In
less than five minutes, the spars of the Coquette were floating on the
wide ocean, unpeopled and abandoned.
The first sensation of the 'Skimmer of the Seas,' when his foot touched
the deck of his brigantine might have been one of deep and intense
gratitude. He was silent, and seemingly oppressed at the throat. Stepping
along the planks, he cast an eye aloft, and struck his hand powerfully on
the capstan, in a manner that was divided between convulsion and
affection. Then he smiled grimly on his attentive and obedient crew,
speaking with all his wonted cheerfulness and authority.
"Fill away the top-sail--brace up and haul aft! Trim every thing flat as
boards, boys;--jam the hussy in with the coast!"
Chapter XXXIV.
"Beseech you, Sir, were you present at this relation?"
Winter's Tale.
On the following morning, the windows of the Lust in Rust denoted the
presence of its owner. There was an air of melancholy, and yet of
happiness, in the faces of many who were seen about the buildings and the
grounds, as if a great good had been accompanied by some grave and
qualifying circumstances of sorrow. The negroes wore an air of that love
of the extraordinary which is the concomitant of ignorance, while those of
the more fortunate class resembled men who retained a recollection of
serious evils that were past.
In the private apartment of the burgher, however, an interview took place
which was characterized by an air of deep concern.
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