Upon mature consideration, therefore, he tore the
letter, having first made a memorandum of the name and place where the
writer was to be heard of, and threw the fragments into the sea.
While Morton was thus employed the vessel was unmoored, and the white
sails swelled out before a favourable north-west wind. The ship leaned
her side to the gale, and went roaring through the waves, leaving a long
and rippling furrow to track her course. The city and port from which he
had sailed became undistinguishable in the distance; the hills by which
they were surrounded melted finally into the blue sky, and Morton was
separated for several years from the land of his nativity.
CHAPTER XVI.
Whom does time gallop withal?
As You Like It.
It is fortunate for tale-tellers that they are not tied down like
theatrical writers to the unities of time and place, but may conduct
their personages to Athens and Thebes at their pleasure, and bring them
back at their convenience. Time, to use Rosalind's simile, has hitherto
paced with the hero of our tale; for betwixt Morton's first appearance as
a competitor for the popinjay and his final departure for Holland hardly
two months elapsed.
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