I was overwhelmed with miserable, womanish pity for my broken friend; his outcries grieved my spirit; I saw him then and now--then, so invincible; now, brought so low--and knew neither how to refuse, nor how to consent to his proposal.

The remembrance of my father, who had fallen in the same field unstained, the image of his monument incongruously rising, a fear of the law, a chill air that seemed to blow upon my fancy from the doors of prisons, and the imaginary clank of fetters, recalled me to a different resolve.

And then again, the wails of my sick partner intervened.

So I stood hesitating, and yet with a strong sense of capacity behind: sure, if I could but choose my path, that I should walk in it with resolution.
Then I remembered that I had a friend on board, and stepped to the companion.
"Gentlemen," said I, "only a few moments more: but these, I regret to say, I must make more tedious still by removing your companion.

It is indispensable that I should have a word or two with Captain Nares." Both the smugglers were afoot at once, protesting.