"
"'Tis a singular epithet, though not without some meaning!"
"It has more than you, perhaps, dream of, sir. That worthy seaman whom
you see leaning against the foremast, and who would serve, on occasion,
for a spare spar himself, is the captain of that gun, and more than once
has decided some warm disputes with John Bull, by the manner in which he
has wielded it. No marine can trail his musket more easily than my
cockswain can train his nine-pounder on an object; and thus from their
connection, and some resemblance there is between them in length, it has
got the name which you perceive it carries--that of 'long Tom.'"
The pilot smiled as he listened, but turning away from the speaker, the
deep reflection that crossed his brow but too plainly showed that he
trifled only from momentary indulgence; and Griffith intimated to
Barnstable, that as the gale was sensibly abating they would pursue the
object of their destination.
Thus recalled to his duty, the commander of the schooner forgot the
delightful theme of expatiating on the merits of his vessel, and issued
the necessary orders to direct their movements. The little schooner
slowly obeyed the impulse of her helm, and fell off before the wind,
when the folds of her square-sail, though limited by a prudent reef,
were opened to the blasts, and she shot away from her consort, like a
meteor dancing across the waves. The black mass of the frigate's hull
soon sunk in distance; and long before the sun had fallen below the
hills of England, her tall masts were barely distinguishable by the
small cloud of sail that held the vessel to her station.
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