kindness it was, since I couldn’t swear to the very thing he fancied so safe, and his glance was as quick as lightning, so he caught the sense of my blank look in a moment; as I fancied, at least. “The fact is, sir,” added he, “the surgeon told me just now he knows Lieutenant Westwood well enough by sight, so they locked him up! You see we could have made you out at any rate, sir—however, we’ll let the doctor stay till we’re clear of the Indiaman, I think!” “Then you take me for the gentleman you speak of, Captain Wallis?” asked I faintly; for at the same moment I could see a light-coloured dress and a white ribbon fluttering on the Seringapatam’s poop, the look of which sent the blood about my heart. ’Twas hard to settle betwixt a feeling of the kind, and fear for Westwood; it struck me Captain Wallis wasn’t very eager in the affair, and ’twas on my lips to assure him I wasn’t the man. “Harkee,” broke in he, with almost a wink, and a smile ready to break out on his mouth, “the short and the long of it is, I’ll take _you_! We must have somebody to show in the case; though now I remember, there was some one else said to’ve gone off with you—but we won’t trouble _him_! If we’ve brought away the wrong man, why, hang it, so much the better! If you’re Westwood, I can tell you, they’ll run ye up to a yardarm, sir! Much more comfortable than ten years or so in a jail, too, as—as no one knows better than _I_ do myself.” Here the captain’s face darkened, his eye gleamed, and he rose with a limp to ring a hand-bell on the table. “White,” said he to the marine that put his head in at the door, with his hand up to it, “Desire the first lieutenant, from me, to send a boat aboard for this gentleman’s things.” “I’m afraid, sir,” continued he gravely to me, “you’ll have to reckon yourself under arrest,—but you’ll find the gentlemen in the gun-room good company, I hope, for a day or two, till we make St Helena.” I saw the captain’s mind was made up, and for the life of me I didn’t know what to say against it; but speak I could not, so with a stiff bow and a sick sort of a smile I turned out of the door, and walked along to the gun-room, which was empty. I could see the boat soon after under the ship’s side, dipping and rising as they handed down my couple of portmanteaus to the man-o’-war’s-men; the young reefer came down again as nimble as a monkey, with some letters in his hand, took off his cap to some ladies above, and sang out to give way; five or six flashing feathers of the oars in the sunlight, and they were coming round the brig’s stern. The brig was just squaring away her mainyard at the whistle from the boatswain’s mates, when the whole run of the Indiaman’s bulwarks was crowded with the passengers’ and men’s faces, watching the brig gather way to pass ahead; I could hear the officers on deck hail the India mates, wishing them a good voyage; the ladies bowing and waving their handkerchiefs to the British union-jack.