"for in the present state of my eyesight it really strikes me with astonishment how anybody could go to Europe. And do you know, Miss Clyde, that do all I would I couldn't make Harry come with me to-night? Positively couldn't-and he went somewhere else."

Probably for the same reason that you went to Washington," said Thornton.

"No, it couldn't have been that," said Penn, "because he has seen Miss Clyde since he came home, which I had not. But I never knew him resist the power of attraction before."

"You seem to be fairly entangled, Penn," said Mr. Clinton.

"Certainly," said Penn,-"revolving. Miss Clyde, it confuses my ideas in an extraordinary manner to see you again. And it's only by the merest chance in the world that I am here to-night, myself."

"What unhappy corner of the world has just missed the pleasure of your company?" said Mr. Clinton.

"You may well call it an unhappy corner," said Penn, "for if a man is bound to be wretched anywhere, I sup pose it is in a prison ship in a hot climate. I escaped pretty well though."

"From the wretchedness or the ship ?" said Rosalie. "Both, Miss Clyde, I assure you. I'll tell you about it." "What nonsense you do talk, Penn," said Thornton. "You came home only three months ago from Europe." "Certainly," said Penn, "but that's quite long enough to stay in some places. Have you any idea where I have been since then ?"

"Not much," said Thornton,-"at Washington and here I suppose.'

"Tout au contraire," replied Mr. Penn. "I have been at the West Indies and a prisoner."

"Were you one of the men who ran away with the Bermuda ?" said Rosalie.

My dear Miss Clyde, with your usual acuteness you have stated the case precisely. In fact, I may say I was the man, the rest being highly gifted with timidity. But I thought a little interlude of running away would be refreshing, even if we were taken again, and was by no

HE ISN'T YOUR COUSIN.

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means of the opinion that H.B.M.'s cruisers had a natural right to everything they laid hands on. Holla-who comes here ?"

"Enter a fairy at one door,'" said the Shakspearian. And the door softly opened and Hulda came in. Just enough awake to get off the bed and brush her hair, she had found her way down-stairs, and now stood by the door with her ideas in a most puzzled state.

"What do you want, Hulda ?" said her brother.

"I want-Rosalie," said the child abstractedly, and taking another survey of the room.

"The Queen, my dear," said Penn Raynor walking up to her, "is at present sitting in state upon the sofa. Shall I have the honour of conducting you to her? And by what title will you be made known? Is this the little prime minister ?"

"What, sir?" said Hulda, raising her childish eyes to his face, while everybody laughed.

"You are the Flying Squirrel, my dear, and I am his majesty's sloop of war Wild Cat," said Penn, as he gave her one jump to his shoulder; and then carrying her to the sofa permitted her to kneel in his lap. "Now who have I got for a prisoner ?"

"You have got me," said Hulda.

"And it strikes me that I have heard of you before," said Penn. "Isn't my cousin a great friend of yours ?"

"I don't know, sir," said Hulda.

Why yes you do," said Penn, giving her a little shake. "You spent the day with him yesterday, and he was off with you somewhere when I got home.'

"But I was at Mr. Raynor's yesterday," said Hulda, "and he isn't your cousin."

"He is my cousin."

"Is he ?" said Hulda, leaning back and taking a complete survey of the questioner.

"He don't look a bit

like you. I love Mr. Raynor very much."

"Well, so do I," said Penn, who was highly delighted with the unconscious emphasis Hulda had bestowed upon her friend's name.

"But I thought you were going to tell us of your great

adventures," said Thornton impatiently,-" and you sit there talking to that child!"

"I perceive that you are still subject to your old periodical fits of insanity, Mr. Clyde," said Penn. "When you have sojourned for a short lifetime among the Quakers, you will learn that impatience is one of the useless luxuries of life. Though indeed if you had been in our prisonship- -But I was going to tell you about it. You see,

my dear Miss Clyde, when I got to Washington I fell in with some friends-not of the Society, you may be surethat were bound to try their hand at privateering. Of course they invited me to go, and of course I went."

"To benefit the country or yourself?" said Thornton. "Whichever might be," said Penn, "and I think in the long run we came out about equal. However, when we first started from Baltimore the thing paid pretty well. We cruised about, took a variety of vessels smaller than ourselves, and had more prisoners than we knew what to do with: which was all very pleasant, except that the prisoners had as good appetites as our own."

66

"Remarkably inconsiderate of them," said Mr. Clinton. "Yes, it was," said Penn, when you take into the account that the Flying Squirrel's capacity for provisions was by no means unlimited. It came to this point at last-whether we should all starve together as human beings, or the upperhand live and the rest go overboard.” "Difficult point to round, that," said Thornton.

"It did look so in the distance," said Mr. Penn; “but after all it's astonishing how many points the tide of circumstances carries one round-as our captain poetically expressed it. When we did reach the point there was a ship in the offing-an Englishman she looked to be and was.'

cr

"And she carried you round the point ?" said Rosalie. Precisely, Miss Clyde-round more than one. She was a sloop of war—or a frigate-I don't know which,— only I know that she carried four times as many guns as we did. The game was up, of course, but we chose to let the enemy cry checkmate, and so ran-but what could the Squirrel do so far from land? for the storms had driven us out so far that we were near coming up on the

other side. I don't know to this day whether our guns were heard in England or America. But we ran as I said-skimmed over the water like the cannon ball the Wild Cat sent after us.'

"Did it strike ?" said Rosalie.

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Yes, Miss Clyde-it struck us—that if she was going to spit fire at that rate we had better stop,-just to save her from spontaneous combustion. So we did stop, and gave her as good as she sent."

"But not quite so suggestive." "Not quite," said Penn,

our arguments were not quite so weighty. And you see the Wild Cat had set her mouth for our poor Squirrel,—and what could four guns do against eighteen, after all ?”

"So the long and short of it was, that you had to strike your colours," said Thornton.

"Even so," said Penn,-"I had that pleasure myself. Struck 'em so they fell overboard too-gave the Eagle my own choice,-death instead of dishonour. But we were all sent to Kingston, and cooped up on board the Goree. Such a place!-such bread and such rats!"

"You wished for the Wild Cat again, didn't you, Penn ?” said Thornton laughing.

"I nearly turned one myself," said Penn. "For if the bread was uneatable, that didn't make it pleasant to have rats and cockroaches running over you all night to get at it. I tell you what, I came near hating my ancestors for having come from England."

"If they had not come you would have been an Englishman yourself," said Rosalie smiling.

"I don't know about that," said Mr. Penn; "but if I were a Turk I'd have respectable prison-ships. Why even the Hindoos put nobody but beggars in the animal asylums and pay them!"

"I think you were paid for privateering," said Thornton. "We did not view it in that light," said Penn. “In fact, all the light we had was reflected into a focus upon our plan of escape. The States or the bottom of the sea, -we soon made up our minds to have one or t'other. It's a pretty enough place there, too," said Mr. Penn, who was warming on his subject; "and bread fruits and

cocoa-nuts look very nice, waving about in the wind; but they don't make your sour brown bread any sweeter, I think to people broiling on the Goree's deck, or smothering under her hatches, it was rather tantalizing to think of green trees anywhere. But it strengthened our plans."

"What did you have to do there ?" said Thornton. "Anything ?"

"Not much," said Penn,-" what we had was done, I do assure you. Wishing and grumbling was pretty much the whole of it—and then planning. Those of us that were given to swearing kept themselves in good practice; but as I had been brought up by the Quakers I hadn't even that resource. I remember one night I was too melancholy to sleep-or too hot-I forget which; and just as early as the prisoners were allowed to go on deck, up I went.

"Didn't throw yourself overboard, did you?" said Thornton. "That would have answered for either heat or melancholy."

"Yes, but it wouldn't have answered for me, though," said Penn," so I only leaned over the side of the ship and wished myself a fish; for the water was still enough to give one the fidgets. Presently the rest began to gather about me, and we exchanged a few looks and words as we got a chance, in a kind of desperate way that said we wouldn't wait much longer. Which sentiment we all endorsed by flinging our breakfast overboard. "What's that for ?" said the boatswain. But we gave him no reply; and after a few not very sweet words he ordered eleven of the prisoners into the launch to go for water." "And you refused to go ?" said Thornton.

"No we didn't-we went, with only a look at each other; and the boatswain and two soldiers went along for company. The bay was quite spotted with vessels that morning, but all sleepy, apparently, with the warm day; there was nobody astir. The frigates showed their teeth, and that was all; and the smaller vessels had both crew and cargo stowed away out of sight. Only one, the Bermuda, had her deck lumbered with buoys which she was to take out and lay in the channel. But we rowed