_Oliv._ "Did he write this?"
_Clo._ "Ay, Madam."

What You Will.


If we say that Alida de Barbérie did not cast a glance behind her, as the
party quitted the wharf, in order to see whether the boat that contained
the commander of the cruiser followed the example of the others, we shall
probably portray the maiden as one that was less subject to the influence
of coquetry than the truth would justify. To the great discontent of the
Alderman, whatever might have been the feelings of his niece, on the
occasion, the barge continued to approach the shore, in a manner which
showed that the young seaman betrayed no visible interest in the result of
the chase.

The heights of Staten Island, a century ago, were covered, much as they
are at present, with a growth of dwarf-trees. Foot-paths led among this
meagre vegetation, in divers directions; and as the hamlet at the
Quarantine-Ground was the point whence they all diverged, it required a
practised guide to thread their mazes, without a loss of both time and
distance. It would seem, however, that the worthy burgher was fully equal
to the office; for, moving with more than his usual agility, he soon led
his companions into the wood, and, by frequently altering his course, so
completely confounded their sense of the relative bearings of places, that
it is not probable one of them all could very readily have extricated
himself from the labyrinth.

"Clouds and shady bowers!" exclaimed Myndert, when he had achieved, to his
own satisfaction, this evasion of the pursuit he wished to avoid; "little