Foxholme Hall Part 9

Sitting down on a low stool, furnished by the gaoler, I expressed my willingness to afford the prisoner every aid in my power that his awful state demanded.

"You were kind to me, sir, when I lay wounded, from the first, on our pa.s.sage here, and I thought you would excuse me speaking to you," he answered, looking furtively around as if some one was watching him.

"Oh, sir, there are many, many things weighing like hot lead upon my mind, and I must tell them to some fellow-creature before I am sent on my last voyage, or I should have to come back again to haunt this world, which is already sick of me and my crimes. Oh, sir, it is dreadful to think of dying when one has lived as I have done; yet my life for some years has been one of misery, ever haunted by a hideous spirit or a being of--There it is, sir! see, see! I knew that I could not talk of him without his coming! There, there, there!" he shrieked out.

I exerted all my powers to soothe the mind of the poor wretch, throwing in such observations as I thought might tend to bring him to think on the new state of existence he was about to enter. Pirate as he was, I felt that he was still a fellow-creature, and who can tell what strong temptations might have led him into crime? Who among us can say how we should have withstood the same? Let us feel grateful that we have received the benefit of a religious education, and pray Heaven to keep us from sin. Seeing that until he had relieved his mind by a narration of the circ.u.mstances in his career which pressed most heavily on it, he would be unable to attend to me, I told him that I was prepared to listen to anything he might have to say. On this he immediately commenced a sketch of his life in almost the following words:--

The Confessions of a Pirate.

"I am a Devons.h.i.+re man, and was born near Salcombe. A wild-looking place is Salcombe Range. My father's cottage stood on the hill facing directly down the bay, or range, as they call it in the west country, so that the only view I remember in childhood was that of the dark cliffs on each side of its entrance, with its heaving and foaming waters; the only music I ever heard, their hollow melancholy sound.

"My father had been an officer of excise at Plymouth, and, having somehow or other made his fortune, retired here to end his days. This he soon did, for, shortly after I was born, my mother dying, he took to drinking harder than ever--he was never a very sober man--and before I was seven years old I was left an orphan. I had now no one to look after me, except an old woman, whose chief occupation was mixing smuggled spirits to fit them for the market; when she used to taste and taste the stuff till she went reeling to bed. I consequently had plenty of time and opportunity to follow my own inclinations, and was early taught all sorts of wild pranks by boys older than myself.

"For some time my princ.i.p.al employment consisted in dodging the steps of the revenue officers, both when a run was about to be made, and afterwards when the tubs and cases were to be carried up the country. I could neither read nor write, and as for religion, I never heard of it; indeed, I was as ignorant as could well be. At last, the clergyman of the parish took compa.s.sion on my unprotected state; and the old woman who had charge of me dying, like my father, in a fit of drunkenness, he sent for me up to his house, and asked me if I should like to go to school. Though I did not know what school meant, I answered `Yes,' for I wanted to go somewhere; it little signified to me where. As I was treated kindly I got on very well, so that in three years I was considered one of the best scholars in the school, though at the same time one of the wildest. The vicar was a strict man, and, though he expressed himself satisfied with my progress, I was never a favourite of his.

"Although I had continued my intimacy with several of my early smuggling companions, I managed to reach my eighteenth year without being considered worse than a wild sort of chap. About this time I formed an acquaintance with a pretty girl, the daughter of a respectable farmer in the neighbourhood. Her old father spoke to me on the subject. I knocked him down and fled. I had behaved like a villain. I knew it then; I feel it now. The poor girl refused to see me when I afterwards tried to meet her, and soon died of a broken heart. The neighbourhood was no longer to my liking. I felt that every finger was pointed at me; but I stifled conscience, and tried to appear indifferent as to what folks said of me. Oh, that I had listened to that small voice then! My after-life would have been very different.

"I had always been accustomed to get about in boats; and having just before formed the acquaintance of a noted smuggler, one Brand Hallton by name--I then thought him one of the finest fellows on either side of the channel--I made my first trip across to the coast of France in his company. That man was the chief cause of my subsequent career in crime and misery--my evil genius. Oh, sir, warn all the young men you may meet to shun the company of the wicked and immoral as they would a pestilence! They are the instruments with which the devil works out his deeds of darkness. I did not know how bad he was, or, perhaps, I might have avoided him and been saved. For two years or more, I was constantly in some smuggling craft or another; and though we frequently lost a cargo, we managed to escape being taken and sent on board a man-of-war to serve the king. This hazardous varied sort of life just suited my taste, and, as I had more learning than the rest of my companions, I was looked up to by most of them. However, our success was not to last for ever: through the treachery, as we afterwards discovered, of one of the people we employed on sh.o.r.e, we were unusually unfortunate; and, suspecting what was the case, we vowed to be revenged on whomever it might be.

"I had never seen blood shed--my hands were free from that crime. Oh that they were so now, I should not care so much about dying! We had a large cutter, carrying four guns, with forty stout hands on board, Brand Hallton being our captain; so that we could easily beat off any revenue boats which might attempt to board us.

"Every one was armed to the teeth; and on the occasion I am about to speak of, the word was pa.s.sed that all the helpers on sh.o.r.e should come prepared for resistance, in case of being molested. We took in our cargo, consisting of silks, laces, tea, and other valuable commodities, at Cherbourg, and made the land just before sunset. We stood in at once, and found the spotsman at his post, with a signal that all was clear. The night was pitchy dark, though calm; and, except the signals, not a light was shown. About fifty men were stationed on sh.o.r.e, to carry the things inland.

"We set to work as fast as possible getting the things into the boats, and all went on well for some time. I, with some others, in one of the boats, had left the cutter, when a pistol was flashed from the sh.o.r.e as a signal for us to return; but, before we had pulled many strokes, there was a rapid discharge of fire-arms, while loud shouts, oaths, and cries arose: torches were kindled, and by their light we could see our friends on sh.o.r.e mixed in a hot fight with a number of red-coats.

"As soon as we made out what was going forward, we pulled back as fast as we could to the vessel, to put the bales into her, intending to return to a.s.sist our people; but, before we reached her, a splash of oars was heard close to us, and in a moment a large boat was alongside our galley. At the same time, a loud voice ordered us to surrender; but, as we were not the chaps to do that in a hurry, our c.o.xswain drew his pistol, and fired it towards the boat. A deep groan was the answer, and immediately other pistols were fired on each side. By the flashes we saw a number of men, their cutla.s.ses s.h.i.+ning brightly, about to spring into our boat; but, at the same time, we knew that we must beat them or die. They were brave fellows, and would, perhaps, have taken us all; but we were fighting with halters round our necks; for after the resistance we had offered, we knew that, if made prisoners, we should be hung. They had already cut down two or three of our people, when another of our boats came up, and attacked them on the other side.

There was now little chance for them: we dared not save them if we would. They fought bravely to the last--every one of them was killed.

"They were countrymen, and were only doing their duty. That night's work, sir, weighed like lead upon my conscience, till other crimes drove the thoughts of it out, and my heart became seared. It is only now that I am about to quit the world that my conscience is roused up. It is very terrible, sir. My life seems a dreadful dream; and I cannot even now believe that I am to die to-morrow to go where I have already sent so many others, not more fit to die than I am. It is too much to think of. I wonder what sort of a place I shall be in to-morrow at this time!" he suddenly exclaimed, after a long silence.

"You must trust in the mercy of One who is all merciful," I answered, "and repent of your crimes, and then be a.s.sured, as was the thief on the cross, you will be forgiven."

"I wish I thought it might be so, sir," he observed, "but I have been too wicked--too great a reprobate for pardon; and _he_--_he_ knows better!--that ghastly figure there!--_he_ shakes his head, and grins at me, mocking at the very idea of it! Oh, that I could have another spell of life to get free of him! Is there any chance of being let off?" he asked, with sudden animation.

"Not the slightest," I answered. "Do not for a moment indulge in such a hope."

"Well, sir, well--perhaps it is best as it is. I have thought a good deal about death since I lay wounded, and have made up my mind to the worst. My life has long been a burden to me; but it is the future--the future which makes me tremble; and then that dreadful ghost-like figure unnerves me. Off with you--off!" he shrieked out. "Leave me for this once at rest!"

The Spaniards, aroused by his cries, scowled fiercely on him, and cursing him for a noisy madman, again sank back upon the stone floor.

After being silent for a minute, he appeared to have perfectly recovered his senses, and continued--

"I will go on, sir, with what I was telling you about--I want to get it off my mind. Well, after we had killed the people in the revenue boat, we hove the things into the cutter, and pulled again to the sh.o.r.e to a.s.sist our friends. It was fortunate for them that we did so, for the soldiers had come down in great numbers, and completely got the better of them. Some were made prisoners, numbers were either killed outright or desperately wounded, and the remainder were fighting hand-to-hand for their lives, close down to the water's edge. Some of the best men were with us. We were fresh and desperate; so, managing to drive back the soldiers for a minute, by a furious charge, before they again came on, we covered the retreat of the rest to the boats, and then followed ourselves. In a moment they were afloat, and we were pulling off from the sh.o.r.e. Several volleys were fired at us without doing us any mischief, and we could see the soldiers, by the flashes of their pistols, galloping up and down along the beach, in search of those of our friends who were trying to escape. About twenty of our people got off, but of course all the things, except a few we had on board, were lost, and we vowed vengeance against whomever had betrayed us. We all took a dreadful oath to that effect, which we most fearfully fulfilled.

Oh! I wish that it had been broken.

"We were sullen and out of humour enough when we got on board; but there was no time then to meditate on revenge, so we lost not a moment in making sail and standing off the coast. We well knew that, after what we had done, the revenue cruisers would be keeping a very sharp look-out for us; but we were not to be daunted, even by the certainty of death, if taken. We spoke a lugger standing in for the coast, and two nights afterwards we ourselves followed her, and ran the rest of our cargo.

When on sh.o.r.e, about that work, we discovered who it was who had betrayed us, and we renewed our oath to be revenged on him whenever we could get him into our power. He was a man who often had acted as spotsman for us, and in whom we placed entire confidence, though with the world in general he did not enjoy the best of characters. His name was Arnold, a tall, fine-looking fellow, still in the prime of manhood.

He had been bribed to deliver us into the hands of the law, and, fancying that his treachery was undiscovered, he was now looking forward to getting a larger reward by informing against us a second time. We did revenge ourselves! Oh, it was dreadful! Ah!--there he is! His livid, corpse-like face is laughing, and muttering at me behind your back. I knew I could not speak of him without his coming. Yes, yes, yes!--I'll follow! I'll follow!--I know I must!"

And the wretched man broke into loud shrieks for mercy. He soon recovered, and continued--as if he had not interrupted himself--

"We allowed two months to pa.s.s before we ventured back to the coast, when we ran in with a valuable cargo, which we landed without his knowing anything about the matter. Five of us, among whom was Brand Hallton, who had dependence on each other, then went on sh.o.r.e at night.

We had been persuaded by Hallton that we had but one course to pursue, and we had promised to obey his directions. While we waited hidden among the rocks on the beach, at some short distance from Arnold's house, we sent word by a lad we took with us, that we wished to speak to him about running another crop of goods. It was a dark night, with a drizzling rain, but perfectly calm, the only noise we could hear being the ripple of the water on the sand, while nothing could be seen but the high beetling cliff above us. For a long time we waited; the moments seemed hours to me. We then thought he suspected something, and would not come. At last we heard the sound of footsteps on the beach moving towards us. My heart beat faster. I ground my teeth in my eagerness.

I thought I was about to do an act of justice. That he might not by chance take alarm, one of our men went forward to welcome him as a friend. The stranger proved to be Arnold. Another then joined him, and began to talk about the business in hand. He took the bait eagerly, and offered to lend us his a.s.sistance. As he came by where I, with the other men, lay hid, the first two put their pistols to his head, and threatened to blow his brains out if he uttered a word, while we rushed on him, pinioned his arms, and gagged him, to make sure of his not giving an alarm. Powerful man as he was, he trembled violently in every limb, for he then felt that we were aware who had before betrayed us; and more than that, he well knew it and our _laws_; he knew that we were not men to hesitate at punis.h.i.+ng a traitor. From the moment we seized him we did not exchange a single word with each other; but, las.h.i.+ng his feet, we lifted him into our boat, which was close at hand. At the same time, also, we lifted into her a large stone, with a rope made fast to it, and then shoved off from the sh.o.r.e.

"We pulled off for a mile or more, and then laying on our oars, we told the miserable wretch what we were about to do, giving him one minute to prepare for death. In his struggles to free himself, as he heard his doom, he contrived to loosen one of his hands, and to slip the gag from his mouth. He shrieked out in an agony of fear, and, as he entreated us to let him live, he trembled as if every limb in his body would part.

He talked of his wife and family, who would starve if he were taken away from them; he promised, in the most abject terms, to be our slave--to work for us to the utmost of his power--to do all we could require of him; but we laughed at his offers; we reminded him that he had shown no pity to us--that he had caused the death of several of our friends and the imprisonment of others, and that he must take the consequence of his treachery. Again, with groans and tears, he pet.i.tioned for mercy; he was not a man much given in general to words, but now they flowed forth, like a torrent in winter, with prayers for life; but nothing, he could say could alter our determination. At first, he attempted to deny what he had done, but we soon made him acknowledge his crime: he had broken our laws, and must abide the penalty. At last, we got tired of listening to him; we were eager for vengeance, and yet we felt a pleasure in witnessing his agony.

"`Come--we have had enough of this palaver,' said one of our people.

`If you have got a bit of a prayer to say, be quick about it.'

"`In a minute more you won't be in so great a hurry to open your mouth,'

sneered another.

"The miserable wretch saw we were in earnest, and I believe he did try to say a prayer; but we were in a hurry to finish the job. I fully believe, indeed, that every one of us had thought we were going to do an act of strict justice; but when it came to the point, my mind misgave me. There was, however, now no drawing back; I dared not even utter my thoughts to my companions. My hands trembled as I a.s.sisted to make the rope, with the stone to it, fast round his feet; but the darkness prevented their seeing my agitation. We then let the stone hang overboard, while we lifted our victim, thus bound hand and foot, on to the gunwale of the boat. For a moment we let him remain there; and oh, what a cry of agony he gave as we tilted him up, and down he went straight into the deep sea!--the water closed over his head, and not a mark remained to show that a moment before another living being had been with us in health and strength! We thought the sea would for ever hide the deed from mortal eye, and that no one but ourselves would ever be able to tell how Arnold died. Ah! fools that we were to think to escape punishment for work like that!

"As soon as all was over, for an instant we sat silent and stupefied, and then s.h.i.+pping our oars, we pulled towards the cutter as hard as we could, away from the accursed spot. We had not pulled many strokes when a horror seized me. I could have shrieked aloud, but my fear was too great, for there, directly in our wake, was Arnold! Up he had risen-- his body half out of the water--his countenance blue and livid--his eyes starting from his head--his hair on end--his arms extended towards us, as if he would clasp the boat in his embrace, and carry us down with him to the dreadful place he had come from! Larger and larger he grew--a pale flame seemed to play round his features, distorted with rage and agony! As fast as we could pull, he came hissing after us! We all shrieked with horror--we stretched every nerve to get away from him--but the harder we pulled the faster he came along. We sent the water flying from our bows, our oars bent and cracked; but nothing would do--on, on he came! Oh, how I wished I had had nothing to do with the foul deed!

We had shown no mercy to him--we knew he would show none to us. You do not believe what I am saying; but it is as true as that I am speaking to you. See, sir!--see, there is his face at the farther end of the room-- just as he appeared to me on that fatal night! He has never quitted me since, and never will--he will be with me on the scaffold to-morrow, jeering and cursing me, and I shall meet him where I am hound to in the other world. Oh! why did I do that deed?

"The dead man had got within a few fathoms of us, when, expecting every moment to feel myself within his cold grasp, I could bear it no longer, and swooned away.

"The pale, waning moon was s.h.i.+ning on my face from out of the pure sky when I came to my senses, and I found myself lying on the deck of the cutter, which was running briskly across the Channel. I got up and looked around me; all that had pa.s.sed seemed a horrid dream, but I knew it was too true. I was afraid to speak of what had happened, and, when I once referred to it to one of my partners in crime, he reminded me with a dreadful threat of my oath of secrecy. In vain I tried to banish the thoughts of it from my own mind; every night did the accusing spectre recall it with terrible certainty, for no sooner did darkness appear, than, whenever I looked out on the sea, whether in storm or calm, when the stars shone bright, or the sky was overcast, there, in the wake of the s.h.i.+p, appeared the blue, livid figure of the wretched Arnold. It was very, very dreadful, sir. I dared not return to my native place, nor to any neighbourhood where I was known, for I felt that everybody would point at me as a murderer; I knew the mark of Cain was on my brow. I grew weary of existence, even a smuggling life was too tame for me; I longed for a change of scene, for more excitement; and falling in with a French brig bound for the coast of Africa, I s.h.i.+pped on board her. Her sails were loose and her anchor spread, as I handed my traps on deck, and, before I had time to see the faces of all her crew, we were standing with a strong breeze out of the harbour of Bordeaux.

"My evil destiny still pursued me. There was one on board, whom rather than have met I would have jumped overboard and swam on sh.o.r.e again, had it been possible. That man was Brand Hallton. He had been the first to lead me into crime, and I knew of so many black deeds he had done, that I feared and hated him more than any man alive, though I could never withstand his evil persuasions. A short time pa.s.sed before he came on deck, as he had been attending to some duty below. I knew him in a moment, but he pretended not to recognise me, though he soon afterwards took an opportunity to a.s.sure me that he would stand my friend if I would not attempt to claim his acquaintance. I found that he had entered before the mast under an a.s.sumed name, but on what account he did not choose to inform me, though I had little doubt it was for the sake of performing some piece of villainy or other. I dared not disobey him; indeed, I should have gained nothing if I had attempted to betray him, and thus we appealed by degrees to form an intimacy.

"We had on board a freight of coloured cottons, beads, and other trinkets, with hard dollars to exchange for slaves, with manacles to keep them quiet when in our power. That coast of Africa is a deadly, burning place, as we had soon reason to know; but I cared not for heat or for sickness--neither could increase the wretchedness of my own miserable fate. For some days after sailing I began to hope that I had escaped from my tormentor, but one night, on going on deck to keep my watch, as I looked over the side to observe how fast the s.h.i.+p was going through the water, there, on the sea, a few fathoms only from her, appeared that dreadful figure. He has never since then quitted the s.h.i.+p I have sailed in. Sometimes, as the moonbeams played upon the waters, I have seen him following in our wake, with his arms spread out, leaping from the waves and making horrid faces at me. When I have been keeping a look-out ahead, he has appeared as if leading the way, pointing with one hand and threatening with the other, and every now and then turning round his gibbering distorted countenance, his eyeb.a.l.l.s starting from their sockets, and his hair on end as I first saw him. Night after night have I thus been haunted, till life became a burden to me, and I should have jumped overboard and drowned myself, but I knew that he in a moment would fly at me like a shark at its prey, and carry me down in his cold clasp to the unfathomed depths of the ocean. I was afraid to ask any of my s.h.i.+pmates if they saw him, for they would at once have said I was a murderer; and thus my mind was left to brood in silence on my awful destiny; yet I fear, sir, there were many of those with me who were likely to have seen sights almost as dreadful. Oh! what a dreary voyage that was. At last, we sighted a long, low line of coast, with the trees gradually rising from the water, and a grey, sandy beach below them. This was the deadly coast of Africa, somewhere about the mouth of the Gambia; but we stood on farther to the south, and came to an anchor a short way up the Gaboon River, our yard-arms almost touching the lofty palms, cotton-trees, and monkey-bread trees, which grew on its banks.

It was a beautiful-looking spot, but death was in every gale, and those of our crew who slept on sh.o.r.e died soon afterwards of a fever, which carried off several others of our men. I wished to be of the number, but neither sickness, shot, nor the sea, could have power over one accursed like me.

"We found the greater part of our living cargo already a.s.sembled in barrac.o.o.ns close down to the sh.o.r.e; and the remainder arrived in a few days from the interior--men, women, and children, to the number of three hundred. They were all prisoners, taken in war with a neighbouring tribe--hostilities being continued solely for the purpose of making slaves. As we received them on board, we stowed them away as close as they would pack between low decks, where there was barely room for them to sit upon their hams; but you know what a h.e.l.l-afloat a slave-s.h.i.+p presents, and, though we did our best to keep them alive, we lost many before the voyage was over. After leaving the coast, we shaped our course for Martinique, where our captain intended to dispose of his slaves, and then to go back for another cargo. What with the stench of the slaves, the heat of the weather, our bad food and water, I wonder any of us survived. We used to have the poor wretches in gangs at a time upon deck to air themselves and to take exercise, but they were quickly sent down again below, and I believe, had it not been for fear of their dying, they would never have been allowed to taste the fresh air of heaven. The captain and the first mate used to sleep in a sort of round-house on the after-part of the deck, with arms by their side ready to defend themselves in case of a surprise, for they had not much confidence even in their own crew, though they were not worse than the general run of slavers.

"One day I was sitting in the shade under the foot of the foresail, trying to get a little fresh air as it blew off the sail, when Hallton placed himself near me, pretending to be busily engaged in working a Turk's head, or some such thing. The rest of the people were either in the after-part of the s.h.i.+p, or lying about the decks asleep. Looking cautiously round to see that no one observed him, he addressed me.

"`How like you a slaving life?' he began; `pleasant isn't it? Black fever, yellow fever, and the stench of these negroes in one's nose all one's days. For my part, I'd as soon mend shoes, or turn tailor, as spend my time in this way.'

"`Then why did you join the brig? You knew how she was to be employed,'

I observed.

"`I, my fine fellow! I never, for a moment, intended to keep at this work; I had other objects in view. I know I can trust to you, so I do not mind talking of them. I have long formed a plan by which we can make a rapid fortune, and spend our days, like gentlemen, in luxury and independence. Ah! you are a lad of spirit, and will join me; but the idea must not be hinted at, even to the stars.'

"He thus continued for some time, letting out by degrees what he was thinking of, so that the whole of his proposal should not take me by surprise, when he explained it to me.

"Well, we reached Martinique in safety, and, after landing the slaves, prepared for another trip across the Atlantic. How Brand Hallton gained the information, I do not know; but, while lying here, he learned that on our return the brig was to be fitted up with cabins, and that the merchant who owned her intended to return in her to France, with his family and all the wealth he had ama.s.sed. In the meantime, he was busily employed in working his way into the confidence of the worst disposed of the crew, and was very active in engaging several new hands to supply the place of those who died by fever.

"The second voyage was much like the first. We took on board a still larger number of blacks, and lost many of the whites by sickness. Day after day we lost one or other of our crew, till scarcely any of those who sailed with us from France remained. The first man we lost died raving mad: it was dreadful to listen to him. No sooner did he touch the water than there was Arnold's ghost, with its fierce staring eyes, surrounded by a pale, blue light, and, seizing the corpse in its grasp, it turned it round and round, gibbering and mowing at it with delight, it seemed, and then plunged with it beneath the waters. I shuddered as I saw it, for I felt that such would be my fate, or, perhaps, a worse one; for I fancied that if I was seized with the fever, I, perhaps, should be thrown overboard while yet alive, and I pictured to myself the horror of feeling myself in _his_ power, carried down--down--down to eternal fire and torment. I could not withdraw my eye from the spot where I had seen the corpse disappear. As I watched, that dreaded figure again rose to the surface without his prey; and, as we sailed along, he kept following in our course, his countenance now a.s.suming a look of eagerness, as if watching for further victims. He was not disappointed: two days afterwards, another Frenchman died, and his fate was like that of the first; and such was the lot of every one who died on board the s.h.i.+p. Though I felt on each occasion that my turn would come next, I lived on, and did not even catch the fever. After landing the blacks in Martinique, we found that Hallton's information was correct; and the brig, a remarkably fast sailer and a fine vessel in every way, quickly prepared to take the merchant, his money-chests, and his wife and daughters, on board. Once or twice I thought of warning them of what I more than expected their fate would be; but fear of Hallton, and the influence he had gained over me, prevented me from saying anything; and they embarked.

"The old gentleman was in high glee at the thought of returning once more to his _belle France_. His wife was a Creole, and did not seem much to like the trouble of moving; but his daughters were in raptures with the idea of visiting Paris and all its wonders. There were three of them; all remarkably handsome girls, tall and slight, with clear olive complexions and sparkling eyes. The old man loved his daughters almost as much as his dollars, of which he had many thousands on board, the greater part of the wealth he had acc.u.mulated during upwards of thirty years' banishment from his native land. For some days after sailing all appeared to go on well, and I hoped that Hallton had given up the evil intentions I knew he had entertained; for I began to feel a tender interest in one of the younger daughters of our owner. What is strange, sir, is, that whenever she was on deck at night, where she often came to watch the bright stars glittering in the water, the dreaded ghost of Arnold never appeared. Those few days were the only ones of anything like peace or happiness I have enjoyed since I plunged so deeply into crime. She was indeed to me a ministering angel: and I determined, for her sake, to try and reform. Hallton suspected something and watched me narrowly, keeping his plans entirely from me, so that I was not prepared for the tragedy which was soon to follow.

Two of our mates having died from the fever, I was appointed to do duty in the place of the youngest, and, by this means, had opportunities, which I should not otherwise have enjoyed, of paying slight attentions to the young ladies.