The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1880-04-01
[Temple Bari
,EKEEI SEALED LETTER. I.
IN FOUR CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER Ii.
Il was born at Brest, and, to avoi,
troubling you with details you won
care for, let me say that ran away t,
sea when | was Il lad, and was fount
slowed away in the forecastle of al
Indiaman when she had lost sight O.
land. The captain was better-naturet
than some would have been in his %
sition, and instead of pitching me int
the sea he turned me into cabin-boy
and, for my part, so anxious was | t.
prove that his kindness was not mis-
placed, | worked away so hard that al
the end of fifteen years [ found my.
:elf in command Of a merchant brie
of some five hundred tons burthen
When the Revolution broke out, the
Royal Marine (which, mind you, was
as good a service as man need wish
for) found itself deprived Of the great.
er portion of its officers, and the au.
thorities were glad enough to put men
like me in command, who had not on
ly had sufficient experience as seamen
but had also shown an aptitude fol-
fighting in brushes with pirates, and
such like irregular warfare. Howev-
er, whatever my merits were, one fine
morning / found myself in command
of the corvette Marat, Of twenty-six
guns and three hundred and fifty men
having Just received orders to get
ready for Cayenne, whittier [ was to
take a reinforcement for the garrison,
and a political prisoner, whom the
frigate Decade which had sailed a
week before, had been obliged to leave
behind for want of room. On the
2Sth of Fructidor, 1897, | received my
orders from the Directory, the first
letter inclosing a second with three
broad red seals, which I was directed
not to break until | had reached GER
tain degrees Of latitude and longitude,
Which would bring me somewhere
near the line. 1t was a remarkable
letter in many ways, for it was of ex-
treme length, and was so carefully
sealed and gummed together that I
found it impossible to CLEAN the small
est notion Of its contents, which am
not ashamed to say | was most anx-
ious to become possessed of. From
the first [ conceived dread Of this
MISUNDERSTANDING document, and af-
ter much consideration | determined
to place it inside the glass of a little
useless clock, which was fixed over my
bed. until the time arrived when | was
authorized to ascertain its contents.
The rest Of the furniture of my cabin
was as neat and appropriate as you
could find in any n1an-of-war; for in
stance, my bed at night was shut up
into sofa in the daytime, where |
smoked my pipe; the floor was waxed
and scrubbed until it shone like a
looking-glass, and when all was in
order it was as pretty room as you
would wish to see. What pleasant
days we spent there, and what an
agreeable voyage it was, until-but |
must not anticipate.
"We started with fair wind, and |
happened to be engaged in putting my
letter inside the glass Of the clock
when knock came at the cabin door,
and my prisoner entered, bringing
with him a pretty young girl, about
seventeen years Of age, whom he held
by the hand. He was not much more
than nineteen himself, and a good
looking lad, except that he was little
too pale and too white for man; he
was a man, however, and one who be-
haved like one of the heroes of ancient
days, when the occasion arose. as you
will see before I've done As | turned
round he drew his wife's arm within
his own, and there they were, looking
as fresh and happy as two turtle-doves,
and made me quite happy to see them.
$50 there you are. my children,
said /; and come to give visit to
your captain. It's very kind Of you,
and although ] have some distance to
carry you away, so much the better,
for it will give us the time to get ac-
quainted. Forgive me, madame, for
not having my coat on, but [ was en-
gagged in mailing this clock up secure
ly, so that | might get rid of this hate
full letter. Do you think you can help
me?'
'They really were nice little pair.
The little husband took the hammer
and his little wife the nails, and they
passed me the one and the other as |
asked for them; she, laughing merrily,
called out to the right, or to the left,
captain as the rolling of the ship
made the clock lurch about; in fact
she was making fun of'me.
"'You naughty child, I'll tell your
husband to scold you if you don't
mind and then she threw her arms
round his neck and kissed him; for
they were like two children, and it was
no wonder we soon became great
friends together. We were pretty
lucky in our passage, for the weather
seemed made expressly for us, and !
made my two little friends come and
dine daily with me. When our fru-
gal dinner was over they would nod
and wink to each other, and when
laughed at them they would join il
with me. Nothing came amiss tc
them, and they We're always merry
and pleased with everything that was
done for them. Although my orders
were to be kind and attentive to them
I was specially told to keep them OF
the ordinary ships rations, and they
had their hammocks like the rest ot
the crew. | was like you, my friend
and | didn't bother people with ques
tions about what did not concerI
them; for what were their name O
their affairs to me, who was only th,
captain Of the ship that took then
over to the other side Of the world
At the end Of month had begun t.
look upon them as my children; when
ever / called them they came and sd
down by me; the young man wrote a
my table (that is to say, my bed), an
helped NE to work out the longitude
and soon got to do it as well as could