doubly ironed, excited such general astonishment, was seen by a sergeant of marines not many weeks since in Ireland, in the disguise of a travelling tinker, accompanied by the daughter of the old Gitana Ruth, who keeps the wine-shop on the neutral ground, and who it was discovered passed over, the same night on which Cusack escaped, to Algesiras in sailor's apparel. A reward of one hundred pounds had been offered by the magistrates of the counties Down and Tyrone for the apprehension of this famous robber.

"The girl by whom he was accompanied is known to be the daughter of a discharged Irish soldier, who settled in this part of Andalusia some twenty years since, and married the woman who has succeeded him as keeper of one of the wine-houses, those haunts of low dissipation, which are found to be so productive of crime and insubordination in this garrison. The unfortunate victim of the villain's arts first became known to him, it is supposed, during some of his smuggling excursions in this neighbourhood.

"We hope in our next to give an account of the sacrifice of this daring criminal to the offended laws of society.

"The other Irishman, named Kelly, a deserter from the artillery, who acted as an officer on board L'Espiègle, and who was so severely wounded during the action, died a few months since in the Naval Hospital, without making any disclosure whatever as to the means of escape, or the probable retreat of his late guilty companion."

Here then the history of my mysterious recruit and his lovely, lost associate was cleared up! Well might we have looked daggers at poor drunken Husho when he sung "60 tinker! O tinker! you are the VERY MAN!" unconscious that it sounded to the ears of the tinker as the knell of his fate, knowing as he did that a price had been set on his blood. Well might he have appeared horror-struck when the major mentioned the word GIBRALTAR! as he stood before the triumvirate, who were sitting in judgment upon him at Longueville barracks.

Ever prompt to plead even for the errors of woman, I asked myself what offence had poor Ruth committted. Nurtured perhaps in scenes of profligacy, familiarized with crime, she had followed the fortunes of a bold and daring adventurer, whom she "loved not wisely, but too well!" I could not then join in the sanguine hopes and anticipations of the Gibraltar editor, as to the ultimate fate of the unfortunate man, known to me only as poor Rafferty the tinker!

I had heard and read some strange stories, and even songs, of "Cusack, the bold young highwayman of the North," all partaking of the marvellous and romantic; but I had never

heard of any particular outrage, much less murder, having been committed by him. As nearly as I could recollect, the reports of his depredations were of that attractive cast which are too generally admired amidst the lawless youth of a halfcivilized peasantry; his robberies were committed under various disguises, and generally on those to whom his person was most familiarly known.

Agreeably to my promise, I amused my messmates in the course of the evening, by giving a short history of the characters alluded to in the article which excited such strong feelings in me. They all blamed my want of forethought, and indeed hinted at a lack of zeal for the service in not returning to the barracks after my midnight adventure with the tinker's wife, to give the alarm, notwithstanding my confidence that the recruit had been secured seemingly beyond human power of escape: but none of these gentlemen had seen the poor devoted Ruth! My conscience never smote me with a sense of guilty connivance, and even then my rebel heart rejoiced at his escape; not for his sake, poor wretch! but for the sake of her who had for ever linked her fate to his! For several days my mind dwelt on this subject, and it required new scenes to drive it wholly from my thoughts.

We made the island of Madeira early on the seventh day. A signal was made for the convoy to heave to; while one of the frigates, making all sail, stretched in towards shore, and did not rejoin us until late in the afternoon.

I was sick to death the whole of the day, and heartily glad when the signal to bear away enabled me to enjoy my longdeferred dinner. For two days more we were favoured with delightful weather, and looked forward with confident hopes that these favourable winds would carry us into the trades with a clear deck and a flowing sheet.

CHAPTER XX.

"He now lay sick and speechless on his pillow,
And, rocking in his hammock, long'd for land."

BUT the change of moon brought a change of wind and weather. Before sunset of the tenth day the lofty top-gallantyards took their humbler station on the booms, and we were scarcely able to carry reefed courses during this squally night. The morning's light presented a scattered fleet, a stormy sky, and cross-tumbling sea, which sadly discomposed the next order of our breakfast table. My sea legs completely failed me; and I now held on by clinging to the capstan, with aching head, discontented heart, and by no means very composed stomach.

Mean while the weather thickened on all sides; a fitful gleam of sunshine would now and then break in lurid flashes through the murky clouds, like the smiles of demons mocking our toiling barks in their contest with the fretful waves. We now lay five points from our course, close hauled; and top-gallantmast struck in all the fleet. When dinner was announced, seasickness had laid me helpless in my berth, alike insensible and indifferent to good or ill.

The signal-gun to tack was fired at eight. The night was, as I heard the commander remark, pitch-dark, wet, and squally: we were close in the wake of the commodore. My first broken slumbers were disturbed by the cry of " Helm's-a-lee!" and I was in an agony from the noise and bustle on deck, the pitching of the ship in stays, the rattling of rigging, and creaking of bulkheads; until the last cry of "Haul-ov-all!" when the vessel lying down on her fresh tack, assumed a decided position in the water.

For the preceding four hours I had been to leeward. My berth was now to windward; and in the disturbed state of my head and nerves, I expected nothing less than to be pitched out on the floor of my cabin. With this miserable feeling I could not close my eyes. The labouring vessel ploughed her rugged way, while the various noises above and below rendered this to me a hideous night. Shortly after twelve, while in a state of doubtful somnolency, my ears were struck with the sound of the signal-gun to tack; and immediately after a short and horrid shriek roused me from my pillow.

I involuntarily started up; but in the effort struck my forehead with such violence against the beam above me, as to throw me back senseless and bleeding on my mattress. How long I remained unnoticed I know not; but when I recovered the first shock, I perceived the commander and the surgeon with a lantern in hand by my berthside, attracted by my groans, to whom I recounted as well as I was able the cause of my mishap, attributing it to what I then imagined a horrid dream; but, alas! it was a sad reality. The men on deck and the officers below had heard the dismal sound; and not a doubt remained but that some dire calamity had befallen some of our convoy.

The next morning the weather proved more moderate, but the wind was foul and baffling; but we still held a good station close on the quarter of our commodore. In the course of his observations amongst the fleet, the agent perceived one of the transports to be missing, and as each had its distinguishing vane, with its name and number of troops entered in his book, he was at no loss to name the missing vessel; and on referring to the returns, I perceived with sorrow that TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THREE MEN AND ELEVEN OFFICERS had embarked on board that ill-fated ship!

We heard nothing of the particulars of this calamity until we reached Barbadoes. According to the log-book of the manof-war, it appeared that in tacking a transport had run aboard the commodore, and (as it was supposed) FOUNDERED!

The officers of the watch laid the entire blame upon the crew of the transport; but dead men tell no tales: the voice which could have told the truth, was for ever "hushed in the bosom of the black abyss;" but its last dismal shriek still rings in my ears.

I suffered so much pain from the injury my head received from that violent concussion, as to be incapable of reading or taking my accustomed exercise for some days; but the return of fine weather and smooth water tempted me, at the end of a week's confinement, once more on deck. The sailors were making preparations for enacting that farce usually performed on crossing The Line, a thing which tells very well to landsmen on paper, but is in reality a sad silly piece of buffoonery, even when the most strained exertions are made to give it effect.

The only passengers to be operated on in our ship were the two store-keepers, myself, and, I believe, half a dozen of the young sailors. The sport of the thing, which could only be deemed sport by some speculating spinsters on Neptune's highroad to Hindostan and a husband, (to whom the sight of a tarry seaman, almost in a state of nudity, must be a novelty,) was entirely confined to the forecastle, the fresh-watermen aft having

bought off the penalty of ducking and shaving with three bot

tles of rum.

I had every reason to be satisfied with the doctor's kind attention to me; for, as he afterwards informed me, he had considered my accident likely to prove more serious than I was myself aware of. He now, however, allowed me to drink my usual moderate quantum of wine, and to amuse myself with books. The difference of climate soon became apparent, and day, after day we cast off our cloth, and adopted the lighter garments. The Jacks had all donned their canvass vests, their straw hats, and cast off their shoes and stockings. The awning was stretched over the quarter-deck, and the wind sails were rigged at the main and fore-hatchway. The light summer sails (the multifarious patches on which gave signs of ancient service) were bent to the yards, and the studding-sails rigged out on both sides.

Our voyage henceforth became a party of pleasure; there were a few dull sailers in the fleet, for the coming up of which we were occasionally obliged to shorten sail; but, with the exception of this drawback, our fleet met with no interruption.

I sometimes amused myself with trying to strike the dolphin with the grains; but all my attempts failed. The silvery flyingfish in small shoals, winging their short and sparkling flight close by our ship, was always an object of pleasing contemplation; they are frequently found entangled in the rigging of vessels. About the thirtieth day from the Land's End the commodore gave the signal that he had made the land; that is to say, by his reckoning, not by sight. This set our master and the lieutenant to work, the result of whose joint calculations was, that we were yet three hundred miles from Barbadoes!

In accordance, however, with orders, although we carried on all day under cracking booms, every evening sail was reduced, and the usual signal for "The convoy to close round the commodore, and carefully observe his movements during the ensuing night," was most strictly attended to.

66

On the thirty-second morning, the lad at the foretop-gallantmast shouted out " Land, ho! land, ho! right a-head!" And the mate, who instantly ran aloft to ascertain that point, corroborated the intelligence by saying that he saw the "cobbler lathering his chin," an expression, the meaning of which I did not comprehend until about two hours after, when we came in full view of the long reef of rocks called the "Cobblers," covered with its eternal snowy foam of breakers; far behind which lay the beautiful land of Barbadoes, glittering with luxuriant verdure. One of the frigates "stepped out," (as the sailors said) under a cloud of canvass; and the only two ships that still hung a-stern were taken in tow by the sixty-four and the VOL. II.

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