OR THE DESERT ISLAND. 19

CHAPTER Ii.

Philip Merville, the Sailor— Blind Maria — Forgiveness of Inju-
ries — Death of Maria.

Tur war between England and her American colonies
was now at its meridian, and recruiting parties were every
day visiting this part of the country in search of sailors for
the French navy. The marquis let them know how de-
sirous he was to remove from his neighbourhood a certain
individual who annoyed him excessively, and they took
their measures accordingly.

Philip loved the sea: he could manage a boat admi-
rably, and was wont, from time to time, to make sundry
little aquatic excursions in company with a few sailors
whose friendship he possessed. He was disposing himself
for one of these trips when he was met by a recruiting
party, that forced him to put on a sailor’s jacket, and then
cruelly hurried him off, without even permitting him to bid
farewell to his family. Indeed, it was with extreme diffi-
culty that he got them to promise that word should be