NIGHTS IN THE GALLEY. 403 



were attached to his cousin, and I should call on the English resi- 

 dent, and say that I had been taken by pirates and escaped. ' Yes/ 

 said I, ' that will do very well ; but, suppose we meet with a man- 

 of-war before we get to Egina, and I go on board, won't they ask you 

 what you are?' 'No doubt of it; and I can tell them I am a boat 

 trading for corn ; we are not so stupid as that. Here/ said he, shew- 

 ing me some papers, ' are my regular papers, all signed by the pro- 

 per authorities ; and, unless you which I don't think you will tell 

 them who I am, the captain will thank me, and perhaps offer to pay 

 me for giving you a passage.' We looked out anxiously ; but, not 

 meeting any one, the third day we rowed into Egina, and after land- 

 ing and getting safe to the little house of Yarnio's friend, I set out 

 for the house of the English resident, and found him at home ; the 

 servants asked me what I wanted, and I told them ; they went away, 

 and soon returned, telling me to walk in. In I went, and saw an 

 elderly man sitting at a table ; so I bowed, and he said, ' Well, my 

 man, I hear you are an English sailor, and want to see me ; pray, 

 how came you here ?' So I told him the whole yarn of my being 

 taken, and that I had managed to run away with a small boat of the 

 pirates ; and after I had got well clear of the harbour, I found a large 

 boat coming in here, and that the master of her had been kind enough 

 to give me a passage, in hopes I might find my ship here. * Pray, 

 my man/ said he (very civilly he spoke), ' what ship do you belong 

 to?' < The Diomede, Captain Clifford, Sir/ says I. ' The Diomede! 

 my man. Why, I wonder you did not meet her; she only left here 

 the day before yesterday. Your name then, my man, if I recollect 

 right, is John Murray, is it not?' 'Yes, Sir,' says I. { I thought 

 so ; the captain was telling me of your loss, arid I am very happy to 

 say he spoke very highly of you, and was sorry to lose you ; we 

 must send you back as quick as we can. Your ship is only at Poros, 

 so we shall easily manage to get some boat to carry you.' ' If she's 

 at Poros, Sir/ says I, ' the boat that brought me will take me back, 

 for she's going to return that way to-morrow.' ' Well, that will do 

 very well ; I'll pay your passage, for I suppose you have no money.' 

 ' No, Sir/ I said, ' I have no money, but I don't think he will charge 

 anything ; for it's a very short distance, and since he brought me 

 here, I have been at his house; and, when I told him I had no 

 money, he said he did not want it.' ' That was very kind of him ; so 

 you had better go to him at once, and ask him how much he will 

 charge to take you, and then if he refuses anything, well and good ; 

 but it's not fair to leave him unpaid if we can get him to accept of 

 anything ; and come/ back as quick as you can, and let me know what 

 he says.' So away I went to Yarnio, and told him all that had hap- 

 pened. ' It may raise suspicion/ said he, ' if I refuse to take any 

 money, so you shall tell him that two dollars will be enough for me ; 

 but that I don't mind about having anything, as it is such a 

 little way.' Off I set to the resident's house again to tell him this. 

 ' Very well/ said he ; ' two dollars is not at all too much. There it is 

 to pay him ; and put this in your own pocket, my man/ said he, 

 giving me two more ; and when you come in here again, don't for- 

 get to call at my house for a glass of grog/ ( Thank'ee, Sir/ says I ; 



