The first adventure, in which I was concerned, took place very shortly after I joined the Dolphin, a beautiful sloop of twelve guns, and arose out of a love affair of one of our officers. We were lying off the small town of Manchos, where we had been ordered by the Chiefs of the Revolution to wait for further orders, and, as I had only just joined the service, I was glad of the opportunity of creating an intimacy with my future companions during the idle time and ample leisure we enjoyed on that station. Among them was a very young man, who, if one might judge from first appearances, was the last person I would have expected to meet among such bold and daring companions as those with whom he had associated himself. This person was George Falkland-he was below the middle stature, and was extremely slight in his person, with a face remarkably feminine, both in the form and the expression; it was oval, with a small mouth and nose, light blue eyes, and a complexion approaching that of a female more nearly than I have ever seen in any other man; but what gave the great peculiarity to his face was, his having neither beard nor whisker, and as all our party had very large whiskers and mustachoes, his deficiency was the more remarkable; he used often laugh at his own appearance when contrasting it with that of others, and he would then divide his hair, which was a very light brown, in the middle of his forehead so as to make the contrast greater by giving the most feminine appearance possible to his face. Notwithstanding this peculiarity, the first impressions which he created on the minds of strangers were always of the most favorable kind, especially among females, for whom he seemed to possess some irresistible charm: his manners were generally mild and gentle, and his mind seemed to have been moulded by his favourite studies, which extended to every species of romance,

so that he became essentially romantic in much of his feelings; he loved an adventure for its excitement and for the novelty that was often connected with it; as to its danger, he never thought of that, unless as being more likely to heighten the excitement. He was naturally mild and gentle, but when roused by insult or by danger he was fierce as a young panther, and rushed forwards reckless of consequences. He was a kind and warm-hearted fellow, and was a universal favorite among both the officers and crew of the Dolphin, at the time of my joining them.

I have already said we were lying off Manchos. That town was a small but convenient place, and possessed all the usual characteristics of those towns which were built by the Spaniards in their American possessions; it had nothing, however, that could give it any peculiar charm in the eyes of our party, who looked to no interest in it except as far as it was ancillary to our amusement or convenience. It had once possessed a pretty extensive trade, and many of the first mercantile houses in Spain had accredited agents resident in it, but it lost all these advantages during the troubles of the revolution, which have certainly established the independence of the States, but have at the same time destroyed the trade and desolated the fortunes of the wealthiest inhabitants, and as they left some of the towns in a state very little removed from utter desolation, the little town of Manchos was not the least afflicted among the sufferers. Close to this town there was a place intimately connected with the adventure I am about to relate. It was a broad road of about a mile in length, and perfectly straight; it had a double row of the most magnificent trees on each side, and they threw a deep and cooling shade from their rich luxuriant foliage, so remarkable in this climate. This spot was once the place-the favourite place of promenade. It was so

sojourn there. They had taken it but a short time before, and it was not without reason that many of the good people of Manchos expressed to us a wish that the original Spanish proprietors were still its inhabitants instead of its present possessors.

shady and cool, in the palmy days of Spanish power and Spanish wealth; but since the outbreak of the revolution it was very little frequented, indeed when we were there, it was almost overgrown with grass. Parallel to this shady road was the river: it flowed within low and wooded banks. At a distance of some hundred yards from the road, between them, there stood-or rather once stood, a number of small, and what, in more tranquil times were comfortable villas; some of them had been completely levelled to the ground, the victims of popular fury against their possessors; others were totally consumed by fire, and a few still remained, in a very deserted and neglected state. Of this latter kind was one still standing at the farthest end of this shady road; it was completely shut out from public view, as its grounds were surrounded by a very high and strong fence, which extended to the river, so that no part of the villa or its grounds were visible except from the river side. It had originally been built by a wealthy Spanish merchant, who perished with the interests of his country in those parts, and when we were at Manchos, it was occupied, though kept in a most neglected state, by a very different person. This person was named Joseph De Castro. He was much above the middle age, and of an active habit and vigorous constitution, he was a short and stout man, evidently of mixed blood-between the Spaniard and Negro, and quite different from the native Indian; he was a quiet and intelligent person, and well acquainted with the world, but there was an expression of the deepest intrigue and subtlety about him that was very repulsive, so that it was impossible to like him. Indeed although he was known to have been a most active and energetic revolutionist, and had shewn the most desperate courage on some occasions, he yet was looked upon with doubt and suspicion by the inhabitants of Manchos, so that notwithstanding his wealth, which he freely distributed in the place, he was very generally unpopular. He was usually accompanied by a young man whose likeness to him at once bespoke him to be his son, and whose filthy profligacy rendered him detested in the vicinity. Such was the possessor of the little villa at the period of our

VOL. I.

There was one circumstance connected with these persons and the villa they occupied, which partook somewhat of the mysterious in the eyes of the populace-it was very generally believed, that there was a young lady immured within its walls, or, at least, under a very strict surveillance; such a belief led to the imagining and narrating many strange stories respecting this person, who was said to be beautiful as well as young. I shall not mention the various things that were circulated respecting her, and shall only say, that it was very generally supposed that she was the only child of a Spanish merchant, of great wealth, who was murdered in a distant part of the state, in the early stages of the revolution, and rumour went so far as to add, that old Joseph De Castro and his son were at least cognizant of the murder, and that this young lady, who was to possess all her father's wealth, was carried off by this man, with the intention of marrying her to his son, as soon as the troubles of the country should cease. Such was the story very generally credited, and it naturally excited a very deep and lively interest, among the populace, for her, and as deep a hatred for her master, I need scarcely say, that we, the crew of the Dolphin, felt a little anxious to unravel the mys tery of this lady, who, it appeared, had never been seen except by some women of the place, who were occasionally employed about the villa, and their description of her heightened our curiosity in no slight degree; but we were always restrained by Seyton from forming any decided plan for effecting our purpose, as he had communications of a public nature, and of much importance with Joseph De Castro, which might be interrupted by any such step on our part-the truth was, this individual was of more importance than the good people of Manchos imagined, he was one of the most active, as well as influential, of the secret agents of the revolution, his great wealth and deep subtlety gave him the means of effecting most important

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measures, in such a way, that the Author of them was never known except to a few who were as deeply involved in them as himself. His residence at Manchos, though it appeared to the people of that place to be for the sake of mercantile pursuits, was caused by the necessity that existed for some such active and cautious agent, to observe all movements in that district, and especially to hold communication with our vessels, which were usually kept about these coasts, unless when sent on some secret expedition: these communications were at one period very frequent, and always passed between Seyton, who commanded the Dolphin, and old Joseph De Castro, and were kept profoundly secret; so much so that the inhabitants of the place were not aware of our being in communication, and even we ourselves did not know the nature of the correspondence, at least I never knew the nature of them, although I had as much opportunity of discovering them as any other of our ship's company, for I was often the actual bearer of the letters that passed between these two persons, who were equally remarkable in their way, one for the subtlety by which he obtained information, and the other for the bold and daring manner in which he executed all his plans.

It was on an occasion of this kind that one of our party first obtained admission into the villa, and so led to the unravelling the mystery.-The crew were carousing one evening on board the Dolphin, when a boat came alongside and delivered letters for Seyton, he, on hastily looking over them, ordered George Falkland to be in readiness to go ashore immediately, at the same time calling him aside and whispering something privately-in a short time Falkland, who had left us to prepare for his mission, returned in high spirits, and dressed in the manner, which he was in the habit of saying, shewed him off to the most advantage, and he soon after went ashore-he did not return till shortly before daybreak, having been at least eight hours away, and, as it was my watch, I was on deck at the time of his coming on board. He seemed in great spirits, and thinking it was too near day to retire to his birth, he proposed remaining on deck and keeping the watch with me, as a pleasant mode for both of us to spend our time till day

light; I gladly encouraged him in this intention, and we soon fell into conversation on the matter which induced Seyton to send him ashore at so late an hour the previous evening; on this point however he was as ignorant as myself, he had not spoken or heard a word on the subject from any one," and in truth," he added gaily, "I was much more pleasantly employed"-the nature of that more agreeable employment he was not long in communicating to me.

When Seyton was giving to him his instructions, he desired him to go direct to the villa of old Joseph De Castro, and added that it was very possible he might meet some important persons there, his immediate business, however, was to deliver letters to old Joseph and to wait for an answer-in the expectation of something novel, and, considering the stories about the villa and its inhabitants, perhaps something romantic too. He started in high spirits, and, having gone up the river, landed not very many yards from the house, he was immediately challenged by two armed men, and, on his stating lus business, was conducted into the house. Having passed through the hall he was led through a large room into a smaller one that opened into it, this inner apartment was handsomely furnished and well lighted, appearing as if some persons had only that moment retired from it, here his conductors, taking his letters for Joseph de Castro, left him alone.-Being now alone, he occupied himself for a short time in looking out, to use his own phrase, to see how the land lay, and, having sufficiently reconnoitred the apartment, proceeded to walk to and fro, in the fashion of the quarter deck; his thoughts were as usual, occupied in some fanciful imagining, and he longed for something to occur that would lead to the unravelling of the mystery which hung about the villa in the minds of the good people of Manchos. He was not long parading the apartment in this manner, when he observed that a small door at one end of it was partially open, and that there was light in the inner room to which it led; he thought it strange that as he had particularly observed this door to have been closely shut on his first examination of the apartment, it should now be so evidently open, but he still continued his walk as before, till he heard some one stir

ring at the door, so he suddenly turned round and was not a little surprised at seeing a female looking attentively at him, she instantly withdrew on perceiving she was observed, and, to the disappointment of Falkland the door was again closed-he was unable to see whether the apparition, which appeared and vanished so quickly, was aged or young, and so was left to imagine whether or not she was the beautiful young Spanish prisoner of whom he had heard so much.-Falkland, however, was not the man likely to remain long in suspense on such a subject, he soon resolved on ascertaining the matter, and so stepped boldly to the door, opened it and walked into the inner apartment, from which the apparition had presented itself-in an instant he found himself looking at one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen, even the much talked of heroine of the villa and its mysteries; he hesitated, but it was only for a moment, and as he was about to offer some respectful apology, for he was somewhat ashamed of his intrusion, she laughed full in his face, and darting quickly by him, seated herself on a small lounger at the farthest end of the apartment; her manner of doing this was full of archness and playful coquetry, and Falkland, having caught her dark laughing eyes as she passed him, laughed in return, and in the impulse of the moment followed her. In an instant he was seated at her sidehe was not the person likely to find any difficulty in commencing a conversation under such circumstances, and he asked her, laughingly, how she came to be watching him, as he had detected her, she told him at once and with evident frankness that it was merely her girlish curiosity, adding that she had heard so much of the Dolphin, and her gallant crew, their daring and their adventures, that she was long anxious to meet them, and, she continued with a playfulness of manner that was irresistible, hoped that she might be forgiven for looking at the only one of them that she had the opportunity of seeing; complimentary as this reply was, it naturally led to a very lively conversation that proved very interesting, perhaps too much so, to both parties, and throughout it, the young and animated beauty continued to shew the greatest archness imaginable, it seemed to Falkland to be the natural bursts of her disposition, and her many

lively and playful sallies had the effect of rousing him, so that he flung aside all the pensive and sombre thoughts he was so fond of indulging, and joined in the conversation with all the spirit and zest that might be expected from him, when placed thus unexpectedly alone with this fascinating creature-she seem ed to be about eighteen years of age, of a remarkably slender form and low in stature; she was perfect in her figure and light as a zephyr; the only portion of her that partook strongly of her Spanish original was her face, which had the dark and sparkling eyes, so full of sentiment and so full of fire, with the long and shadowy lashes that give so soft and gentle an expression to the face; she had all the colour and form of feature which so marks the ladies of Spain; her hair, which was a perfect black, was parted in the middle of her forehead and brought behind the ears, falling down on the neck before in full and luxuriant curls, that, as they changed with every motion of her head, gave every moment some new variety to her appearance. It was not to be wondered at that a young fellow, like Falkland, full of romance and adventure, should be caught by the charms of this young beauty, about whom there had hung so much of mystery, especially when she had treated him with such evident frankness and shewed in that way, which persons like her so well understand, that she was not insensible to either his attractions or his attentions; indeed a conversation commenced under such circumstances and continued for some hours, without any intrusion on their loneliness, was not likely to conclude without two such young persons feeling some interest in each other, and wishing that they could meet again; such wishes soon formed gentle words and still gentler looks to express them, and Falkland, who thought that notwithstanding all her playfulness and girlish merryment, she would at times shewa deep pensiveness of thought and feeling, the charm he prized beyond all others, was as perfectly enamoured of her as he could well be at a first meeting from some expressions which had fallen from her, he suspected she was not happy, notwithstanding all the liveliness she displayed. It seemed to him as if her residence with Joseph de Castro was far from being one of her own choosing, and that she was very

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far from satisfied with the immured life she was leading in that retired and solitary villa. She did not go so far as to say anything that would quite justify all the stories that had been circulated, but still she spoke as if she was under some restraint, and expressed herself at times in a way that seemed mysterious to him she seemed often on the point of speaking more fully, but would then instantly check herself, so he resolved to unravel it all at once; presuming on the frankness and indeed the confiding manner in which she had been speaking to him, he told her the impressions that were upon his mind and asked her to explain some things she had said in allusion to her residence in that place his enquiry was made in a most respectful way and in the kindest tone and gentlest manner, and nothing could be more insinuating and kind and gentle, than his manner on any occasion in which his feelings took part; she seemed for a moment much affected by the deep interest which his manner seemed to indicate he felt for her; she looked him straight and earnestly in the face for an instant, and then turn ed from him there was a short pause, and before she could reply, the footsteps, of old Joseph were heard in the adjoining room and he entered the apartment where they were sitting.-Falkland cursed in his heart the author of this intrusion, and, observing that he seemed surprised and displeased at finding the young people together, rose to meet him with a look of haughty and fierce, defiance, this did not pass unobserved by old Joseph, who immediately motioned with his hand to the girl to withdraw, and then coolly placed his letters in the hands of Falkland, who knew his duty too well not to accept them in silence, they were directed to Seyton, so he retired to his boat and was soon afterwards on board.

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Such were the circumstances that commenced the acquaintance of the romantic Falkland with the beautiful Isabel D'Altara, and it had perhaps been happy for them both that it had proceeded no farther; but, unfortunately, there were a few other messages of the same kind that brought him to the villa again, and enabled him to meet her too often. This acquaintance was of much value to us, and was, on that account, encouraged, for she often communicated to him information which

was precisely opposite to the contents of old Joseph De Castro's despatches All this was conveyed immediately to Seyton, who began to entertain strong suspicions of the fidelity of this old agent, with whom the chiefs of the revolution had desired him to com municate. But if this acquaintance was of importance to us in general, it proved still more so to Falkland, who soon found means of continually meeting this fascinating girl, and the effect of such frequent meetings was, naturally, the uniting them by the gentlest feelings. His mind was of such an imagi native nature, that his thoughts were always dwelling on some fanciful vision, and he now found in her one just suited to occupy the place in his feelings which ideal beings had hitherto possessed. He permitted himself to dream, and dream on, of her; and so, by degrees, to mingle her in every thought that concerned himself. The change which this attachment wrought in his manner, was observed by us all; for, instead of mingling with us, he seemed rather to avoid our society; and while the laugh and the revelry of the night went on, he, who once delighted and sparkled in them, would retire, and walk the quarter-deck, wrapped up in his own reflections. He now seldom joined our excursions, and seemed to take no pleasure in our usual amusements. There was witchery in the spell she threw around him. This was particularly observable after one eve ning, which seemed to have bound him more effectually than ever. Something passed between them some full declaration of her history, or her feelings, or some mutual pledging of affections, which influenced him more than all that had previously passed. From that time he became wholly changed in his manner, and grew thoughtful and abstracted. We thought, if possible, that, if we were ordered from that station, so that he could meet her no more, the change of scene, and the lapse of time, might, perhaps, wean him from the remembrance of her; but, unhappily for him, we were stationed there for some time longer, and he used to go ashore every evening after sunset, and run in a small canoe up the river to where it flowed by the villa. There she used to meet him in secret. These continued meetings, and the long walks, and many conversations, in the