Unluckily for him,
the housemaid perceived the mistake which his absence of thought had
led him into; and, snatching the mysterious vessel with her left hand,
she hid it under her apron, while with her right she gave the poor
fellow such a slap on the cheek, as to bring to my mind the tail of
the whale descending on the boat at Bermuda. "You great fool," said
she, "nobody wants that."
"There is matrimony in that slap," said I; and the event proved I was
right--they were _asked_ in church the Sunday following.
The industrious application of salts, cold water, and burnt rags,
together with chafing of temples, opening of collars, and loosening
the stay-laces of the young ladies, produced the happiest effects.
Every hand, and every tongue was in motion; and with all these
remedies, the eyes of the enchanting Emily opened, and beamed upon me,
spreading joy and gladness over the face of creation, like the sun
rising out of the bosom of the Atlantic, to cheer the inhabitants of
the Antilles after a frightful hurricane. In half an hour, all was
right; "the guns were secured--we beat the retreat;" the servants
retired. I became the centre of the picture. Emily held my right, my
father my left; dear Clara hung round my neck. Questions were put and
answered as fast as sobs and tears would admit of their being heard.
The interlude was filled up with the sweetest kisses from the rosiest
of lips; and I was in this half hour rewarded for all I had suffered
since I had sailed from England in the diabolical brig for Barbadoes.
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