my hand. 
 I looked round involuntarily, though I was so situ- 
 ated that no one could possibly be standing in the 
 position which had suggested itself to rne ; for, I had 
 seated myself on the marble brink of a large vase- 
 like basin, in the centre of which played a fountain 
 that sent up its silver sparkles among the moon- 
 beams, and fell again in graceful showers to the 
 rippling water. 
 
 " But the sigh was repeated, and I heard the plain- 
 tive voice of Drusilla murmur, ' And is that my real 
 picture ? Are those my true colors ? Am I indeed 
 
200 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the worthless, vain coquette I there see depicted ? 
 Ah, Lionel, well art thou vindicated ! Deeply, fatally, 
 are thy wrongs avenged, by my present hopeless 
 admission of the justice of my doom ! ; 
 
 " The voice ceased, and I heard nothing but the 
 soft plashing of the fountain, and the thrilling notes 
 of a nightingale in the neighboring grove. 
 
 11 Drusilla! speak again, Brasilia! Where are you, 
 lady ? 7 I exclaimed, impetuously. 
 
 " ' You see me not, gallant stranger, 'though I am 
 close beside you/ replied her voice ; ' by the cruel 
 sorceries of the enchantress Subtilia I am nightly 
 transformed into this fountain ; as evening closes in, 
 1 quit my dungeon, and with it my human shape, 
 which I resume not until morning dawns, when I 
 exchange one imprisonment for another. The free 
 open air, the close cell, are equally thraldom for poor 
 Brasilia ! Listen, stranger/ she continued, ' for your 
 magic volume has unsealed my eyes, and bids me 
 value truth now above all things ; listen, and I will 
 tell you the whole of my sad history, of which I 
 allowed you to understand only a portion this morn- 
 ing. I am a king's daughter, and my early years 
 were spent in the midst of unbounded luxury, un- 
 checked whims, unlimited praise of my beauty, and 
 injudicious indulgence of all kinds. My natural 
 defects were thus cherished into faults, and my ca- 
 price, disdain, and tyranny, when I came to have 
 suitors, were intolerable and incessant. Of all of 
 them, I only really loved Sir Lionel ; but I never 
 would permit him to feel sure of this, and scarcely 
 treated him better than any of the others. Still, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 201 
 
 spite of all, he loved me fondly, faithfully ; and his 
 ardent affection roused the vindictive jealousy of 
 Subtilia, who had herself cast eyes of favor upon my 
 handsome lover. One evening, I was pacing idly 
 along one of the green alleys of the royal gardens, 
 surrounded by a train of my admirers, one of whom 
 I sent to catch a butterfly, another for a bunch of 
 forget-me-nots, another for a riband for my dog's 
 neck, a fourth for my pet monkey, and a fifth for I 
 know not what, when I suddenly found myself alone 
 with Sir Lionel, and, in the embarrassment of the 
 moment, instead of despatching him like the rest 
 upon some frivolous errand, I said, " And you, sir 
 knight, may give me that opal from your finger, if 
 you think fit to bestow it upon me : it will be a meet 
 gift, you know, for one so changeable as you have 
 frequently told me that I am. 7 ' 
 
 " ' " Be true to your own better nature, then, lady 
 mine/ 7 said Sir Lionel, emboldened by the encourage- 
 ment I gave him in my request ; " give me that ruby 
 ring of yours in exchange for my opal, and tell me 
 they shall bear witness of our mutual constancy. 77 
 
 " < When I do give you that heart-shaped ruby, 
 sir knight, you may boast of my constancy, 77 I ex- 
 claimed, haughtily drawing back. 
 
 " ' He was incensed at the sudden change in my 
 manner, which, an instant before, had been all play- 
 ful softness, and said, " Then I part not with my 
 opal, unless in exchange for the ruby. 77 
 
 " ' " I would sooner exchange places with that foun- 
 tain, 77 said I,, pointing carelessly to one that played 
 near us, " than part with my ring 
 
 f/HSriVEEST'P 
 
202 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " ' "Sir Lionel will never submit his heart to your 
 sway, fair tyrant," exclaimed my lover, impetuously, 
 " until you yield him your ruby ring 1 , and own that 
 you have used unworthily a heart hitherto but too 
 milling to devote itself to your service. 77 
 
 " ' He broke from me with these bitter words, and 
 [ have fatal reason to believe that these rash speeches 
 >f ours threw us both into the power of Subtilia : for, 
 shat very night, her enchantments were put in force 
 against myself, and I have no doubt my unfortunate 
 lover is equally subject to her spells. There is a 
 retired spot towards the south, not far from hence, 
 a small island situated in the centre of a lake, 
 where the enchantress devotes herself to pleasure, 
 and to the society of those whom she has enwoven in 
 her fatal snares. Here, I fear, my dear knight, Sir 
 Lionel, has been conveyed ; and, alas ! my own con- 
 duct scarcely permits me to hope that his constancy 
 has been proof against the wiles doubtless employed 
 to win him to her allegiance. It is but too probable 
 that he has yielded to her blandishments, and has 
 forever abandoned all thought of the miserable Dru- 
 silla ! > 
 
 " ' Then you regret your false knight, and still 
 love only Sir Lionel ! ' I exclaimed, in a tone which 
 I vainly endeavored to render free from reproach. 
 
 " She understood me, and replied, with new-born 
 frankness, the offspring of her perusal of Erudito's 
 'magic gift, ' My behavior to you this morning, 
 gallant stranger, warrants your rebuke. It was my 
 old self then acting. It was the coquette the vain, 
 thoughtless beauty heedless of what pain she might 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 203 
 
 inflict, while intent solely upon conquest and securing 
 new worship. Be generous as you are brave, kind 
 stranger, and withdraw not your proffers of assist- 
 ance from an unhappy damsel because she has the 
 courage to own the truth. Be content to think her 
 candor renders her more worthy of your help, though 
 not of your love ; and still benevolently strive to 
 relieve her from distress, even when she honestly 
 avows that she loves another better than yourself. 
 Above all, do not call Sir Lionel false knight. He 
 was ever true and kind, till I urged him beyond for- 
 bearance. His further submission to my caprice and 
 tyranny would have been scarcely manly ; and if, in- 
 deed, his constancy should have swerved in the trial 
 to which, I doubt not, it has been subjected by the 
 arts of Subtilia, I may mourn his loss as I must 
 eternally but I shall have only my own former 
 self to blame for the cessation of his love. 7 
 
 " Again the voice ceased with a plaintive cadence, 
 and I heard naught but the nightingale's musical 
 descant and the soft plashing of the fountain, which 
 seemed faint echoes of Brasilia's love and tears. 
 
 11 Her contrition and her ingenuous self-blame 
 wrought their due effect upon me, and, after a mo- 
 ment's pause, I burst forth in cordial expressions of 
 my willingness to serve her, and to do all I could to 
 restore the lovers to each other, unthoughtful of any 
 more selfish reward than the happiness of promoting 
 theirs. 
 
 " ' 'T is no more than I believed of you, generous 
 stranger/ she exclaimed ; ' your bearing is frank and 
 noble ; and think not now that I flatter you lightly, 
 
204 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 as I perhaps might have done before I beheld my two 
 portraits truly depicted in your wondrous volume 
 there. My abhorrence of my former self, and my 
 hope of what my present self may eventually become 
 through the meek teaching f an awakened con- 
 science, authorize my telling you that I confide en- 
 tirely in your friendly goodness, as expressed by 
 your every look and manner. Take, then, this ruby 
 ring, find out my true knight, Sir Lionel, and give 
 him the token, with Brasilia's full avowal of her af- 
 fection, of her self-blame, and of her sole hope now 
 consisting in his unaltered faith towards one who 
 will devote her whole life to prove worthy of his 
 love. 7 
 
 " As she ceased speaking, a small gold-fish swam 
 towards the marble brink, holding in its mouth the 
 heart-shaped ruby ring, which I immediately recog- 
 nized to be the one I had beheld that morning on 
 Brasilia's white hand. 
 
 " As I reached forth mine for the token, I renewed 
 my assurances of fidelity to her service, and, bidding 
 her be of good cheer as to the success of my enter- 
 prise, I withdrew, determined to set forth in quest 
 of her knight by earliest dawn on the morrow. 
 
 " I slept in one of the sumptuous bed-chambers in 
 the deserted abode of the enchantress Subtilia ; but 
 my dreams were calm, and my slumbers refreshing, 
 mayhap none the less so that my mind was free 
 from any thoughts of a flirtation, and the thousand 
 tormenting solicitudes and misgivings of a growing 
 though fancied preference. 
 
 " On the following morning I rose eagerly to my 
 
* 
 
 KIT BAM, MARINER. 205 
 
 task ; but, previous to my departure, I stole down to 
 the low grating of the dungeon window, beyond the 
 terrace, that I might say a parting word of hopeful 
 comfort to the fair Drusilla, if she should be returned 
 thither, and awake to note me. 
 
 . " The morning sun was up in his glory, and, dart- 
 ing his kindly rays athwart the iron bars, showed me 
 the form of the fair Drusilla stretched upon her 
 prison-pallet, but with a smile of loving brightness 
 and artless joy upon her countenance, that bespoke a 
 pure renovated heart, and dreams of a happy future. 
 That her first waking thoughts might partake of 
 their cheerful hue, I hastily gathered some wreaths 
 of honeysuckle blossoms, emblems of hopeful con- 
 stancy, and, twining them through the grating, I 
 hurried away on my quest for her lover. Remem- 
 bering her words, I shaped my course in a southerly 
 direction, and found that it led me across the green 
 alleys and terrace-walks of the noble garden and 
 pleasure-grounds that stretched away from the back 
 of Subtilia's mansion, until I reached the open coun- 
 try beyond. Here the aspect of the place changed ; 
 it became more hilly, broken, and precipitous, though 
 still romantically beautiful, being clothed with abun- 
 dant verdure, and the most luxuriant trees, of grace- 
 ful shape and varied species. 
 
 " I now approached the borders of a lake, that lay 
 in calm glassy expanse, bearing in the centre of its 
 crystal bosom a richly-wooded island, green and 
 bowery, a fitting resort for an enchantress and her 
 voluptuous train. A gilded boat floated idly to and 
 fro, with purple sail and fringed awning, beneath 
 
206 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 which sat a nymph loosely clad in glittering raiment, 
 whose occupation seemed that of ferrying between 
 the shore and the island those who wished to cross 
 the lake. 
 
 11 Unwilling, however, to expose myself to the ob- 
 servation of any of Subtilia's minions, one of whom 
 this nymph probably was, I resolved to wait until the 
 gilded bark should have floated further away, before 
 I emerged from the thicket where I now stood 
 screened ; and, accordingly, when she had nearly 
 reached the overhanging branches of the island 
 trees, I plunged softly into the lake, and, swimming, 
 speedily made my way to a green nook beyond the 
 landing-place where the nymph plied her bark. In 
 this leafy cover did I lie quietly concealed for some 
 little time, drying my wet garments, and marking 
 the beauty of the drooping boughs that dipped their 
 pendent leaves into the waters, to meet and kiss 
 their twin semblance ; while the cool umbrageous 
 reflection seemed to shrink and tremble coyly, glid- 
 ing away elusive from beneath their playful touch. 
 
 11 Presently a delicious sound of music crept into 
 my ears ; a lulling harmony of blended wind instru- 
 ments, that swelled and rose majestically from mur- 
 muring softness into loud outpouring strains, then 
 sunk again in soothing cadence. At one moment a 
 tender, passionate melody breathed alone its persua- 
 sive accents in eloquent entreaty ; then the impera- 
 tive thrill of silver trumpets and loud-voiced clarions 
 would ring forth, amid the impressive sway and 
 deep-toned richness of trombones and bass-horns ; 
 and anon the lingering liquid notes of recurring 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 207 
 
 gentleness and beauty would enchain the attention 
 in stronger and more willing bondage. 
 
 " Drawn by the luscious strains to a nearer enjoy- 
 ment of their sounds, I left my leafy covert, and 
 made my way through the grove that surrounded 
 me ; but, on approaching a thick-pleached hedge 
 that seemed to encircle the spot whence the music 
 proceeded, I looked through the close interstices of 
 its branches, and beheld a scene that at once riveted 
 my attention, and drew it firmly towards the object 
 I had in view, the disenthralment of Drusilla's 
 lover, Sir Lionel. 
 
 " On a rustic throne of moss and mingled flowers 
 reclined the enchantress SubtiMa. She was attired 
 in gorgeous satin robes, of the hue which the pheas- 
 ant 's throat displays when the bird basks in rays of 
 sunshine ; on her arms and breast glowed gems of 
 rarest water the diamond, the sapphire, the ruby, 
 and the emerald ; and amid her raven hair lurked 
 pearls of orient worth, like clusters of starry jasmine 
 peeping from among their dark foliage. Her beauty 
 well became this attire ; it was haughty and com- 
 manding, and her eyes sparkled with conscious 
 power and proud dominion. 
 
 " On the grass at her feet lay a steel-clad knight, 
 idly waving a fan of snowy feathers, the riband of 
 which still clung round the wrist of its beauteous 
 mistress ; but I marked that his eyes seldom rose to 
 meet those of the enchantress, which often sought 
 his. I saw that they were not occupied with the 
 light figures of the nymphs who were floating in a 
 mazy dance before him ; I could see that they were 
 
208 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 not even following the air-drawn circles which he 
 was listlessly describing with the waving fan in his 
 hand ; but I perceived that they were most frequently 
 fixed, in sad, abstracted gaze, upon a ring which he 
 wore on his finger a lustrous opal. His continued 
 abstraction at length became apparent to Subtilia, 
 for, saying, ' You are weary of this dancing and this 
 music, dear knight ; I will bid them begone, and you 
 shall tell me what occupies your thoughts/ she 
 waved the nyrnphs to retire, and the, musicians to 
 cease playing. Then black pages, attired in white 
 and scarlet, brought vases of gold, and flasks of 
 crystal enriched with silver frost-work, from which 
 they poured rubious and amber-tinted wines into gob- 
 lets encrusted with gems, and crowned with flowers, 
 and handed them, together with cool fruits heaped in 
 tempting groups, upon chased salvers and chargers, 
 to the enchantress and her guest. 
 
 " But the wine brought no exhilaration, the fruits 
 no refreshment to the satiated palate of the knight ; 
 he appeared rather to be overwhelmed than revived 
 by the succession of voluptuous pleasures heaped 
 upon him by his gracious entertainer, and I could 
 perceive that the languid sigh he uttered was not so 
 much one of enjoyment as of oppression and palled 
 appetite, while his thoughts were so evidently wan- 
 dering from the scene before him, that Subtilia again 
 challenged them, and said, 
 
 " ' You long for more stirring scenes ; is it not so, 
 dear knight ? You weary of this soft repose and 
 perpetual inaction. To-morrow we will repair to the 
 main land, and enjoy all the vivacity and animation 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 209 
 
 of the chase. My hunting-lodge shall be prepared ; 
 the fleetest hounds, the swiftest horses, shall be at 
 our command ; and we will rouse the stag or the fero- 
 cious boar, while our steeds bear us flying along to 
 the spirited call of the bugles, and the far-resounding 
 shouts of the hunters. Come/ added she, seeing 
 that a light beamed in the eyes of Sir Lionel, at this 
 mention of something in the shape of active pursuit, 
 and relief from the round of insipid diversions and 
 sensualities in which he had lately been steeped, 
 ' come, you shall give me some reward for my prom- 
 ised hunting-party ; you shall give me that gem from 
 your finger. I grudge the many thoughtful looks 
 you bestow on the senseless opal ; when transferred 
 to my hand, I shall better endure that it should at- 
 tract your gaze ; it will remind you that that little 
 hand seeks no dearer employment than to confer 
 benefits and endless happiness on its cherished 
 friend Sir Lionel.' 
 
 ." The enchantress extended her fair hand, as she 
 spoke, with a smile full of blandishment, expecting 
 that the knight would place the ring on her finger, 
 fascinated by her encouraging condescension ; but 
 he merely raised the lady's hand to his lips, mutely 
 declining to yield her the opal. 
 
 " Subtilia's dark eyes flashed fire at this refusal. 
 
 '"Ungrateful knight! ' she exclaimed; 'no com- 
 plaisance moves you, no generous confidence can 
 win that stubborn heart of thine ! Mock not my 
 kindness, disdain not my affection, or learn to dread 
 the animosity which may, ere long, replace in my 
 14 
 
210 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 bosom the too fond weakness with which I have 
 hitherto regarded you ! ; 
 
 " So saying, the enchantiess swept past, casting 
 an angry glance towards him, and quitted the spot, 
 surrounded by her train of pages and attendants. 
 
 " The knight fell again into his abstracted gaze 
 upon the ring. 
 
 " 'Too well she knows/ he murmured, 'that, to 
 yield her this, would be to relinquish the last slender 
 tie which binds me to a better existence the last 
 slight defence I possess against becoming entirely 
 the victim of her power. No ! not to her not to 
 her/ he added, as he pressed the gem passionately 
 to his lips. ' Yet why should I cling to the vain 
 hope that Drusilla will ever free us from the spells 
 that enthrall us both, by uttering the humble words 
 that would disenchant us. Alas ! capricious, impe 
 rious, as she is, spite of her bewitching loveliness, 
 how can I hope that she even bears me in remem- 
 brance ? ' 
 
 " On hearing these words of Sir Lionel, I stepped 
 forth from my leafy screen, where I had hitherto 
 concealed myself behind the hedge, and abruptly 
 placed myself before him, confronting him, and hold- 
 ing forth my hand, which bore the heart-shaped ruby 
 ring. 
 
 " He recognized the token instantly ; he started, 
 and, springing to his feet, made as if he would seize 
 me by the throat, while he exclaimed : 
 
 " ' Caitiff! where did you obtain that ring ? ' 
 
 " ' Hold ! 7 I cried ; ' let not the valiant Sir Lionel 
 commit an injustice he may repent, and mistreat the 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 211 
 
 messenger who bears him tidings of joy and deliver- 
 ance. This ring is a token from the fair Drusilla, 
 sent to her true knight, with loving words and ac- 
 knowledgment of error/ 
 
 "'How! error! 7 exclaimed he, wildly, as he 
 seized the heart-shaped ruby, and covered it with 
 kisses and fond murmurs of delight. 
 
 " I hastily explained to him the whole of Dru- 
 silla 7 s adventure with myself, the revelation which 
 the ' Book of Self-Disenchantment 7 had been the 
 means of making to her, how it had opened her eyes 
 to the frivolity of her past conduct, how deep was 
 the regret she expressed, how fervent was her hope 
 of future improvement in her own nature, as well as 
 of faith and constancy from him, and how she looked 
 to him as her deliverer, her true knight, her fond 
 lover, her long-beloved Sir Lionel ; in fine, I deliv- 
 ered to him the whole of her humble, loving message. 
 
 "'And can she deal thus generously by me? 
 Error I ' again exclaimed the knight. ' No, she was 
 not so much in error, as it was I that was to blame 
 for my petulance, my wilful rashness. But, let us 
 go ; let us hasten, kind stranger, to my beloved 
 lady ; let us lose not a moment in returning to free 
 Drusilla from the toils in which the wicked Subtilia 
 has so long held us both.' 
 
 "As we hurried towards the lake, I asked the 
 knight how it was he could now escape from the 
 bondage in which he had hitherto been detained on 
 this island by the enchantress ; and he explained to 
 me that the words of his rash vow had placed him 
 in her power, until the heart-shaped ruby ring should 
 
212 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 be yielded to him, with words of humility and ac- 
 knowledgment of blame on the part of Brasilia. 
 That, therefore, the possession of her token, which I 
 had happily brought him, freed himself from the 
 thraldom to which he had till now been subjected ; 
 and that it only remained to effect a personal ex- 
 change of the opal ring for the one she had sent him, 
 with his lady, Brasilia, as speedily as might be, in 
 order to liberate them both, entirely and forever, 
 from the wicked arts of Subtilia, who had no power 
 to effect harm against two constant hearts bound by 
 loving union. 
 
 " ' These hearts will be henceforth secured to each 
 other on the firm basis of mutual esteem and self- 
 diffidence/ concluded Sir Lionel, with happy exulta- 
 tion, ' and will be defended by their own faith and 
 truth towards each other, no less than by the pro- 
 tection of the opal and ruby talisrnanic rings, which 
 were the natal gifts of two powerful fairies, Brasilia's 
 and my own respective godmothers. It was the un- 
 happy difference which arose between us respecting 
 these rings that threw us within the power of Sub- 
 tilia's spells ; but, once exchanged in amity between 
 my lady and myself, the opal and the ruby will 
 restore us to the safe guardianship of the benevolent 
 fairies. 7 
 
 " We lost no time in gaining the brink of the lake, 
 where I hesitated for an instant, as I thought of the 
 heavy suit of steel in which my companion was dad 
 from head to foot ; but Sir Lionel, wholly engrossed 
 by his eagerness to rejoin his lady-love, would have 
 plunged in and swam across, had not a light fairy 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 213 
 
 skiff, drawn by two snow-white swans, approached 
 the shore where we stood, and conveyed us across 
 the crystal surface of the water, to the opposite 
 shore. 
 
 " Animated by this signal of his restoration to the 
 guidance and protection of the good fairy, Sir Lionel 
 sped on in the direction of his mistress 7 prison, 
 whence he hoped to effect her deliverance before the 
 arrival of the enchantress, should she by chance have 
 discovered his escape, and be in pursuit of him. 
 
 "Without mischance, we reached the gardens of 
 Subtilia's mansion, and I led Sir Lionel at once to 
 the low grated window of the' dungeon where his 
 lovely mistress was confined. He knelt to receive 
 the gentle greeting with which she flew to welcome 
 him, but she had no sooner extended her hand tow- 
 ards him, to receive the opal which he placed with 
 transport upon her slender finger, than the bars of 
 her prison melted and vanished into air, permitting 
 Drusilla to throw herself into the arms of her true 
 knight, and give him rapturous assurance of her 
 love, and her true repentance of her former coy 
 caprice. 
 
 " I left them to this blissful exchange of mutual 
 forgiveness and tender vows, while I sauntered to 
 and fro upon the terrace, until they should rejoin me 
 to enter the mansion together, that we might seek 
 refreshment after our day's anxiety and fatigue ; for 
 I, who had no lady-love to engage my thoughts, 
 began to indulge in sundry visions of good cheer, 
 and looked forward to the enjoyment of a comfortable 
 . repast, which I felt would be extremely acceptable, 
 
214 THE STRANGE* ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and which I knew, from previous experience, the 
 larder and cellar of Subtilia's mansion could furnish 
 in excellent abundance. 
 
 " I was revolving these pleasant speculations, and 
 endeavoring to pacify my growing appetite (which 
 you may have perceived, my dears, on various occa- 
 sions in the course of these yarns of mine, always 
 led me to pay careful attention to its demands, a 
 sailor should always stow in good ballast, you know), 
 by considering with what delicacy I should first 
 assuage its voracity, when my attention was at- 
 tracted by the appearance of a glittering object in 
 the distance, approaching from the same quarter 
 whence Sir Lionel and myself had just arrived ; that 
 is to say, in the direction of the lake. 
 
 "As it came nearer, I could distinguish the glit- 
 tering object to be a golden car, in which sat the 
 haughty Subtilia, drawn by four fiery dragons. They 
 ramped and tore up the ground before them, emit- 
 ting flames and glowing sparks from their nostrils ; 
 but the fury and rage that shot their angry lightnings 
 from the flashing eyes of the enchantress herself 
 shone with a far more terrible glare, and seemed to 
 scorch and wither all that she looked upon. 
 
 " I called loudly, to warn the lovers of the ap- 
 proach of their enemy ; and they had scarcely reached 
 my side, to learn the cause of my alarm, when Sub- 
 tilia arrived at the steps of the terrace. But, ere 
 the enchantress could descend from her car, two 
 benignant forms were seen to emerge from the centre 
 of a thickly-clustering rose-bush near at hand ; and, 
 warning Subtilia to advance no nearer, they pointed 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 215 
 
 triumphantly to the mystic rings, which shone upon 
 the lovers' fingers in loving exchange, as they stood 
 hand in hand together. 
 
 " ' Thy spells are broken ! thy power is at an end, 
 vile sorceress ! ; said one of the good fairies. 'Against 
 frivolity, vanity, petulance, and rashness, the blan- 
 dishments of the voluptuary, the arts of the wicked, 
 may prevail ; but against truth, modest worth, and 
 the loving faith that is the offspring of self-knowledge 
 and generous forbearance, the shafts of envy arid the 
 snares of worldly pleasure fall pointless and ineffect- 
 ual. Begone, therefore, and seek no longer to dis- 
 turb the union of two wedded hearts 1 ' 
 
 " The enchantress quailed beneath the virtuous 
 rebuke, and, with a dark scowl, shrunk back, while 
 the other fairy godmother, who had remained silent 
 while her sister addressed Subtilia, now advanced to 
 where I stood with Sir Lionel and Drusilla, and bid- 
 ding us follow her, she led us from the terrace 
 through the marble hall of the mansion, into the 
 avenue in front, where we found a travelling equi- 
 page, with six cream-colored horses, awaiting us. 
 Then, bestowing a blessing on the two lovers, she 
 bid us hasten our departure to the court of Brasilia's 
 father, where we should be welcomed by the good 
 old king, who had long mourned his fair daughter's 
 absence, and pined for her return. 
 
 " Before night closed in we reached the palace, 
 where, you may imagine, great were the rejoicings 
 which greeted the princess and her knightly lover 
 on our arrival ; and where, I assure you, I heartily 
 enjoyed the sumptuous banquet which was served in 
 
216 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 celebration of their happy return. The royal house- 
 hold, I have no doubt, exerted their utmost resources 
 and used their best speed ; but, I can tell you, after 
 such long fasting as mine, the least delay of the 
 meal seemed an age, and when it did appear on 
 table I made up amply for lost time, as you must 
 now do, my dears ; so off with you, lest you reach 
 home too late for supper. " 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 21 T 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE DIAMOND MERCHANT. WILL WAVELANCE'S ISLAND. SCYLLA 
 
 AND CHARYBDIS. THE SIRENS. POLYPHEMUS. EGYPT. 
 
 NEXT evening the old mariner resumed his yarns 
 as follows : 
 
 "I spent some time very merrily and happily at 
 this court, my dears, in the pleasant society of my 
 friends, Sir Lionel, Drusilla, and the old king, her 
 father, who all treated me most kindly. 
 
 "But, to tell the truth, I often found myself han- 
 kering after the company of the seafaring men who 
 visited the city, or lounging down to the wharfs and 
 quays to gain what intelligence I could of the ar- 
 riving and departing vessels. 
 
 " One evening I was drinking some sherbet in a 
 public garden much resorted to by ship-captains, 
 merchants, and travellers, while I amused myself by 
 listening to their talk, and their accounts of the dif- 
 ferent voyages they had made. My attention was 
 more particularly directed to a small company who 
 were assembled round a table in the neighborhood 
 of the one at which I sat, and who were highly 
 diverted with the droll stories and adventures re- 
 lated for their entertainment by a jolly sea-captain, 
 who was drinking as hard as he was talking. On 
 one side of him sat a quiet, sly-looking youth, and 
 on the other a spare, haggard man, with restless 
 
218 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 eyes, and a nervous mouth, who, with the rest of 
 the listeners seated round the table, was laughing 
 at some exaggerated account of the wondrous prop- 
 erties of a small telescope which the captain was 
 holding in his hands, and which he declared had 
 been given to him by the Emperor of Morocco. The 
 telescope itself was ordinary enough, being merely 
 a glass set in brass and japan ; but the case belong- 
 ing to it, and which lay upon the table before him, 
 close to his drinking-goblet, I perceived was inlaid 
 with precious stones. In the midst of the mirth 
 occasioned by the captain's rhodomontade, I ob- 
 served that the eyes of the youth were fastened upon 
 the case, and I could see that those restless ones of 
 the other man very frequently wandered in the same 
 direction. Presently the captain raised his goblet 
 to his lips, while the company exploded in a roar of 
 merriment occasioned by the witticism with which 
 he had concluded his story ; and in that moment I 
 saw the youth seize the case, and convey it, as he 
 thought, unobserved, into his bosom. But the sea- 
 captain, though a good deal intoxicated, instantly 
 perceived the loss of his case, and, turning suddenly 
 upon the spare man with the restless eyes, he seized 
 him by the collar, and loudly accused him of the 
 theft. The man turned deadly pale, trembled vio- 
 lently, and exhibited all the marks of guilt ; when 
 the sea-captain, storming and raving, insisted that 
 he should be searched upon the spot, and compelled 
 to give up the stolen case. I stepped forward, and, 
 lis soon as I could gain a hearing amidst the uproar 
 and confusion that. had arisen, I bade them detain 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 219 
 
 the youth and search him, as the real culprit. The 
 lad, who till then had kept his demure look, and had 
 waited calmly on the spot, as if merely one of the 
 spectators, now vehemently protested his innocence, 
 and asked them, in piteous tones, if they would stand 
 by and see a poor lad insulted by suspicion and slan- 
 der. The tipsy captain, with the usual blindness 
 and obstinacy of those in his condition, seemed in- 
 clined to believe him, and returned pertinaciously to 
 his collaring and abusing the spare man, who trem- 
 bled still, and resisted anxiously the threatened 
 search. I interfered between them, and calmly re- 
 peated my desire that the youth should be searched 
 first, as I had actually beheld him commit the theft, 
 and convey the jewelled case to his bosom. On this 
 plain accusation, the by-standers seized the lad, and, 
 in a few moments, his guilt was made manifest by 
 the production of the case from his breast-pocket. 
 There was a universal expression of disgust at the 
 depravity of the young sinner, who proved to be a 
 common thief, well known in the city, haunting the 
 public places and thoroughfares of most resort, and 
 trading upon his demure looks and his nimble fingers. 
 As the crowd dispersed and led him away, the cap- 
 tain made a sort of clumsy apology to the spare man 
 for having wronged him by misplaced suspicion and 
 rough usage, and then went away likewise, leaving 
 the man and myself standing together on the scene 
 of the late uproar. We were no sooner alone, than 
 the man with the restless eyes grasped me by the 
 hand, and thanked me warmly for my interference, 
 and for having saved him from being searched. Be- 
 
220 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 sides the ignominy, he told me that he had reason to 
 dread other consequences of a personal search ; from 
 which, he said, he could never sufficiently acknowl- 
 edge my goodness, in having been the means of 
 preserving him. He then explained to me that he 
 was a diamond-merchant ; that he was in the habit 
 of trading largely in those precious stories, and that 
 he, in fact, had an immense quantity concealed upon 
 his person at that very time, which, if discovered in 
 the presence of so many people as had been there 
 assembled, would have caused him never-ceasing 
 anxiety and alarm for the future. He said that his 
 gaze had been attracted to the precious stones set in 
 the stolen case, merely from his habit of judging of 
 the comparative value of gems, and that he had 
 looked at them only with the eye of a lapidary. He 
 told me that he was to sail on the morrow for Cairo, 
 where he expected to dispose of his diamonds to 
 great advantage ; that the captain of the vessel in 
 which he was about to sail was his own cousin, but 
 that, nevertheless, he should be very glad if I would 
 engage to accompany him in his voyage, as the gen- 
 erous protection which I had already afforded him 
 was a guarantee that I should be faithfully attached 
 to his interests. As I was very anxious to form an 
 engagement which should lead me to sea again, and 
 throw me in the way of fresh adventures, I closed 
 with his offer, and promised to be ready to go with 
 him on the following day. 
 
 " When I took leave of Sir Lionel and Drusilla, 
 they used many kind expressions of regard and grat- 
 itude ; and, forcing upon my acceptance a superb 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 221 
 
 ring of blended opals and rubies, in commemoration 
 of my adventure with them, they entreated me to 
 bestow on them the precious volume given to me by 
 Erudito, which had been the means of conducing so 
 greatly to bring about their present happiness, and 
 which, they told me, should be handed down as a 
 cherished heirloom, in honor and veneration, to their 
 children's children. 
 
 " I had not sailed many days with my new acquaint- 
 ance, the diamond merchant, before I half repented 
 that I had engaged to accompany him. The voyage 
 itself was pleasant and smooth enough, but it made 
 me melancholy to be with so spiritless, so uncom- 
 fortable, a companion as this man proved to be. He 
 was rich, but he was miserable ; his wealth, instead 
 of bringing, him enjoyment, was productive of nothing 
 but anxiety, mistrust, and unhappiness. His gains 
 were a fancied source of joy and pride to him ; but 
 they were in reality no other than a nest of scorpions 
 and enemies, which repaid his love by disturbing his 
 repose, and embittering his life. His whole existence 
 was a dreary mistake ; he believed he was acquiring 
 treasure, power, luxury, felicity, and he was hoarding 
 up wasted health, careful days, wakeful nights, un- 
 generous misgivings of his fellow-creatures, and the 
 destruction of his own heart and mind. The man's 
 spirit, the" very essence of his being, seemed concen-. 
 trated and contained in those bits of sparkling stone 
 which he carried constantly about his person, en- 
 closed in a small casket. The burning solicitude to 
 obtain them, and to obtain them at the lowest pos- 
 sible cost, in the first instance, the gnawing rest- 
 
222 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 lessness that consumed his days in protecting them 
 whilst in his possession, the wearing anxiety and 
 perpetual calculations as to what sums they would 
 bring him when disposed of, all combined to render 
 his daily life a burthen and a constant fever, rather 
 than the enjoyment of existence as vouchsafed by 
 God to man. How is it that human beings will thus 
 misuse their dearest blessings, and convert them into 
 curses by their own wilful and mistaken blindness ? 
 I pitied this man, but I could not like or respect him, 
 for all his riches ; and, had it not been for the 
 engagement I had voluntarily entered into, to go 
 with him as far as Cairo, I should have sought the 
 first opportunity of quitting his society, and the ves- 
 sel in which we sailed, on our next approaching land. 
 As it was, I endeavored as little as possible to note 
 his defects, except as a warning to myself, should I 
 ever detect a growing inclination for money, unac- 
 companied by a careful consideration of its right 
 uses. 
 
 11 Others, I could perceive, were less conscientious 
 with regard to him than I was ; for his cousin, the 
 captain of the ship, who, notwithstanding the rela- 
 tionship between them, could perceive the suspicions 
 which he shared in the merchant's mind with all his 
 other associates, did not scruple to play with his 
 cousin's fears, and amuse himself by exciting his 
 alarm groundlessly, and from mere love of mischief. 
 He would make ill-timed allusions to the casket, 
 which he said he knew was in his cousin's possession ; 
 he would banter him upon his expected gains, ask 
 him where he kept his hoard of money, and torment 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 223 
 
 him with all sorts of questions about his will, and 
 about his own hopes of inheriting the major part of 
 all these riches, which, he felt sure, were being 
 amassed for him. 
 
 " This captain was a wild, thoughtless fellow, and 
 excited his cousin's distrust and dislike, I verily be- 
 lieve, almost as much by the character he had for- 
 merly gained of being a spendthrift, with a careless 
 disregard of money, a dissolute prodigal, a reckless 
 lender, and a good-humored though poor man, 
 almost as much as he did by his teasing and vexing 
 the merchant personally. 
 
 " One evening, when we had been nearly three 
 weeks at sea, the ship was sailing placidly on be- 
 neath a sky of azure, when, of a sudden, a violent 
 hurricane arose, and, in fewer moments than I could 
 have thought it possible, the sea was dashing over 
 the decks, and sweeping all before it. I had but 
 just time to mark where the diamond merchant stood, 
 grasping anxiously at the beloved casket concealed 
 within his bosom, while the captain cast a malicious 
 look of scrutiny towards him, as he rushed past to 
 deliver orders to the crew, when I was caught by a 
 huge wave, as it rolled over the deck, and was car- 
 ried in the midst of its overwhelming waters into the 
 sea. 
 
 11 The suddenness of the accident, the stunning 
 force of the blow, the wild rush of the surges, all 
 combined to deprive me of my faculties, and I was 
 conscious of nothing more until I found myself upon 
 dry land, and quite alone. 
 
 " My surprise was extreme when I discovered that 
 
224 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 I was lying upon soft grass in a beautiful tranquil 
 spot, and with a serene blue sky over my head ; for 
 with returning consciousness came the recollection 
 of the cause of my accident, and I could not but re- 
 member that there was a storm blowing violently at 
 the time I was swept overboard. This could not 
 have been so very long ago, for night had not yet 
 closed in, and I knew that it was rather late in the 
 ^afternoon when the hurricane arose. I raised myself 
 on my elbow, and gazed around. What I saw was 
 singular beyond expression in its effect upon me ; 
 for I felt as if I had been suddenly transported to a 
 spot well known .to me, though I was equally certain 
 that I had never visited it before. 
 
 " There lay the familiar scene, all traced in vivid 
 characters before me. I saw the simple cell, screened 
 from the weather by a lime-grove ; further on was a 
 mantled pool, and around were scattered pines and 
 cedars, crab-trees, clustering filberd-bushes, among 
 which fluttered the jay and the nimble marmoset ; I 
 recognized the shore, that bowed over its wave-worn 
 basis, washed by the foaming brine ; the very grass 
 seemed known to me as it grew, lush and lusty and 
 green, beneath my feet ; and the air breathed upon 
 me sweetly, as if I had been previously conversant 
 with its peculiar fragrance. Had I met with all this 
 in a dream ? Or how ? Or where ? 
 
 " I arose and wandered on, where every successive 
 step brought me among objects that struck me each 
 ivith a sense of intimacy that belongs only to the 
 scenes of childhood, many years 7 loving acquaintance, 
 or daily haunts and habits. Here were mazes, forth- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 225 
 
 rights, and meanders, in which I seemed to have 
 strayed ever ; here were fresh springs, brine-pits, a 
 short-grassed green, toothed briers, among which lay 
 strewn pig-nuts and berries, all homely and familiar 
 as the lanes and hedge-rows of my native village. 
 
 " Nay, a solemn and strange music, that sounded 
 marvellous sweet as it crept by me upon the waters, 
 seemed by some subtilty of the isle to greet me as a 
 thing natural and to be expected, as a part of the 
 place I knew so well. The very terms in which 
 these things addressed themselves to my fancy, as I 
 gazed upon their actual reality, seemed the reflex of 
 some immortal utterance that had one time or other 
 vibrated in my hearing through human tones ; and 
 then, of a sudden, the whole truth flashed upon me. 
 I remembered that I had heard my dearest early 
 shipmate, Will Wavelance, describe to me in his 
 glowing words this very island, with a witching story 
 of a banished duke, a virgin daughter, a shipwrecked 
 lover, treachery, treason, loyal faith, magic power, 
 a sprite, and an evil human animal. I looked round 
 eagerly, as if expecting to see some of the person- 
 ages who had played their parts in this story, and 
 on this very scene ; when, hearing voices, I stepped 
 aside to mark who might come. 
 
 " There were two I knew well : the first was a 
 savage freckled whelp, a thing most brutish, as dis- 
 proportioned in his manners as in his shape, who 
 bore under one arm a bottle made of the bark of a 
 tree, and under the other a bowl full of water with 
 berries in it, which he devoured ravenously, with 
 low growls, like an angry bison, while he taunted and 
 15 
 
226 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 reproached the airy being who was with him. This 
 other was habited something 1 like a nymph of the sea, 
 though seeming more ideal still but an air, a touch, 
 a feeling ; and, while he playfully replied to his com- 
 panion^ taunts, he flitted to and fro in glad buoy- 
 ancy, half flying, half swimming now sporting 
 under the blossoms that hung from the boughs near 
 now emulating the bee in rifling sweets from the 
 cowslip's bell and anon speeding back, ere you 
 could breathe twice, to answer his savage companion. 
 I gathered from what passed between them, that the 
 sudden hurricane had been raised by the malicious 
 wickedness of the uncouth savage, and had been as 
 suddenly allayed by the interference of the airy be- 
 ing, who had exerted his gentle spiriting in behalf 
 of the freighting souls within our ship. 
 
 " I learned that the savage was left to enjoy his 
 desired sovereignty of the island by the airy sprite, 
 who cared only to be as free as mountain winds, and 
 to frolic hither and thither amid the elements, as his 
 sportive liberty-loving nature dictated, only interfer- 
 ing where his gentle influence might counteract the 
 baneful one which the brutish, malignant disposition 
 of the other led him to exercise, whenever he could, 
 against wandering mariners and luckless vessels that 
 approached the island. 
 
 " Abruptly their conference came to a close, for 
 the sprite, as if weary of further intercourse with so 
 uncongenial a nature, suddenly sprung upon the back 
 of a bat as it flitted by, and then, riding on the curled 
 clouds, was soon lost to view, leaving the savage 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 227 
 
 muttering curses and threats, in the impotent rage of 
 baffled spite. 
 
 " I, too, left the spot, determined to try and find 
 my companions, whom I hoped to rejoin ere they 
 should have quitted the safe harbor, where I had 
 learned they had been conducted by the friendly 
 sprite. As I passed the mouth of the cell, I looked 
 in, and saw some scattered chess-men and the frag- 
 ments of a broken staff, which looked as if it had 
 been dug from its burial-place certain^ fathoms in the 
 earth, by the loving labors of the delicate sprite, 
 eager to preserve some relic of that noble master 
 whom he had once served without or grudge or 
 grumblings in the old bygone times. 
 
 "In an odd angle of the isle I found the ship in 
 safe harborage ; the men all in a sort of sleepy 
 stupor, from which they awaked shortly after my 
 arrival ; then came the diamond-merchant and his 
 cousin, the captain, who, it seems, had suffered the 
 same fate as myself had been swept overboard dur 
 ing the tempest, and had been wandering ever since 
 about the island, and had only just found their way 
 back to the vessel. They were anxious to set sail 
 immediately, which we accordingly did, while they 
 gave us a confused account of their having seen 
 strange shapes, heard singular hollow noises, mingled 
 with the hum of a thousand twangling instruments, 
 and, at intervals, the sound of a pipe and tabor. 
 
 " As for me, I sat for some time apart, gazing ear- 
 nestly on the receding outline of the island as our 
 ship sailed away, and the shore faded in the distant 
 horizon. The names of Ariel, Caliban, flitted across 
 
228 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 my memory as being 1 those of the free sprite and the 
 uncouth savage, and made me feel that I had indeed 
 beheld the island described in immortal words by my 
 beloved friend Will Wavelance. I remember him well 
 indeed, he was one of those men whom, once to 
 have known, is never to forget. He would sit with 
 me in the night watches ; and, let him talk, or let 
 him be silent, there was something in his very glance 
 that made all nature seem more glorious and beauti- 
 ful. The moon shed her rays more glowingly and 
 more brilliantly for his presence ; the heaving billows 
 swelled more majestically, and their ripple shot forth 
 more silvery sparkles, reflecting her light ; the stars 
 shone with more vivid scintillations ; the blue heaven 
 embraced all with a more intense depth, at least, 
 they all appeared to do so, and to speak to me with 
 a truer, a more divine eloquence of beauty, when 
 Will was with me. 
 
 " I see, my dears, you wonder to hear me talk 
 thus of him to you ; but, should you ever become 
 acquainted with such a spirit as this man's, you will 
 not wonder at my enthusiasm towards a being, a 
 communion with whom doubles and trebles all human 
 enjoyment. " 
 
 Here Kit, for a few moments, seemed to be lost in 
 his recollections (a habit the old mariner sometimes 
 had), and then resumed. 
 
 " Our voyage continued prosperously, though our 
 course was driven slightly northwards, which thus 
 brought us within the danger of the terrible monsters 
 Scylla and Charybdis, who keep their deadly watch 
 on either side the Straits of Messina, to seize un- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 229 
 
 happy mariners who too unskilfully guide their ves- 
 sels between these perilous enemies. 
 
 " Wfc were fortunate enough to elude their fatal 
 snares, but it was only by so near a chance that most 
 of us narrowly escaped the almost equally terrible 
 lot of dying from fear. We heard the dismal baying 
 of those fearful hounds that surround the person of 
 Scylla ; we beheld the cruel six necks which this fell 
 monster darts forth to seize her prey ; while on the 
 opposite side yawned the black throat of Charybdis, 
 sucking in, with her insatiate draught, the dark boil- 
 ing waters, and then disgorging them again, roaring 
 and tumbling, in search for human victims to whirl 
 within the dread abyss. 
 
 " Scarcely had we, in awe-struck silence, made our 
 way strictly between these two fiend-like monsters, 
 and had barely found time tremblingly to congratu- 
 late ourselves upon having safely cleared their relent- 
 less rocks and whirlpool, than we beheld a bevy of 
 fair forms floating round and round our ship, making 
 courteous gestures to us, and charming all the air 
 with their fascinating music. The sounds they 
 uttered were ravishingly sweet, and were mingled 
 in so celestial a harmony, that I knew at once these 
 potent musicians could be no other than the Sirens. 
 Their singing and beckoning courtesy bewitched 
 some of our crew into headlong self-abandonment, so 
 that the poor fellows cast themselves rashly into 
 their white arms, which lured them but to destruc- 
 tion ; others, however, of our company escaped their 
 wiles, through firmer principle, or greater callousness 
 of nature. The diamond merchant was fenced from 
 
23X THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 all attacks through eye and ear, that came not in the 
 idolized shape of proffered wealth ; his cousin, the 
 captain, was proof against allurements that were 
 only a reflex of pleasures which he had revelled in 
 to satiety in his former luxurious and prodigal course 
 of life ; and, as for myself, I had learned too well 
 the true nature of these enchanting Sirens, from what 
 I had gathered concerning them in my old conversa- 
 tions with the shipmates of my first voyage, to trust 
 the seductive blandishments that now assailed my 
 senses. In gazing upon their beauteous forms, I 
 steadily kept in view the mead where I knew they 
 sat encircled by dead men's bones ; and through the 
 entrancing strains which they sang I listened perse- 
 veringly to the groans of their victims, ruthlessly 
 slain, after being enticed by their treacherous music. 
 " Harassed by the dangers we had passed through, 
 the poor remainder of our ship's company gave 
 themselves up to despondency and melancholy idle- 
 ness, spending much of their time in sleep and list- 
 less apathy, when not absolutely engaged in working 
 the vessel. One evening, while still pursuing our 
 course along this romantic coast, I happened to be 
 almost alone on deck, the steersman occupied solely 
 with the management of his helm, and the diamond 
 merchant absorbed in his money-dreams, when, on 
 casting my eyes towards the shore, I beheld a gigan- 
 tic shepherd figure, seated on a huge mass of rock, 
 piping in the calm Sicilian sunshine, and gazing 
 vacantly and sadly over the sea beyond the vine- 
 clad trees and the weedy shore. His notes were 
 melodious, though mournful, and his broken sen- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 231 
 
 tences, which were borne to me across the waters, 
 came in passionate cadence, as of wasting tender- 
 ness. 
 
 " ' 0, my white love, my Galatea ! why avoid me 
 for my one rugged brow and single eye ? I cannot 
 cease to love thee ; my head and feet throb for very 
 wretchedness ! Galatea ! my white love ! 7 
 
 " The sounds melted sorrowfully, as our ship held 
 on her way, but my heart long afterwards yearned 
 towards that poor giant shepherd and his lonely, 
 lamenting ugliness. 
 
 " We landed at Alexandria, and reached Cairo 
 without further adventure, and my acquaintance the 
 diamond merchant was speedily engaged in the en- 
 deavor to effect the most lucrative sale of his pre 
 cious stones. He expected to meet with a Jew 
 here, with whom he hoped to make a good bargain ; 
 but we had some difficulty in finding the precise part 
 of the city in which he dwelt, and, during the mer- 
 chants search for his abode, he used every means in 
 his power to detain me with him, as a sort of aid and 
 protection. 
 
 " One morning the merchant was pursuing his 
 inquiries in a bazaar, and, while he was cross-ques- 
 tioning a Jewish lad, whom he fancied could give 
 him intelligence of the old Israelite he sought, I 
 entertained myself with examining the various rich 
 stuffs, brocades, silks, jewels, and other articles, 
 exposed here for sale. While the merchant went on 
 talking (for the lad seemed to hold back his informa- 
 tion, either through caution or some other motive, 
 and detained his questioner some time), I noticed a 
 
232 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 curious figure, crouched beneath a sort of counter 
 just by, who was employed in watching the diamond 
 merchant stealthily, but intently. The figure was 
 nearly concealed by a heap of bright-colored stuffs 
 that lay there, so that at first I only saw a pair of 
 black, beady eyes, staring earnestly from among the 
 pile of goods ; but, by degrees, as his eagerness 
 Decame more and more uncontrollable, two high 
 cheek-bones appeared, then a face was thrust forth, 
 then two skinny hands, and at length I could dis- 
 tinguish the whole figure of a singularly hideous 
 being, attired in dusky, time-stained garments, with 
 a countenance as dingy as his apparel. Presently, 
 catching my eye, and perceiving that it was upon 
 him, the shrivelled, dusky figure suddenly withdrew 
 beneath the heap of stuffs, and remained motionless. 
 I kept my eye fixed upon the heap, however, and, 
 quietly approaching the spot where it lay, I directed 
 a sharp kick right into the centre of the pile of stuffs, 
 hoping to expose the stealthy watcher to public view. 
 The stuffs fell asunder, indeed, but no figure was 
 there to be seen beneath them ; and so completely 
 had all traces of a recently hidden person disappeared, 
 that I could almost have believed the whole of 
 what had passed to have been a delusion of my 
 senses. 
 
 11 Finding that the diamond merchant had, by this 
 time, concluded his parley with the Jewish lad, I 
 joined him, and we quitted the. bazaar together. I 
 was just about to mention the concealed figmre I had 
 remarked, when I recollected that it would only serve 
 to alarm and agitate him needlessly, as there had 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 233 
 
 been no harm done ; but I determined within myself 
 that I would redouble my own care, and keep upon 
 my guard for him. He now told me that he had, at 
 last, discovered the man of whom we^were in search ; 
 and that, as his dwelling was situated at some dis- 
 tance, in one of the remote suburbs of the city, we 
 would repair thither at once. He indulged himself 
 in a few golden visions as we went along, descanting 
 to me at length upon his hopes of disposing of the 
 casket advantageously, and the large sum he hoped 
 to realize by the sale. He said not one word of the 
 purchases he intended to make with this sum, or of 
 the new enjoyments he intended to obtain from them, 
 so that I could hardly refrain from the thought that 
 he, in fact, did but exchange one hard substance for 
 another, and that he might, for all real benefit that 
 it brought him, just as well hoard up his diamonds 
 as his gold money. But, like most lovers of mere 
 wealth, he lived upon meagre fancies, instead of 
 enjoying solid advantages, and contented himself 
 with the power of obtaining good things, instead of 
 the good things themselves. 
 
 " The old Jew's abode was in an obscure, filthy 
 quarter, where squalor and wretchedness dwelt side 
 by side with ignorance and vice. As we entered a. 
 miserable blind alley, and knocked at the low door- 
 way of the dirty decaying hovel where the Jew lived, 
 I could not but feel this as another instance in point. 
 Here was a man, who probably possessed large store 
 of riches, surrounding himself voluntarily with all 
 the exteriors of poverty, darkness, filth, rags, and 
 impure air. 
 
234 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " The door was opened by a bending old man, 
 with a long, grizzly beard, and astute, twinkling eyes. 
 He knew my companion at once, and bade him wel- 
 come, extending the greeting to me, when the dia- 
 mond merchant introduced me as his kind friend, and 
 a most safe person. He led us along a dusty, dark 
 passage into a dim room : for, though there was broad 
 Egyptian sunshine out of doors, there was within the 
 Israelite's house, if not Egyptian darkness, at least 
 Egyptian twilight, for all here was so obscure, that 
 I could scarcely distinguish any of the objects as I 
 first entered. By degrees, however, my eyes became 
 accustomed to this partial light, and I could perceive 
 that there was great store of valuables, of many 
 kinds, in this miserable dim parlor, half sitting-room, 
 half warehouse. The diamond merchant placed his 
 precious casket upon the table in the centre of the 
 room ; its contents were displayed and valued, and, 
 while he and the Jew pursued, in muttered whispers, 
 their estimates and calculations, and transacted the 
 bargain between them, I had plenty of time to pur- 
 sue my own thoughts, and to examine the various 
 costly articles with which the room was thronged. 
 Here lay a sword, with its richly-jewelled handle and 
 its polished Damascene blade, rhlaid with many an 
 elaborate arabesque, and filmy line of gold and blue 
 steel ; there were curiously-wrought pistols, with 
 silver mountings and inlayings ; close to them was a 
 fine set of cameos ; and beyond lay an agate-headed 
 dagger, a bracelet of carbuncles, and a girdle set 
 with sapphires. Bronze figures, marble groups, 
 chased goblets, alabaster vases, ebony cabinets, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 235 
 
 ivory crucifixes, gemmed crescents, and beaded ro- 
 saries, were heaped around, in heterogeneous pro- 
 fusion. 
 
 " My eyes were chiefly attracted, however, by a 
 painting of the Madonna arid child, which hung im- 
 mediately opposite to me, and which seemed to be 
 "the production of some rare old master of Italy or 
 Spain. As I gazed upon the divine affection irradi- 
 ating that tender maternal face, and the infantine 
 grace blended with grave intelligence and super- 
 human thought in the sweet babe's countenance, I 
 mused upon the strange chance which had brought 
 that picture into the house of a Jew, and wondered 
 whether any thought of the subsequent anguish 
 which was destined to wring that maternal heart 
 had ever crossed the Israelite's mind, when the 
 painting might chance to meet his eye. I glanced 
 towards the old man, as I mused thus ; but there 
 was no thought but that of gain traced on that fur- 
 rowed forehead, or in those sharp, calculating eyes. 
 He led the diamond merchant towards a high desk, 
 in one corner of the room, that the necessary receipt 
 might be written, and the cash duly paid over, or 
 drafts given to the amount, for the diamonds, which 
 had been carefully replaced in the casket on the 
 table. 
 
 " My eyes were recalled from the Jew and the 
 merchant by a passing shadow, a something that 
 crossed the doorway of the dark passage by which 
 we had entered. I had barely time to question my- 
 self as to what it might be, and to advance towards 
 the casket protectively, which I did rather from a 
 
236 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 kind of instinct, than with any direct purpose or ap- 
 prehension, when, in an instant, a dusky figure 
 darted forward and seized the precious casket, re- 
 treating with it precipitately through the dark pas- 
 sage. I instantly rushed forward in pursuit, and 
 perceived the same dusky figure dash through the 
 outer doorway, through which I eagerly followed 
 him, into the blind alley, along several streets, and 
 out into the open country. I could now clearly see 
 that the purloiner of the casket whom I was pursuing 
 was the very same shrivelled, dusky, dingy-faced 
 being whom I had discovered crouching in the bazaar 
 that morning. He turned once, as we reached the 
 banks of the Nile, and grinned a ghastly smile of 
 derision and malice, that made his face look more 
 hideous than ever ; but we soon crossed the river, 
 and passed the long causeways erected over the flat 
 land against the inundations, and still I kept up 
 with him, the same distance as before. I did not 
 gain upon him, it is true, but I did not lose ground. 
 " On we went, till we reached the burning plain 
 of sand, where the pyramids raise their venerable 
 forms in simple grandeur. Their gigantic sides 
 glowed in the rich light of the setting sun, which 
 clearly defined their colossal outlines, and shed a 
 deep blood-red hue upon the extensive scene ; slowly 
 the fierce glare faded into the softer prismatic tints 
 of yellow, green, azure, and purple, and then night 
 stole over the vast expanse around, while still the 
 dusky figure maae on before me, and still I steadily 
 maintained my pursuit. As the gloom deepened, I 
 perceived that a strange light, like that of a mephitic 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 237 
 
 vapor, seemed to proceed from the head of the mys- 
 terious being before me ; and, as the darkness still 
 increased, the light became a lambent flame, issuing 
 distinctly from his forehead, resting there, and cast- 
 ing a bright reflection upon his hideous countenance, 
 as he turned it several times now towards me, as if 
 in rage at my pertinacious pursuit. Each time that 
 he turned it towards me, it seemed to assume addi- 
 tional hideousness, and to become more shrivelled, 
 more brown, and less human ; until, at last, as we 
 rapidly approached close to the pyramids, his dread- 
 ful face glared upon me in the full undisguised horror 
 of an exhumed mummy ! But I was not deterred 
 from my resolve of following him by the frightful 
 conviction that flashed upon me that he was no in- 
 habitant of this earth ; should he even lead me to the 
 dismal abode where he and his buried companions lie 
 entombed, yet still I determined I would not relin- 
 quish my hope of regaining what I considered as hav- 
 ing been left in my especial charge. I believed I had 
 a duty to perform, which no selfish fear ought to pre- 
 vent me from endeavoring to accomplish, even at 
 the risk of life ; and, accordingly, when I beheld the 
 mummy rush towards the entrance of one of the 
 pyramids, I boldly nerved my heart, and dashed 
 impetuously after him. The lambent flame which 
 played on his forehead sufficiently tracked his course, 
 and I still pursued the still advancing dusky figure. 
 Through long galleries, labyrinthine passages, exca- 
 vations both narrow and steep, flat landing-places, 
 occasional square chambers, up rude steps, down 
 others, and along wider and longer galleries, I fol 
 
238 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 lowed the flame which indicated to me the flight of 
 the spoliator, and we stopped not until we came to 
 a portal of granite, which, after a moment's pause, 
 opened, and disclosed a large apartment, in the cen- 
 tre of which stood a royal sarcophagus. I followed 
 closely the dusky figure, who no sooner entered the 
 apartment than he knelt before the sarcophagus, in 
 which lay a mummy, swathed in kingly robes, and, 
 depositing the stolen casket at the feet of his royal 
 master, he dropped rigidly and mutely amid a range 
 of recumbent mummies that surrounded the tomb of 
 their sovereign. I was springing forward to possess 
 myself of the casket, when I was arrested by behold- 
 ing the figure of the royal mummy slowly and ma- 
 jestically arise, and then it spoke in a deep, sonorous 
 voice, which echoed strangely through that palace of 
 tombs : 
 
 " ' 'T is not for the royal blood of Egypt to detain 
 treasure unjustly obtained, and justly reclaimed. It 
 was the act of a devoted though misguided slave, 
 to seize what might enrich the monument of his mas- 
 ter ; but that master disdains to reserve what is 
 re-demanded by courage and fidelity. Take, then, 
 the casket ; restore it to its rightful owner, and 
 believe that Cheops can admire bravery and firm 
 adherence to duty beyond all the treasures of the 
 universe. Be it the task of my slave, in punish- 
 ment of his misdeed, to guide thee, mortal, back to 
 the light of day, and the realm of existence. Fare- 
 well ! ' 
 
 " The royal mummy sank back in the sarcophagus, 
 and resumed his sleep of ages ; whilst the dusky 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 239 
 
 figure of the mummy-slave once more arose, arid dis- 
 played the lambent flame to re-conduct me through 
 the pyramid. That this complaisance was the mere 
 result of obedience to the behest of his royal master 
 I could perceive from the scowl which distorted his 
 withered face as he turned to precede my steps. 
 But I cared little for his displeasure while secure of 
 his sovereign's protection. As I again threaded the 
 long galleries and granite passages, I recalled to 
 memory a legend of the royal Cheops, which I had 
 once heard recounted on board the ship in which I 
 first sailed, by a Mrs. Jane Flower, the wife of a 
 great naturalist, who was going abroad on a voyage 
 of botanical discovery. She had told us a strange 
 story of a mummy, which my recent adventure 
 brought into my mind ; but while I was pondering 
 over the circumstance, the lambent flame stood still. 
 I found I was close to the door of egress, and, as it 
 opened, the dusky figure disappeared within the 
 recesses of the pyramid, and I saw him no more. 
 
 "Morning dawned as I emerged from the aged 
 edifice, and my spirit rose to meet the glorious free- 
 dom of the open air. I inhaled the gracious breath 
 of heaven as it was wafted gently beneath the group 
 of sycamores and palm-trees, held sacred by the 
 Arabs, which cast their welcome shade near this 
 spot. The leaves, in their unscathed beauty and 
 vivid green color, looked doubly welcome amid this 
 sandy plain, and seemed part of the pleasant fresh- 
 ness of early day. My senses were excited by the 
 delicious feeling of liberty and successful exertion, 
 and I could almost have fancied that I heard that 
 
240 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ancient Theban head breathing its morning music 
 from lips of stone, and that the resonant hymn was 
 wafted along the waters of old Nile to the spot where 
 I stood offering my own humble song of prayer and 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 " I made the best of my way to Cairo, but it was 
 some time past noon when I arrived at the caravan- 
 sera, where the diamond merchant and I had taken 
 up our abode. I hoped to find him in our apart- 
 ment, but he was absent ; and I learned, shortly 
 after, that he was busily engaged in seeking me, as 
 he believed that I had absconded with his property. 
 I felt outraged at this belief of his, as it proved to 
 me that no services could win him from entertaining 
 unworthy suspicions even of his closest associates. 
 I determined, however, to await his arrival, knowing 
 that he would most probably return to sleep at the 
 caravansera ; and then, after having delivered the 
 precious casket into his hands, I would immediately 
 take my departure, and quit his companionship for- 
 ever. 
 
 " With the close of evening the diamond merchant 
 returned to our lodging, and great was his surprise 
 to find me seated there, quietly awaiting his arrival. 
 He was about to reproach me bitterly, on seeing his 
 precious casket in my hands ; but when I gave it to 
 him, bidding him see that it was safe, and its con- 
 tents untouched, he stopped short, and stammered 
 some awkward excuses and apologies for having 
 wronged me. I turned from him ; and when he 
 would have questioned me concerning the abstrac- 
 tion of the casket, and how I had succeeded in recov- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 241 
 
 ering it from the thief, I shortly bade him be con- 
 tented that he had it safely once more within his 
 own keeping ; then, advising him to treat his future 
 friends less mistrustfully, I wished him farewell, and 
 quitted him abruptly. I very soon after left the 
 caravansera altogether ; and in the one where I took 
 up my lodging I met with a sea-captain, who was 
 about to depart in a few days for Venice. I agreed 
 to go with him, as I had long wished to visit that 
 beautiful city of the sea. I thought, too, that when 
 I arrived there I would afterwards indulge myself 
 with a few wanderings inland ; and, in order to be 
 able to do so, I resolved to sell one of the diamonds 
 in the setting of Eudora's locket, as she had bid me 
 do should I ever need money. I bethought me of 
 the old Jew, and went to his squalid house, that he 
 might give me the worth of the gem. He valued it at 
 a sum equal to about five-and-twenty pounds, and I, 
 who had not expected so much, being quite ignorant 
 of the value of precious stones, almost regretted that 
 I had not sold more of the diamonds, of which there 
 were sixteen in all, surrounding the crystal locket. 
 However, I recollected that they were in a much 
 more portable shape in their present form, and I sat 
 cogitating thus, while the Jew went to fetch me the 
 money. Presently I heard sobs and stifled weeping 
 in the inner apartment, as of some one in deep dis- 
 tress ; then I heard a voice say, in passionate ac- 
 cents, 
 
 " ' Save him, Isaac, save him ! you can if you will. 
 Pay but the money a small sum to you, with your 
 heaps of wealth. Pay the money for me, 'and my 
 16 
 
242 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 boy, my beautiful boy, may still be saved ! Think 
 of his young innocence sacrificed perhaps his life 
 hereafter a forfeit ! 0, pay it, and save him ! Save 
 me! 7 
 
 " I could hear the woman throw herself on her 
 knees in an agony of entreaty ; then followed whis- 
 pers of encouragement, a sound as of a heavy purse 
 of gold, wild tears and thanks, a quick retreating 
 step, and in a few moments more the old Jew came 
 forth with the five-and-twenty pounds for me, but 
 not before I had heard him mutter : ' Poor young 
 thing, she is but a mere child herself, Heaven help 
 her ! 7 I saw the tears standing in his old eyes, 
 though they soon resumed their habitual cunning 
 expression, and look of careful covetousness. I 
 quitted him full of thought about human inconsist- 
 ency, .and wondering whether any touch of the sym- 
 pathy which had prompted his charitable succor to 
 the distressed mother had owed its well-spring to the 
 daily sight of the divine Madonna and child, so rarely 
 pictured in his treasure-room. 
 
 "Prosperous gales speeded us on our passage up 
 the blue Adriatic, and wafted us along the eastern 
 shores of beautiful Italy, when, one lovely day, some 
 time after I had bid adieu to Egypt, I found myself 
 in sight of Venice, with her streets of water, her 
 magnificent churches, her* 'decayed glories, her ever- 
 living associations, and immortal beauty. 
 
 "But you will be expected home by this time, I 
 dare say/' said the old mariner, interrupting him- 
 self; "so off with you, Dick, my hero ! Good-night 
 to you, and my dear lass, Fanny ! " 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 243 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE PIGEONS OF ST. MARK. THE PHANTOM GONDOLA, AND THE 
 
 DOOMED MAN. BARBARA. THE HARZ FOREST. THE BROCKEN 
 
 MOUNTAIN. KARL. LEOPOLD. 
 
 " WELL, now, Kit, tell us what you did first, when 
 you got to Venice/ 7 said the young Swallows, on 
 the following evening. 
 
 " Why, the very first thing I did was to hire a 
 boat, that I might row myself about wherever I 
 wished in this wonderful city, where the streets are 
 all water,' 7 said Kit ; " for I was determined to give 
 myself a holiday for a time, and see all that was to 
 be seen. So I paddled my gondola about nearly all 
 day long, soon getting -practised in the use of the 
 one oar that is used there, and becoming speedily 
 accustomed to the narrow confined alleys of water 
 between the houses, and the sharp corners round 
 which I had to turn, uttering at the same time the 
 low warning cry which I heard used by the gondo- 
 liers to prevent collision. 
 
 " In these luxurious wanderings I saw many beau- 
 tiful churches, adorned with all the richest splendor 
 of art ; I beheld the picturesque old palaces of the 
 ancient nobles, with their marble steps leading from 
 the stately portal into the very water ; the busy, 
 close-thronged bridge of the Rialto, ringing with 
 many voices of eager buyers and sellers ; the gay 
 
244 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and ever-shifting scene of the grand canal ; the silent, 
 shut-in, smaller ones, and the lonely waters of the 
 lagunes. 
 
 " I beheld Venice under all her beauteous aspects ; 
 brilliant, sparkling, and animated, amid sunshine 
 and daylight ; calm, silent, and impressive, beneath 
 the placid beams of the moon, as I rowed far out 
 upon the still waters, and contemplated the fair city 
 by night. 
 
 " One sultry day I sought relief from the glare of 
 the noontide waters, and lounged on the shady side 
 of the Piazza of St. Mark, indulging myself with that 
 necessary Italian luxury, an ice. I sat long idling 
 on a wooden bench, belonging to one of the coffee- 
 houses there, letting the cool fruity delicacy glide 
 pleasantly over my palate, while I admired the bar- 
 baric magnificence of the showy cathedral ; and now 
 and then amused myself with breaking off small 
 morsels of thefocactia, or small bun, which is served 
 with the ice, and throwing-them to the pigeons, who 
 flock in great numbers on that spot, and are regarded 
 with veneration and traditional respect by the Vene- 
 tians. These birds are carefully fed daily, at two 
 o'clock precisely ;' and, at the very first stroke of 
 the hour, as it peals from the neighboring bell-tower, 
 these sagacious little creatures congregate and pre- 
 sent themselves at the various windows of the sur- 
 rounding houses, whence their quotidian meal is 
 scattered to them. 
 
 "I was engaged watching the various groups of 
 these eager little birds, with their blue and mottled 
 plumage, and their pattering red feet trotting im 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 245 
 
 portantly hither and thither as they bustled now 
 here, now there, to pick up some particularly attract- 
 ive grain, as the major part of the corn became swept 
 from the window-sills to the pavement beneath, when 
 rny attention was attracted by seeing 1 a single pigeon 
 still clinging pertinaciously before one of the higher 
 windows, at which he pecked and fluttered, as if 
 desiring to be let in. Presently I saw the window 
 opened by a young girl, who took the pigeon to her 
 bosom and caressed it. As well as I could judge, 
 from the height at which I saw her face, it appeared 
 to me to be very pretty. She fed the tame little creat- 
 ure from her hand, stroked its glossy feathers, kissed 
 its sudden-darting head, and played a thousand little 
 fondling tricks with it ; at last making it take a 
 piece of the grain from between her own rosy lips. 
 The bird seemed well pleased to be so caressed, for, 
 with the exception of the quick restless motion of 
 its neck and head, it remained quite still within her 
 hands, as she pressed it against her bosom. 
 
 11 1 sat watching this pretty picture of the girl and 
 the bird for some time, till I saw the former give a 
 slight wave of her hand, when the pigeon imme- 
 diately darted away, and flew straight from the win- 
 dow across the opposite houses of the square. The 
 girl watched it for a moment eagerly ; then, drawing 
 down the window, I could see her no longer. Several 
 days following I watched at the same hour and the 
 same place, and each day I saw the same fondling 
 pass between the girl and the bird, she watching 
 its departure, as if it were a messenger between her 
 and some absent friend. But I saw no billet at- 
 
246 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 tached beneath its wing, no evidence of its bearing 
 any communication from its pretty mistress it was 
 only from her manner that I could guess the pigeon 
 was the bearer of interesting intelligence. 
 
 " One night I was straying late among the noisy 
 crowd that congregates every evening on the Piazza 
 of St. Mark, making that only space of land in the 
 watery city look like a vast glaring ball-room, with a 
 starry sky overhead instead of a gilded ceiling. I 
 felt as if so much noise and glare were an annoyance 
 rather than an exhilaration to me, and the scene 
 misplaced among so much beauty ; so, quitting the 
 gay throng of revellers, who were streaming to and 
 fro, listening to the various bands that were playing 
 all at once, amid the din of ice-glasses, coffee-cups, 
 chattering women, bustling waiters, sweetmeat-sel- 
 lers crying .their wares, loud men, laughing, singing, 
 bantering, jesting, and talking opera, I betook my- 
 self to my boat that was lying off the quay of the 
 Piazzetta, and I rowed far away upon the silent 
 waters that lay in silvery placidity beneath the moon 
 and her attendant stars, which shone out in all the 
 refulgent beauty of an Italian night. 
 
 " Here I rowed for some hours, forgetting sleep in 
 the calm enjoyment of this quiet solitude, until at 
 length I felt a slight chjll from the midnight breeze, 
 which reminded me to return to the city and seek 
 warmer repose. 
 
 " Just as this shudder crept over me,- and I was 
 preparing to obey its dictates by rowing back to 
 Venice, I perceived at a little distance from me, upon 
 the water, a small gondola, with its usual hearse-like 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 247 
 
 black awning, gliding along slowly, though without 
 a rower. 
 
 " That there was some person in the boat, how- 
 ever, I could not doubt, for a sound issued from the 
 mournful awning as of one sitting beneath in bitter 
 anguish. Sobs and deep groans, as if wrested from 
 the unwilling chest of manly sorrow, that ever seeks 
 to forbid itself such feminine relief, burst forth in 
 frightful vehemence, and reached my ear with a force 
 that terrified me. I felt as though all human conso- 
 lation must be unavailing to such profound grief and 
 despair ; and while I paused, awe-struck, I beheld a 
 man spring out of the gondola, and cast himself head- 
 long into the lagune. Reproaching myself for my 
 hesitation, I prepared to row to his assistance ; but, 
 on casting my eyes once more in the direction where 
 I had beheld him throw himself out of the boat, the 
 gondola itself had disappeared, and no trace of man 
 or bark was to be seen. All had vanished, like 
 breath from a polished mirror, and I was entirely 
 alone upon the broad lagune. 
 
 "'I felt my heart pause, and my breathing sus- 
 pended, as I rowed towards land, and it was not 
 until the return of next morning's sun, with the 
 cheerful influences and reviving thoughts of awak- 
 ened day, that I could rally from the impression that 
 had been left upon me by the mysterious vision of 
 the past night. 
 
 " I did not feel tempted to go upon the water that 
 day : I strolled among the arcades of the Piazza : I 
 examined the shops and looked at the new prints ; I 
 saw the two bronze figures on the summit of the 
 
248 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 curious, blue and gold clock that bears the signs of 
 the zodiac hammer each passing hour on their huge 
 bell, and twice beheld the mimic procession of the 
 three kings, preceded by a trumpeter dazzling in 
 gold and red, who issue from a portion of this same 
 wonderful clock every third hour, and pay their 
 homage to the infant Saviour and his mother, who 
 sit there in effigy ; I watched the flocking pigeons, 
 as they varied their picking and feeding with wheel- 
 ing flights and aerial soarings ; I saw them come 
 punctually to their daily repast as the clock struck ; 
 I saw the pretty maiden fondle her favorite bird from 
 the high window, and speed him away on his errand, 
 if errand it really were ; and, in short, I exhausted 
 all the few land resources that Venice possesses to a 
 wanderer like myself. When night came, however, 
 I could refrain no longer from the smooth water, the 
 gliding boat, and the fresh cool air. But I did not 
 row towards the lagune. I could not do that ; so I 
 guided myself to and fro through the narrow canals, 
 musing upon the pride and magnificence of the old 
 Venetian nobles, their lordly sway, their merchant 
 power, their maritime dominion, their patrician 
 tyranny, their cruel policy, as I glided beneath the 
 decaying walls of their ancient palaces, that spoke 
 eloquent truths of departed grandeur, and self-evi- 
 dent reasons for instability and downfall, 
 
 " As I silently passed beneath the Bridge of Sighs, 
 I looked up between the frowning walls of contigu- 
 ous palace and prison, where so much wrong and 
 suffering had been inflicted and endured ; I looked 
 up towards the sky, intensely blue and gemmed with 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 249 
 
 stars, and felt how hopefully a better future arose 
 for Italy over the blind arid arrogant misrule of her 
 past ages. At that moment I was struck by the 
 same sounds of woe and anguish that had reached 
 my ear on the previous night amid the wide waters 
 of the lagune ; and close beside the low murky portal 
 whence the bodies of strangled prisoners were wont 
 to be carried forth, at dead of night, in the old by- 
 gone times, I beheld the black gondola, with its 
 solitary inmate uttering his heart-rending lamenta- 
 tion. 
 
 " I would have approached ; but the boat suddenly 
 shot past me, and glided swiftly away in the dis- 
 tance. Its motion was so abrupt, as it darted close 
 to my gondola, that I felt sure it must be shivered 
 in the collision ; but, as the swart bark rushed by, I 
 was sensible of no greater shock than if a raven 7 s 
 wing had swept the side. 
 
 " I was greatly appalled by this mysterious gon- 
 dola, and would have given much to penetrate its 
 dark secrets, as well as to learn the cause of its in- 
 mate's anguish, and, if possible, to assuage his 
 throes ; but how to effect this ? how to seek com- 
 munion with a being who eluded all observation, and 
 who baffled all conjecture as to his identity ? 
 
 " I felt haunted by the vision of this unhappy suf- 
 ferer, and could not prevent my thoughts from hov- 
 ering uneasily round the subject, though conscious 
 that I could do little by harassing myself with sur- 
 mises and fruitless anxiety. 
 
 " On the following day I threw myself into the 
 society of the gondoliers and seafaring men who 
 
250 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 usually congregate on the quay of the Piazzetta, be- 
 neath the granite pillar which supports the winged 
 lion of St. Mark ; for I felt that company and cheer- 
 ful intercourse with my fellow-man would do more 
 than anything to dispel the haunting solicitude and 
 unwholesome dwelling upon one painful subject, 
 which was fast taking possession of me, and might 
 produce the ill effects of a diseased imagination. 
 
 "I found these gondoliers a good-humored, pleas- 
 ant set of fellows, with that frank cordiality of man- 
 ner that distinguishes the poorer classes among 
 Italians. They laughed and chatted, and freely ad- 
 mitted me to their conversation, helping me out with 
 my bad Italian, and making light of the mistakes I 
 made with a genial courtesy which, I fear, is far 
 rarer among us English, when foreigners speak our 
 language badly. They were all, just then, bantering 
 one of their companions, a handsome young gondo- 
 lier, named Antonio, about his being in love. ' They 
 said they were sure he was, because he sighed often, 
 was sometimes lost in thought, and tied on his neck- 
 handkerchief with a smart air. And yet, they said, 
 the fellow was so sly, and kept his secret so care- 
 fully, that no one had ever seen his sweetheart. 
 
 "'Is it Bianca, the pretty water-carrier? or 
 Cecchina, the grape-seller ? or Maria ? or Nina ? or 
 vho ? ' they insisted on his naming her. 
 
 ' But Antonio only shook his head, and smilingly 
 said: 
 
 " ' None of them all ; I love none but this bird/ 
 he added, as one of the pigeons of St. Mark flew 
 down and settled upon his shoulder. His compan- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 251 
 
 ions laughed loud and long, as he caressed and 
 fondled the bird, joining in their laugh good-hurnor- 
 edly ; while I could not help fancying I had found 
 the solution of the enigma which had puzzled me 
 about the girl and the bird, and that I had now dis- 
 covered the object of the love-messages despatched 
 by means of the pigeon. 
 
 " Not long after this, 1 found an opportunity of 
 questioning Antonio as to the truth of my suspicions, 
 and he owned that they were correct. 
 
 " The young girl was the daughter of a rich 
 tradesman, who kept a jeweller's shop beneath one 
 of the arcades of the Piazza St. Mark ; the father of 
 the maiden had forbidden the union of the lovers, 
 until Antonio should have earned a certain sum, and 
 proved himself worthy of his mistress by constancy 
 during a probationary term of separation ; they had 
 hit upon this expedient for lessening the pains of 
 absence, and his mistress had taught the bird to fly 
 to and fro between them, carrying the bliss of com- 
 munion on its downy pinions. 
 
 "'In caressing its pretty plumage/ Antonio 
 simply said, in conclusion, ' I have the pleasure of 
 passing my hand over the feathers that have so 
 lately been pressed and smoothed by her gentle 
 touch. 7 
 
 " I was interested and pleased with this slight his- 
 tory of the two lovers, these two human pigeons 
 of St. Mark, and felt that it was quite in keeping 
 with the romantic, graceful nature of the Italians, 
 who possess an innate elevation and love of the 
 beautiful, which formerly sprang to life through the 
 
252 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 creative genius of their great artists, both mu- 
 sicians and painters. 
 
 " In the evening, as I did not feel disposed to get 
 into my gondola, I withdrew from the noisy crowded 
 Piazza, and wandered along the outer galleries of the 
 ducal palace, hanging from its stone balconies over 
 towards the water, and inhaling the fresh sea-breeze 
 that came wafted across from beyond the Lido. 
 Nightfall came on, yet still I lingered ; I loitered in 
 the quadrangular T court-yard of stone, that forms the 
 centre of the building. I looked into the two wells 
 that are here, whence the female water-carriers, with 
 their bare feet and singular costume, are exclusively 
 privileged to draw the water. I gazed upon the 
 colossal figures standing in warlike dignity on the 
 landing-place of the Giants' Staircase, where I be- 
 held in fancy the disgraced doge, Marino Faliero, 
 descend with steps that trembled from age alone, 
 and, baring his head of the ducal cap, submit to his 
 doom of decapitation. I saw the gray-haired head 
 roll down those pitiless stone steps, amid the equally 
 pitiless and stony Council of Ten, who stood around 
 to see their behest executed. 
 
 11 Suddenly I heard the anguished accents of the 
 unhappy being I had twice before met during the 
 night, and, raising my eyes, I beheld him seated on 
 the uppermost steps of the Giants 7 Staircase, with 
 his face buried in his hands, and his body bent for- 
 ward upon his knees. Again those piteous sobs and 
 deep groans thrilled rne with pity and terror ; softly 
 I approached the staircase, and began to ascend 
 towards the sufferer ; but, when I reached the land- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 253 
 
 ing-place, half way up, he raised his head, and, 
 waving to me mournfully, he bade me remain there, 
 and come no nearer on peril of my life. 
 
 " ' I know the motive which leads you to me ; but 
 all aid, all comfort, is of no avail/ said he, in deep, 
 unearthly tones ; ' I am beyond all human succor, as 
 I am beyond a higher mercy. Consolation is not for 
 grief like mine ; and crimes such as I have com- 
 mitted deserve retribution, not forgiveness. Con- 
 demned as I am by Heaven's justice, I submit, though 
 I deplore, too fortunate if submission and humility 
 may in time win a mitigation of my doom. What 
 this fearful doom is you now shall know ; for thrice 
 have you crossed my path, thrice in your heart have 
 offered sympathy, and generous sympathy is too 
 precious to be thrice offered in vain. Yours has won 
 this much ; I am permitted to tell you my fearful 
 story, and inform you what is the punishment 
 awarded to my guilt.' 
 
 " I trembled with awe ; the doomed man resumed : 
 " ' In the time when Venice had her doge and her 
 Council of Ten ; when the state prisons were thronged, 
 and the midnight death-dealing permitted ; when the 
 patricians were all powerful, and no man was safe 
 from the secret denunciation of his neighbor ; at 
 that time, in short, when the dread Lion's Mouth 
 played its awful part in state policy, and none knew 
 who next might be its victim, I dwelt, a living 
 Venetian, and moved here in the flesh, as I now do 
 in the spirit, among my fellow-citizens. I was poor, 
 for I was improvident ; I was base and selfish, for I 
 pursued the dictates of my animal nature, at the 
 
254 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 sacrifice of all that was good and noble. To indulge 
 my propensity for idle dissipation, I at first reck- 
 lessly squandered the small means I carried with me 
 from the paternal roof, which I quitted in disgust at 
 its restraint and virtuous parsimony ; and, when that 
 little was gone, I resorted to vice to supply me with 
 fresh indulgence. In fraudulent play, in treacherous 
 theft, I was an adept ; and not unf frequently has this 
 hand been hired to plunge the assassin 7 s poniard, 
 and deal the deputed death-blow that was to feed my 
 employer's revenge. A fruitful source of revenue, 
 too, was found in stealthily dropping the secret de- 
 nunciations of some timid but rich patron into the 
 fateful Lion's Mouth, which conveyed the alleged 
 offence to the knowledge of the state. 
 
 " ' One terrible day I had deposited one of these 
 accusing papers within the stone jaws, and was 
 revelling in the purchase-money of my treachery, 
 when I suddenly learned (by singular means, and 
 doubtless through the interposition of wrathful 
 Providence, who willed that such crime should meet 
 its awful chastisement) that the victim of my im- 
 peachment was no other than my own young brother 
 Lorenzo ! Virtuous and brave, he had already won 
 honorable fame in serving the wars of his country, 
 and had lately returned, flushed with success, to 
 claim the gentle bride that awaited him. But his 
 betrothed had been seen, and marked as his prey, by 
 one of our powe'rful patricians, who hit upon the ex- 
 pedient of a state arrest to rid himself of a trouble- 
 some rival. He had availed himself of my hireling 
 hand to drop the arraigning paper which was to con- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 255 
 
 demn a brother ! I heard the whole terrible truth, 
 my own innocent brother was to fall by the hands of 
 the midnight executioner ; his strangled corpse would 
 be conveyed in a sack from the dungeon, and cast 
 away to rot in slime and weeds beneath the dark 
 waters, while his still more wretched bride was flung 
 hopelessly into the grasp of her destro} f er. 
 
 " ' So much accumulated horror, the work of my 
 own guilt, struck deep to the heart of even so very 
 a miscreant as myself, and, mad with remorse, I 
 rushed forth to gain oblivion and death amid the 
 wide waters of the lagurie. But not thus was the 
 retribution due to my iniquity destined to cease. 
 Avenging justice condemned me to a more enduring 
 punishment. Each revolving year, as the season 
 renews the anniversary when my crimes reached 
 their fatal climax, and wrought the sacrifice of two 
 innocent victims, together with my own suicide, I 
 am doomed to reenact, for three successive nights, 
 the frightful part I played in life, haunting the scenes 
 of my former villany, and washing with repentant 
 tears the traces of my past guilt. Here, on this 
 spot, in the neighborhood of the Lion's Mouth, so 
 long fanged by human venom, am I condemned to 
 endure hours of torture in listening to the accusing 
 murmurs that issue thence to appall and overwhelm 
 me with echoes of my victims' sufferings, their 
 groans, their cries, and their appeals for vengeance. 
 There, beneath the Bridge of Sighs, close beside that 
 dismal archway, that disgorged its still warm corpse 
 fresh from the strangling hands of the midnight ex- 
 ecutioner, there, where my innocent brother had 
 
256 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 his brave young spirit abruptly quenched, and his 
 still quivering limbs were thrust forth, shrouded only 
 by a sack, to be plunged ruthlessly into an unmarked, 
 watery grave, there, in that foul lurking-place, 
 must I linger, and annually recall the whole revolt- 
 ing circumstances of the cruel tragedy. And, yet 
 more, at the still hour of new-born day, amid the 
 lonely waste of waters of the wide lagune, it is my 
 destiny again to madden fiercely with the sense of 
 sharp remorse, to writhe beneath its unavailing 
 pangs, and, stung by despair, once more to plunge 
 into the eternal unrest of suicide/ 
 
 " The unhappy being wrung his hands wildly, and 
 arose from his seat, as if summoned by some super- 
 human power ; then, gliding along the stone gallery, 
 he disappeared at the angle of the building ; and, 
 though I could not help following quickly, yet, when 
 I reached the outer balcony that leads from the gal- 
 lery along which he had passed, I could see no traces 
 of the spectre, excepting that, out upon the waters 
 of the lagune, beyond the quay, I could distinguish 
 amid the silver ripples of the reflected moonbeams a 
 solitary gondola, pursuing its phantom course unim- 
 pelled, unsteered, while a mournful sound of lament- 
 ation lingered faintly in its dark wake. 
 
 " Next day I bade adieu to Venice, queen of 
 earthly cities, lovelier in her decay than they in 
 their flourishing prosperity, and wandered forth on 
 my proposed land pilgrimage. I lingered in quiet, 
 picturesque Verona ; indulged myself with a day's 
 rest in charming terrace-built Bergamo ; loitered by 
 the exquisite shores of Lakes Lecco and Como ; and 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 257 
 
 spent some brilliant moonlight hours in the romantic 
 old town of Chiavenna among the mountains. But 
 how may I find words to express my emotions on 
 finding myself at sunrise among the lofty peaks of 
 the Alps ! How was my heart thrilled with awe- 
 stricken admiration, and my soul elevated towards 
 the great Creator, as I made my way through the 
 natural aisles and transepts of this, his loftiest 
 earthly temple I To how infinitely small a point did 
 they cause all human temples to shrink in the com- 
 parison ! Man has erected the noble cathedral of 
 Milan, resplendent with every conceivable decoration 
 of art, and profuse in every effort of mortal ingenuity ; 
 but what is even that superb edifice, raised in its 
 marble brilliancy against the blue sky, compared 
 with the eternal majesty of the snow-clad glaciers, 
 rearing their sublime heights amid the solitude of 
 nature, towards the azure presence of God himself? 
 It was on the summit of the lofty Splugen that I felt 
 my spirit dilate in aspirations such as no temple 
 built by merely human hands had ever created within 
 me ; and I pursued my path through the stupendous 
 passes and gigantic ravines of the Via Mala, in 
 adoration and heartfelt devotion towards the benefi- 
 cent Father who conducts the humblest of his creat- 
 ures above the roaring torrent and beneath the 
 thundering avalanche in safety and trusting grati- 
 tude. 
 
 " I wandered through a great part of Switzerland 
 and Germany, avoiding, as much as possible, popu- 
 lous cities and the more beaten tracks of travellers, 
 for scenes more congenial with my romantic and 
 17 
 
258 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 adventurous disposition, so that I am able to tell yon 
 little concerning the more prominent features of the 
 countries I passed through on my continental pil- 
 grimage. One evening, I found myself in the vicin- 
 ity of the Brocken Mountain, that lies on the borders 
 of the Harz Forest, and among the mines that there 
 yield their abundant treasure of ore. I had been 
 walking far that day, and had begun to feel very 
 weary, when, just as I was thinking of asking a meal 
 and a night's shelter at the next miner 7 s hut I should 
 come to, I heard a voice singing so softly and 
 sweetly, that I involuntarily checked my steps, that 
 I might not interrupt so gentle a strain. From the 
 spot where I stood I could catch a glimpse of the 
 singer, and I remained perfectly still to look at her 
 and listen. She was a young girl, of about sixteen 
 or seventeen years of age, and was seated at the 
 door of a rude cottage, where she plied her knitting- 
 needles, that sparkled and glittered in the rays of 
 the setting sun, and twinkled beneath her active 
 fingers. On her calm features and soft blue eyes 
 there sat a modest expression of humility and sweet- 
 ness that was touchingly beautiful ; and, as she now 
 and then raised the drooping lids, and cast her eyes 
 upwards in the supplication of her song, which was 
 a vesper hymn to the Virgin, there was a fervor of 
 ecstasy and a beaming rapture on her countenance, 
 that irradiated her with a saint-like, holy look, that 
 made me feel as if I gazed upon a beatific vision. 
 
 " Her devout melody ceased ; yet still I gazed, 
 remaining apart, as if my human presence were an 
 intrusion ; but the last faint echoes of her tones died 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 259 
 
 away, and I heard the slight clicking sound of her 
 busy needles, which recalled me to earth-born 
 thoughts. I approached, quietly and reverentially 
 raising my hat as I passed on, thinking merely to 
 allow myself a nearer glance at her fair countenance ; 
 but she arose, and dropped me a little curtsey, with 
 so artless a simplicity, and a look of candor and 
 kindness so winning in its frank, unembarrassed cor- 
 diality, that I found courage to crave a draught of 
 water. 
 
 11 She fetched me some, with the alacrity of youth 
 and goodness, and, as she gave it to me, said she 
 wished it had been gose* for my sake. 
 
 " ' But we are too poor to afford ourselves beer/ 
 she added, with a smile ; and, by the Blessed Virgin's 
 help, water refreshes the parched throat even better, 
 I think. 7 
 
 " I thanked her for her kind words still more than 
 for her refreshment, and entreated her to indulge me 
 with yet another draught, that I might enjoy the 
 pleasure of staying the longer near her gentle face 
 and sweet voice. At length I withdrew, thinking of 
 her beauty, and wondering that I had not ventured 
 to beg hospitality at her cottage, instead of wending 
 further on that night in search of a night's lodging. 
 But, I know not how it was, she inspired me with 
 more respect even than admiration, and I felt as if I 
 could as soon have asked the Queen of Hanover for 
 an apartment in her palace as that simple girl for 
 shelter that might, perhaps, be inconvenient for her 
 to bestow upon me. And so, indeed, it proved that 
 * The beer of that country, which is celebrated for its excellence. 
 
260 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 it would have been ; for the good miner and his wife, 
 who gave me leave to sleep in their hut that night, 
 not very far distant from the cottage where I had 
 seen the young girl, informed me that she and her 
 brother lived with their father, a rough miner, who 
 treated his children harshly, and would, in all proba- 
 bility, have rendered it impossible for his daughter 
 to have given me the hospitality I sought. 
 
 " Next day I could not refrain from lingering 
 about the cottage, in the hope of again seeing the 
 sweet girl who had interested me so powerfully. 
 From the spot where I had stood listening to her 
 hymn on the previous evening I could see well, 
 without myself being seen ; and here I obtained 
 several glimpses of her during the morning, as she 
 flitted to and fro in the cottage, attending to her 
 various household duties, making the home of her 
 father and brother neat and comfortable. In the 
 evening I had again the delight of listening to her 
 lovely voice, pouring forth its exquisite tones in 
 praise and thanksgiving ; but there was something 
 in her gentle purity that prevented my addressing 
 her again, for I felt still that there was a sort of 
 impertinence in intruding myself upon her, unsought 
 and probably undesired. Methought I wanted some 
 occasion where my presence could be useful or my 
 aid needful to this innocent, saint-like being, to war- 
 rant my approach. 
 
 " This occasion presented itself sooner than I could 
 have expected, or, indeed, wished, for I already 
 learned to prefer her peace and happiness to my own 
 gratification. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 261 
 
 " I ought to mention that I had made an agree- 
 ment with the worthy mirier and his wife that I 
 should pay them for the use of the small room which 
 they could afford to let me have out of the narrow 
 space there was for themselves and their large family 
 of children in the hut they inhabited, and, under 
 pretence of wishing to explore the mines in the vicin- 
 ity, I was enabled thus to linger in a spot so inter- 
 esting to me. 
 
 " One evening, I had been detained rather later 
 than usual by a visit I had paid to a neighboring 
 mine, in order to give color to my pretext, and, on 
 repairing to the nook where I pufsue*d my concealed 
 watching, I found I had out-stayed the hour of the 
 vesper hymn ; and I had scarcely regretted this, ere 
 I was seized with far deeper regret, on seeing the 
 gentle singer herself issue from the cottage door, in 
 tears. 
 
 " She was accompanied by a coarse, ill-favored 
 man, whom, from all I had heard from my host and 
 hostess, I had no difficulty in guessing at once to be 
 her father. From amidst the thick, grizzly mat of 
 hair which formed his moustachios and beard there 
 hung a pipe that sent up clouds of smoke over his 
 hard, disagreeable features, while he flung himself 
 upon the seat his daughter had occupied the first 
 evening I had seen her. She now stood meekly be- 
 fore him, her hands folded on her breast and her 
 tears falling fast, while he sat puffing away, a-nd 
 growling roughly, as he said, 
 
 " ' Listen to me, girl, and mark well my words. 
 I am determined I will not ba thwarted any longer 
 
262 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 by that idle, wilful young dog, your brother. He 
 has too long had his own way, and lost his time with 
 a parcel of idle fancies that are only fit to fill his 
 head with nonsense, and prevent his becoming a good 
 hard-working miner, like his father and his grand- 
 father before him. Who 's he who 7 s Karl I 
 should like to know,' that he ? s to set himself up 
 above his honest forefathers, and pretend to be a 
 gentleman, forsooth ? ; 
 
 "The soft voice of his daughter here interposed, 
 with 
 
 " 'Indeed, father, Karl has no thought of becom- 
 ing a gentleman, or desiring to be better than your- 
 self; he only wishes ' 
 
 '"He only wishes he only wishes/ broke in 
 the man, with an angry growl ; ' don't tell me, girl. I 
 know very well that Karl despises a miner's life, and 
 sighs to go abroad and make a fool of himself ; and I 
 don't choose that he shall do you hear, Barbara ? 
 I choose that he shall stay at home, and gain an 
 honest livelihood by working in the mines by my 
 side. I choose that he shall remain with me, as you 
 are so soon to leave me, girl. So tell him that, Bar- 
 bara, and tell him that I will be obeyed, do you 
 mind, or he shall rue it bitterly. 7 
 
 " So saying, the man arose, and, seizing his fur 
 cap, he flung from his daughter, heedless of her sor- 
 row, and walked away, muttering, growling, clench- 
 ing his hands, and frowning fiercely. 
 
 " Poor Barbara dropped upon the seat he had just 
 quitted, and buried her face in her hands. 
 
 11 The sight of her distress and her sisterly sorrow 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 263 
 
 inspired me with v boldness, in the hope of relieving 
 them ; so I crept to her side, and, gently drawing 
 away the hand, wet with tears that crept through the 
 slender fingers, I said, 
 
 " ' Tell me what I can do to help you, Barbara.' 
 
 " She looked surprised, but not so much so as 
 might, perhaps, haye been expected, for she only 
 said, 
 
 " 'The Blessed Virgin sends me a kind voice to 
 comfort me, and a manly arm to aid me. I remember 
 you/ she added, gazing into my face with a simple 
 earnestness as remote from freedom as it was from 
 the usual bashful regard with which girls of her age 
 usually meet & stranger's look ; ' you received a 
 draught of water at my hands- the other evening 
 with a kindly warmth of thanks that bespoke your 
 own grateful heart rather than the value of the gift.' 
 
 " ' Tell me if I can render you better than thanks, 
 in the shape of help, Barbara/ I replied ; for I felt 
 suddenly relieved from my sense of respect and dis- 
 tance, by her frank, unembarrassed manner, as well 
 as by my hope of being useful to her. 
 
 " ' Yes, I think you can help me/ she said ; ' and 
 it would be doing injustice to your generous kindness, 
 no less than to the aid vouchsafed to me by the blessed 
 Mother of Heaven, who has doubtless sent you to 
 me in my distress, did I fail to unfold my griefs to 
 you, or refuse to avail myself of your offered assist- 
 ance.' 
 
 "Barbara then related to me her little history. 
 She told me how her brother had ever shown a dis- 
 inclination fora miner's drudgery, and had frequently 
 
264 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 exasperated their father by declaring his intention of 
 quitting this life of slavery, as soon as he should be 
 old enough to free himself. She said Karl had early 
 shown a talent for drawing, and raved perpetually of 
 his longing to become an artist, and of his deter- 
 mination to wander some day to Italy, that he might 
 study there. That he spent all his leisure time in 
 sketching and drawing on the walls of their huts 
 with pieces of chalk or colored earth, and that he 
 incurred their father's frequent displeasure by losing 
 his time in this way, and in wandering among the 
 neighboring mountains on moonlight nights, when 
 he ought, their father said, to be sleeping soundly, 
 and gaining rest and strength for next day's labor. 
 
 " ' But/ continued Barbara, her voice trembling 
 and her face . becoming agitated, ' I sometimes, of 
 late, fear that there is more in these night ramblings 
 of Karl's than mere searching after scenery and sub- 
 jects for his sketches, for he grows thin, and his lips 
 are parched, and his hand is hot and burning, and his 
 eyes are hollow and fixed, and he looks very, very ill ; 
 and, indeed, I sometimes fancy/ and here Barbara's 
 voice sunk to a timid whisper, ' do you know, I really 
 sometimes fancy that my poor Karl is under some 
 spell ! I have heard father Peter describe just such 
 symptoms in people who are haunted by the evil 
 spirit. Heaven send that my dear brother holds no 
 intercourse with the fiends and demons of the neigh- 
 boring Harz Forest ! ' 
 
 " ' And who is father Peter ? ' I asked. 
 
 " ' Our confessor, at the convent hard by/ replied 
 Barbara, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 265 
 
 " I endeavored to encourage her, by arguing, as 
 well as I could, on the improbability of her brother's 
 being under any such influence ; but the words of her 
 ghostly father, together with her sisterly fears, had 
 produced too strong an impression on Barbara's en- 
 thusiastic nature to be effectively combated by the 
 few suggestions I could offer. 
 
 " She led me into the cottage, and showed me the 
 chalk drawings and sketches with which the walls 
 had been literally covered by her brother's hand ; and, 
 from the little judgment I was able to form upon 
 such a matter, they appeared to me to indicate great 
 power and truth to nature. I was sorry that a lad 
 who felt within himself a desire to rise above a 
 sordid pursuit, and a conviction of his own talent 
 to carry into effect this aspiration, should be chained 
 and withheld from his endeavor to soar. But my 
 thoughts were suddenly recalled from the contem- 
 plation of the young artist's productions, by the 
 recollection of a few words that her father had 
 uttered. 
 
 " ' What did your father mean, Barbara, by saying 
 that he chose Karl to remain with him, as you were 
 so soon to leave him ? ' asked I, abruptly. 
 
 " ' When I was about a twelvemonth old,' an- 
 swered Barbara, ' my mother had a dangerous illness, 
 and she vowed that, if she were permitted to recover, 
 she would dedicate her little daughter to the service 
 of the Virgin, in the Convent of St. Barbara, close by, 
 when the child should have reached the age of seven- 
 teen. My mother recovered from that illness, 
 although she sunk beneath another, which she had 
 
266 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 four years after ; but my father adheres to the fulfil- 
 ment of her vow, and knows that I am to enter my 
 novitiate on my seventeenth birthday, which will fall 
 in a week's time. 7 
 
 " I felt that I turned deadly pale ; but I put a 
 firm control on my emotion, when I perceived the 
 calm, hopeful, saint-like expression on Barbara's coun- 
 tenance, which betokened how entirely her own de- 
 voted enthusiasm led her to rejoice in the vocation 
 to which her mother's will had consigned her. 
 
 " Meanwhile, Barbara, wrapt solely in the thought 
 of her brother's welfare, told me that she had over- 
 heard Karl mutter to himself bitter words, that very 
 morning, when goaded by their father's expressly 
 forbidding him to think of any other life than the 
 miner's; adding, tauntingly 
 
 " ' Besides, how can a poor lad like you ever hope 
 to scrape money enough to take you away from this 
 place ? No, no ; stay where I bid you, Karl, or it 
 shall be the worse for you ! ' 
 
 " And the words which Barbara had overheard her 
 brother mutter were 
 
 "'I will perish rather! so I must keep my ap- 
 pointment in the forest this night, come what will 
 of it! 7 
 
 " She then said that she had determined, at all 
 risks, to watch her brother, and to follow him if she 
 found he left the cottage during the night. 
 
 " ' I need not fear the darkness,' she added ; 'the 
 Blessed Virgin will protect me through the forest, 
 and why should I dread perils that Karl goes to 
 meet, and from which I would try to save him ? 7 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 26Y 
 
 " ' You shall not go/ said I, hastily ; ' I will follow 
 your brother for you, Barbara. 7 
 
 " 'I hoped this from you/ said she, with a smile 
 of approving sweetness such as an angel might wear 
 when commending human endeavor ; ' I hoped that 
 you would offer to accompany me, and we will go 
 together. My father is gone, I know, to the neigh- 
 boring village, where his rough companions will 
 detain him drinking and laughing till daylight ; he 
 frequently stays until the time for next day's labor, 
 and so returns not to our cottage until the following 
 evening, after one of these carousals ; so we shall be 
 able to follow my poor Karl unobserved to his ap- 
 pointment, which I cannot help dreading is of a fear- 
 ful nature, for I saw his face as he uttered those 
 'words, and there was that in it which made me 
 tremble with dismay/ I availed myself of the agita- 
 tion that seized her as she merely recalled her 
 brother's look, and urged her to let me follow him 
 that night alone. I represented to her that it was 
 more than probable her sisterly heart led her to ex- 
 aggerate the danger, and that she could confide in 
 me to protect him to the utmost. I at length pre- 
 vailed, and she promised to remain. 
 
 " From my post of concealment, whence I had so 
 often observed Barbara in her innocent beauty, and 
 listened to her liquid song, I watched the cottage far 
 into the hours of darkness. Just as the neighboring 
 convent clock chimed eleven, I saw a youth steal 
 softly forth, and proceed with rapid steps in the di- 
 rection of the forest. At first I carefully kept my- 
 self screened within shadow, as I followed the track 
 
268 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 of the youth, lest he should by chance turn and per- 
 ceive that he was watched ; but he was far too deeply 
 absorbed in his own thoughts, and the project which 
 occupied him, to heed anything or anybody. He 
 went eagerly and recklessly on, and scarcely seemed 
 to note the familiar objects that met his eye, though 
 the scene was sufficiently striking ; but kept on a 
 blind, undeviating, instinctive pace, like one walking 
 in his sleep. 
 
 " After we had quitted the spot where the miners' 
 huts lay thinly scattered, forming a sort of rude 
 hamlet, our path became rougher and more wild. 
 The sky too had clouded over, and the night became 
 boisterous and stormy, adding to the savage dreari- 
 ness of the scene. The rocks and crags frowned 
 menacingly as they were partially revealed by the 
 shifting light of the scudding clouds ; and the dark 
 pine-trees waved their gloomy heads with ominous 
 aspect, as the wind-blast howled fiercely through 
 them. They looked as if tossed and hurled to and 
 fro by malignant spirits, while, by their shrieks and 
 threats, they seemed to warn all intruders from ven- 
 turing thither to witness their torment. It seemed 
 a fit spot for midnight murder, or for the assemblage 
 of evil spirits to hold their unhallowed revels, and 
 perform their impious rites. Barbara's fears, and 
 her confessor's admonition respecting fiends and 
 demons, seemed as if too likely to be verified by 
 Karl's repairing at the dead hour of midnight to such 
 a resort as this. Yet still the youth kept on his 
 headlong course. With downward-bent head and 
 resolute shoulders, he met the beating rain and the 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 269 
 
 stunning wind, and steadily preserved his onward 
 way, regardless of brawling torrent, steep ascent, 
 abrupt inequalities, gnarled trees, roaring waterfall, 
 obstructive underwood, or whirling branches torn by 
 the wind. Deafening noise, blinding storm, rugged 
 path, were equally ineffectual in checking his prog- 
 ress ; on he went, and on I followed him. 
 
 " Suddenly, amid the crash and din of the warring 
 elements, came a strange sound as of the chase ; 
 discordant bugles, baying hounds, and trampling 
 horses, mingled their noise in the air, and I beheld a 
 train of skeleton hunters take their spectral way 
 along a pale streak that glimmered athwart the dark 
 turbid sky. 
 
 " Karl shouted, wildly, ' Black huntsman of Ko- 
 denstein, descend ! come to my succor ! ' 
 
 " But the spectral train kept on, the men hallooing, 
 the horses neighing and trampling, the dogs baying, 
 and the lordly hunter cheering them on in their mad 
 career through the air. 
 
 " We too went on till we came to a waste hill- 
 side, where, beneath the withered branches of a 
 lightning-scathed tree, stood a gigantic hairy figure, 
 his head and loins begirt with oak-leaves, and in 
 his hand an uprooted fir-tree, that served him as a 
 club. 
 
 " ' Demon of the Harz, I invoke thy aid ! ? gasped 
 Karl ; ' refuse not to help me ; remember thou hast 
 ere now promised thy assistance, should I seek it 
 with a determined spirit. I am now resolved.' 
 
 " The demon burst into a harsh, derisive laugh. 
 
 " ' I have yet another name, as thou well knowest * 
 
270 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Call upon me by that ! ' yelled the fiend, as he van- 
 ished. 
 
 "But the last faint echo of his mocking peal of 
 laughter had scarcely died away, and given place to 
 the solemn stroke of midnight that reached us from 
 the distant convent bell, when a form in a succinct 
 scholarly dress, with a single tapering feather de- 
 pending from his student's cap, stood confronting 
 Karl with folded arms, piercing look, and scornful 
 attitude. 
 
 " ' And yet it matters not that thou shouldst utter 
 the word/ said the form, a malignant sneer curling 
 his lip ; ' thou hast already repeated it many times 
 in thy heart, when writhing beneath the perverseness 
 of thy fate. And so thou art resolved, art thou ? 
 Tell me how thou art resolved, and why thou hast 
 hitherto disdained my assistance, assistance offered 
 more than once, ungrateful boy, in our forest meet- 
 ings ! Speak boldly, and tell me how, and why.' 
 
 " ' I am resolved no longer to submit to undue 
 tyranny/ replied the unhappy youth, with the reck- 
 lessness of one determined to abide all risks in the 
 pursuance of a cherished hope ; ' as long as I believed 
 that patience and submission would at last win me a 
 fair hearing, as long as I fancied that a reasonable 
 preference might gain attention, and a laudable am- 
 bition be permitted to have its free course, I en- 
 deavored calmly to await the time when parental 
 authority would yield its prejudice, and sanction my 
 choice. I dreaded to disobey my father, and coulc 
 not endure the thought of quitting my dear Barbara 
 my sweet, innocent sister ! ' 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 2fl 
 
 " ' Name her not ! ' hastily interrupted the frown- 
 ing form. 
 
 " ' But my dutiful passiveness has been trampled 
 on/ continued Karl, heedless of the interruption ; 
 ' my aspirations have been scoffed at and forbidden ; 
 I am irrationally and tyrannically doomed to per- 
 petual slavery, instead of liberty, to a living burial 
 beneath the earth, instead of free enjoyment of air 
 and sunshine, to a withering of my faculties amid 
 the drudgery of a mine, instead of their cultivation, 
 their development, their crowning fruition, in the 
 study of a glorious art. Goaded to desperation by 
 so despotic a fate, I am resolved to elude its grasp, 
 and fly my native home forever. Give me the 
 means ! ' 
 
 " ' And who art thou ? who am I ? that I 
 should endow thee with means to pursue thy will ? ' 
 scoffingly replied the swart spirit. 'Come be 
 honest thou knowest me well, and what I would 
 have in return for these means these golden wings 
 that shall enable thee to escape thy fetters and seek 
 artistic freedom and glory. Thou canst doubtless 
 write, as well as thou canst draw/ sneered he. 'I 
 will be plain trace thy name simply here, and un- 
 limited riches, to travel or to spend as thou wilt, 
 shall be thine. Sign, and be free ! ' 
 
 " ' Enslaved rather/ murmured the youth, shudder- 
 ing, as the spirit drew forth a tablet and a pen, in 
 which lurked a ruddy drop, and held them towards 
 Karl. 
 
 " ' Think of the dark, deep mine, where, shrouded 
 from the light of day, your limbs will waste in slavish 
 
272 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 toil, and your young spirit will be consumed in its 
 own smothered ardor/ urged the evil tempter ; ' think 
 of Italy and her illustrious artist-children, among 
 whom your name may one day be enrolled as an 
 adopted brother ! ' 
 
 " 'And thus win immortality among men, at the 
 peril of my own immortal soul ! ' faltered the un- 
 happy youth. ' What what can I do ? ' 
 
 " ' Think of thy pure sister ! Think of thy heav- 
 enly Father, and implore his almighty aid ! ; I ex- 
 claimed aloud. 
 
 " A sharp clap of thunder rent the air, and then 
 rolled in deep reverberations along the hill-side, 
 while the swart form vanished from the side of Karl, 
 who sank senseless into my arms, as I sprang from 
 my lurking-place to sustain him. 
 
 " A startled scream had mingled with the thunder- 
 clap, and presently Barbara came running towards 
 me from the forest, and, flinging herself on her knees 
 close to her brother, used every effort to assist me 
 in recovering him from the deep swoon into which he 
 had fallen. 
 
 " Upon his slowly regaining his senses, we all 
 three entered into mutual questions and explanations, 
 which tended to calm and restore the unhappy 
 youth, after the excitement and violent revulsion of 
 feeling that he had lately undergone. We found that 
 Barbara, unable to bear the suspense and anxiety 
 that seized her upon remaining alone in the cottage 
 after her brother had gone forth, had determined to 
 follow us, and had succeeded in overtaking us just 
 as the sudden thunder-clap had startled her, and she 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 273 
 
 had beheld her brother fall into a swoon. I pressed 
 Karl's hand as a signal that he should mention 
 nothing of the frightful interview that had preceded 
 her arrival, though it was evident that sfre sus- 
 pected something terrible had occurred to throw her 
 brother into the state of agitation in which she found 
 him ; but, on my begging her to postpone all inquiries 
 until the morning, when Karl should be better recov- 
 ered, we returned to the cottage. 
 
 " Barbara's surmise that her father would not come 
 home that night from his carousal proved correct ; so 
 that we had plenty of time to form our plans for the 
 future. 
 
 " It was agreed between us that Karl should set 
 out with me in the course of a few days for Italy, and 
 that the expenses of his travel and of his proposed 
 sojourn in Rome should be defrayed by the money I 
 could obtain by the sale of some more of Eudora's 
 diamonds. As for myself, I was not sorry to have 
 this immediate prospect of a change of scene, which 
 might help me to rid my heart of a heavy pain that 
 seized it on hearing Barbara say 
 
 " ' I part with thee willingly, happily, my brother. 
 Protected as thou art by this brave mariner, and en- 
 dowed by his generosity with the means of pursuing 
 thy beloved art, I shall now be able to devote myself 
 to my still more beloved vocation, undisturbed by a 
 single anxious thought for thy future welfare. I 
 shall now be able to resign myself unreservedly to 
 the blissful task of returning thanks for thy past 
 delivery from peril worse than death, and of praying 
 night and day to our Almighty Father to guard thee 
 18 
 
274 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 from all future harm. In the calm seclusion of my 
 convent I can humbly seek the intercession of the 
 Blessed Virgin, and sue to the throne of mercy for 
 the safety and happiness of my dear brother, together 
 with that of his brave and generous friend, whom, 
 notwithstanding his difference of faith, I trust I may 
 hereafter meet in heaven, to thank spiritually for his 
 goodness to me and mine here on earth/ 
 
 "At first my spirit sickened to feel that this fair 
 creature whom I loved so deeply was thus lost to 
 me forever in this world ; but, as I revolved the 
 misery which almost invariably attends a union 
 between those who differ in religious creed, I learned 
 to rejoice in her being so fully wedded to the voca- 
 tion to which she had been devoted by her mother. 
 She, at any rate, would be spared regret and suffer- 
 ing, and I resolved to find comfort in this thought, 
 and to do my best towards reconciling myself to my 
 own disappointment. Besides, I thought, what right 
 had I to expect that this gentle inland girl would 
 ever have consented to become the wife of one who 
 had an insatiable craving after a wandering life ? 
 Why should I doom her to live with a husband who 
 would feel a residence on land a perpetual chain, 
 and perhaps come in time to regard her as the irk- 
 some link that riveted his fetters ; or condemn her 
 to a companionship with one who probably might 
 induce her to quit her native land, and incur the 
 perils and hardships of an ocean life, for his sake ? 
 When I thought of these things, I felt self-rebuked, 
 and contemplated with greater serenity my approach- 
 ing separation from the sweet, saint-like Barbara. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER 275 
 
 You see, my dear young friends, the magic volume, 
 the gift of old Erudito, the Book of Self-disenchant- 
 ment, had left some traces of the useful lessons I had 
 read there, and that it had at any rate taught me the 
 habit of conscientious discipline and sclf-examiriation ; 
 so that when, soon after, I was called upon to attend 
 with Karl the ceremonial of his sister's entering upon 
 her novitiate in the Convent of St. Barbara, her' 
 patron saint, I was enabled to maintain a calm ex- 
 terior, and to subdue any remaining pangs of selfish 
 regret. 
 
 11 1 beheld her installed among her sister novices, 
 and led away in their train, their white garments 
 and timid maiden steps preceding the sober pro- 
 cession of the black-clad nuns, as they paced round 
 the chapel of the convent where the ceremony was 
 performed, previous to admission within the interior 
 precincts. I watched their floating veils, and their 
 departing figures ; and, as the sad and solemn hymn 
 was softly chanted by their united voices, I fancied 
 I could distinguish the sweet, full tones that had so 
 often thrilled me with their devotional purity, and 
 which now seemed to reach me with the tender fare- 
 well of a benignant angel, in soft compassion for my 
 human regret. 
 
 " The very next day Karl and I set off on our 
 journey ; he eager to reach the land of his long- 
 desired studies, I anxious to quit a vicinity that had 
 now lost all charm for me. 
 
 " At Hanover I converted another of my diamonds 
 into cash ; and, though I did not make so good a 
 bargain as I did with the Jew at Cairo, yet it sufficed 
 
21 6 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 for our travelling expenses, which were conducted on 
 the most frugal plan, in order to reserve as much 
 money as possible to furnish funds for Karl's resi- 
 dence in Rome, as well as to supply me with the sum 
 which I had always determined to bestow on the 
 mother of poor Titta, the murdered cabin-boy, as the 
 legacy left her by her son. I resolved to seek her 
 as soon as we reached Genoa, and to give her enough 
 io render the latter days of her old age as comfortable 
 as the small sum which went to the bottom of the 
 sea in the poor lad's neck-kerchief would have made 
 her, had it been quadrupled by the exertions which 
 he would never have remitted had he been spared to 
 return to her. 
 
 " At Gottingen, also, we tarried for a day to call 
 for a young student there, who had once been a 
 neighbor of Karl's, and who was as anxious to visit 
 Italy as Barbara's brother. This young student/ 
 whose name was Leopold, had parents who were not 
 - only much richer, but more indulgent than the father 
 of my poor friend, and who had yielded to their son's 
 desire to become a musician. After a period of 
 general study, therefore, at the university at Got- 
 tingen, he was about to prosecute his own favorite 
 science in Italy, the cradle of the Fine Arts : and he 
 was as anxious to go in the society of his old friend 
 and neighbor, as Karl was to have his companion- 
 ship. 
 
 " Cheerfully and happily did we trudge along day 
 by day. My spirits rose with those of the two merry, 
 good-humored youths, who were full of pleasant antici- 
 pations and high romantic hopes of future fame and 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 277 
 
 success ; and, as we drew nearer and nearer to the 
 goal of their wishes, they were gayer and gayer and 
 happier and happier. As I looked at Karl's joyous 
 face, and listened to his frank, free laugh, I asked 
 myself whether I had not reaped a rich harvest in 
 converting the agitated, care-worn expression that 
 had distorted his countenance that night upon the 
 Brocken into the smiling, animated glance that now 
 sparkled from his eyes. 
 
 " I sighed as I thought of Barbara ; but I was con- 
 soled when I looked upon her brother, and saw his 
 present happiness, in which I knew hers was so 
 en wrapt. 
 
 " But here is the darkness coming on, my dears," 
 said the old mariner, interrupting his narrative ; "I 
 did not know it was so late." 
 
 " But you can talk in the dark, you know, Kit, 
 just as well as in the light, can't you?" asked 
 Fanny. 
 
 " Get along, do, youcoaxer!" answered the old 
 man, as he put her gently away from him, bidding 
 God bless her, and wishing them both good-night. 
 
278 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MJCERNE. LAKE OP THE FOUR CANTONS. THE DEVIL'S BRIDGE. 
 
 GENOA. THE SINGER AND THE PRISONER. TITTA'S MOTHER. 
 
 THE LONE HOUSE. 
 
 THE next evening Fanny and her brother resumed 
 their seats by the old mariner's side, and he his nar- 
 rative, as follows : 
 
 "At Lucerne a letter reached Karl from his sister 
 Barbara. It represented her as the happiest of the 
 happy in her new placid sphere of existence ; it in- 
 voked blessings on her brother and their joint friend ; 
 and anticipated joyfully the period when Karl should 
 return to his native land, an artist of sufficient emi- 
 nence to paint an altar-piece for the Convent of Saint 
 Barbara. 
 
 "This letter conduced still further to animate our 
 spirits, and we embarked next morning on the bosom 
 of the lake of the four cantons, as if wafted onward 
 by seraphic guidance and protection. The misty 
 vapors that ushered in the dawn settled like a thick 
 veil upon the waters, shrouding the features of the 
 surrounding scenery from our view ; but when, at 
 length, the sun arose in his strength, and the white 
 folds rolled away, gradually lifting up and floating 
 off in lengthening wreaths, chased by his resistless 
 power, what a scene of grandeur and beauty wae 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 2T9 
 
 disclosed to view ! Distant villages, green shores, 
 and snow-clad peaks, gleamed beneath the partial 
 rays of early light ; towering cliffs sprung from the 
 very water's edge, and seemed to defy a landing to 
 any adventurous steersman, driven by stress of 
 weather, or by the sudden squalls of wind that pre- 
 vail on these Swiss lakes ; or, where the land shelved 
 away less precipitously, scattered cottages, and care- 
 fully-herded flocks cropping a scanty vegetation, 
 bespoke the industry of a people resolved to win an 
 existence among their beloved native mountains, pre- 
 ferring its hardships, and the ceaseless contention with 
 the elements which it imposed, to aught of greater 
 luxury and ease presented by life elsewhere. Majes- 
 tic simplicity with lofty beauty here display their 
 matchless perfection, and the race who dwell amidst 
 such scenery partake of the noble nature of all around, 
 liberty of conscience, and freedom to breathe their 
 native air, their dearest privilege and chief aim of 
 existence. 
 
 "Here, the field of Rutli, a verdant patch sus- 
 pended almost in mid air, near the summit of one 
 of these bold cliffs, recalls to mind the handful of 
 resolute men that once held their midnight council 
 on that remote spot to discuss their rights, and con- 
 sult upon the best means of ridding themselves from 
 an oppressive tyranny ; and here, too, on the opposite 
 shore, amid almost inaccessible crags, stands the 
 humble chapel which marks the spot where one true 
 heart braved the leap that freed him from the hand? 
 of his own jailers, and led to his country's emanci- 
 pation. Here, as I mused on the patriot love and 
 
280 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 fatherly pangs which had swelled that noble heart, 
 and urged him to perform incredible feats of prowess 
 and skill, feats that throw those of the bloody field 
 and warlike struggle into deepest shade, what 
 marvel, if, as I thought on these things, I beheld in 
 fancy the form of a man, in peasant guise, bearing a 
 cleft apple in his hand, the centre and very core of 
 which was transfixed with an arrow ; whilst his 
 humble attire was belied by his free, independent 
 carriage, and the frank, open brow which bore the 
 impress of God's true nobility ! We had landed at 
 Pluellen, and reached Altdorf, the scene itself of 
 TelPs chiefest triumphs, ere these musings of mine 
 had ceased ; and then we proceeded along the fair 
 valley which leads to the foot of Mount St. Gothard, 
 the pass of the Alps by which we proposed to cross 
 into Italy. We kept somewhat to the main track, 
 but more frequently diverged, and traversed by-paths 
 and short cuts that led us more directly to the sum- 
 mit than the carriage-road, and enabled us to enjoy 
 minutely the details as well as the general effect of 
 this romantic pass. The rough bridges cast athwart 
 the torrent ; the rude chalets sprinkled here and there, 
 exposed to the fury of the seasons, to the threatening 
 avalanche, the swollen water-course, the drenching 
 rain, and the driving wind, the terrific force of which 
 latter was sufficiently indicated by tho heavy stones 
 piled carefully on the roof to prevent the tiles from 
 being blown off bodily ; the beautiful contrasts of 
 color afforded by the foliage springing from the gray 
 v ocks ; the groups of warm-colored cattle driven to 
 pasture by some rustic maiden, or grinning cow-boy ; 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 281 
 
 the occasional chapel, or winter refuge : and, above 
 all, the majestic snow-clad peaks of the higher Alpn 
 rising in towering beauty, and roseate with the toucli 
 of the morning sun, combined to form a series of 
 natural pictures that are forever impressed upon my 
 memory. Upon my friend the artist, of course, they 
 could not fail of producing a strong effect ; and the 
 young musician, Leopold, too, I could perceive, no 
 less than Karl, was deeply moved by the beauty of 
 these new scenes among which we were passing. I 
 have noticed that loving students in each art are 
 almost equally impressed by natural beauty, even 
 when it seems more particularly addressed to an 
 individual predilection. The musician hears melo- 
 dious echoes in a scene of pastoral loveliness ; the 
 painter sees warmth and color in a solemn harmony 
 wafted from an organ along cathedral aisles ; the 
 sculptor beholds graceful forms, the architect just 
 proportion, the engraver correct outlines, and the 
 poet each and all of these, in some glorious mountain 
 solitude, where Nature appeals eloquently to the 
 ideal of Art found in the bosom of all her individual 
 votaries. As we proceeded amid these Alpine paths, 
 at first our respective communings with Nature in 
 her beauty held us all three silent ; but, as we, after 
 a time, spoke softly to each other, and gradually 
 ^rew into animated discussion together on the loveli- 
 ness around, we found that there was a fourth person 
 taking *a part in our conversation, whom we had not 
 before perceived. We had none of us noticed at 
 what point of the road he had joined our party, or 
 whence he came, or who he was, or whither he was 
 
282 * THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 going ; but he walked beside us at our pace, and 
 mingled so easily in the talk, which we were by this 
 time pursuing in loud-voiced earnestness, that it 
 seemed a matter of course to let him go on walking 
 and talking without further question. He seemed to 
 be, like ourselves, a traveller, in the modest garb of 
 a student, and with no particular mark or pretension 
 about his face or figure. He seemed to be well 
 educated, and to have read a good deal ; for with all 
 the subjects touched upon in the course of our con- 
 versation he seemed to be conversant, and able to 
 express himself fluently, and even to afford informa- 
 tion. But I noticed that there was a tinge of sarcasm 
 in all he said, and a sort of unconscious malice, and 
 involuntary power of depicting the evil side of every- 
 thing that came under discussion, which made me 
 instinctively dread and dislike this stranger, while it 
 checked the youthful spirits of my two companions, 
 and made them each moment less gay and animated. 
 In the midst of some trustful vision of the future, 
 uttered in the hopeful spirit of youth by the musician, 
 Leopold, the stranger, would throw in some chilling 
 remark about the sanguine temperament of artists, 
 and the ignorance and want of taste with which the 
 public too frequently met their best efforts ; and when 
 Karl, in the innocence of his heart, indulged in some 
 dream of a historical picture that was to employ 
 months, nay, years of happily-devoted existence, the 
 stranger would drop hints of the attachment which 
 cardinals and English residents in Rome proverbially 
 cherished for their own portraits. All this was so 
 artfully done, so subtly though so securely inti 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 282 
 
 mated, that the two youths were unconscious of the 
 effect produced upon their minds by the stranger's 
 conversation, but I could perceive the venom he in- 
 stilled through his apparently careless sentences, and 
 marked well the gloom that crept into the conversa- 
 tion, and spread its shadow over the usually beaming 
 countenances of Karl and Leopold. Each time the 
 stranger spoke, it was as if a deep shade were cast 
 upon everything around, like that of a passing cloud 
 crossing the blue heavens, and blotting earth's fail- 
 surface. 
 
 " We had left the district of oaks, ashes, and other 
 trees, and had ascended to less cultivated regions, 
 where pines and struggling shrubs were the only 
 tokens of vegetation. Leopold had lingered some- 
 what behind, whilst I was rather in advance, when I 
 came upon a bridge crossing a gigantic waterfall, 
 that hurled its foaming waters down with roaring 
 vehemence, and dashed forth clouds of white spray 
 amid a crash and din that almost deafened me. I 
 stood to gaze upon the wild grandeur of the tumbling 
 torrent, and waited until my companions should come 
 up with me. I looked back to note how far off they 
 were, and I could see, in one of the winding paths 
 below, Leopold toiling on, while in the intervening 
 turning, between him and myself, were Karl and the 
 stranger, apparently in deep conversation. From 
 the spot where I stood, I gained a view of the path, 
 which wound, as I have mentioned, like a map, be- 
 neath me ; and I could thus perceive the approach- 
 ing figures of each of my comrades. I could even 
 distinguish the countenance of Karl, which bore 
 
284 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 marks of strong agitation and terror ; but, though 
 he was near enough for me distinctly to discern this, 
 the deafening roar of the cataract prevented my 
 hearing the words of their conversation. Presently 
 Karl stopped, and I beheld the figure of the stranger 
 assume an imperative attitude that reminded me of 
 something I had seen before, and then Karl drew 
 back, and shook his head, and waved the stranger 
 from him, while he in turn pressed forward, and 
 eagerly urged some point upon the youth. But sud- 
 denly I saw Karl draw himself up, and, stretching 
 forth one arm firmly, with an air of indignant menace, 
 towards the stranger, he drew forth with his other 
 hand his sister Barbara's letter, which he kissed 
 reverentially, and then placed to his brow, to either 
 side of his bosom, and to his heart, crossing himself 
 devoutly, whilst he cast appealing eyes to heaven, 
 and by the motion of his lips I could see that he 
 called loudly upon the sacred name for protection 
 against the temptation of the evil spirit. A deep 
 plunge, a discordant yell of defeated malice that 
 rang sharp and high above the roar of the cataract, 
 and then, far down amid the boiling waters of the 
 torrent, I beheld for one moment the form of the 
 Arch-fiend himself, as I had beheld it in succinct 
 dress arid taperingly feathered student's cap on the 
 Brocken, one wild and well-remembered night. 
 
 " On KarPs overtaking me, his blanched lips and 
 pallid cheeks plainly betokened the awful struggle 
 he had lately undergone ; but his eyes sparkled with 
 a triumphant lustre that equally betokened his sense 
 of conquest, and determined me to make no allusion 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 285 
 
 to the interview I had witnessed, or the disappear- 
 ance of the mysterious stranger. 
 
 " Singularly enough, when Leopold rejoined us, 
 he also avoided all mention of our late travelling 
 companion. As his presence had been unsolicited, 
 so his absence was unnoticed, and we all seemed to 
 be contented with the relief afforded by his with- 
 drawal from our society, without indulging in any 
 comment. But in my own heart I could not help 
 congratulating myself on the proof I had thus ob- 
 tained of Karl's having thrown off all subjugation to 
 the influence of the fiend ; I could not but rejoice to 
 find he had escaped the v snares of temptation, and 
 that henceforth he was able to protect himself. I 
 resolved, therefore, that when we should reach Italy, 
 if an opportunity offered of my going to sea, I would 
 relinquish the further guidance of my young friends 
 by providing Karl with the promised sum, and des- 
 patching him and Leopold on their short journey to 
 Rome. We arrived in Genoa without further adven- 
 ture, and, after I had converted my diamonds into 
 money, which I did very advantageously, I divided 
 my little fortune into what I considered due propor- 
 tions, giving the major part to Karl, and reserving 
 the remainder for Titta's mother. We spent a few 
 da^s in this beautiful city, that my two young com- 
 panions might enjoy some rest after our long journey ; 
 and, in order that I might give them a little treat be- 
 fore we parted company, I offered to take them to the 
 Carlo Felice Theatre, where there was an opera per 
 forming, in which the part of the prima donna was 
 supported by a young English singer, then in the 
 
286 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 zenith of her fame, and turning the heads of all the 
 Italians. 
 
 " Before we went to the Carlo Felice, we were all 
 three taking a turn upon the Corso, when an -English 
 carriage rolled by, in which I beheld a fair face that 
 attracted my attention from its unaffected beauty 
 and candid expression. Such is the force of preju- 
 dice, which commonly attaches a stigma to the name 
 of actress, that I felt astonished when some one near 
 me exclaimed, ' That is Anastasia, the English 
 prima donna. 7 On the carriage repassing me, which 
 it did on coming round the Corso again, I once more 
 raised my eyes to the countenance of my fair country- 
 woman, and in my heart asked pardon for the insult 
 I had tacitly offered her in fancying that because a 
 woman is an actress her reputation must be injured, 
 and in wondering to see her look good and pure. 
 Whether my face bore the expression of what I felt 
 I know not ; but certain it is that the lady looked 
 earnestly upon me, and did not withdraw her eyes 
 from me until the carriage had borne her past the 
 spot where I and my companions stood. Fame had 
 not exaggerated her talent ; for in the evening we 
 were entranced by the beauty of her singing, and 
 the magic power of her acting. Karl and I agreed 
 that her voice excelled even Barbara's in rich sweet- 
 ness and volume of tone, while her artistic cultiva- 
 tion rendered her singing infinitely superior. As for 
 Leopold, he was perfectly enchanted. During the 
 first act of the opera he was in a state of ecstasy, 
 and while the divertissement (as they call the short 
 dance which they give between the acts) occupied 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 287 
 
 the stage ne deigned not to glance towards it ; when 
 the opera was concluded, he started up, and quitted 
 the theatre, declaring he could not drag down his 
 thoughts, exalted to the seventh heaven by music, to 
 the frivolous region of dancing, ballet, and panto- 
 mime, and left Karl and me to stay by ourselves. 
 Just as we also were quitting the theatre, when the 
 performances were all over, a girl darted through the 
 crowd, and, seizing my wrist, said, ' Follow me ! ; 
 I hesitated ; but she repeated more earnestly, ' Fol- 
 low me, I tell you ; the Signora Anastasia wants to 
 say something to you of importance. 7 
 
 " Curious to learn what this could mean, I bade 
 Karl hasten to our lodging, and sup with Leopold 
 without waiting for me, as I might be detained ; then, 
 following my conductress, she led me through the 
 stage-door, along some dark passages, up some stairs, 
 down others, across another passage, at the end of 
 which I beheld a glimpse of the stage, the canvas 
 backs and wooden frames of the side-scenes, and 
 some half-extinguished lamps ; then up some more 
 steps, where there was an open doorway screened by 
 a dark curtain of maroon baize. This curtain was 
 drawn aside by my conductress, and she ushered me 
 into ^ room, bidding me wait there until the Signora 
 Anastasia came to tell me what she had to say, and 
 then vanished without another word. I stood pa- 
 tiently for some time, expecting the approach of the 
 prima donna in this apartment, which I supposed 
 was her dressing-room. Wax candles stood lighted 
 upon a handsome toilet-table, strewed with all sorts 
 of elegant knick-knacks, such as scent-bottles, cas- 
 
288 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 kets of jewelry, rouge-jars, a fan, a plume of feathers, 
 heaps of bouquets, half-opened notes, verses, a tiara, 
 a spangled veil, and a mask. The floor, too, was 
 littered with various objects : here lay a white satin 
 slipper ; there, a hastily drawn-off silk stocking ; 
 * trailing from the tall dressing-glass, a crimson velvet 
 robe spread its ample ermined folds, and on a sofa 
 was flung a black mantle, worn for disguise in the 
 first scene. But when I had looked at all these scat- 
 tered indications of Anastasia's profession, and had 
 amused myself in recalling how I had seen them 
 make their appearance on the stage that evening, 
 these thoughts then recurring more than twice in 
 succession, I began to wonder that Anastasia did 
 not come, and also to indulge a suspicion that there 
 must be some mistake or some caprice. This latter 
 notion was confirmed soon after by a man coming 
 through the passages, in making his round of the 
 theatre, to see that all the lights were properly put 
 out ; and by his exclaiming : 
 
 " ' That careless wench, Laura, has never put 
 away the prima donna's things, and here are the 
 candles still in. And why, what do you do here ? ' 
 added he, addressing me, astonished to find a stran- 
 ger there. 
 
 " I explained, by telling him how I had been sent 
 for, and asking him if he knew where the Signora 
 Anastasia was. 
 
 " ' Why, gone, to be sure ; gone, long ago ; her 
 carriage drove off more than three quarters of an 
 hour since. 7 
 
 " I was quite puzzled, and left the theatre, won- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 289 
 
 licring 1 what could have induced the mistake ; but 
 when I ~arrived at our lodging all other thoughts 
 were driven out of my head by finding Karl in great 
 anxiety about his friend Leopold, who had never 
 returned there at all after the opera. It was now 
 late, and I could only conclude that, in his musical 
 rapture, he had missed his way, and was probably 
 wandering about the streets in search of our lodging. 
 Karl and I set forth immediately, in hopes of meet- 
 ing him ; but we spent several hours in vainly wan- 
 dering up and down, for no trace of the youth could 
 we find. The first thing next morning, just as we 
 were about to resume our fruitless quest, a note was 
 put into my hands from Leopold. It contained but 
 a few hurried words, begging me to come to him 
 immediately in the prison, where he had been thrown 
 within the last few hours by his own indiscretion. 
 We hastened to him immediately, and found that the 
 poor youth, on quitting the theatre in a state of 
 musical excitement, which, in his sensitive German 
 nature, bordered on intoxication, was met by a party 
 of young fellows, who had induced him -to go with 
 them to a neighboring Casino to finish the night. 
 Here he had been led on to play high, and had ended 
 by staking more than all he possessed in the world 
 more than the sum devoted to defray his expenses at 
 Eome. Words had passed, a blow been given, a 
 fine exacted ; unable to pay which, Leopold had been 
 at once thrown into prison ; and he had sent to me, 
 knowing he could rely upon me for advice and 
 assistance. ' I know, Kit/ he concluded, ' that I can 
 have twice the money at any time from my indulgent 
 19 
 
290 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 parents, by writing to them for it ; but think of the 
 shame, the deep disgrace, of letting them know that 
 their son has not strength of mind sufficient to pre- 
 vent him from risking the very sum which was to 
 enable him to attain the highest aim he had that 
 of perfecting himself in a noble art ! Unworthy, de- 
 graded wretch that I am ! A gambler ! a night- 
 brawler ! But listen to me, Kit, while I here take a 
 solemn oath never, never, while I live, to touch card 
 or dice-box more. 7 
 
 ' ' ' Fatal cards ! fatal dice ! the bane of all that is 
 worthy or noble in man ! Well do you to abjure 
 them, good youth ! ' cried a voice near us. 
 
 " It was that of a young man, a fellow-prisoner of 
 Leopold's ; but I had not noticed him when first I 
 entered the cell. He was extremely handsome, but 
 so wan and thin, and his eyes" looked so hollow, and 
 shone with so wild a fire, that I felt at once interested 
 in him ; and, as soon as I had consoled Leopold as 
 well as I could, by assuring him that means should 
 be taken to secure his freedom, I entered into con- 
 versation with this young stranger, arid found that 
 his story was indeed a sad one. He was an English- 
 man, the son of a man richly connected, but who 
 had speculated largely, and had died suddenly on 
 the failure of his hopes, leaving his widow and son 
 totally unprovided for. The poor widow, anxious, 
 nevertheless, to secure for her son the advantages of 
 foreign travel, had solicited the requisite sum from 
 her friends, and had sent him abroad inadequately 
 informed of the real state of their affairs. The 
 young man, unaccustomed to consider the true value 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 291 
 
 of money, and reared in expensive habits, had been 
 unable to withstand the temptations of the gaming- 
 table, and had, on arriving in Genoa, not only staked 
 and lost all the money he possessed, but had incurred 
 other debts for worthless toys arid extravagant fol- 
 lies, and had been thrown into prison for the amount. 
 But when he at length summoned courage to write 
 to England for remittances, he had received a harsh, 
 abrupt reply from his rich relations, informing him 
 that his mother was dead, and that, for their part, 
 they never desired to see so wicked a reprobate 
 more. 
 
 " ' I have often taken comfort in the thought/ said 
 he, in conclusion, ' that the blow which then struck 
 me to the heart was my death-blow. But there are 
 times when I could wish that I might be once more 
 permitted to breathe the fresh air of heaven, and be . 
 granted a short period of probation on earth to 
 redeem my former guilt.' 
 
 " His fine eyes flashed eagerly as he spoke of 
 liberty, and his wan cheek burnt with one bright 
 spot, that made me long to bestow fresh air and free- 
 dom upon one who seemed too sorely punished for a 
 youthful error that he pined to expiate by reforma- 
 tion ; but I found, on selling my ring containing the 
 rubies and opals, that it would produce no more than 
 just sufficient to free Leopold from his debt, to pay 
 . his fine, and to reinstate the sum for his sojourn in 
 Rome. I resolved, however, to persuade him to 
 write to his parents, telling them the whole truth, as 
 a salutary lesson to him for the future, as well as a 
 retribution for his past error ; and I meant to beg 
 
292 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 him to devote the sum they should send him to the 
 aid of the poor young Englishman, his fellow-pris- 
 oner, whose name, I learned, was Sydney Vincent. 
 
 " As I was* revolving these thoughts, on my way 
 from the jeweller to whom I had sold the ring, a 
 grave old gentlewoman accosted me, and asked me 
 if I were not the English sailor who had been re- 
 quested to attend the Sigriora Anastasia in her dress- 
 ing-room on the previous evening. I answered in 
 the affirmative, arid she replied by requesting I would 
 now favor the signora by going to her own house, 
 and that she would then explain how it was that I 
 had been so uncourteously detained before. The old 
 gentlewoman who proved to be duenna or lady- 
 companion to Anastasia then beckoned me to ac- 
 company her ; and I, secure that so grave a person- 
 age as this old lady could be no party to what I had 
 by this time almost been inclined to believe was a 
 sort of trick, followed her through the town, till we 
 came to a handsome villa, surrounded by terraces of 
 orange, citron, pomegranate, and olive trees, among 
 which bloomed a profusion of roses and other flowers. 
 In a cool shady apartment, overlooking the gardens, 
 sat Anastasia, who received me with a graceful apol- 
 ogy for having caused me to wait so long last even- 
 ing expecting her. 
 
 " ' It was owing to a mistake of the poor little 
 dresser, Laura, who attended me last night in the 
 absence of my own maid/ said she ; ' and I am sure 
 you will forgive the heedless monkey, as I did my- 
 self for the many blunders she made in robing me ; 
 for, the truth is, her poor little head and heart were 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 
 
 all the time occupied by thoughts of her mother, who 
 is lying dangerously ill. The Italians are famous 
 for their filial attachment and loving care of their 
 parents ; and I have seen instances of this grateful 
 affection, as well as of other kinds of self-denial and 
 devotion to duty, among the poor dancers and cho- 
 rus-girls, that would do honor to many a high-born 
 young lady. Our profession is sadly belied ; it pos- 
 sesses brave and charitable hearts, with often a con- 
 stancy in goodness perfectly marvellous, when we 
 consider to what temptations its members are pecu- 
 liarly exposed, and by which they are generally sur- 
 rounded and assailed. However, I must not allow 
 myself to be run away with by a theme on which I 
 own I feel somewhat warmly ^when I reflect upon 
 the injustice that is frequently done us actresses and 
 singers/ 
 
 " I felt myself unconsciously rebuked as Anas- 
 tasia said this, for I recollected the thoughts I had 
 allowed myself to entertain yesterday, when she 
 passed me for the first time. But she went on to 
 say : 
 
 "'I have sent to request your assistance in an 
 affair of some delicacy, sir ; for I have no friend here 
 with whom I could intrust its execution, and, seeing 
 a countryman of mine, with a countenance whose 
 frankness and pleasant open look warranted my con- 
 fidence, I ventured to ask him to undertake the mat- 
 ter for me, secure of his kind help/ I bowed, and 
 she continued : ' It is this : I went yesterday morn- 
 ing, with a party of Italian friends, to visit the prison 
 here, as one of the lions of the city, when I was 
 
294 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 struck with the appearance of a young Englishman 
 there, who interested me peculiarly. He gave me 
 the idea of a chained eagle, of one who longed to 
 soar in mid-air, but who was fettered to earth, and 
 who was pining to death for lack of sunshine and 
 liberty. I inquired his history, and found that it 
 confirmed my idea. For a miserable sum, a few 
 trifling hundreds, such as are thrown away frequently 
 by the hand of vice or folly upon a shawl or a brace- 
 let, this noble-looking being is to waste hopelessly 
 away in despairing inaction, instead of being re- 
 stored to light and life and liberty, and, what is still 
 dearer, the chance of redemption from a sense of past 
 error by a virtuous future. 7 
 
 " ' You mean Sydney Vincent/ I cried, interrupt- 
 ing her ; and then I explained how I came to know 
 him, and how fully I shared her sympathy for the 
 unhappy youfrg man, as well as her anxiety that he 
 should be ransomed. 
 
 " ' It is for this very purpose that I sent to request 
 your assistance/ said Anastasia, eagerly. ' Take 
 this purse ; it contains the amount of my poor coun- 
 tryman's debt. Pay it, and set him free ; but give 
 me your solemn promise that you will never divulge 
 to Vincent himself, or to any living soul, who it was 
 that furnished his ransom-money. I have a particu- 
 lar reason for this ; nay, why should I hesitate to 
 tell you at once what it is, that you may guard my 
 secret all the more carefully. The fact is, then, 
 there is such a prejudice against all we actresses do, 
 that, were it known I had given a few hundred 
 pounds to redeem a prisoner, and that prisoner a 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 295 
 
 handsome young man, poor Anastasia would very 
 probably lose her character ; it would be said that 
 his fine eyes and hair, his graceful figure and intel- 
 lectual head, had been the motives of her compas- 
 sion, but that, had he been an ugly old man, and 
 fifty times her countryman, she would have left him 
 to rot in jail long enough. Be secret, then, arid 
 fulfil my commission faithfully, and as speedily as 
 you possibly can ; I know you long, as I do, to set 
 him free. 7 
 
 "I hastened at once to the prison, and enjoyed 
 the delight of bringing away with me not only Leo- 
 pold, but the young Englishman, Sydney Vincent, 
 who could scarcely credit his senses when I told him 
 he was free, and that I begged him to accompany us 
 from that den of misery. He looked so radiant with 
 joy, and even his naturally very handsome features 
 were so embellished by happiness and the rapturous 
 thought of liberty, that I could not help a moment's 
 wonder crossing my mind whether Anastasia really 
 did love this handsome Englishman, after all ; though 
 I checked myself for it the next instant, as an injus- 
 tice to the candor with which she had treated me. 
 
 "I soon had convincing proof that her liberality 
 had been inspired by no personal liking, but from a 
 pure motive of charity and tender sympathy for an 
 unfortunate captive, deprived of the dearest privilege 
 to an English bosom freedom; for I learned that 
 very day that she was on the eve of marriage with 
 a young Italian nobleman. After I had seen my 
 two friends Karl and Leopold off on * their journey 
 to Rome, and bade adieu to young Vincent, who 
 
296 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 made many ineffectual attempts to urge me to reveal 
 to him who was the benefactor that advanced the 
 sum for his release, I repaired to Anastasia's house, 
 to inform her of his delivery, of his happiness, and 
 of his departure from Genoa in new life and hope. 
 
 " Even had I not heard the fact of her approach- 
 ing marriage, her manner when I told her of the 
 young Englishman's departure would have con- 
 vinced me she merely thought of him with kindness 
 and compassion, for she thanked me heartily and 
 unconstrainedly for the way in which I had con- 
 ducted the affair for her. 
 
 " ' I know you have yourself found too much pleas- 
 ure in the execution of my wishes, and the release of 
 one of our countrymen, for me to offer you any token 
 of my gratitude, kind friend/ she said, gracefully, 
 and going to her instrument as she spoke ; ' but per 
 haps you will let me sing you something you will 
 like, as a farewell from Anastasia. 7 
 
 11 She sat down and played an affecting strain of 
 mingled pity and hope, descriptive of some victim's 
 release, I believe it was a composition of HaridePs, 
 which moved me so powerfully that when her 
 voice swelled and diminished in a divine close, I 
 could not speak, but remained motionless, and could 
 not even offer her thanks. 
 
 " She gently approached, and, pressing my hand 
 cordially and kindly between both hers, smiled, and 
 said : ' Do not speak ; your silence is the best hom- 
 age my song can have. Farewell ! God bless you. 
 I shall ever remember with gratitude the help which 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 297 
 
 the friendly English mariner afforded his country- 
 woman, the singer/ 
 
 " When I left Anastasia's house I found it was still 
 early in the day ; so, after dining, I set forth on my 
 long-intended visit to the hut among the hills, de- 
 scribed to me by poor Titta, the cabin-boy. I had 
 no difficulty in finding the exact spot, his remem- 
 brance had lingered .so fondly around it, arid had 
 enabled him to depict it so faithfully; but I slack- 
 ened my steps as I approached the cottage-door, for 
 I knew that I had a sad tale to tell, and dreaded the 
 task of informing a mother of her son's death. But 
 I at length entered, and saw a poor woman sitting 
 placidly in a wooden arm-chair, whose fixed eyes, 
 and melancholy, patient look, told me that she was 
 blind. Her sense of hearing, however, was suf- 
 ficiently acute, for she heard my approach, and said : 
 
 " ' A stranger's step ! What do you want ? Are 
 you come to bring me the news I have so long ex- 
 pected ? ' 
 
 " ' What news, good mother?' I asked, as I ap- 
 proached and took her hand. 
 
 " ' The tidings of my son's death, of my poor 
 Titta's death ; for too well do I know he is dead, 
 he is drowned, I know it ; is he not ? ' said she, in a 
 calm, resigned tone. 
 
 " ' Alas ! good mother, it is too true,' replied I ; 
 ' but I arn one of poor Titta's shipmates ; I knew 
 him, and loved him ; and he bade me, if I lived to 
 reach Jilur ope, come to Genoa and find you out, and 
 give you the sum he had hoarded for his dear mother 
 and sister. liere it is. Where is his sister, whom 
 
298 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 he so dearly loved where is Peppina ?' asked I, 
 willing to divert the poor woman's thoughts from 
 the circumstance of her son's death, of which, how- 
 ever, I wondered to find her so well assured. 
 
 " ' Peppina is married to her lover, Gianni, the 
 goatherd/ answered Titta's mother; ' for, after a 
 time, his rich old father relented, and permitted the 
 union of the young people, when he found that 
 Gianni could not be happy without her ; they come 
 to see me often, and bring my little grandchild, the 
 baby they have lately had, that I may kiss its soft 
 cheeks, and touch its dimpled hands, and give it my 
 blessing ; they have called it after our poor lost 
 Titta, too ; so that when I knew too surely that he 
 was drowned, I had this new little cherub to love, 
 as well as my angel-boy that is gone to heaven. 7 
 
 " ' How did you know so surely that Titta was 
 drowned ? ' asked I, seeing that she spoke so calmly. 
 
 " ' Before the fatal thunder-storm that came one 
 evening among our hills, and struck the light for- 
 ever from these eyes/ replied the blind woman, ' I 
 saw my poor Titta' s figure several times. I knew it 
 was his apparition, come to warn me of his death ; 
 and, the first time I beheld it, I felt afraid, and sore 
 distressed ; but, by degrees, I became accustomed to 
 the truth, and I felt as if it were a blessed visitation 
 sent by Heaven to soften the grief of a mother's 
 heart, and wean her from the idea of a living son. I 
 learned to welcome the figure of my poor drowned 
 Titta, and to watch for its appearance by the side of 
 my arm-chair in the summer evenings ; and, after I 
 was struck with blindness, and could no longer look 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER, 299 
 
 upon the form I had loved so well living, and cher- 
 ished so tenderly still, yet I often knew that it 
 hovered near, and I frequently feel that it is close 
 beside my arm-chair, while I console myself with the 
 thought that his blest spirit is among the angels 
 before the throne of God/ 
 
 11 1 raised my eyes involuntarily as she spoke, and 
 there, behind her chair, I beheld the well-known 
 figure of poor Titta, gazing upon me with happy 
 eyes and a serene smile, how different from the 
 expression his face had worn that night I had seen 
 him last, when he poured forth the writhings of his 
 wounded heart ! I suppose I uttered some exclama- 
 tion of surprise and awe ; for the blind woman said : 
 
 " ' You see him, do you, sir ? I knew he must be 
 near ; tell me how my boy looks/ 
 
 " ' Happy arid peaceful, as a blessed spirit should 
 look/ I whispered, sinking to my knee, and joining 
 in the thanksgiving which was breathed by the be- 
 reaved but resigned mother. 
 
 " I remained some time with her, talking in a 
 cheerful strain, when we had each recovered our- 
 selves from the solemn feeling that possessed us for 
 some time after the vision had departed ; and then 
 she set milk and fruit before me, and thanked me 
 earnestly for my coming so far to bring her the 
 legacy of her beloved son, rendering her old age 
 comfortable and contented through his means. I left 
 her, at length, with the pleasant conviction of her 
 complete resignation and calm happiness, and pur- 
 sued my moonlight path towards Genoa ; for evening 
 had now quite closed in. My road wound through 
 
300 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 a solitary valley that lay beneath the hills, arid I 
 soon approached a lone and dismantled house that I 
 had noticed on my way hither, and which looked as 
 if it had been a country palace, belonging to one of 
 the noble Genoese families in former times. 1 had 
 inquired its history of Titta's mother when I was 
 chatting with her on indifferent subjects, and found 
 that it had the reputation of being haunted. 
 
 " It had been, once upon a time, in the possession 
 of a certain Count Giulio, who was a renowned 
 Genoese warrior, and who possessed a very beautiful 
 wife, of whom he was frightfully jealous, so jealous 
 that he had put her to death on bare suspicion of her 
 infidelity. So ran the legend, however ; and the 
 blind woman added, that it was said he had caused 
 a beautiful full-length picture to be painted of his 
 lovely countess ; that after his death a marble statue 
 had been sculptured of the warrior by order of his 
 successor, and that both picture and statue were 
 still to be seen in that old deserted palace, though it 
 had been left to go to ruin by the descendants of 
 the family, who had seen strange sights, and heard 
 strange noises, which had induced them to live there 
 no longer. 
 
 " I thought over all these things I had so lately 
 heard, as I stood gazing on the grass-grown and 
 moss-patched steps that led to the front entrance 
 of the dilapidated mansion, and wished that I could 
 obtain a sight of the picture, at least, as the countess 
 had been such a celebrated beauty. But the hall- 
 door resisted all attempts I made to open it, and I 
 was retreating disappointed, when I perceived a little 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 301 
 
 side-entrance, which I hoped would afford the means 
 of my gaining admission. 
 
 " It proved just as I could have wished ; the little 
 door opened readily, and I found myself in a narrow 
 passage, at the end of which there was a winding 
 stair. I went forward and ascended, till I found 
 another door, which was covered with tapestry on 
 the inside. I raised the drapery, and found myself 
 in a large, well-furnished study, but the books were 
 mouldering on the shelves, the tapestry hung in rags 
 from the walls in many places, the tables and chairs 
 were covered with dust, which looked like tl^e accu- 
 mulation of centuries ; and a pair of globes, that 
 stood near the window, might once have served 
 Galileo, I thought, had they then been invented. 
 But my eye suddenly fell upon a full-length picture, 
 which soon riveted all my attention. It represented 
 a young and surpassingly beautiful woman, attired 
 in the old Genoese costume, and whose charms of 
 face and figure fully warranted the fame which had 
 spread of her lovely person ; for I could not an 
 instant doubt but that this was the countess' picture, 
 of which I had heard so much. As I gazed upon 
 those pencilled brows, those soft, full eyes, languish- 
 ing beneath their dark lashes, those expressive lips, 
 and upon the graceful proportions of the form, that- 
 accorded so well with a face of such rare beauty, I 
 wondered whether any torture of doubt as to the 
 truth of such a creature ought to lead a man to cher- 
 ish so mean, so blind a passion as jealousy. True, it 
 must be a pang unutterable to see those gentle eyes 
 turn more lovingly, those sweet lips smile more 
 
302 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 kindly, on another than her husband ; but ought he 
 not to seek carefully, lest there should exist some 
 defect in himself, some want of sufficient worth or 
 quality on his own part to inspire love, rather than 
 to suspect her of levity and faithlessness towards 
 him ? 
 
 " ' And could he have the heart to kill her ? ' mur- 
 mured I, unconsciously, aloud ; ' could jealousy be 
 so mad, so-cruel ? 7 
 
 " As I spoke, the canvas waved slightly, as if the 
 lady painted there had shuddered convulsively ; and, 
 while I fixed my eyes in amazement on the picture, 
 I beheld the beauteous figure of the countess detach 
 itself, and glide away through an opposite door. I 
 sprang after the receding form, and found myself in 
 darkness, while the door through which I had rushed 
 closed after me instantly, with a noise like that of a 
 spring-lock snapping to. I groped my way forwards 
 a pace or two, when I felt my extended hand firmly 
 seized by a cold marble grasp, that I could by no 
 effort shake off. I put forth my other hand, that I 
 might ascertain what it was that held me, and I 
 could not help a sickening shiver as I plainly felt 
 marble fingers clasping round my own living ones ; 
 and then a wrist and an arm as far as I could reach, 
 convincing me that I was fast within the clutch of a 
 statue ! At that moment a loose outside blind of 
 the dilapidated mansion flapped back in the night- 
 breeze, and by the rays of the moon that streamed 
 through the casement I discovered that I was in a 
 large hall hung round with grim ancestral portraits, 
 that frowned upon me as I stood there in the grasp 
 
THE MARBLE COUNT. 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 303 
 
 of their descendant. I turned my eyes towards this 
 descendant himself, arid found that it was indeed the 
 statue of Count Giulio, just as I had heard it de- 
 scribed. It was that of a tall, portly man, in warrior 
 attire ; his countenance was stern, and looked doubly 
 cold and inflexible in the pale moonbeams that lay 
 full upon it ; his left hand rested upon the hilt of his 
 undrawn sword, and his right griped my unfortunate 
 wrist, keeping rne rooted to the spot. 
 
 " I trembled to think of the horrible fate I must 
 endure, detained prisoner thus, to starve gradually, 
 and perish alone in a dismal place, abandoned by my 
 fellow-men, and in the power of this ghastly being ; 
 but soon I made an effort to shake off the terror that 
 hejd me spell-bound almost as much as the marble 
 grasp, and cast about in my mind for means to free 
 myself, if possible. I writhed and twisted my hand 
 to no purpose. I could not withdraw it from the 
 cold fingers that maintained so strict a clasp ; my 
 contortions but served to strain my arm and exhaust 
 my strength. Suddenly a bold thought came into 
 my head, as I perceived a group of ancient arms, 
 among which was a heavy battle-axe, lying not far 
 from me ; and, stretching myself out as far as I 
 could to reach it, I succeeded in seizing the weapon, 
 exclaiming, as I wielded it on high, ( I will be con- 
 tented to wear a marble bracelet for the remainder 
 of my days, if I can but mash Signer Count GiuhVs 
 wrist off, in return for his squeezing mine so tight/ 
 But ere the battle-axe could descend with the heavy 
 blow which I aimed with such hearty good- will, a 
 loud laugh rang in unearthly tones through the old 
 
304 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 hall, and I was arrested in my purpose by hearing 
 the statue exclaim, ' Bravo, valiant Englishman ! I 
 have often heard that few things can quell the stout 
 hearts of your gallant countrymen, or deprive them 
 of courage and presence of rnind to free themselves 
 from peril, however threatened, however beset. I 
 have beheld many a daring feat in my living martial 
 days, and have ever been an admirer of intrepidity ; 
 so I am not likely now to resent a bold act, merely 
 because it is directed against myself Thou art free, 
 therefore, brave Englishman/ said he, relinquishing 
 his marble grasp, ' and thy undaunted behavior has 
 won that from Count Giulio which no cringing so- 
 licitation, no pusillanimous dread of his power, could 
 have won from him. Beneath this hall is a vaulted 
 chamber that contains evidence whether fawning or 
 fear ever met favor from me ; there lie the skeletons 
 of those who fell victims to my marble grasp when 
 they shrunk dastardly beneath the terror of its im- 
 prisonment, and sought not, like thee, to free them- 
 selves by the exercise of mental and bodily energy. 
 You may, if you choose, behold these skeletons. 
 Through yonder door you will find a staircase ; you 
 can satisfy yourself of the truth of my words, by 
 descending among those heaps of worthless bones, 
 and witnessing the effects of my loathing for all that 
 is cowardly and base. 7 
 
 " I thanked him, but declined to avail myself of 
 his polite offer, as I begged to assure him I could 
 perfectly rely upon Count Giulio 's word, without 
 counting the skeletons of his victims ; ' yet/ I ven- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 305 
 
 tured to add, ' there is one question I would fain ask ; 
 that picture 
 
 " ' Hold ! ' interrupted the statue, in a voice of 
 thunder, while I could perceive his marble fingers 
 clutch and quiver, as if scarcely able to refrain from 
 seizing my wrist again ; ' carry not boldness into 
 rashness, seek not to pry into secrets that concern 
 thee not ! Away ! and thank thy stars that thou 
 hast escaped the penalty of thy impertinent curi- 
 osity. 7 
 
 " I waited not to be twice bidden ; I took such 
 excellent advice as speedily as I could by advancing 
 to the hall-door, and drawing back the rusty bolt ; 
 and when I found myself once more without the 
 walls of the dismantled palazzo, I failed not to utter 
 a devout thanksgiving, that instead of mouldering 
 beneath its dreary vaults, I was hale and hearty in 
 the flesh, and breathing the pure air of heaven, and 
 trudging cheerily back to Genoa, singing a blithe 
 sea-ditty. Nor many hours more and I was at sea 
 once again, sailing away from the harbor of ' Genoa 
 la Superba ; ; and as I looked back upon the mag- 
 nificent city, which rose like a vast amphitheatre of 
 palaces against the stately range of maritime Alps, 
 I acknowledged the meetness of the surname which 
 the Italians had bestowed upon the beautiful birth- 
 place of Columbus, Prince of Mariners. 
 
 " I felt my spirit rise, and my heart dance with 
 buoyant delight, as I once more found myself bound- 
 ing away over the element I loved so well. I 
 exulted as I was borne aloft upon the crests of the 
 waves, and darted like a bird over the bright clear 
 20 
 
306 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 waters, that heaved and swelled proudly, rolling 
 their translucent length in ceaseless undulation. I 
 felt as if I could gaze forever into their green depths, 
 and ponder upon their fathomless mysteries. I was 
 transported with a sense of freedom, of boundless 
 liberty, as I scanned the distant horizon, and bared 
 my brow to the ocean breeze, and looked abroad into 
 the vast expanse of sky, in short, my dears, I was 
 an old sailor going to sea again, after some months 
 of wandering upon land, which sufficiently explains 
 the state of rapture in which I found myself on quit- 
 ting the shores of lovely Italy. But we must think 
 of new adventures to-morrow ; it is too late to-night 
 for any more yarns/' 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 307 
 
 CHAPTEK XI. 
 
 THE FIRE AT SEA. THE ISLAND OF OMBROSA. VELATA. 
 
 "WELL, then, Kit, now for another yarn ! " ex- 
 claimed the young brother and sister, next evening. 
 
 "Well, my dears," replied the old mariner, "I 
 had enjoyed my return to sea for about five weeks, 
 with nothing to damp my ardor, nothing to inter- 
 fere with my delight. The weather was fine, the 
 breezes were just sufficient to send us pleasantly on, 
 and varied only so as to make our course all the 
 more agreeable for the deviations we were compelled 
 to pursue. 
 
 " ' What can the land-lubbers mean by abusing a 
 seafaring life ? ; . said a young sailor on board to me, 
 one day ; ' they talk of its perils, as if there were 
 none on shore ; they talk of its hardships, as if 
 nobody ever heard of such a thing as working hard 
 on shore. I should like to know, now, if this is n't 
 a jolly life we 're leading here, and much better than 
 being stifled up on land ! ' 
 
 " ' Wait a bit, my lad, wait a bit/ said the voice 
 of an old weather-beaten seaman, who stood near us 
 at the helm, and whose wrinkled face and tanned 
 skin spoke of many a buffet about the world, of many 
 a rough night, and of many a sun-burning ; ' this is 
 your first voyage, my lad ; wait till you 've been as 
 many as I have, and then let's hear what you've 
 
303 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OP 
 
 got to say about the perils and hardships of the 
 sea. 7 
 
 " ' 0, you mean storms and shipwrecks, and that 
 sort of thing ! They 're perils, to be sure/ flippantly 
 replied the young sailor ; ' but you know there are 
 such things as storms and earthquakes on land, my 
 good old Triton. And then for hardships ; why, 
 surely weaving, and digging, and threshing, and 
 such-like land labor, are as hard work as furling and 
 unfurling sails, swabbing the decks, or climbing the 
 shrouds. 7 
 
 " ' Or working at the pumps for three days and 
 nights in succession, while you watch how many 
 inches the water gains upon you every six hours ; or 
 rowing for dear life in an open boat upon a bit of 
 salt junk and a table-spoonful of fresh water for each 
 day's ration, with no land in sight, and your ship 
 gone to the bottom/ said the old seaman, quietly. 
 
 " ' You speak of disastrous extremities, my good 
 friend/ returned the other ; ' time enough to look 
 out for squalls when they come. 7 
 
 "' There's more besides squalls, or even famine 
 at sea/ remarked the old seaman. 
 
 " ' Well, a sea-life for me ! ' exclaimed the young 
 man ; ' and let 's enjoy the fine weather while we 
 can. I hate croaking ! ' 
 
 11 ' So do I/ returned the old sailor ; 'Heaven for- 
 bid I should mar the bright sunshine by casting a 
 cloud of gloom athwart it ; but, all I say is, don't 
 boast too much, and don't fleer at the landsmen, 
 until you 've made quite sure that you 've got the 
 best of it.' 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 309 
 
 " ' Well, my toast, when I have my grog next, 
 shall be, Huzza for a sailor's life I may he long en- 
 joy a light heart and a merry one ! ' said the young 
 fellow. 
 
 "'And mine shall be, Huzza for the sailor! 
 may he ever keep a watchful eye, a ready hand, and 
 a brave heart ! ' replied the old seaman. 
 
 " ' Why, of course, every sailor has a brave heart, 
 has n't he, old Neptune ? I suppose we shall all be 
 brave enough when danger comes, shan't we ? J 
 
 "'We shall see/ quietly rejoined the old helms- 
 man ; and there the conversation dropped. 
 
 " Presently there was a man came astern, who 
 hurriedly said that smoke had been seen to issue 
 from one of the hatchways. The mere thought of a 
 fire on board ship in the open sea is sufficient to 
 appall the stoutest heart, and very soon all betokened 
 the consternation which followed the man's announce- 
 ment. The captain gave immediate orders for seve- 
 ral sails to be wetted and placed across the hatch- 
 ways, to prevent, if possible, the air from penetrat- 
 ing into the hold ; but it had already obtained a free 
 passage thither, and caused a great volume of smoke 
 to ascend, and the fire to gain considerable ground. 
 All hands were busily employed in endeavoring to 
 extinguish it ; the pumps were kept at work ; buck- 
 ets were passed to and fro ; even our fresh water 
 was emptied from the tanks, sacrificed at once, and 
 cast hastily upon the flames. They, however, baffled 
 all our efforts, and burst forth in every direction, 
 ascending in spiral tongues and forked streams, that 
 licked the masts and consumed the cordage, and 
 
310 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 darted destruction everywhere, carrying terror and 
 dismay to all on board. 
 
 " Still the men worked desperately, as if the two- 
 fold danger inspired them with two-fold courage ; be- 
 tween the two elements closely pressing on either 
 side to devour us, we seemed to feel doubly urged 
 to exertion. 
 
 " But human toil, human bravery, was unavailing, 
 and it shortly became evident that nothing could 
 save the vessel. A huge stream of fire flamed up 
 from the very centre of the ship, an awful beacon of 
 triumph and conquest ; and the men, utterly defeated 
 by one enemy, recklessly committed themselves to 
 the mercy of the other. Spars, yards, fragments of 
 masts, planks, coops, empty chests, any and every 
 thing was seized in the confusion and tossed over- 
 board by the unhappy creatures, who flung them- 
 selves hastily into the sea after these frail means of 
 preservation. The confusion was extreme. Some 
 plunged into the water and sunk immediately ; 
 others swam about, and clung to the floating arti- 
 cles ; many were stunned with the blazing fragments 
 of the wreck ; several were shot by the balls that 
 were discharged from the guns by the flames ; and 
 others were scorched and burnt to death by the in- 
 tense heat, and the myriads of burning embers, which 
 fell in all directions, amid showers of sparks and vol- 
 umes of smoke. In the confusion I saw the old 
 seaman whom I before mentioned ; he was standing 
 close to his captain, urging him to save himself and 
 quit the ship, while he shook off the red-hot cinders 
 that poured around his own gray head. As he spoke, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 311 
 
 a portion of the burning wreck swept the captain 
 overboard, and the old man, casting his eyes de- 
 voutly to heaven for one moment, threw himself res- 
 olutely into the sea, where I saw him seized in the 
 clutch of a poor drowning wretch, who dragged him 
 beneath the waters, and they both sunk together. 
 The young fellow who had boasted so loudly in the 
 morning had found his way, with a few other equally 
 bold companions, to the spirit-store, where they had 
 staved in a rum-cask, and died roaring drunk. The 
 fate of the old seaman had taught me precaution ; so 
 that the first thing I did, upon leaping overboard 
 myself, was carefully to shun the struggling wretches 
 around, who would have seized and involved me in 
 their own destruction. Fortunately I escaped this, 
 and all the other perils of the burning vessel, for I 
 swam rapidly and steadily to windward, that I might 
 avoid her dangerous proximity. I had not gained 
 more than a couple of miles' distance, when I heard 
 a tremendous explosion, and, looking back, I per- 
 ceived huge pieces of flaming wood hurled high into 
 the air, amid a cloud of darkness : the fire must have 
 reached the powder-roorn, and blown up the ship. 
 With it, I suppose, perished all my unfortunate ship- 
 mates, for I never beheld one of them again. My 
 heart wept with compassion for my lost friends, and 
 my senses reeled with this crowning horror of the ex- 
 ploding vessel ; which, joined to all I had previously 
 beheld that day, combined to bewilder arid depress 
 me, so that I could have sobbed in the midst of the 
 open sea ; but I made a powerful effort to control 
 my emotion, and rouse my utmost fortitude. I swam 
 
312 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 on, therefore, as vigorously as I could ; but I suf- 
 fered physically as well as mentally ; I had been 
 severely scorched while still on board the burning 
 ship, and the sun shed his rays fiercely upon my 
 limbs and aching head, exposed now to his ardor, as 
 I made my way each moment more feebly through 
 the water. 
 
 " I was about at length to yield, unable to force 
 my exhausted frame to further exertion, when I per- 
 ceived some green boughs floating at a little distance. 
 I made a last energetic effort, and succeeded in 
 reaching this unexpected ark of refuge. It proved 
 to be an uprooted tree, which must have been but 
 lately torn from the earth, for its leaves were not 
 yet withered ; and as I crept beneath their welcome 
 shade, and returned Heaven thanks for this timely 
 succor, I drew comfort from the assurance it afforded 
 that land could not be far distant. I reclined beneath 
 my luxurious floating bower in ease and safety, while 
 this natural raft of green timber bore me gently on 
 towards the shore, for the tide was fortunately roll- 
 ing in very rapidly. 
 
 " I landed on a gentle grassy slope, and found that 
 I was in a beautiful fertile island, abounding with all 
 that is lovely in nature and most attractive to man's 
 senses. Trees, bending with the weight of luscious 
 fruits, formed groves of wooing umbrage and cool- 
 ness ; flaunting vines and climbing plants inter- 
 mingled their clusters of grapes and blossoms, and 
 enwreathed the barks of ash, elm, and oak, with 
 palm and other foreign trees, in a universal bond of 
 fellowship. Birds of vivid plumage and melodious 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 313 
 
 song sported from bough to bough, and filled the air 
 with their sprightly music. Bright fish darted flash- 
 mgly in the clear streams that meandered through 
 the landscape, and imparted the charm of motion to 
 a scene so exquisitely tranquil, yet fruitful. 
 
 " I saw no signs of inhabitants, with the exception 
 of a small solitary hut, which, though its construc- 
 tion was of the rudest kind, being built merely of the 
 trunks of trees roughly hewn and placed nearly in a 
 circle, yet it was so surrounded and interlaced by 
 garlands of flowering creepers, the rose, the mag- 
 nolia, the honeysuckle, the jasmine, the scarlet trum- 
 pet-flower, and the purple morandia, that it looked 
 like a floral temple more than a human dwelling. I 
 was just about to approach and enter, when my at- 
 tention was attracted by the sound of female laugh- 
 ter. The peal of merriment issued from a thick grove 
 hard by ; and I stood still and listened. Yes, it was 
 distinctly the noise of a party of giggling girls at 
 high romps, and I could even distinguish that they 
 spoke a mixed dialect, half Indian, half Spanish ; for, 
 as you may suppose, my dears, I had picked up a 
 kind of smattering of many different languages dur- 
 ing my wandering travels, and could make out most 
 that was said to me everywhere, as well as contrive 
 to make myself understood in return. 
 
 " ' Throw the ball to me next ! ? I heard clearly 
 from one gay voice. 
 
 "'No, no! It is Velata' s turn now! Velata ! 
 Velata ! quick, quick ! ' exclaimed a chorus of sport- 
 ive girlish tones. 
 
 " I was now within the outer circle of trees that 
 
314 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 formed the entrance to the small wood. The speak- 
 ers seemed to be only on the other side of an acacia- 
 tree near which I stood, and yet I could see no one. 
 The grove, but for the sounds of jocund mirth that 
 rung through it, seemed a complete solitude. I 
 stepped forward from the tree into an open space, 
 whence the sounds certainly proceeded ; and then 
 suddenly a piercing shriek burst forth, as from sev- 
 eral affrighted women, mingled with many an outcry 
 of wild surprise. These exclamations and startled 
 tones receded rapidly ; and, though I ran forward, 
 they quickly died away, leaving me in total silence. 
 I felt strangely perplexed ; it was evident there were 
 inhabitants of the island, for I. was quite sure I had 
 been close to the beings whose voices I had heard, 
 though I could see none. 
 
 " A sensation of undefined alarm crept over me, 
 at the thought of my vicinity to creatures whose 
 nature I could not ascertain ; for, though what little 
 I did know of them was certainly not much calcu- 
 lated to inspire fear, yet I was by this time in a state 
 well fitted for the growth of vague uneasiness and 
 discomfort. The fact is, I was very ill ; the terrific 
 scene of the burning ship, the pain from my scorched 
 and blistered body, the fatigue of swimming so far, 
 with the rays of a burning sun darting full upon my 
 uncovered head, had combined to throw rne into a 
 severe fever, and I now began to sink under the first 
 coming on of the attack. I dragged my heavy limbs 
 through the grove, and made my way from beneath 
 the trees, with the idea of seeking shelter in the sol- 
 itary hut I had perceived near the entrance of the 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 315 
 
 wood ; but, though the distance was so slight, my 
 strength was insufficient to bear me thither, and 1 
 sunk upon the grass just as I had reached the 
 threshold. The tranquil island scene swam before 
 my distempered vision, my head throbbed and reeled, 
 my burning eyelids closed, a deep sigh fluttered from 
 my parched lips, and I fell prostrate. 
 
 " The first thing of which I was conscious, when I 
 recovered, was a sense of delicious coolness ; a balmy 
 fragrance seemed to pervade the air, and a deep feel- 
 ing of repose and healing was diffused throughout 
 rny languid frame. I heaved a sigh of placid content- 
 ment, 0, how different from the one which had 
 fluttered forth when I sunk to the earth last ! and I 
 dreamily opened my eyes to discover where I was. 
 I found that I was lying upon a couch of skins, in a 
 wooden hut, which I soon concluded must be the 
 interior of the one I had seen when I was attacked 
 by fever. 
 
 " But, though I was able to conclude thus far, I 
 could form no guess as to how long I had lain there, 
 or by whom I had been transported thither. And 
 yet the suppleness of my skin, the moisture of my 
 mouth, the relief of my aching head, having so en- 
 tirely replaced the feverish symptoms by which I was 
 oppressed when I sunk beneath my illness, all con- 
 firmed my impression that I must not only have had 
 a serious illness, but that I had been carefully tended 
 and nursed through it by some unknown friend. 
 Who could this kind friend be ? I gazed feebly 
 round the small apartment, for I was still weak, 
 and all I saw convinced me that it was a woman's 
 
316 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 hand which had been so benevolently extended to my 
 relief. There were so many evidences of a feminine 
 presence, even in that rude interior, that I could not 
 doubt for a moment but that a woman had been my 
 preserving angel. There was that general air of 
 neatness which the cabin of the wildest savage 
 almost instinctively assumes, in common with the 
 boudoir of the lady of fashion ; there was that grace- 
 ful disposal of flowers around the window of the hut, 
 which might have been arranged in a clusteringly 
 heaped vase elsewhere ; there was a smooth comfort 
 iu the piling of the skins around me, that would have 
 been a judicious placing of pillows and downy quilts 
 in a civilized bed ; there was a cooling drink set 
 close by my side, that was surely mingled by no 
 other than a womanly hand, whether the vessel that 
 contained it were formed of a cocoa-nut shell, or of 
 elaborate Dresden china. 
 
 " I lay musing thus, pleasantly enough, while I 
 watched the rays of the sun playing among the leaves 
 and blossoms at the window, and casting twinkling 
 shadows upon my ccftich, when suddenly I heard a 
 low sweet womanly voice singing close outside of the 
 window, in that sort of gentle under-tone, as if the 
 singer were anxious not to disturb another, yet giv- 
 ing vent to her own blithe feelings while she pur- 
 sued her work. I could distinguish words ; they 
 seemed to be a sort of invocation for aid in garden- 
 ing, arid a eulogium on the beauty of the flowers she 
 was doubtless employed in training and tending. I 
 lay listening breathlessly. Presently the song ended, 
 and the door of the hut was pushed gently, as if 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 31 7 
 
 some one were endeavoring to enter without noise. 
 The door opened, but no object darkened the thresh- 
 old. The sunshine streamed through the doorway in 
 an uninterrupted flood of light, arid 1 could distinctly 
 see the beautiful landscape during the few seconds 
 before the door was shut again softly by the same 
 unseen hand. 
 
 " My heart beat chokingly, and I closed my eyes. 
 As I lay perfectly motionless, I felt a warm breath 
 close to rny cheek, as if some one leant over me. 
 
 " ' He is better surely better/ said a voice close 
 to my ear. * 
 
 " I could not help starting violently, and I fancied 
 the person withdrew as abruptly, while I gasped, in 
 irrepressible emotion, 
 
 " ' For Heaven's sake, who is there ? ; 
 
 " ' I/ said the same sweet voice ; ' it is only I.' 
 
 " ' But who are you ? and where are you ? ' ex- 
 claimed I, impatiently ; for, though I strained my 
 eyes in the direction of the voice, I could see 
 nothing. 
 
 " ' I am Velata I am here, close to your heap of 
 skins ; is it possible you do not see me ? Or is it 
 indeed true, as the tradition of our country says, 
 that there are people of other nations, across the great 
 sea, to whom we are invisible ? ' 
 
 " As .these words were uttered, I felt a soft hand 
 lightly laid on mine. I eagerly grasped it, and found 
 warm little flesh and blood fingers, which pressed 
 mine kindly as I caressed them. 
 
 " ' It is you, then, who have been my kind nurse ; 
 it is to you I owe my life ! 7 I exclaimed. ' 0, that 
 
318 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 I could look at you, to thank you for all your patient 
 goodness your kindness towards an unhappy stran- 
 ger, a shipwrecked, perishing wretch, who but for 
 you must have died ! I feel like a blind man, when I 
 look towards your voice ; let me hear it, that I may 
 be sure of your presence. 7 
 
 " She indulged me by speaking at length. She 
 told me how startled she and her companions had 
 been at my unexpected appearance that morning, 
 when I first came among them. They had all fled 
 in terror at seeing a man suddenly approach ; but 
 that she herself^had summoned courage to remain 
 and watch me, as she saw that I looked ill, and as if 
 needing relief and support. She said that she had 
 followed me from the wood ; had seen me approach 
 the hut, and sink exhausted upon the grass at its 
 threshold ; that she had raised my head from the 
 earth, and had been just about to seek fresh water, 
 that she might sprinkle it over my face to revive me, 
 when her companions, who had followed to look for 
 her, had assisted her in lifting me into the hut, and 
 had joined their endeavors to hers for rny recovery. 
 But when they found more than an hour elapse, and 
 that I still gave no signs of returning to myself, 
 they had tried to persuade her to leave me to my 
 fate, as it was then time to return to their canoes. 
 She explained to me that it was the habit of the 
 young maidens of a neighboring large island to 
 come hither in the spring season of the year, and 
 celebrate a vernal festival with various sports and 
 pastimes. It was a rule that no man should join 
 this festival, on any pretence whatever ; and that 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 319 
 
 therefore the canoes were conducted hither by the 
 troops of young girls themselves, who steered ana 
 rowed with much expertriess, and performed feats of 
 great dexterity during their annual visit to this spot. 
 The festival was looked forward to with delight, and 
 was a source of great pride arid enjoyment to its fair 
 votaries. A sense of freedom and independence in 
 the management of their miniature fleet, complete 
 seclusion and liberty in their frolicsome games while 
 dancing, singing, running, playing, gathering fruit, 
 and sporting hither and thither uncontrolled through 
 the lovely plains of this pleasant island, made the 
 vernal festival a cherished privilege among them. 
 Great, then, was their dismay upon finding a male 
 intruder suddenly make his appearance among them ; 
 and when they would have left the stranger to his 
 fate, finding their benevolent attempts to restore 
 him ineffectual, upon the approach of the hour when 
 it was necessary for them to return to their own 
 island in the canoes, they found they could not per- 
 suade Yelata to accompany them. She said that 
 nothing should induce her to leave afi unfortunate 
 being to perish ; that she had no particular ties to 
 bind her to their own island ; and that she felt it now 
 to be her first duty to stay and protect the charge 
 which chance had cast in her way. The hut, which 
 was a sort of rustic temple, dedicated to the enter- 
 tainment of the fair vestals during their resort to this 
 spot, would suffice for a shelter for herself and her 
 poor patient ; and she bade them hesitate not to fbave 
 her where she herself preferred, and determined to 
 stay. On her repeated assurances to this effect, and 
 
320 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 finding that all their persuasions were vain, they 
 quitted her, and returned to the canoes, not without 
 some laughing mockery at her quixotic devotion to 
 self-imposed hospital duties. 
 
 '"I listened to their gay voices/ said Velata, in 
 conclusion, ' as they gradually receded ; soon the 
 last faint echoes of their rallying mirth died upon 
 my ear, and I found myself alone with my poor 
 patient, whose fevered breathing and restless twitch- 
 ings soon occupied all my attention. I have had 
 sad teaching in the part of a nurse/ continued she, 
 ' for my poor father lingered long of the fever and 
 wounds of which he died, after fighting bravely for 
 his country in one of the battles between ours and a 
 neighboring land, but I have had reason to rejoice 
 in my experience, since it has been at length the 
 means of restoring you to health. But you are not 
 yet strong, and I have too long neglected my nurs- 
 ing duties while I have been talking ; so I will now 
 go and prepare some of these herbs for you/ 
 
 " She withdrew her hand from mine as she spoke, 
 for I had held it clasped all this time, that I might 
 have the better sense of her presence. 
 
 " But now that she glided about silently in the 
 pursuit of her herbal preparation, I felt singularly 
 affected by the knowledge that there was this in- 
 visible being near me, a gentle, affectionate, minis- 
 tering comforter, one who had devoted herself to 
 my preservation, and who was at this very moment 
 actively employed in my behalf. And yet I could 
 see no vestige -of her ; I could only trace her move- 
 ments by the articles she placed and replaced, as she 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 321 
 
 went hither and thither fetching and arranging the 
 various ingredients she wanted. I saw the cocoa-nut 
 cup removed from the side of my couch, but I 
 strained my eyes in vain to distinguish the hand 
 that conveyed it ; I beheld the small heap of herbs 
 raised from the table where it lay, and the several 
 sprays divide and sort themselves in mid air, then 
 detach their blossoms and leaves from the stalks, and 
 fall into the vessel placed there to receive them, but 
 I looked vainly for the deft little fingers that per- 
 formed these operations with so nimble a grace ; I 
 perceived a bunch of grapes and some rosy fruit suc- 
 cessively discharge their juice into the cup, but I 
 could discern no outline of the palms which daintily 
 pressed the ripe clusters together. At first this 
 curious partial sight amused, though it perplexed 
 me ; it was so strange to see these different objects 
 move about, and perform their several evolutions 
 spontaneously, and without any apparent cause ; but 
 soon my amusement merged into an intense wish to 
 behold the fair motive power itself, and to feel again 
 assured of her actual presence. 
 
 " ' Yelata ! ' I exclaimed, 'I wish you would 
 speak ; I cannot see you and I want to hear you 
 to be certain you are there.' 
 
 " She laughed a pleasant little musical laugh, and 
 then chatted gayly about the herbs and the fruit she 
 was arranging, and said, ' she hoped I should soon 
 be well enough to get up and walk out into the fresh 
 air.' 
 
 " ' I think I am well enough already/ said I, mak- 
 ing an effort to raise myself upon my elbow ; but i 
 21 
 
322 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 soon found my strength was unequal to the task, for 
 my arm gave way under me immediately, and I fell 
 back upon the couch. 
 
 "I heard a little hurried movement towards me, 
 as if my nurse feared I was ill ; but, perceiving how 
 it was, she uttered her pleasant laugh again, and 
 said : 
 
 "You see you must still be content to be my 
 patient for a while, and must not attempt to move 
 till I give you leave. 7 
 
 " I soon saw, by the motion of some of the articles 
 in the hut, that Yelata was employed in little house- 
 wifely duties, of arranging and disposing the order 
 of the room ; I took delight in watching her progress 
 through them, and by constantly talking to her, and 
 winning her to answer, I contrived very well to ascer- 
 tain whereabouts she was. I then bethought me of 
 asking her to bring me a branch of the flowery wood- 
 bine that threw its garlands around the window of 
 the hut ; this I twined amid her hair, and could then 
 trace the various glidings to and fro of the branch, 
 and imagine the sweet face that moved about beneath 
 its fragrant blossoms. 
 
 "Another device of mine, to obtain evidence of her 
 actuality, was asking her to sing ; which she would 
 "do untiringly by the hour together, while she pursued 
 her daily avocations. Her voice was full and melo- 
 dious^and she knew a vast store of legendary tales 
 of her country, that were set to wild national airs ; 
 these she would chant to me, varying their mood 
 from sportive to sad, from plaintive to gay, from the 
 lulling, soothing melody of the cradle-song to the 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 323 
 
 spirited strain of the martial war-cry and battle sum- 
 mons. 
 
 " Day by day I increased in strength, and day by 
 day she tended me with unwearied care and affec- 
 tionate attention, until I was completely recovered. 
 Each day I had fresh cause for gratitude to my gentle, 
 my assiduous nurse, my kind preserver. Each day 
 developed some new instance of sweet nature, oblig- 
 ing disposition, winning gayety, and endearing quali- 
 ties. What wonder if I grew to love my invisible 
 guardian with an intensity of affection such as I had 
 never before felt for woman ? If she were invisible 
 to my sense of sight, was she not manifest to my 
 heart by a thousand instances of kindness, goodness, 
 and moral beauty, as well as by the attractions of 
 her exquisite singing, her melodious speaking-voice, 
 and her soft ministering hand ? 
 
 " Proud and happy was I when I first was able to 
 rise from my sick bed, and aid her in some of her 
 daily avocations. I had long fretted beneath the 
 necessity my illness imposed upon me of lying there 
 utterly useless, and unable to relieve my gentle nurse 
 of any of her duties ; I felt my manliness impugned 
 by being compelled to allow her to be constantly 
 employed in my behalf, without being able to exert 
 myself in the least for her. It was with a feeling of 
 exultation, therefore, that I one morning arose, when 
 I knew she would be absent some hours to obtain 
 fruit for our afternoon meal, and set myself eagerly 
 to work to collect wood, to fetch water, to feather 
 some fresh arrows for her bow, to shape some slight 
 article for our household, and, in short, to busy 
 
324 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 myself about as many useful things as I could, 
 against her return. I was just beginning to own, 
 unwillingly to myself, that even this slight exer- 
 tion had somewhat overtaxed my newly-recovered 
 strength, when I beheld the basket, which Velata 
 had fashioned of twigs, to carry her fruit in, coming 
 towards me from a distance, heaped up with glow- 
 ing pomegranates, and clusters of purple grapes. I 
 knew that it was borne along by my gentle friend, 
 and I hastened towards her to relieve her from her 
 burthen. . 
 
 "'Let me lift the basket from your head, dear 
 Velata/ I exclaimed, as I approached, ' and let me 
 replace it by this garland of roses, which I have 
 wreathed for you, in your absence, to celebrate the 
 recovery of your grateful patient. May I not crown 
 the brow of my kind physician and nurse ? ' added I, 
 in some surprise at finding that she drew back. 
 
 " 'No, no not with those flowers/ I heard her 
 say, and with an accent which betrayed to my ear 
 that she was agitated ; for I had now become so ac- 
 customed to study the inflections and different tones 
 of her voice, that I learned to guess at her feelings 
 through this medium. 
 
 " ' Why not with these ? surely there are no such 
 beauteous flowers as roses, best fitted, therefore, to 
 indicate to me the position of that fair face/ I re- 
 plied. ' Remember, the wreaths you wear serve to 
 point out to me whereabouts you are, and form the 
 only beacons to guide me in looking towards the fair 
 face I love to imagine allowing its eyes to rest upon 
 mine/ 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 325 
 
 " ' You have twice called my face fair, in this short 
 sentence, my good friend/ replied Velata, playfully; 
 ' how do you know it is fair ? I am afraid you are a 
 mere flatterer. 7 
 
 " ' I am bound in courtesy to fancy it all that is 
 lovely, since I cannot prove it to be the contrary/ 
 answered I. ' Besides, does it not belong to a 
 bounteous hand and a generous heart, and is not 
 every face that is linked with such companions of 
 necessity beautiful to the man who is blessed by 
 them ? > 
 
 "I paused; but Velata uttered no reply. I had 
 taken her hand to lead her home, and I felt it tremble 
 within my own. We proceeded in silence towards 
 the hut ; but, when we arrived there, and she per- 
 ceived the tokens of my morning's work, she abruptly 
 exclaimed, as if she strove to resume her former 
 playful tone : 
 
 " ' I have a great mind to be extremely angry ; is 
 this the way my injunctions are obeyed ? The very 
 first opportunity is seized during my absence by my 
 refractory patient ; and here I find he has been doing 
 a great many things he ought not to have done, and 
 has been over-exerting himself, and he will throw 
 himself back, and be ill again. I desire you will sit 
 down quietly, and not venture to stir a finger, or 
 speak a word, till I permit you to do so.' I mean to 
 be a very arbitrary nurse/ 
 
 " I was about to infringe her commands, and 
 reply ; but I found it was indeed too true, that I was 
 not yet so strong as I fancied myself, for I was fain 
 
326 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 to sit down at once and struggle with the faintness 
 which I indignantly felt was creeping over me. 
 
 " I have frequently noticed that men suffer from 
 this resentful feeling, when they are attacked by ill- 
 ness. They cannot help being angry that they 
 should be subject to a weakness that interferes with 
 the potency of their will, no less than the vigor of 
 their frame ; and it is this, I suppose, that makes us 
 generally less tolerant of sickness than women are. 
 However this may be, I endured that sort of vex- 
 ation keenly then ; I was disappointed to find my- 
 self frustrated in my hope of proving myself grate- 
 ful, and yielded very reluctantly to the necessity of 
 acknowledging that I still felt the effects of the 
 fever. 
 
 " During my relapse, Velata renewed all her old 
 soothing ministry, and forbore to reproach me with 
 the fact of its being greatly my own fault, so that 
 not many days elapsed before I was well enough to 
 sit out in the open air, on a mossy seat, which my 
 nurse had prepared for me beneath a tree that grew 
 near to the hut. 
 
 " She had been singing to me, and chatting cheer- 
 fully, and devising various means to entertain her 
 ' impatient invalid/ as she called me, declaring that 
 she could by no means call me her ' patient ; ; but I 
 wa,s restless, and, instead of being soothed by her 
 voice, as I usually was when I listened to it, I felt 
 my longing to behold her irritated and roused to an 
 insupportable degree ; I sighed more than once half 
 unconsciously, as I yielded to a despondent feeling 
 that crept over me, and that cast a gloom even upon 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 32t 
 
 the fair landscape, the bright sunshine, and the 
 pleasant free air. 
 
 " ' You are worse to-day, I fear, my dear friend/ 
 said Velata, tenderly, sitting down beside me ; ' and 
 yet this lovely morning and pure air ought to make 
 you better, -nay, quite well/ 
 
 '"I used to long for my recovery, but I have 
 learned to dread^ getting well/ said I, more sadly than 
 I felt her kind care deserved from me ; but I could 
 not resist the depression of the moment. 
 
 " ' Indeed ! Then you are out of spirits, as well as 
 out of health. Perhaps you are tired of this inactive 
 life, and long to pursue the wanderings of which you 
 have so often told me/ added she, tremulously. ' But 
 you know you must be well for that ; you cannot go 
 to sea until you are strong again/ 
 
 " ' It is not I who wish to go away ; I only fear 
 that when my kind nurse finds her "impatient 7; inva- 
 lid quite recovered, that it is she who will be 
 anxious to quit this place and return to her own 
 country/ 
 
 " ' I have nothing to lead me to wish to return 
 thither/ said she. 'When my poor father died, I 
 had no parent left ; for my mother never loved me, and 
 would scarcely ever bear me in her sight. I did not 
 even live with her ; for, when she bade rne quit her 
 presence, as one long loathed and only tolerated 
 during my father's life, I took refuge with friends, 
 the parents of a young companion of mine, who was 
 one of those who came to this island, on our late fes- 
 tival here I have no true home/ added Velata, in a 
 tone as sad as my own had been. 
 
328 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " But it was joyfully now, that I exclaimed : ' Then 
 let us make one here, together ! I desire no other 
 home ! I wish but for you to stay with you, Velata, 
 ever ! ' 
 
 11 1 passed my arm round the gentle being that sat 
 on the moss beside me, as I added : ' Be mine, 
 Velata, and crown your generous kindness, by telling 
 me you are as happy in remaining with me as I am 
 in vowing to live here forever with you ! ' 
 
 " A little quick-beating heart fluttered beneath the 
 hand with which I held her to me, and a drooping 
 head leant upon my bosom, as I heard her say : ' You 
 would have me be your wife, then ? ' 
 
 " ' I desire nothing upon earth so fondly ! ? I re- 
 plied. 
 
 ' ' ' I will tell you, now, why I refused your garland, 
 the other day/ whispered Yelata, after a short pause. 
 ' It is the custom of our nation, when two people 
 wish to become man and wife, for them to place a 
 coronal of roses on each other's head ; and, thus 
 crowned, to kneel together in the open air, uttering a 
 vow to the Creator of the universe, that they, his 
 children, will be true and faithful in mutual wedded 
 love, until their life's end. This constitutes the 
 ceremony of marriage among us of the isles of Om- 
 brosa ; and now you understand why I would not let 
 you bind my temples with roses, unless you knew 
 they also bound me to you forever/ 
 
 " ' But, henceforth, my bride will wear no other 
 flower ! ' I exclaimed, springing from the earth with 
 an animation long a stranger to my frame, and draw- 
 ing her towards the spot where roses clustered in 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 329 
 
 luxurious profusion. We gathered heaps of the 
 blushing blossoms 0, well called queen of flowers ! 
 the rich full bloom of the damask, the intense in 
 ward-glowing beauty of the moss-bud, the lustrous 
 purity of the white, all were mingled in our chaplets. 
 Symmetry and grace of form, wealth of color, and 
 voluptuous fragrance, combined their perfections in 
 our nuptial wreaths, rarer diadems, and conferring 
 a more precious dominion of bliss, than a monarch's 
 crown. Earthly sway, kingly power, sovereign com- 
 mand, what are ye to wedded confidence, mutual 
 comfort, and the united happiness of two loving 
 hearts ? Fain would I have remained to watch the 
 coronal of roses, when I had placed it on the brow 
 of my unseen but well-beloved bride, fain would I 
 have never quitted her side, or ceased for an instant 
 to guard the treasure I had gained by the fervent 
 vow which bound us for life to each other ; but when 
 my Eve prepared her nuptial feast, and bade me seek 
 some fruit, to aid her in heaping it with due profu- 
 sion, what could I do but fulfil the first behest she 
 had ever given me ? 
 
 "I took the basket, therefore, and proceeded to 
 the wood, resolving to return with my best speed. 
 I had collected heaps of peaches, green and purple 
 figs and grapes, bright pomegranates, apricots, nec- 
 tarines, bloom-covered plums, and ruddy-spotted 
 green-gages, which, together with their varied foliage, 
 overhung the sides of my basket in rich exuberance, 
 and formed a beautiful group, when I heard some- ' 
 thing flutter on a tree near to me, and on looking up 
 I saw a white dove that had been struck by a hawk, 
 
330 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and was struggling 1 to free itself from the branches 
 among which it had fallen ; its victor having been 
 probably scared from its prey by my presence. I 
 hastened to the wounded bird's assistance, but it 
 had just contrived to fly feebly on a little way, when 
 the thought struck me that I would endeavor to 
 secure the poor little creature, and take it to the hut 
 as a welcome offering to Velata, whose tender foster- 
 ing care would soon restore the shattered wing. 
 
 "Sufficient strength remained, however, to enable 
 the bird to elude my efforts to catch it for some 
 time. The poor little fugitive limped a.nd fluttered 
 from bough to bough, from bush to bramble, now 
 tumbling down upon the grass, now gaining a low 
 twig or branch, eager to escape, and ignorant of the 
 benevolent intentions with which I pursued him. 
 But at length I succeeded in securing him ; and then, 
 carefully placing him in my bosom, I hastily re- 
 traced my steps to the spot where I had left the 
 basket of fruit, and, seizing it up, I hurried to the 
 hut, vexed at the time I had unconsciously suffered 
 to elapse in my pursuit of the wounded dove. 
 
 " ' Velata ! Velata ! ; I cried, as I approached ; 
 ' come and see what I have here for you ! ' But no 
 voice answered mine, no light footsteps reached my 
 ear, no coronal of roses came borne along from the 
 entrance of our cottage home, as I had fondly ex- 
 pected, to meet my eager eyes. I rushed into the 
 hut ; but, though I could no more have beheld her 
 than I did, even had she been there, yet I felt an 
 instant conviction that no Velata was near no loved 
 being was present. I had learned the instinctive per- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 331 
 
 ception of a blind man, and too well I knew that 
 no soft breathing, no light rustle, none of the subtle 
 essence, the very atmosphere that betrays the pres- 
 ence of the one beloved object, was there to bless 
 me. 
 
 "I believe I uttered a wild scream in the impo- 
 tence of rny anguish and first despair, for I felt 
 struck to the earth by this unexpected blow. I 
 wrung my hands, and hot tears fell from my eyes, 
 as I incoherently called upon her name, and bade 
 her remember that I could not seek her, and that, 
 unless she took pity on my misery, and returned and 
 manifested herself to me, I must perish in my forlorn 
 grief. In short, I committed extravagances that I 
 should be ashamed to think upon since, did I not 
 know how the most manly natures are subdued by a 
 sudden as well as severe stroke of sorrow. At the 
 same time, I will own that my yielding so utterly to 
 my misery was weak and wicked ; and the only cir-. 
 cumstance I can reflect upon with complacency in 
 that period of my unhappiness was, that instead of 
 looking upon the white dove with resentment, as the 
 cause of my detention, and consequent misfortune, I 
 cherished it carefully, binding its wounded wing, and 
 endeavoring to extract some comfort from a deed of 
 charity and tenderness. 
 
 " After wandering restlessly, blindly, and vainly, 
 about, everywhere in Velata's wonted haunts, and 
 taking a sort of fierce pains to prove to myself that 
 I had really and hopelessly lost her, I sunk at length, 
 stunned and exhausted, upon the mossy seat beneath 
 the tree, where I had that very morning received the 
 
332 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 assurance that made me a happy husband, and had 
 opened to me the blissful prospect of a life-long 
 wedded existence. Nature wore her loveliest aspect 
 of beauty and serenity ; the one star of evening 
 shone forth mild and lustrous, the unclouded heavens 
 embraced earth with their azure expanse, and all 
 things seemed held in loving silent communion. 
 What a contrast did this scene, in its holy tranquil- 
 lity, present to the storm of tumultuous emotions that 
 were contending within my own sore and troubled 
 heart ! 
 
 " Long I strove for a more submissive spirit ; fer- 
 vently did I pray for calm and resignation, that I 
 might bear my trial as became a man, and the creat- 
 ure of God's will. I bent myself prostrate to his 
 decree, and humbly besought his mercy to the bruised 
 heart that laid itself trustfully open to his healing 
 care. 
 
 "The radiant Hesperus shed its bland influence 
 upon my upturned eyes, and I felt as if a gracious 
 power had vouchsafed encouragement, protection, 
 and consolation. I arose meekly, and went into the 
 hut with a calmer spirit, though without hope of 
 rest. But, as I flung myself upon rny couch of skins, 
 I found a half-blown rose, that lay upon the pillow. 
 
 "I seized the precious token as a harbinger of 
 hope and comfort, for well I knew whose hand must 
 have placed it there. I inhaled its delicious perfume, 
 and steeped my senses in the ecstasy of the belief it 
 conveyed that I was remembered and beloved, how- 
 ever inexplicably abandoned. 
 
 1 ' My rose lay close to my heart that night ; it has 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 333 
 
 lain there ever since, nor will it ever quit its place 
 but with life," said the old mariner, in a low voice, 
 and covering his eyes for a moment with his wrinkled 
 hand. "Its once f ruddy leaves are now colorless 
 and withered, but the memories that hallow the 
 slight fragments will be ever fresh and vivid, till the 
 heart, close to which they lie, shall cease to beat." 
 
 After a short pause, he resumed : " The effort I 
 had so strenuously made to endure my bereavement 
 with becoming fortitude was much strengthened by 
 this circumstance, and I labored hard to resist a re- 
 currence of the despondency which had so completely 
 overwhelmed and unmanned me at first. I strove 
 by physical exertion to repel the attacks of mental 
 suffering. I worked all day zealously and inces- 
 santly, and by manual labor endeavored to drive 
 away reflection. I joined invention and contrivance 
 to the mere work of my hands, and by occupying my 
 thoughts with the shaping and fashioning of some 
 useful article, I tried to prevent their being more 
 sadly employed in reverting to my loss. 
 
 " But each evening, when I could no longer see 
 to toil, and I sought rest on the mossy seat beneath 
 the tree, then it was that my sense of loneliness 
 . pressed most heavily upon me, and the remembrance 
 of my lost bride stung me to the heart. Her mani- 
 fold perfections of nature, her gentle sweetness, her 
 endearing qualities, her fostering love, all passed in 
 review before my mind, and filled me with irrepress- 
 ible regret to have known the worth of such a creat- 
 ure only to part with her forever. 
 
 " It was singular that this being, whom I had 
 
334 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 never beheld, should so completely have won my 
 affections, so entirely have filled my senses with her 
 image, so absorbingly have taken possession of my 
 very soul. But it seemed as if 1jie strong appeal 
 which her invisibility made to my imaginative nature 
 rendered her doubly and trebly dear ; as the man 
 who has lost his sight frequently possesses his other 
 senses in an unusual degree of acuteness, so appeared 
 to be the concentrated enthusiasm of my love for the 
 unseen Velata. 
 
 " As I sat musing thus, one evening, my eyes fixed 
 upon the bright planet, and my thoughts absorbed 
 in her image who was the earthly star of my exist- 
 ence, remote, mystically set apart, and unattain- 
 able, I helplessly breathed aloud her name: 'My 
 Velata ! ' 
 
 " At that instant a light, quick footstep struck 
 upon my ear, as it bounded along the sward ; and 
 the next moment I felt a womanly form fling itself 
 upon my bosom, and nestle within my arms, which 
 closed instinctively around her in a transport of 
 recognition. 
 
 " ' Yelata ! my Velata ! ' was all I could utter for 
 some time, in reply to the piteous sobs, and mur- 
 murs of mingled joy and sorrow, which she continued 
 to pour forth upon my breast. 
 
 "'Let me hear that beloved voice let me be 
 sure you are here, my Velata ! Give me some assur- 
 ance of your dear presence besides sobs and mur- 
 murs ! ' I cried. 
 
 " ' I grieve to think of your grief, my husband, 
 who were left to deplore my absence, without know- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 335 
 
 ing its cause/ said the melodious tones I knew so 
 well. ' But our misery is past now, and I will give 
 no one moment longer to sorrow. You wish some 
 assurance of my presence, do you ! ' continued she, 
 with her old playful gayety ; ' here, what think you 
 of this ? ' 
 
 "She pinched my cheek smartly as she spoke; 
 then soothingly passing her soft hand over it, as a 
 child might do, to make it well, she proceeded to 
 inform me of the reason of her abrupt departure on 
 our bridal day. 
 
 "'You had scarcely quitted me, and taken the 
 direction of the wood, to fetch the fruit for our nup- 
 tial feast/ she said, ' when, from the opposite quar- 
 ter, which you know is the slope that leads down to 
 the sea-shore, I perceived two people of my own 
 nation approaching the hut, whom I immediately 
 recognized for my friend Nascosta, and her lover 
 Bruno. ^Nascosta is the young girl I mentioned to 
 you with whose parents I lived after my father's 
 death, and who was one of my companions when we 
 came to this island on the occasion of the vernal fes- 
 tival. She was well acquainted with all the circum- 
 stances of the estrangement that existed between 
 lay mother and myself; indeed, it was owing to her 
 and her parents' conviction of the injustice with 
 which I was treated by my own surviving one, that 
 led to their offering me an asylum after the loss of 
 my father. But she told me that my mother had 
 been seized with a sudden and violent illness, which 
 was so dangerous in its nature that there was no 
 likelihood of her recovery. In the remorse and 
 
336 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 clearer-sighted conscience of a near prospect of 
 death, she had raved incessantly of her former un- 
 kindness to her only child, and had vehemently peti- 
 tioned that her daughter would return and forgive 
 her before she quitted earth forever. Nascosta-_ 
 knowing how bitterly I had always deplored the 
 want of a mother's affection, felt that no time was to 
 be lost in fetching me to her side ; and, knowing 
 where I was, had set out immediately to seek me in 
 her lover's canoe. This now awaited my instant 
 return, for my friend assured me that it was all we 
 should be able to do to reach our native island in 
 time to forestall the fatal hand of death. A mother's 
 dying voice rung suppliant in my ears ; it adjured 
 me to fly without delay ; every moment that elapsed 
 seemed to sound a knell to my hopes of being able 
 to lighten her departing hour with the assurance of 
 rny filial love, and to receive her last and, alas, 
 almost only blessing before she should be removed 
 forever. I could not hesitate, I would not trust 
 myself to think of you, my husband, in that moment 
 of contending duty ; hastily gathering a rose, and 
 placing it, as a token of ever-constant wedded love, 
 where I knew it must reach your hand, and (as I 
 fervently trusted) convey comfort and assurance to 
 your heart, I followed my friends to the boat. My 
 courageous conquest over myself, in this sharp strug- 
 gle of conflicting feelings, met with its reward in my 
 timely arrival at my mother's feet while she was yet 
 alive. We exchanged consoling assurances, em- 
 braces, and words of loving kindness, such as at one 
 time I never hoped to receive from my mother ; and 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 337 
 
 I had the blessed conviction that my return had 
 been the means of causing her to die happy and con- 
 tented. But I had no sooner received her last sigh, 
 than I flew back to the spot wjiere a faithful heart 
 awaited me, I feared, in anxiety and alarm at my 
 unaccountable absence. In short, I am returned 
 your wife is returned never more to part from her 
 beloved husband.' 
 
 " Her tender voice ceased, and I felt her kind arms 
 steal round my neck, while I encircled her waist with 
 mine, and drew her close to my heart. The shades 
 of evening had quite closed in, and my passionate 
 yearning to look upon my bride was strangely ap- 
 peased by the thought that I was now no less happy 
 than any other earthly lover, whose mistress is veiled 
 from his sense of sight by night's darkness, and 
 whom he can behold by the light of love and imagi- 
 nation alone. 
 
 " But I perceive the darkness is gaining upon us, 
 also, my dears/ 7 said the old mariner to his young 
 friends; so he bade them "good-nighV 7 with a 
 promise of resuming the thread of his yarn next 
 evening. 
 
 22 
 
338 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTEK XII. 
 
 THE NORTHERN SEAS. THE GIGANTIC WANDERER. THE KRAKEN. 
 
 THE SEA-SERPENT. THE ALBATROSS. THE MERMAID. THE 
 
 GROTTO. THE SUBTERRANEAN JOURNEY. THE NATION OF THE 
 
 ANTHROPOPHAGI. CONCLUSION. 
 
 " Now, dear Kit," said the young Swallows, on the 
 following evening, as they entered the old mariner 's 
 cottage, and took their usual seats, " pray tell us 
 something more about the island of Ombrosa, and 
 about your invisible wife." 
 
 " Alas ! my dears," replied their old friend, " I 
 have not much more to tell you of that yarn. It was 
 a happy time indeed, while it lasted ; but Heaven 
 decreed that such tranquil felicity as I enjoyed in the 
 society of my dear Velata was not long to endure for 
 such an inveterate wanderer as myself. But, mean- 
 while, the days, weeks, and months, of my married 
 life, flew by in uninterrupted joy and serenity. My 
 wife, imperceptible though she might be to my 
 vision, was yet palpably present in her goodness, 
 her gentleness, her affectionate nature, and her ever- 
 watchful love for me ; while my attachment for her 
 was so powerful that, though I could not be said to 
 keep her ever in my sight, yet I contrived that we 
 should never be long absent from each other. We 
 wandered over our beautiful island together ; we 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 339 
 
 labored together to lavish all kinds of luxuries and 
 ornaments upon our homestead, the rustic hut ; we 
 sought together the needful provision for our daily 
 repasts, which were plentifully supplied with game 
 by means of Velata's bow-and-arrows, with fish by 
 nets of my making and casting, and with fruit and 
 vegetables, the profuse production of this fertile 
 island ; and we even set about building a canoe 
 together, which should transport us to Yelata's na- 
 tive island. It was one of her pleasant anticipations 
 that we should proceed thither, in order that she 
 might enjoy the triumph of presenting the husband 
 she loved so well to her friends Nascosta and Bruno ; 
 while she looked forward to the delight of watching 
 my perplexity and amusement when I should be 
 among a nation of invisible people. She indulged 
 in a thousand whimsical fancies about my expected 
 wonder to see numberless offices performed by unseen 
 means, as well as to hear remarks, conversation, 
 singing, and talking, all going on around me, without 
 my being able to perceive the persons from whom 
 the sounds proceeded. 
 
 " But this airy castle-building of hers was destined 
 never to be realized. One fatal morning, the very 
 day we had fixed to set forth in our canoe, or rather 
 raft (for it resembled the latter more in its flat 
 form), Velata complained of unusual lassitude, and 
 did not rise from her couch as early as was her wont. 
 I hastened to compose some cooling draught of herbs 
 under her direction, but her fever increased, and 
 before evening she was delirious. The whole of that 
 miserable night I listened to her murmured wander- 
 
340 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ings, and did my best to soothe her disturbed fancies, 
 to moisten her parched lips, and to fan her burning 
 brow. As the sun arose, her words suddenly grew 
 more coherent, and I indulged a hope that she was 
 recovering ; but as I leaned over her, and softly 
 whispered this hope, she replied in such a manner as 
 to deprive me of any. 
 
 " She spoke rationally, indeed, and calmly ; but it 
 was with the calmness of despair at the conviction 
 that she was about to quit me forever on this earth. 
 She roused herself, however, to speak consoling 
 words to me, and bade me trust that, though we were 
 forbidden to remain longer united here, yet that we 
 should hereafter be permitted to meet in eternal 
 bliss, if we encouraged that trust, and behaved con- 
 sonantly with the virtuous fortitude it inspired. In 
 short, in her last moments, as in all of those that had 
 elapsed during our intercourse, did this admirable 
 creature forget herself to minister to me and my 
 comfort. 
 
 " I controlled the transports of my grief as I best 
 could, in order that I might spare her the anguish of 
 witnessing mine ; and I will not even sadden your 
 young hearts, my dears, by dwelling upon the agony 
 which wrung my soul, as I felt that beloved hand 
 grow cold within my own, as I listened to the last 
 deep-drawn breathings that fluttered from those lips, 
 and as I counted the last flickering pulses that 
 throbbed within that dear, gentle bosom. Suffice it 
 that she died ; suffice it that I lost my Velata, that 
 I enclosed her cold remains within our rustic home, 
 which thus formed a bowery mausoleum for my 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 341 
 
 bride ; it had been the temple of our wedded happi- 
 ness, and was now the tomb of all my love and hope, 
 from which I fled, a distracted, miserable wanderer 
 forevermore. 
 
 " That very day, in the very first wildness of my 
 sorrow, bewildered, and conscious only of the deep 
 sense of my bereavement, I set forth upon the wide 
 ocean, as if I could escape from my cruel loneliness 
 by leaving the scenes which reminded me of all that 
 I had lost. In vain ! Alone evermore alone 
 has been the one haunting idea that has unceasingly 
 beset my existence since that fatal day. I have 
 borne my part in the world, I have mingled with 
 my fellow-men, I have entered into their joys and 
 sorrows with interest and zeal ; but my heart has 
 ever remained true to the image of my wife, my 
 Velata, as if she were only the more deeply im- 
 pressed upon my soul from her having been invisible 
 to my eight/ 7 
 
 The old mariner paused ; then resumed : " Well, 
 my dears, my raft bore me on from day to day amid 
 those lonely seas, my course undirected, my progress 
 unheeded, my "object undecided, so aimless were my 
 intentions, so utterly dead to all thought or care for 
 the future was my desolate spirit. I wandered on, 
 and on, unchecked by adverse weather, for the cli- 
 mate was beautiful, and it was then the fine season. 
 I never felt tempted to land, for no shore did I ap- 
 proach for a long, indefinite period. I took no count 
 of time, but merely dropped asleep during some of 
 the hours of darkness, when my bruised heart sunk 
 exhausted with watching its misery ; and I took 
 
342 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 occasionally enough nourishment to keep life in me, 
 when the natural pangs of hunger and thirst grew 
 sufficiently importunate to press upon my attention. 
 I should tell you that the raft had been amply 
 stocked with provision, in the prospect of our in- 
 tended journey, which I mentioned to you as having 
 been fixed for the very day on which I left Ombrosa ; 
 so that, as it happened, I was well supplied in a par- 
 ticular which otherwise I should have certainly failed 
 in, had it depended on my own subsequent exertions. 
 I had been wandering thus some time, when the teni- 
 perature altered considerably ; it became intensely 
 cold, and the vast floating masses of ice that I now 
 occasionally encountered showed that my frail vessel 
 had been wafted towards the frozen regions of the 
 north. Indeed, it was singularly providential that 
 I never came into collision with any of these icebergs ; 
 for, if I had, or my raft had unhappily got between 
 some of them, I might have perished helplessly. 
 
 " Showers of sleet, clinging fogs, and frequent 
 hazy mists, varied by falling snow and piercing 
 winds, now daily beset my course among these dreary 
 seas, and awoke me to a sense of extreme bodily 
 discomfort amid the oppression of my internal suf- 
 fering. Yet I scarcely made an effort to change the 
 direction of my progress, but permitted myself to be 
 conducted on, and on, and on, at the caprice of the 
 winds and waves ; these still continued to bear me 
 northward, and still the snows thickened, the gloomy 
 haze deepened, and the cold increased to a degree 
 of intense severity. One day my little vessel was 
 proceeding through a narrow channel that lay be- 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 343 
 
 tween a vast extent of spacious ice-fields ; I know 
 not how it had found its way into this confined 
 water-course, but while I was noticing that it had 
 done so, and was gazing over the dreary plains that 
 stretched away on either side of me, I was startled 
 at an unexpected vision in the midst of this dismal 
 solitude. I beheld a sort of low carriage, fixed on a 
 sledge, and drawn by dogs ; it was occupied by a 
 being bearing the shape of a man of gigantic stature, 
 and who guided the dogs at a furious pace along the 
 ice-fields. The rate was so rapid at which this 
 strange traveller passed me (which he did without 
 seeming to perceive me), that I could only obtain a 
 very imperfect view of his face and figure ; but what 
 I beheld of them appalled me so entirely, that I had 
 no thought of shouting to him, or of attempting to 
 check his progress in any way. His countenance 
 seemed to be a frightful mask of yellow skin, that 
 scarcely covered the muscles and arteries beneath : 
 his hair was dark, and hung in long, ragged locks : 
 his teeth were glaring, his eyes watery and dun- 
 colored, and his lips straight and black ; while his 
 form, which, as I have said, was of gigantic stature, 
 was uncouth and distorted in its proportions ; and 
 the one huge hand that was next to me, and grasped 
 the reins, was in color and apparent texture like that 
 of a mummy. This hideous being passed like a ter- 
 rible spectre, and left me with the conviction that I 
 had seen the very creature once fashioned by the 
 daring hand of a mortal, presumptuously ambitious 
 in its endeavor to wield a power reserved alone for 
 the Most High. I remembered how I had heard 
 
344 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Mary, the wife of one of my early shipmates, Percy 
 Shelton, relate an affecting story of the fatal conse- 
 quences of this intemperate, ill-directed ambition on 
 the part of a young student in the University of 
 Ingolstadt ; and I could not but believe that I had 
 just beheld the work of Victor Frankenstein's hands, 
 at once his creature, his victim, and the bane of his 
 own existence. As I recalled the unhappy circum- 
 stances that marked the career of these two beings, 
 the instruments of each other's misery, the mutual 
 blighters of each other's hopes and aspirations, I 
 received a certain consolation in the thought that 
 remorse, that unappeasable, never-dying sting, had 
 no share in the sufferings that consumed my heart, - 
 and I uttered the first fervent thanksgiving that I 
 had been able to join with my prayers since I had 
 lost my Yelata. 
 
 " After I had pursued the course of the narrow 
 channel, which seemed to me to be formed by a rift 
 or straight chasm across a vast ice-field, I found that 
 I emerged into an open sea, in which drifted many 
 smaller icebergs, that occasionally menaced my raft, 
 but fortunately never injured it. Once I encoun- 
 tered an object which I at first took to be one of 
 these floating masses ; but, on a nearer approach, it 
 proved to be a slumbering kraken, which, when I 
 came in contact with it, suddenly dived, nearly draw- 
 ing my luckless vessel into the whirlpool which this 
 huge monster of the deep causes in its descent amid 
 the waters. Another peril I narrowly escaped, too, 
 was from the jaws of the sea-serpent, that I one day 
 beheld rearing its awful crest many feet above the 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 345 
 
 surface of the waters, and glaring round as if in 
 search of prey ; but, to my great relief, it bent its 
 terrible head again, and glided away beneath the 
 watery abyss, and I saw it no more. 
 
 " Very frequently my path was illumined by the 
 grand coruscations, the mysterious varied motions 
 and colors, of the Aurora Borealis. 'Sometimes they 
 bespread with rich magnificence the whole skyey 
 region ; sometimes they shot in long waving bands 
 of light, in lofty pyramidal shapes, or undulating 
 columns, rapidly changing their shape and color, and 
 shifting their position with wonderful rapidity ; sud- 
 denly they would capriciously vanish, leaving the 
 heavens pitch dark, and anon they would return, 
 startlingly and vividly resplendent. 
 
 " But, generally, I floated on amid these polar sol- 
 itudes, in a cheerless monotony of dark gray waters, 
 of dull green icebergs, of heaped snow lying in con- 
 gealed ponderous masses, with naught overhead but 
 a sombre sky, obscured by haze, clouds, mist, or fog. 
 A dreary silence reigned around, save when it was 
 broken by the roaring of the storm-blast, or the sud- 
 den riving of some distant ice-rock, which pealed 
 through those vast desolate regions like a thunder- 
 roll. 
 
 " Sometimes, when drifting along on the skirts of 
 some spacious ice-field, I could perceive a wandering 
 seal, with its mute, half-human gentleness of look, 
 that seemed to appeal to my sympathy, and smote 
 upon a chord of tenderness in my heart, that I fancied 
 had been dead within me ; at other times, I noted 
 otters, Arctic foxes, wolves, and bears, with now and 
 
346 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 then a stately reindeer, that would come and fix his 
 mild wandering eyes upon me, and stand at gaze, as 
 my solitary craft floated unwonted by him. 
 
 " The numerous wild-fowl that abound in those 
 regions, with an occasional hare, supplied me with 
 food ; for in the raft, when I quitted Ombrosa, were 
 Velata's bow and arrows, so that I was fortunately 
 enabled to secure the means of subsistence ; while 
 the small fragments of fresh-water ice that splintered 
 from the cavities of icebergs, and which I took care 
 to collect as they floated by me on the surface of the 
 waters, afforded me refreshing beverage. 
 
 11 Once, as I was preparing to take aim at a strange 
 sea-bird that flew across an ice-field, close to which 
 my raft was creeping, my hand was suddenly arrested 
 by a sound that made my heart stand still. It seemed 
 to be uttered by a human voice, but so impressive 
 were its tones, so full of terror and awe was its 
 thrilling note of warning, that my bow fell like lead 
 at my feet, my nerveless arms dropped at my side, 
 while my look, which had been fixed upon my in- 
 tended quarry, was stricken down, and encountered 
 a figure that stood upon the brink of the icy plain 
 before me. It was that of an aged man, with a gray 
 beard, a lank brown face, a glittering eye, and a 
 skinny hand, which he stretched forth towards me, 
 in eager sign of detention. I felt as if held to the 
 spot by both eye and hand, while I marked that round 
 his neck was hung a slain bird, an albatross, similar 
 to the one I had just before marked as my prey : 
 but the raft beneath me yielding to the impulse of 
 the retiring waves, I was borne speedily away from 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 34Y 
 
 a presence and influence that made me shudder with 
 instinctive dread, notwithstanding- the yearning I 
 was beginning to feel for renewed intercourse with 
 my human kindred. 
 
 " One day, when the weather was unusually clear, 
 the sky brighter, and the sun actually shining upon 
 the*lcebergs, causing them to look like huge blocks 
 of emerald, while the heaps of snow sparkled and 
 dazzled in the welcome radiance, I beheld an object 
 at a little distance, which, on my nearer approach, 
 proved to be a young damsel asleep. She lay in a 
 strange position ; her head resting upon her folded 
 arms, as she leaned against a low ledge of rock, 
 whilst the lower part of her person remained float- 
 ing in the water. Her face was concealed by her 
 attitude, no less than by her hair, which streamed 
 luxuriantly over her neck and shoulders, and only 
 partially revealed the pure whiteness of her skin. 
 
 " Whilst I was gazing in astonishment at this 
 beautiful and very unexpected sight, my attention 
 was diverted by hearing a deep growl ; and presently 
 I beheld a large white bear making directly towards 
 the spot where the sleeping damsel couched. I 
 snatched up my bow and arrows, and, springing from 
 my raft on to the shelvy rock, I aimed a shaft right 
 at the animal's eye. Fortunately I struck him pre- 
 cisely where I intended, and the beast, uttering a 
 savage yell, retreated, just as the damsel awoke. 
 She shrieked piercingly, when she discovered the 
 danger she had been in ; but, instead of rising from 
 her half-recumbent position, she let herself gently 
 slide away from the ledge against which she had 
 
348 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 been leaning ; and, to my great surprise, remained 
 floating upright in the water, the surface of which 
 reached her waist. . She did not, however, leave the 
 shore, but kept buoyantly still, like a graceful vessel 
 at anchor ; while, by expressive looks and gestures 
 of gratitude, she seemed to acknowledge the share I 
 had had in her preservation from the bear. I en- 
 deavored, by signs, to induce her to come on shore, 
 but she smiled, shook her head, and beckoned to me 
 in her turn. I now looked round for my raft, as a 
 means of reaching her ; but what was my dismay 
 on discovering that it had drifted away, when I had 
 quitted it so suddenly to prevent the menaced attack 
 upon the damsel. She seemed to divine the cause 
 of my anxiety, but she only smiled as before, and 
 then exchanged her beckoning for a waving motion 
 of the hand, while she floated gently by the edge of 
 the shore, pointing to me to proceed along it in the 
 same direction. I obeyed her guidance, keeping my 
 eyes on my singular conductress, who maintained 
 her watery way, now wafted on in liquid ease, now 
 cutting and dashing through clouds of spray, which 
 she raised in sportive frolic, and now again resuming 
 her more serene course. Presently a full, melodious 
 cadence swelled upon the waters, and I heard her 
 chant the following verse : 
 
 * Under the booming wave, 
 
 And on the whirling foam, 
 We merry Mermaids have 
 Our wide and watery home. 
 Down, down, down, we go, 
 The coral reefs below, 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 349 
 
 When storms and tempests rave. 
 ' But when the sun is on the sea, 
 And the wind is in his cave, 
 From our deep-blue beds we come, 
 Floating on the sea-green lea. 
 And then we dance, and flaunt, and sing 
 To the sea-nymphs' gambolling. 
 
 ' And now, hark, hark ! 
 
 The sea-dogs bark, 
 At the rouse of old Triton's horn. 
 ' Hark away ! hark away ! 
 The dolphin 's in view, 
 And sea- tiger too, 
 And flying-fish all forlorn. 
 Through foam and spray, 
 Hark away ! hark away ! 
 ! merry the life we Mermaids lead 
 On the rolling brine, 
 In the jolly sunshine.' 
 
 " We proceeded thus some distance together, the 
 Mermaid floating onwards, sporting and singing, and 
 waving to me, whilst I kept pace with her along the 
 rocky shore ; until at length the ground became 
 more broken, the rocks assumed a more elevated 
 aspect, and I found that we were approaching a lofty 
 grotto, or cavern, that was formed of irregularly- 
 shaped columns, and massive crags, with chasms, and 
 vaulted depths that looked like the arched amplitude 
 of a cathedral. Brilliant spars of many colors glit- 
 tered in all directions ; drooping stalactites and slen- 
 der icicles hung in profusion from the pillars, and 
 adorned the sides with rich fretwork ; wreaths of 
 frozen snow flung their garlands from point to point, 
 
350 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and took a thousand fantastic shapes of beauty and 
 grace. 
 
 " So colossal were the dimensions of this grand 
 natural temple, that it not only stretched far into the 
 ocean, where the watery plain formed its translucent 
 floor, but its caverns extended for some distance in- 
 land, and comprised arcades, recesses, galleries, and 
 chambers of vast height and width, beneath its capa- 
 cious roof. Into that portion of the grotto which 
 over-arched the sea my guiding Mermaiden took her 
 way ; and soon from amid the crags and columns on 
 every side there rushed a troop of little ones, all 
 eager to greet and welcome their elder sister for 
 such she seemed to be. Great was the bustle, infi- 
 nite the splashings, quick the watery dartings and 
 divings, voluble the chatter, merry the shoutings, 
 shrill the questionings and shriekings, that arose 
 among the little people, as they seemed to learn 
 the tale of their sister's peril and rescue. Then, 
 from one of the craggy recesses of the grotto, came 
 an aged Merman, who seemed to be the father of the 
 troop ; and then the shoutings, the bustlings, and 
 the paddlings to and fro, were renewed with greater 
 vigor than ever ; and then the tale of their sister's 
 adventure was repeated again and again, amid a 
 chorus of shrill voices, that arose in clamorous 
 prattling and giggling shrieks ; and then the old 
 Merman took his rescued daughter in his arms, and 
 she flung hers round his neck, and there was a gen- 
 eral hubbub of delight and congratulation. Presently 
 there seemed to be a universal desire to see and 
 thank the deliverer of this dear member of their 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 351 
 
 family; for, in an instant, the whole troop of Mer 
 folks, from the old Mer-father down to the youngest 
 Mer-child, came dashing-, splashing, and flashing 
 through the water, towards the portion of the grotto 
 which canopied the shore where I stood. As they 
 crowded onwards in hasty confusion, some cleaving 
 the water straight before them, others darting athwart 
 their course, some cutting in with a whirling motion 
 that sent up a shower of feathery spray, many rush- 
 ing and rippling in tumultuous struggle, some diving 
 with a quick plash and a gurgle, several plunging 
 forward with a sudden spring, while all were shrilly 
 uproarious, they seemed like a flock of hungry 
 water-fowl, pressing to the brink to be fed. I could 
 not help smiling at the fancy, and felt half inclined 
 to fling some bread-crumbs (if I had had any) 
 amongst the mad-cap crew ; but indeed, situated as 
 we were, it was I who was likely to be indebted to 
 them for food and protection, and not they to me. 
 And so it proved : grateful for the service I had ren- 
 dered their beloved sister, who played the part of 
 a fostering mothe^t to her widowed father's numerous 
 offspring, these kind Mer-people made me welcome 
 among them, and showed me unceasing kindness and 
 hospitality. They installed me in the land portion 
 of the spacious grotto, took pleasure in using every 
 effort to make me comfortable, and were indefati- 
 gable in their endeavors to make me feel at home. 
 As for my first acquaintance, the damsel, she at once 
 appoin-ted herself as the superintendent of my do- 
 mestic arrangements ; and no common bar-maid, 
 chamber-maid, cook-maid, house-maid, stillroom- 
 
352 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 maid, parlor-maid, dairy-maid, laundry-maid, or even 
 maid-of-all-work, could equal in housewifely accom- 
 plishment my Mer-maid. 
 
 "Her forethought, her order, her contrivance, her 
 management, were admirable ; and her attention to 
 my comforts was as ceaseless as it was judicious arid 
 'considerate. At first, when she did not know that I 
 might not object to them as troublesome, she would 
 not allow her little brothers and sisters, the younger 
 Mer-children, to intrude upon my portion of the 
 grotto at all ; but, at length, when she found that 
 their infantile gambols and mirth served to win me 
 from the melancholy that at first possessed me, she 
 permitted them to be with me as much as we chose. 
 Pleasant, frolicsome little creatures they were 
 these Mer-children ! Gay, sportive, good-humored, 
 and happy, they soon made me as fond of them as 
 they were of each other ; and it was not long before 
 they grew as familiar and affectionate with me as I 
 was pleased with my new companions. Of a morn- 
 ing, when I clapped my hands, and shouted, ' Hallo, 
 my Merrimen all ! ' they would co*me flocking in a 
 shoal to my cave, and wait there at the. brink of the 
 entrance, bobbing and floating, and paddling and pop- 
 ping up and down, like so many corks ; waiting until 
 I should lift them out of the water one by one, and 
 bring them over to my breakfas't-table. There was 
 much flapping of their scaly tails, and a great deal 
 of merry laughter at the awkward way in which they 
 were obliged to shuffle along on the dry land the 
 floor of my portion of the grotto ; and infinite were 
 the scramblings, and pushings, and slidings, and 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 353 
 
 bustlings, that took place before it could be decided 
 which of the troop was to be the fortunate occupier 
 of my lap, the scuffle most frequently ending in my 
 eating my meal with one on each knee, a third cling- 
 ing to my arm, with two others of the slippery rogues 
 holding on as well as they could, and peeping over 
 my shoulders. While the smaller fry were thus en- 
 gaged, the elder ones would be occupied with their 
 sister in setting forth my breakfast table, which was 
 generally supplied with a variety of delicacies, pro- 
 vided by their hospitable exertions. Bear-hams, 
 steaks from the sea-cow, reindeer cutlets, tern eggs, 
 rolls made of a kind of moss or lichen, with heaps of 
 a luscious red berry, something like our raspberry, 
 covered the board in tempting profusion ; and in the 
 centre there was always hot water in a large conch- 
 shell, which, with its graceful shape and contents, 
 might have passed for a steaming tea-urn, had I not 
 been unprovided with tea or sugar to make it avail- 
 able for that purpose. This water, however, which 
 was obtained from' a neighboring hot-spring, was a 
 great luxury to me, and inspired, at first, thoughts 
 of shaving, that I might get rid of some of the huge 
 growth of beard that had accumulated upon my chin 
 during my wanderings ; but I soon recollected that I 
 had no razor or soap, and that I must content myself 
 with the comfort it afforded of warm ablution, as 
 .veil as the convenience of boiling my eggs at break- 
 fast. 
 
 " I thus spent some time in a very jolly manner, 
 with my little Herri men, and their sister Merry, as 1 
 called them ; until, one day. when 1 was exploring 
 23 
 
354 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the depths of the grotto, and seeking to become 
 acquainted with every nook and recess of its vast 
 extent, I became entangled in the labyrinth of cav- 
 erns, and found that I could by no means find my 
 way back to that portion inhabited by the Mermaid 
 and her family. Deeper and deeper did I plunge m 
 the inextricable maze of subterranean passages that 
 branched away in endless succession ; further and 
 further did I involve myself in their intricate wind- 
 ings, their perplexing continuance ; and fainter and 
 fainter became my hope of return. I should tell you 
 that I fortunately had with me a lamp, which I had 
 constructed from a shell, and filled with whale-oil, 
 that I might be provided with light during my pro- 
 posed investigation of the grotto's extent. I had 
 imagined that my project would occupy me some 
 time, so that I had taken care to let my supply of 
 oil be ample ; but I now began to be seriously uneasy 
 when I found how far I was exceeding the length of 
 time I had calculated upon for my absence. Many 
 hours elapsed, and I instinctively felt that I was still 
 rambling away from the point I wished to gain, in- 
 stead of recovering its right direction. My anxiety 
 interfered to prevent my enjoying, as I should other- 
 wise have done, the beauty and magnificence of the 
 p;ith I was traversing, but I could not be wholly 
 insensible to its grandeur. The lamp I held in my 
 hand shed its rays upon the sides of the caverns 
 through which I passed, and showed me that they 
 were not less varied in their color and structure 
 than they were fantastic and imposing in their form. 
 " Now the lamp-light would be reflected from huge 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 355 
 
 masses of rock that blazed and sparkled with a thou- 
 sand diamond points ; anon it would be tinted with 
 a pervading glow of red, as I entered a space that 
 looked like a vault formed of an entire carbuncle ; 
 this would change to a brilliant green as I wandered 
 through an arcade of emerald pillars ; then flashes of 
 golden light would burst upon my view, as I found 
 myself in a stately hall of topaz ; and next would 
 appear a roof studded with sapphires,.amethysts, and 
 rubies. Still, as I went on, I encountered lofty gal- 
 leries, with polished marble walls, now of purest 
 white, anon streaked and mottled, then of all the 
 varied hues of green, yellow, and red ; then came 
 a narrower passage, fretted and bossed with silver ; 
 which widened and towered into a spacious granite 
 chamber, smooth and unornate as a Druidical monu- 
 ment, piled together in primitive simplicity ; and this 
 was succeeded by groups of columns, surmounted by 
 graceful arches, that sprang airily and symmetrically 
 upwards, as if devised by architectural taste, while 
 they supported a roof that dropped at intervals in 
 pendent fretwork, looking as if sustained by the 
 magic of skill alone. From this florid beauty, and 
 regularity of conformation, I emerged upon rude 
 heaps of primeval rock, that led in shapeless, uninter- 
 esting monotony for some distance ; and then my 
 lamp suddenty reflected a lurid dun-red glare, and I 
 felt as if I were entering a furnace, while the glowing 
 copper-colored hue struck upon my eyes with almost 
 the effect of heat ; this was succeeded by a cavern, 
 gloomy, dull, and leaden in its aspect ; then another, 
 heavily and richly encrusted with gold ; the next 
 
356 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 shone bright and dazzling with polished brass : the 
 next and the next frowned murkily in alternate 
 blocks of sullen copper and wan lead : and these 
 opened upon a space resplendent with the vivid blue 
 of the lapis lazuli. 
 
 "I stopped for a moment to admire the brilliant 
 effect of this superb azure apartment ; and also to 
 relieve in a measure the sense of weariness and ex- 
 haustion that had for some time been gaining upon 
 me, and marking significantly the length of my wan- 
 derings. As I paused and held the lamp above my 
 head, the better to examine the beauty of the place, 
 there was a flash, a feeble leap up of the flame, 
 which caused the rich blue of the ponderous walls 
 apparently to vibrate arid tremble for an instant, 
 then a slight drop, and waning of the light, which 
 seemed to steady them in momentary shadow 
 another reviving flicker, and then the flame seemed 
 to detach itself, and flit hovering just above the wick 
 of my lamp ; whilst I watched it with a thrill of hor- 
 ror, at the thought that in a few seconds I should be 
 left in darkness, amidst this subterranean labyrinth. 
 1 cast my eyes around me once more, with a last 
 hope that I might discover some means of egress ; 
 and I beheld at a few paces from me a kind of rude 
 portal, towards which I softly crept, involuntarily 
 careful lest the slightest motion should shorten the 
 existence of iny expiring light. I had but just time 
 to ascertain that the spot I approached led to a 
 rough, rocky passage, when the lamp went quite out. 
 But the agony with which I saAv this was quickly 
 succeeded by an emotion of pleasure, as I fancied I 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 357 
 
 perceived that it had been extinguished by a puff of 
 air ! Yes, I could, the next moment, plainly distin- 
 guish the exquisite sensation of air, pure, fresh, open 
 air, actually playing upon my cheek. I rapturously 
 welcomed it. If to the invalid long confined to his 
 si<^Jv room, to the -prisoner immured in a dungeon, 
 the return of fresh air be dear, how ineffably pre- 
 cious must the sense of its presence have been at 
 that instant to me ! I, who, immediately previous, 
 had been plunged in the despairing belief that I was 
 doomed to be buried alive in these subterranean cav- 
 erns I 
 
 " I staggered in the direction of the welcome cur- 
 rent, and as I- gazed through the surrounding obscur- 
 ity I became aware of a small point of light that 
 seemed to be at a great distance. I kept this in view, 
 as my guiding star, and at length beheld it widen 
 and widen, and brighten and brighten, until at length 
 I found it proceed from an opening in the rock, which 
 led me out upon a broad level country. I had not 
 quite emerged from the shelter of the rocky entrance, 
 when I paused to reconnoitre the scene in which I 
 found myself. 
 
 "I discovered that I was on the verge of a desert 
 plain, that looked utterly desolate, wild, and sterile. 
 Not very far from the rocks beneath which I stood, 
 there was a rude fire of sticks and logs, with a still 
 ruder attempt at a spit, upon which seemed to be 
 roasting some kind of joint. On the ground near 
 there crouched a heap of garments, as if some human 
 being sat huddled beneath, engaged in watching the 
 roast; while at a little distance lay strewed frag 
 
358 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ments of flesh and bones, that I could not help, with 
 a shudder, believing to be those of a human being 
 also. 
 
 " I fancy I made some half-articulate exclamation 
 of horror, as this belief crossed my mind ; 'for the 
 heap of garments stirred, rose up, and came tow^ds 
 me. This strange figure bore the appearance of a 
 large cloak hung upon a prop, and moving of its own 
 accord ; but I could see legs beneath the drapery, 
 and presently an arm protruded itself. Then the 
 hand belonging to the arm dived again for an instant 
 beneath the clothes, and reappeared, bearing a hat, 
 which it waved courteously, while the figure stooped, 
 and bent towards me, as if bowing. But when the 
 hand prepared to replace the hat, the cloak was some- 
 what thrown back, and I could perceive a grinning 
 face and head beneath the left shoulder of the figure ; 
 who, by his gestures, now plainly proposed that I 
 should approach and partake of his inhuman human 
 feast. I was considering how I might best decline 
 this polite but sickening invitation, when I per- 
 ceived 
 
 11 But I declare," said Kit, interrupting himself, 
 "there are your father and mother coming through 
 the garden-gate, yonder ! " 
 
 "We are sorry to cut the thread of your yarns, 
 my dear fellow," said Captain Swallow, as he and 
 his wife entered the old mariner's cottage, "but we 
 have just received a letter from London, bidding us 
 hasten up to town to-morrow. Their grandmamma 
 is anxious to see Fanny and Dick before he goes back 
 to school, and as my mother is going to the sea-side 
 
KIT BAM, MARINER. 359 
 
 in a few days, we shall be able to have but a short 
 visit, even if we set off immediately." 
 
 This visit to their grandmamma had been a long- 
 promised treat to the } 7 oung Swallows, arid one that 
 had been looked forward to by them with eager 
 pleasure ; for she was a delightful old lady, fond of 
 young people, ever ready to sympathize with their 
 feelings and tastes, and anxious to promote their 
 enjoyment. 
 
 Nevertheless, now that the gratification was thus 
 abruptly announced, Dick and Fanny felt that they 
 should have to relinquish another for it ; for, though 
 they were as anxious as ever to go and see their 
 grandmamma, they did riot like the thought of leav- 
 ing their old friend Kit, who had endeared himself 
 greatly to them, by the way in which he had, evening 
 after evening, indulged their favorite inclination for 
 " a long story/' 
 
 "Besides, you know. Kit," said Dick, after he 
 and his sister had endeavored to express some of 
 these feelings of mingled gratitude and disappoint- 
 ment, "besides, you have never told us a word 
 about how you first met with my father. Fanny and I 
 want particularly to hear all about the time when you 
 and he were shipmates together, and of the voyages 
 you made and the adventures you met with in his 
 company." 
 
 " They must be for some other time, my dear lad," 
 said Kit ; " meanwhile, I can only trust that the old 
 mariner 7 s adventures may have imparted to your 
 sister and yourself, in their relation, some of the 
 happiness which, in their occurrence, they aflbrded 
 
360 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF KIT BAM. 
 
 to himself; I shall be pleased to think that his yarns 
 excited your imagination, while they stimulated your 
 faith in the duties of patience, courage, endurance, 
 and persevering hope ; that while they amused your 
 fancy, they encouraged you to depend upon your 
 good sense, and your energies, both intellectual and 
 physical, in perilous emergency ; and that while you 
 were beguiling the twilight hours with a romantic 
 tale, you were at the same time learning to fortify 
 your heart and. mind with the gentle wisdom of sell- 
 knowledge, and a firm reliance on the unfailing good* 
 ness of God." 
 
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