But if prepossessed in his favour before she saw him, what did she feel when she first beheld the substantial proportions of Corporal Van Spitter!  There she beheld the beau ideal of her imagination—­the very object of her widow’s dreams—­the antipodes of Vanslyperken, and as superior as “Hyperion to a Satyr.”  He had all the personal advantages, with none of the defects of her late husband; he was quite as fleshy, but had at least six inches more in height, and, in the eyes of the widow, the Corporal Van Spitter was the finest man she ever had beheld, and she mentally exclaimed, “There is the man for my money;” and, at the same time, resolved that she would win him.  Alas I how short-sighted are mortals; little did the corporal imagine that the most untoward event in his life would be the cause of his being possessed of ease and competence.  The widow received him most graciously, spoke in no measured terms against Vanslyperken, at which the corporal raised his huge shoulders, as much as to say, “He is even worse than you think him,” was very violent against Snarleyyow, whom the corporal, aware that it was no mutiny, made no ceremony in “damning in heaps,” as the saying is.

The widow begged that he would feel no uneasiness, as he should remain with her till the cutter returned; and an hour after the first introduction, Corporal Van Spitter had breakfasted with, and was actually sitting, by her request, on the little fubsy sofa, in the very place of Vanslyperken, with Frau Vandersloosh by his side.

We must pass over the few days during which the cutter was away.  Widows have not that maiden modesty to thwart their wishes, which so often prevents a true love tale from being told.  And all that the widow could not tell, Babette, duly instructed, told for her, and it was understood, before the cutter’s arrival, that Corporal Van Spitter was the accepted lover of the Frau Vandersloosh.  But still it was necessary that there should be secrecy, not only on account of the corporal’s being under the command of the lieutenant, who, of course, would not allow himself to be crossed in his love without resenting it, but also, because it was not advisable that the crew of the Yungfrau should not be permitted to spend their money at the Lust Haus.  It was therefore agreed that the lieutenant should be blinded, as to the real nature of the intimacy, and that nothing should take place until the cutter was paid off, and Corporal Van Spitter should be a gentleman at large.

Independent of the wisdom of the above proceedings, there was a secret pleasure to all parties in deceiving the deceiver Vanslyperken.  But something else occurred which we must now refer to.  The corporal’s residence at the widow’s house had not been unobserved by the Jesuit, who was the French agent in the house opposite, and it appeared to him, after the inquiries he had made, that Corporal Van Spitter might be made serviceable.  He had been sent for and sounded,