Cooper_The_Water-Witch.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
facts. then heard,
also for the first time, the history of her origin. evidence was
irresistible, and we found a generous and devoted friend where we had
expected a rival."
" knew that could not prove less generous!" cried the admiring
, raising the hand of the blushing girl to his lips. " loss of
fortune is a gain, by showing her true character!"
"--hist--" interrupted the --"there is little need to proclaim
a loss of any kind. must be done in the way of natural justice, will
doubtless be submitted to; but why let all in the colony know how much, or
how little, is given with a bride?"
" loss of fortune will be amply met;" returned the free-trader. "
bags contain gold. dowry of my charge is ready at a moment's warning,
whenever she shall make known her choice."
" and prudence!" exclaimed the burgher. " is no less than a
most commendable forethought in thy provision, ; and
whatever may be the opinion of the of thy punctuality and
credit, it is mine that there are less responsible men about the bank of
itself!-- money is, no doubt, that which the girl can lawfully
claim in right of her late grand father!"
" is."
" take this to be a favorable moment to speak plainly on a subject which
is very near my heart, and which may as well be broached under such
favorable auspices as under any other. understand, . , that,
on a further examination of your sentiments towards an old friend, you are
of opinion that a closer alliance than the one we had contemplated will
most conduce to your happiness?"
" will acknowledge that the coldness of la belle has damped my
own warmth;" returned the of , who rarely delivered
himself of more, at a time, than the occasion required.
", furthermore, have been told, , that an intimacy of a fortnight
has given you reason to fix your affections on my daughter, whose beauty
is hereditary, and whose fortune is not likely to be diminished by this
act of justice on the part of that upright and gallant mariner."
" be received into the favor of your family, . , would
leave me little to desire in this life."
" as for the other world, never heard of a of who
did not leave us with comfortable hopes for the future; as in reason they
should, since few families in the colony have done more for the support of
religion than they. gave largely to the churches in ;
have actually built, with their own means, three very pretty brick
edifices on the , each having its steeple and suitable
weather-cocks besides having done something handsome towards the venerable
structure in . , my child, this gentleman is a particular
friend, and as such can presume to recommend him to thy favor. are
not absolutely strangers; but, in order that you may have every occasion
to decide impartially, you will remain here together for a month longer,
which will enable you to choose without distraction and confusion.
than this, for the present, it is unnecessary to say; for it is my
practice to leave all matters of this magnitude entirely to ."
daughter, on whose speaking face the color went and came like lights
changing in an sky, continued silent.
" have happily put aside the curtain which concealed a mystery that no
longer gave me uneasiness;" interrupted , addressing the
free-trader. " you do more, and say whence came this letter?"
dark eye of instantly lighted. looked at the ' of
the ,' and laughed.
"' another of those womanly artifices which have been practised in my
brigantine. was thought that a young commander of a royal cruiser would
be less apt to watch our movements, were his mind bent on the discovery of
such a correspondent."
" the trick has been practised before?"
" confess it.-- can linger no longer. a few minutes, the tide
will turn, and the inlet become impassable. , we must decide on the
fortunes of this child. he to the ocean again?--or shall he remain,
to vary his life with a landsman's chances?"
" and what is the boy?" gravely demanded the .
" dear to both," rejoined the free-trader " father was my nearest
friend, and his mother long watched the youth of . this
moment, he has, been our mutual care,--he must now choose between us."
" will not quit me!" hastily interrupted the alarmed --" art
my adopted son, and none can guide thy young mind like me. hast need
of woman's tenderness, , and wilt not quit me?"
" the child be the arbiter of his own fate. am credulous on the point
of fortune, which is, at least, a happy belief for the contraband."
" let him speak. remain here, amid these smiling fields, to
ramble among yonder gay and sweetly-scented flowers?--or wilt thou back to
the water, where all is vacant and without change?"
boy looked wistfully into her anxious eye, and then he bent his own
hesitating glance on the calm features of the free-trader.
" can put to sea," he said; "and when we make the homeward passage
again, there will be many curious things for thee, !"
" this may be the last opportunity to know the land of thy ancestors.
how terrible is the ocean in its anger, and how often the
brigantine has been in danger of shipwreck!"
", that is womanish!-- have been on the royal-yard in the squalls, and
it never seemed to me that there was danger."
" hast the unconsciousness and reliance of a ship-boy! those who
are older, know that the life of a sailor is one of constant and imminent
hazard.-- hast been among the islands in the hurricane, and hast seen
the power of the elements!"
" was in the hurricane, and so was the brigantine; and there you see how
taut and neat she is aloft, as if nothing had happened!"
" you saw us yesterday floating on the open sea, while a few
ill-fastened spars kept us from going into its depths!"
" spars floated, and you were not drowned; else, should have wept
bitterly, ."
" thou wilt go deeper into the country, and see more of its
beauties--its rivers, and its mountains--its caverns, and its woods.
all is change, while the water is ever the same."
", , you forget strangely!-- it is all .
mountain is ; yonder land across the bay is , and the
anchorage of yesterday was . we shall run off the coast, the
next land-fall will be , or , or ; and with a good
wind, we may run down the shores of two or three countries in a day."
" on them, too, thoughtless boy! you lose this occasion, thy life
will be wedded to hazard!"
", !" said the urchin, raising his mouth to give and receive
the parting kiss.
", adieu!" added a deep and melancholy voice, at her elbow. " can
delay no longer, for my people show symptoms of impatience. this be
the last of my voyages to the coast, thou wilt not forget those with whom
thou hast so long shared good and evil!"
" yet--not yet--you will not quit us yet! me the boy--leave me
some other memorial of the past, besides this pain!"
" hour has come. wind is freshening, and trifle with its favor.
' be better for thy happiness that none know the history of the
brigantine; and a few hours will draw a hundred curious eyes, from the
town, upon us."
" care for their opinions?--thou wilt not--cannot--leave me, yet!"
" would stay, , but a seaman's home is his ship. much
precious time is already wasted. more, adieu!"
dark eye of the girl glanced wildly about her. seemed, as if in
that one quick and hurried look, it drank in all that belonged to the
land and its enjoyments.
" go you?" she asked, scarce suffering her voice to rise above a
whisper. " do you sail, and when do you return?"
" follow fortune. return may be distant--never!-- then,
--be happy with the friends that hath given thee!"
wandering eyes of the girl of the sea became still more unsettled.
grasped the offered hand of the free-trader in both her own, and wrung it
in an impassioned and unconscious manner. releasing her hold, she
opened wide her arms, and cast them convulsively about his unmoved and
unyielding form.
" will go together!-- am thine, and thine only!"
" knowest not what thou sayest, !" gasped the --"
hast a father--friend--husband--"
", away!" cried the frantic girl, waving her hand wildly towards
and the , who advanced as if hurrying to rescue her from a
precipice--", and thine only!"
smuggler released himself from her frenzied grasp, and, with the
strength of a giant, he held the struggling girl at the length of his arm,
while he endeavored to control the tempest of passion that struggled
within him.
", for one moment, think!" he said. " wouldst follow an
outcast--an outlaw--one hunted and condemned of men!"
", and thine only!"
" a ship for a dwelling--the tempestuous ocean for a world!--"
" world is my world!--thy home, my home!--thy danger, mine!"
shout which burst out of the chest of the ' of the ' was
one of uncontrollable exultation.
" art mine!" he cried. " a tie like this, the claim of such a
father is forgotten! , adieu!-- will deal by thy daughter more
honestly than thou didst deal by my benefactor's child!"
was lifted from the ground as if her weight had been that of a
feather; and, spite of a sudden and impetuous movement of and the
, she was borne to the boat. a moment, the bark was afloat, with
the gallant boy tossing his sea-cap upward in triumph. brigantine, as
if conscious of what had passed, wore round like a whirling chariot; and,
ere the spectators had recovered from their confusion and wonder, the boat
was hanging at the tackles. free-trader was seen on the poop, with an
arm cast about the form of , waving a hand to the motionless group
on the shore, while the still half-unconscious girl of the ocean signed
her faint adieus to and her father. vessel glided through the
inlet, and was immediately rocking on the billows of the surf. ,
taking the full weight of the southern breeze, the fine and attenuated
spars bent to its force, and the progress of the swift-moving craft was
apparent by the bubbling line of its wake.
day had begun to decline, before and quitted the lawn of
the in . the first hour, the dark hull of the brigantine was
seen supporting the moving cloud of canvas. the low structure
vanished, and sail after sail settled into the water, until nothing was
visible but a speck of glittering white. lingered for a minute, and was
swallowed in the void.
nuptials of and were touched with a shade of melancholy.
affection in one, and professional sympathy in the other, had
given them a deep and lasting interest in the fate of the adventurers.
passed away, and months were spent at the villa, in which a thousand
anxious looks were cast upon the ocean. morning, during the early
months of summer, did hasten to the windows of her pavilion, in the
hope of seeing the vessel of the contraband anchored in the :--but
always without success. never returned;--and though the rebuked and
disappointed caused many secret inquiries to be made along the
whole extent of the coast, he never again heard of the renowned
' ' or of his matchless -.