Page:The Naval Officer (1829), vol. 2.djvu/95

 their dark caverns. They rent the hearts of the poor tender-hearted girls; and when the thorough bass of the males was joined by the sopranos and trebles of the women and children, it would have made Orpheus himself turn round and gaze.

"Oh, Miss Judy! Oh, Miss Maria! would ye be so cruel as to see us poor craturs dragged away to a man-of-war, and not for to go and spake a word for us? A word to the captain wid your own pretty mouths, no doubt he would let us off."

The young ladies, though doubting the powers of their own fascinations, resolved to make the experiment: so, begging the lieutenant of the sloop to give them a passage on board, to speak with his captain, they added a small matter of finery to their dress, and skipped into the boat like a couple of mountainkids, caring neither for the exposure of legs nor the spray of the salt water, which, though it took the curls out of their hair, added a