hands were very different in texture and colour from those of common seamen; that his features in general, although sharp, were regular; and that there was an air of superiority even in the obsequious manner of the little personage, and an indescribable something about his whole appearance which almost impressed you with awe.  Amine’s dark eyes were for a moment fixed upon the visitor, and she felt a chill at her heart for which she could not account, as she requested that he would walk in.

Philip was greatly surprised at the appearance of the stranger, who, as soon as he entered the room, without saying a word, sat down on the sofa by Philip in the place which Amine had just left.  To Philip there was something ominous in this person taking Amine’s seat; all that had passed rushed into his recollection, and he felt that there was a summons from his short existence of enjoyment and repose to a life of future activity, danger, and suffering.  What peculiarly struck Philip was, that when the little man sat beside him, a sensation of sudden cold ran through his whole frame.  The colour fled from Philip’s cheek, but he spoke not.  For a minute or two there was a silence.  The one-eyed visitor looked round him, and turning from the buffets he fixed his eyes on the form of Amine, who stood before him; at last the silence was broken by a sort of giggle on the part of the stranger, which ended in—­

“Philip Vanderdecken—­he! he!—­Philip Vanderdecken, you don’t know me?”

“I do not,” replied Philip, in a half-angry tone.

The voice of the little man was most peculiar—­it was a sort of subdued scream, the notes of which sounded in your ear long after he had ceased to speak.

“I am Schriften, one of the pilots of the Ter Schilling,” continued the man; “and I’m come—­he! he!”—­and he looked hard at Amine—­“to take you away from love”—­and looking at the buffets—­“he! he! from comfort, and from this also,” cried he, stamping his foot on the floor as he rose from the sofa—­“from terra firma—­he! he!—­to a watery grave perhaps.  Pleasant!” continued Schriften, with a giggle; and with a countenance full of meaning he fixed his one eye on Philip’s face.

Philip’s first impulse was to put his new visitor out of the door; but Amine, who read his thoughts, folded her arms as she stood before the little man, and eyed him with contempt, as she observed:—­

“We all must meet our fate, good fellow; and, whether by land or sea, death will have his due.  If death stare him in the face, the cheek of Philip Vanderdecken will never turn as white as yours is now.”

“Indeed!” replied Schriften, evidently annoyed at this cool determination on the part of one so young and beautiful; and then fixing his eye upon the silver shrine of the Virgin on the mantel-piece—­“You are a Catholic, I perceive—­he!”

“I am a Catholic,” replied Philip; “but does that concern you?  When does the vessel sail?”