“And the appearance of that object was never explained?”

“Nor ever will be.  I have since spoke with the mariners of that sea concerning the sight, but never found any who could pretend to have seen it.  There was indeed one bold enough to say, there is a church, far inland, of height and magnitude sufficient to be seen some leagues at sea, and that, favored by our position and the mists that hung above the low grounds, we had seen its upper works, looming above the fogs, and lighted for some brilliant ceremony; but we were all too old in seaman’s experience to credit so wild a tale.  I know not but a church may loom, as well as a hill or a ship; but he, who pretends to say, that the hands of man can thus pile stones among the clouds, should be certain of believers, ere he pushes the tale too far.”

“Your narrative is extraordinary, and the marvel should have been looked into closer.  It may truly have been a church, for there stands an edifice at Rome, which towers to treble the height of a cruiser’s masts.”

“Having rarely troubled churches, I know not why a church should trouble me,” said the mariner of the sash, while he turned his back on the ocean, as if indisposed to regard the waste of water longer.  “It is now twelve years since that sight was seen, and though a seaman of many voyages, my eyes have not looked upon the Roman coast, from that hour to this.  Will your Honor lead the way from the bluff, as becomes your rank?”

“Your tale of the burning cross and looming church, Master Tiller, had almost caused me to forget to watch the movements of yon periagua,” returned Ludlow, who still continued to face the bay.  “That obstinate old Dutchman——­I say, Sir, that Mr. Alderman Van Beverout has greater confidence in this description of craft than I feel myself.  I like not the looks of yonder cloud, which is rising from out the mouth of Raritan; and here, seaward, we have a gloomy horizon.—­By Heaven! there is a sail playing in the offing or my eye hath lost its use and judgment.”

“Your Honor sees the wing of the sporting gull, again; it had been nigh to deceive my sight, which would be to cheat the look-out of a man that has the advantage of some ten or fifteen years’ more practice in marine appearances.  I remember once, when beating in among the islands of the China seas, with the trades here at south-east——­”

“Enough of your marvels, friend; the church is as much as I can swallow, in one morning—­It may have been a gull! for I confess the object small; yet it had the steadiness and size of a distant sail!  There is some reason to expect one on our coast, for whom a bright and seaman’s watch must be had.”

“This may then leave me a choice of ships,” rejoined Tiller.  “I thank your Honor for having spoken, before I had given myself away to the Queen; who is a lady that is much more apt to receive gifts of this nature, than to return them.”

“If your respect aboard shall bear any proportion to your hardihood on shore, you may be accounted a model of civility!  But a mariner of your pretension should have some regard to the character of the vessel in which he takes service.”