"Nay, refuse not to reply. I come with the authority of the Queen."
"He tells us that the sea-green lady is our Queen and that we have no
other."
"Rashness and rebellion!" muttered Myndert: "but this foolhardiness will
one day bring as pretty a brigantine as ever sailed in the narrow seas, to
condemnation; and then will there be rumors abroad, and characters
cracked, till every lover of gossip in the Americas shall be tired of
defamation."
"It is a bold subject, that dares say this!" rejoined Ludlow, who heeded
not the by-play of the Alderman; "Your master has a name?"
"We never hear it. When Neptune boards us, under the tropics, he always
hails the 'Skimmer of the Seas,' and then they answer. The old God knows
us well, for we pass his latitude oftener than other ships, they say."
"You are then a cruiser of some service, in the brigantine--no doubt you
have trod many distant shores, belonging to so swift a craft."
"I!--I never was on the land!" returned the boy, thoughtfully. "It must be
droll to be there; they say, one can hardly walk, it is so steady! I put a
question to the sea-green lady before we came to this narrow inlet, to
know when I was to go ashore."
"And she answered?"
"It was some time, first. Two watches were past before a word was to be
seen; but at last I got the lines. I believe she mocked me, though I have
never dared show it to my master, that he might say.
Pages:
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228