A SKETCH IN THE TROPICS. 145 



him into the hiding-place from which it had just 

 emerged. 



A quarter of an hour elapsed, and the first faint 

 tinge of day just began to appear, when the noise of 

 oars was heard, and presently in the grey light a boat 

 was seen darting out of the mist that hung over the 

 water. As it neared the quay, the two men left 

 their place of concealment, and one of them, pointing 

 to the person who sat in the stern of the boat, pressed 

 his companion's hand, and hurrying away, soon dis- 

 appeared amid the labyrinth of goods and warehouses. 



The boat came up to the stairs. Of the three 

 persons it contained, two sailors, who had been 

 rowing, remained in it; the third, whose dress and 

 appearance were those of the master of a merchant 

 vessel, sprang on shore, and walked in the direction 

 of the town. As he passed before the logwood, the 

 stranger stepped out and accosted him. 



The seaman's first movement, and not an unnatural 

 one, considering he was at the Havannah and the day 

 not yet broken, was to half draw his cutlass from its 

 scabbard ; but the next moment he let it drop back 

 again. The appearance of the person who addressed 

 him was, if not very prepossessing, at least not much 

 calculated to inspire alarm. He was a young man 

 of handsome and even noble countenance, but pale 

 and sickly-looking, and having the appearance of one 

 bowed down by sorrow and illness. 



" Are you the captain of the Philadelphia schooner 



VOL. I. K 



