The Arkansas advocate., 1833-12-04
TALES OF CHARACTER < COUNTRY.
Written for the Advocate. Weathering the Cape.

Some four or f1ve years ago. embarked at Portland, in the State of Maine, in small schooner, for the purpose of taking a trip to Boston. Our crew consisted oi' seven men, besides the Captain, sturdy old veteran of : the ocean, with face scared with thous- and northeasters, but with the noble and brave heart of Yankee sailor. There were three passengers beside myself, one of whom was . beautiful girl fsrroHi Portland the others were young men-one Of them very young, Hght-hearted, and merry as a cricket-while the other was sad, quiet, student-looking man, perhaps twenty-five ! years of age.
 WashingtonIrvingha ghasbeauntblly describ- ed the calm emotion of delight created by sailing oil quiet summer sea-and to my mind, there Is no feeling 50 intensely, yet calmly and deeply delicious. As we sailed quietly along, with a pleasant, still wind just filling our sails, and with the low, grey shores of New England in full sight, l could feel the truth and beauty of his de- scriptions-and l too had my waking and wild dreams and castles Ill the air. But there was none of that monotony, of which he speaks, for the merry glee of the sailors, and the conversation of the passengers, tho 1t all grows stale and tiresome in long voyage, had not yet lost the charm of nov city, and was sufficient antidote against care-while a fishing boat here and there, speaking the surface of the ocean, relieved the sight and gave pleasant idea of com panionship. There was to me, too, some thing interesting in the demeanor of the old CT passenger, who appeared to be merely a speaking acquaintance of the lady and her young brother-and yet fancied that there was tfemor in his tone, and a low modula- tion of intense feeling, when he addressed her-whlch he did but seldom, and III few words. 4 dozen theories ran thro' my brain, as to their character and history. l scrutiniZed their dress, manners, and con- versaton carefully. The lady and her broth CT were wealthy and we'll educated-I saw that at once. he Student was well edu- cated too-his dress was plain--a rich man might have worn it--but still 1t was not too fine for poor one. 1 spun all my theories, and then, like Penelope, took them to pieces again; and was as much in the dark as ev- CT. He was her lover-that was plain but whether she knew not his love, or re- fused to accept 1t, could not tell. She had toe, .-4areh taff if she did know ii. or ,vs,e too unsuspeeting, if she did not, for me to decide how the case stood. l inclined, however, to the latter opinion. She never seemed distant or repulSiye towards him. but on the contrary, except in the low, ear nest tones of his voice, his manner towards her was rather cold and formal.
 Bewildered in theory, I raised my head from my hands, and saw that the Student had retired to the cabin. l remembered something which l wanted there, and also descended, leaving the young man and his lovely sister still watching the bright sun of the morning, and the wild radiance of the waves. As entered the cabin, the Stu- dent handed me a letter, which, he observed, he had found on the carpet, and which must, he presumed, belong to me, as 1 rose last It was letter of introduction. ''I could not see the gentleman to whom 1t IS addressed" said 1, E'whlle in Portland. ."-- "No," said he, q was absent until last eve- ning-but you may give 1t me now-l am Edward Warren" Thus commenced our acauaintance-and in an hour or two, learned his brief history. He was young and enthusiastic student, and poet-but1he l was poor. He loved Sarah R-, but she was rich, and he restrained himself. " lie would not" he said, "be so base as to ask her to wed with poverty. Better let bis heart waste to ashes.' She had an aunt 1 in Boston, whom she was about to visit and business had compelled him to go round in the same vessel--this was all- ali my speculatlons were wrong. So much for theorlzing
 ] We left Portland just at nlght-l might have mentioned 1t before-and the next af- ternoon, when nearly opposite the Town of ] Newburyport, the wind which had hitherto l blown from the northwest, changed its dl- rection, and came from the northeast. As 1t began to whistle merrily thro' the shrouds, the little vessel bowed herself upon her side, and rode swiftly over the waves. saw that the sailors cast frequent and hur- ried glances toward the east--ior a time, could see nothing there to create alarm, but af length 1 descried low, misty line, lifting like long wave, above the dark outline ol the horizon. Just then the brother of the lady, who was sitting not far from me, com menced loudly whistling mournful old mi nor air. Instantly I saw the quick eyes
 of the sailors turned on him with angry and
 threatening glances-and shortly after, one
 of them approached the Captain, and spoke
 earnestly to him-he immediately left the
 filler and came towards us. @Sir," said he
 to the young man, ''my men think as how :. :: .ll 4o ho auhistllno when the