least a year two before that time. Paddy Murphy crossed himself; for you see he was nothing better than a Papist. It gave us, to be sure, a very nervous creeping sort of a feel, to think that we were going to be taken prisoners on board a vessel that was not at all a real one, and which was sailed by a crew of men that we had seen drowned with our own eyes, only just the day before.

"So we sheered off, and tried our best to get away from her, expecting, however, every moment to have a ball sent through our rigging; for that's just the way with those fellows: if you don't heave to directly they want you, they fire at your rigging, and if you do not take any notice of that, they blaze away whack at your hull, till they sink you or bring you to. However, they never fired at us at all, which we thought was odd.”

66

Perhaps their powder was wet," said Ragged Jack, winking his eye, and looking very knowing.

"I turned round to see what they were after," continued the blind man, not taking

any notice of Jack's observation, "when, to my amazement, there was no cutter at all to be seen. In the spot where she was lying there was just a bit of a mist. I verily believe that she melted away into a little damp foggy cloud.

"We crowded all sail to get from her, with a nice steady breeze. The evening set in dark and cloudy, with a little mizzling rain; and at length we thought we were pretty nigh the end of our voyage, though the wea ther was so thick that we could not make the land. We kept a good look-out, and hove the lead every now and then. Presently the clouds began to clear away ahead of us, making what we call a bright eye in the sky. We expected every moment to make the Needles light, or the high land of St. Catherine's when what do you suppose we saw ?"

"I really can't tell," said Ragged Jack, coolly twirling his thumbs.

"There was the self-same revenue cutter again hove to, just as we had left her leagues and leagues behind. She was some way off

from us this time, so we cut away our tubs and altered our course; and, thank Heaven, we got home safe, without falling in again with either cutter, or ghost of a cutter."

We complimented our blind friend upon his story, with which Mr. Winterblossom was indeed very much pleased.

The blind man observed that as we seemed to have taken so much interest in what he had told us, he would, if we wished it, relate a very curious thing that happened after the death of Jack Green.

We told him that we should like very much to hear it.

THE STORY OF JACK GREEN.

"Well, sirs," said he, "you must know that Jack Green used to be a very merry, agreeable fellow. Everybody knew him, and everybody liked him. He had his joke and his bit of fun for every one, and yet somehow or other he very seldom said anything

unkind or ill-natured. Now, sirs, I think that is a great deal to say in favour of a person that everybody thinks clever.

hinted to you before, in the his turn came. We were all

Well, sir, as I

course of time

sorry for him,

and there was no one more sorry than Paddy Murphy, who had always been a particular friend of his. Everybody almost attended his funeral, and amongst others Paddy Murphy and myself, though at that time my eyesight was well nigh gone. Well, sirs, Jack Green had been dead and buried somewhat more than a week, when one evening Paddy Murphy comes in to me, looking very pale. "Thomas,' says he to me, I feel very uncomfortable.'

666

'Tayn't the cholera, I hope,' says I: for at that time folks were making a great bother about the cholera.

"It's nothing at all of that sort,' says he. "What is it, then?" says I.

"Well, then, I'll tell you,' says he. It was up the shoot* I was going all by myself, except just my little dog. I had been taking

In the Isle of Wight shoot signifies a hill.

a glass at old Tim's and was going home; when just as I had got past the big elm tree, a man comes across the road to me, and slaps me upon the back, and says, Ah! Paddy, my honey, by the powers I am glad to see you; and how do you find yourself in health; and is it from ould Tim's that your coming? Sure it's a week and more that I have not seen you.'

"It was honest Jack Green's voice; in short, it was Jack Green himself. That was just the sort of joking way that he used to talk to me. I tell you I was so glad to see his merry face again, that I just forgot all about how he had died, and how I had gone to his funeral more than a week before.

"Says he to me, 'We'll have another merry evening together some of these nights, and if you cross the Channel for tubs again, maybe I'll be with you. It's drinking you have been already to-day?"

"A little,' says I.

"Besides, I must be going home,' says he. "Just then we passed by where the road goes off towards the churchyard. I gave a