248 A VOYAGE IN THE NORTH SKAS. 



could pity a being so rich in native charms, so calculated to bestow 

 happiness, so naturally noble in mind and heart, as he soon found 

 Flora to be ? but it was a deep, tender, devoted sympathy for her 

 sorrows, mingled with the most exalted esteem for her excellence, 

 which filled his whole soul with the most poignant but indescribable 

 sensations. The melancholy hue of his common thoughts tinctured 

 also his feelings towards the lovely stranger, and caused them to be 

 developed in a thousand acts of deference and gentle courtesy, which 

 were well calculated to soothe a heart so deeply wounded as hers, 

 and to awaken gratitude towards the bestower of attentions so conge- 

 nial to her state of mind. The books which had been saved from the 

 wreck became another and more powerful means of making them ac- 

 quainted with each other's character, and Arundel soon found himself 

 compelled to add admiration of her mental powers to the other senti- 

 ments which he entertained for his sweet companion. Her remarks 

 were sometimes erroneous, seldom profound ; but they were dictated 

 by an unalloyed love of truth, and rectitude of principle which would 

 have caused them to have been listened to by a philosopher with 

 respect, and they possessed a freshness and originality which were 

 peculiarly grateful to one who, like Arundel, had for many years 

 been accustomed to hear criticisms instead of comments, by learned 

 bores, whose remarks were cavils and their reasonings disputes. 

 But if Flora's judgment sometimes erred, her heart never did; and 

 this is the supreme excellence of woman. She gradually became 

 more cheerful ; a smile would now and then steal over her still pale 

 cheek, and light up her blue eyes ; and such was the witchery which 

 this, the natural expression for which her features were formed, cre- 

 ated ; so charming from its novelty, and so heavenly from its effects,- 

 that Arundel would turn himself away to hide the flush of rapturous 

 admiration which sprang into his cheek, and to conceal the tumult of 

 emotion which shook his whole frame. 



Nor let this seem the exaggerated and idle creation of a wanton 

 fancy. A less lovely woman than Flora M ( Alpine, in such romantic 

 circumstances as those in which she was placed, where the rude sea- 

 men, the coarse dwelling, and the presence of the wildest elements in 

 their wildest form were contrasted with loveliness, grace, and intelli- 

 gence, might well have kindled into rapture a heart less susceptible 

 than that of Frank Arundel; but there is no necessity for taxing the 

 imagination by such an hypothesis, for the man yet lives, who re- 

 membered with almost undiminished delight, the emotion which the 

 shipwrecked girl created in his bosom, when the first smile mantled 

 on her cheek, and she stood like a lovely apparition before him. Yet 

 Arundel neither talked nor thought of love. His own unhappy situa- 

 tion precluded his indulging in any such sentiment. But he saw that 

 his society and conversation were grateful, perhaps necessary for 

 Flora, and he felt also that his own griefs were softened while he was 

 relieving those of another. 



It may be supposed that Captain Bellamy felt himself somewhat 

 hors de combat in the subjects which chiefly occupied the time of Flora 

 and Frank. He, therefore, after dinner generally betook himself to 

 his mate (who had given up his cabin berth for the accommodation of 



