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May the devil choke them with the first morsel they eat! I wish they would go to any house but thine.

Why dost thou say so, my dear boy?

I'll tell thee a secret, mother; I'll sail with those men no more, if I can effect my escape.

What makes thee say so?

I'll tell thee why, and in few words, too, though it is a story to make one's ears tingle. There was a noble passenger on board, and when the storm raged at its pitch, and we were in jeopardy, some exclamations which fell from his lips made one who stood near him imagine that he must needs be a murderer.

Mercy on us! did he own himself such? remorse wrings strange tales from parched lips in the hour of danger.

He confessed having shed blood, but with no deliberate intention; and I could pawn my life upon it that he spoke the truth. Yet those cowardly devils durst not abide the peril of the storm in his company.

And they cast him overboard!

Nay: the stoutest of them all durst not lay a finger on him. He kept them off with his drawn sword, till he gained