THE VOYAGE. 7 



looked like a mass of frosted silver so brilliant 

 was the contrast to the dark water and darker 

 woods, still in shadow, behind and around it. 



Delighted with the singular beauty of the 

 scene, and wandering, in imagination, far away 

 into the vistas of the past, recalling scenes 

 of frightful atrocity once enacted within the 

 dreaded gates of the buccaneers' stronghold- 

 wondering too if gems and gold, plunder 

 wrenched from many a rich argosy, still lay 

 hidden amidst the dust of its crumbling walls- 

 a sudden flash, and a jerk that sent me sprawling 

 on the deck, at once recalled my thoughts from 

 the past to the present. Utterly oblivious of 

 what had happened, as I scrambled on my legs, 

 a stifled laugh induced me to look round. ' Wish 

 I may never taste rum again, Cap r en, if I ever see 

 you a-sittin on the signal-gun,' said a sly-looking 

 rascal in sailor's dress. There was a roguish leer 

 in his eye that revealed the whole secret. Seeing 

 me seated on the signal-carronade, loaded to an- 

 nounce our arrival, was too tempting a chance to 

 indulge in a practical joke for Jack to resist ; so 

 he quietly touched off the gun, without giving me 

 any notice. No doubt he has had many a hearty 

 laugh at my expense since then, when telling the 

 ' yarn ' in far-away latitudes. Our stay in the 



