they both lived, and became again free men.

How those sodden hours and days dragged! How long were those black
nights, in which I lay sleepless, listening to indescribable noises,
and breathing the rank, poisonous air. The short time passed on deck
was my only solace, and yet even there I found little to interest,
except a continuous new hope. We were herded well forward, a rope
dividing us from the main deck, which space the passengers aft used as
a promenade. Here, between the foremast and the cabin, someone was
strolling idly about most of the time, or lounging along the rail out
of the sun. In time I came to recognize them all by sight, and
learned, in one way or another, something of their characteristics,
and purpose in taking this voyage. They were not an unusual lot, the
majority planters from the Colonies homeward bound, with occasionally
a new emigrant about to try for fortune beyond seas, together with one
or two naval officers. There were only three women aboard, a fat
dowager, the young lady I had noticed at embarkation, and her colored
maid. Many of the days were pleasant, with quiet sea and bright
sunshine, and the younger woman must have passed hours on deck during
so long and tedious a voyage. Yet it chanced I saw almost nothing of
her. I heard her presence on board discussed several times by others
of our company, but it somehow chanced that during my time in the open
she was usually below. Indeed I gained but one glimpse of the lady in
the first two weeks at sea, and then only as we were being ordered
down to our quarters for the night. Just as I was approaching the
hatch to descend, she appeared from within the cabin, accompanied by
the middle-aged planter, and the two advanced toward the rail. The
younger gallant, who was standing there alone, saw them the moment
they emerged, and hastened forward, bowing low, hat in hand. She
barely recognized him, her gaze traveling beyond the fellow toward the