56 LETTERS FROM NESSY HEYWOOD. 
and had despatched it by " the hands of Mr. 
Hay ward, of Hackney ; the father," she says, 
" of the young gentleman whom you so often 
mentioned in your letters while you were on 
hoard the Bounty, and who went out as third 
lieutenant of the Pandora." 
After making many pathetic allusions to 
her brother's probable condition, and declar- 
ing her readiness, "without hesitation, to 
stake her life on his innocence," she adds, 
" How strange does it seem to me that I am 
now engaged in the delightful task of writing 
to you. Alas! my loved brother, two years 
ago I never expected again to enjoy such a 
felicity ; and even yet I am in the most 
painful uncertainty whether you are alive. 
The gracious God grant that we may be at 
length blessed by your return. But, alas! 
the Pandora's people have been long expected, 
and are not even yet arrived. Should any 
accident have happened, after all the miseries 
you have already suffered, the poor gleam 
of hope with which we have been lately in- 
dulged, will render our situation ten thousand 
times more insupportable than if time had 
inured us to your loss." 
