Before continuing this narrative the reader may here be informed
that our hero had come into this enchanted world as the
supercargo of the ship SUSANNA HAYES, of Philadelphia; that he
had for several years proved himself so honest and industrious a
servant to the merchant house of the worthy Jeremiah Doolittle
that that benevolent man had given to his well-deserving clerk
this opportunity at once of gratifying an inclination for foreign
travel and of filling a position of trust that should redound to
his individual profit. The SUSANNA HAYES had entered Kingston
Harbor that afternoon, and this was Jonathan's first night spent
in those tropical latitudes, whither his fancy and his
imagination had so often carried him while he stood over the desk
filing the accounts of invoices from foreign parts.

It might be finally added that, had he at all conceived how soon
and to what a degree his sudden inclination for adventure was to
be gratified, his romantic aspirations might have been somewhat
dashed at the prospect that lay before him.




II. The Mysterious Lady with the Silver Veil



At that moment our hero suddenly became conscious of the fact
that a small wicket in a wooden gate near which he stood had been
opened, and that the eyes of an otherwise concealed countenance
were observing him with the utmost closeness of scrutiny.