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Article TRAVELS BY A FREEMASON. Page 1 of 6 →
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Travels By A Freemason.
TRAVELS BY A FREEMASON .
CHAPTEB TT . . — . BEA . ZIL . ( Continued from page 544 . ) How much , soever Mr . Darkle might lament that his new employe was a [ Freemason , and was perpetually mixed up in some troubles , he was not inclined to discharge me from his service . On the
contrary , he reflected that the sooner I left Rio the more chance there would be of quietness to him . He therefore hastened the preparations that were being made to fit one of his vessels for sailing , and soon had the pleasurable task of telling me that on the morrow my services would be required .
The brig Maria Isabella was going down to the small seaport-town of Mang ' aratiba , to bring vegetables back to Bio . She cleared out from Rio with a miscellaneous cargo . I happened to be on board the morning of her sailing rather early , having taken a message to the captain , while my faithful servant was preparing luggage for embarkation . As I approached the brig in the boat , I could not
help being struck with her exceeding beauty , and the gracefulness and symmetry of her build . Tou might have mistaken her for a yacht , and would scarcely have desired to load so light a vessel with any heavy cargo ; she seemed as unsuitable for the transport of merchandise as Burns was for his ignominious post of ganger . She floated so buoyantly upon the still waters , that any man with an eye
to speed would immediately have bought her , and found no reason to repent his choice . The captain had gone on shore , and I was walking the deck , when a boat came alongside , from an English man-of-war in the harbour , commanded by a young lieutenant . He stepped on deck , saluting me with the greatest courtesy , and announced himself as coming from the English steamer Us urious , in search of a deserter . He was informed that the deserter had swum by night alongside the Maria
Isabella , hqid got secretly on board , and stowed himself away below . Would I have any objection to his searching the hold , as he did not suspect the captain or crew of the vessel of any connivance with the deserter ? I gave him permission readily enough , and he disappeared with two of the boat ' s crew . Some time elapsed , after which they reappeared ; and the lieutenant apologized for the trouble he had caused me , regretting that some inaccurate information had led him to make a fruitless search in the Maria Isabella .
Towards afternoon the captain returned on board . He was a tall dark man , who looked upon me in a sort of suspicious manner , which was singular , considering that we had never met , to my knowledge . I certainly thought I had heard a voice closely resembling his before ; but where I could not remember . He was English by birth , though calling himself an American , and had passed most of his life abroad .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Travels By A Freemason.
TRAVELS BY A FREEMASON .
CHAPTEB TT . . — . BEA . ZIL . ( Continued from page 544 . ) How much , soever Mr . Darkle might lament that his new employe was a [ Freemason , and was perpetually mixed up in some troubles , he was not inclined to discharge me from his service . On the
contrary , he reflected that the sooner I left Rio the more chance there would be of quietness to him . He therefore hastened the preparations that were being made to fit one of his vessels for sailing , and soon had the pleasurable task of telling me that on the morrow my services would be required .
The brig Maria Isabella was going down to the small seaport-town of Mang ' aratiba , to bring vegetables back to Bio . She cleared out from Rio with a miscellaneous cargo . I happened to be on board the morning of her sailing rather early , having taken a message to the captain , while my faithful servant was preparing luggage for embarkation . As I approached the brig in the boat , I could not
help being struck with her exceeding beauty , and the gracefulness and symmetry of her build . Tou might have mistaken her for a yacht , and would scarcely have desired to load so light a vessel with any heavy cargo ; she seemed as unsuitable for the transport of merchandise as Burns was for his ignominious post of ganger . She floated so buoyantly upon the still waters , that any man with an eye
to speed would immediately have bought her , and found no reason to repent his choice . The captain had gone on shore , and I was walking the deck , when a boat came alongside , from an English man-of-war in the harbour , commanded by a young lieutenant . He stepped on deck , saluting me with the greatest courtesy , and announced himself as coming from the English steamer Us urious , in search of a deserter . He was informed that the deserter had swum by night alongside the Maria
Isabella , hqid got secretly on board , and stowed himself away below . Would I have any objection to his searching the hold , as he did not suspect the captain or crew of the vessel of any connivance with the deserter ? I gave him permission readily enough , and he disappeared with two of the boat ' s crew . Some time elapsed , after which they reappeared ; and the lieutenant apologized for the trouble he had caused me , regretting that some inaccurate information had led him to make a fruitless search in the Maria Isabella .
Towards afternoon the captain returned on board . He was a tall dark man , who looked upon me in a sort of suspicious manner , which was singular , considering that we had never met , to my knowledge . I certainly thought I had heard a voice closely resembling his before ; but where I could not remember . He was English by birth , though calling himself an American , and had passed most of his life abroad .