It must be very melancholy to live always in the same spot; but
then it must be odd, never to feel a motion!"
"Except the occasional rocking of an earthquake. Thou art better afloat,
child;--but thy master, this Skimmer of the Seas----"
"--Hist!" whispered the boy, raising a finger for silence. "He has come up
into the great cabin. In a moment, we shall have his signal to enter."
"A few light touches on the strings of a guitar followed, and then a
symphony was rapidly and beautifully executed, by one in the adjoining
apartment.
"Alida, herself, is not more nimble-fingered," whispered the Alderman;
"and I never heard the girl touch the Dutch lute, that cost a hundred
Holland guilders, with a livelier movement!"
Ludlow signed for silence. A fine, manly voice, of great richness and
depth, was soon heard, singing to an accompaniment on the same instrument.
The air was grave, and altogether unusual for the social character of one
who dwelt upon the ocean, being chiefly in recitative. The words, as near
as might be distinguished, ran as follows:
My brigantine!
Just in thy mould, and beauteous in thy form,
Gentle in roll, and buoyant on the surge,
Light as the sea-fowl, rocking in the storm,
In breeze and gale, thy onward course we urge;
My Water-Queen!
Lady of mine!
More light and swift than thou, none thread the sea,
With surer keel, or steadier on its path;
We brave each waste of ocean-mystery,
And laugh to hear the howling tempest's wrath!
For we are thine!
My brigantine!
Trust to the mystic power that points thy way,
Trust to the eye that pierces from afar,
Trust the red meteors that around thee play,
And fearless trust the sea-green lady's star;
Thou bark divine!
"He often sings thus," whispered the boy, when the song was ended; "for
they say, the sea-green lady loves music that tells of the ocean, and of
her power.
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