this occasion, greatly moved to anger by the
tragical event which had occurred while the
islands were under his control, and considering
himself personally responsible for the result, he
dictated a number of impulsive orders, which I
had to reduce to writing. This occupation
detained me for several hours; but towards
midnight I was released, and the first use I made
of my freedom was to return to F——'s house,
to ascertain his condition.

A great change had taken place. Poor F——
had recovered his consciousness, had been able
to tell the story of the crime of which he was
the victim, but he was a dying man, and the
statement he made was a deposition which those
who heard it formally attested. His words
were to the following effect: "Being engaged
to dine at the mess of the——Regiment, I
dressed about half-past five this afternoon, and
shortly afterwards went out, meaning to walk
gently up to the barracks. I had got as far as
the lane which turns on the left hand towards
Government House, and was passing by, when
I heard some one calling out to me by name to
stop, and looking round, I saw a man in whom,
though it was almost dusk, I at once recognised
Joel Tucker. He was running fast down the
lane towards me, and on his nearer approach I
saw that he held a pistol in his hand, and
seemed to be greatly excited. 'What is the
matter, Tucker?' I asked. 'What are you
doing with that pistol?' 'What I want to do
with it,' he answered, 'I'll tell you.' Then he
added, with an oath: ' I've been looking for
your——brother-in-law. He wasn't at home,
but I'll shoot him wherever I find him!' 'You
must be mad, Tucker,' I said. 'What harm has
he done you?' 'Mad!' he repeated; 'maybe I
am; but mad or not, I'll have his blood! Harm?
Harm enough to make me take his life.' Knowing
the violence of the man's character, I tried
to calm him. 'Come, come. Tucker,' I said,
'something has put you out, and, in your
mistaken anger, you are laying the blame on my
brother-in-law. Why, he's as good a friend to
you as I am, or as any one in the island.'
'Mistaken,' he replied; 'no, I'm not such a fool as
that. As if I didn't know who it was last week
before I got home that drove my pigs out of
his Indian corn, and nearly cut one of 'em in
two with his cursed hoe. A pretty friend he is
—and you, perhaps, are just such another.'
'Never mind me,' I said; 'let us talk about
H——. Surely you don't bear malice for such
a thing as that, and so long, too? He was in a
passion, I dare say, and never meant to hurt the
animal—only wanted to drive it away, and
struck it accidentally.' 'I won't strike him
accidentally,' was Tucker's reply. 'I'll blow his
brains out wherever I meet him.' 'I must
prevent that,' said I. 'I know you don't mean
what you say; but you must give me your
pistol.' 'Where is H——?' he asked. 'Tell
me where the——is hiding?' 'I don't know,'
I replied; 'and,' I added, 'I certainly would not
tell you if I did.' 'You wouldn't!' exclaimed
Tucker, coming close up to me. 'No, I would
not,' I answered firmly. 'Then take that!' he
cried; and standing about a yard off, levelled
his weapon and fired. I remember nothing
more."

Life was ebbing fast when I was admitted to
F——'s room. He was still lying where he had
originally been placed, and, as the surgeons
supposed, was sinking from internal bleeding.
He had, however, recollection enough left to
know me, and strength enough to press my
hand and say "Good-by." A few minutes
after, all was over on earth with one of the
kindest men that ever breathed. It was a sad
night for that house, and for all who knew the
fate that had befallen its owner. Mrs. F——,
seized with violent convulsions, was removed to
her own room, which she did not leave for some
months, her form wasted, her health shattered,
with only her two orphans to comfort her, the
child being still-born, of which she was
confined a few hours after her husband's death.
A single night had wrought all this woe—a
single night, and no cause for the murder, that
made it woful! The man who felt the blow
most was, naturally, Dr. H——; he showed
its effect in the care he took of poor F——'s
widow, to whom he became more than a
brother.

For all reasons, for justice' sake, for that of
friendship, pity, and, it must be owned, the
desire of vengeance, no exertion was spared by
any of us in the endeavour to apprehend the
murderer. There was no necessity for the
circulation of hand-bills, the tragedy being in
everybody's mouth from one end of the island to the
other, but a notice, offering a large reward,
and fully describing the person of Joel Tucker,
for the information of those to whom it was not
known, appeared in the Bermuda Gazette—but
neither this notification, nor the unsuccessful
search, were productive of any immediate result.
Every morning, for six successive days, rumours
were spread that Tucker had been taken; the
long verandah was the scene of perpetual
consultation, where, when the reports were found
to be groundless, devices were suggested for
effecting the murderer's capture. At last,
information came on which, we thought, reliance
might be placed. It was stated by a mulatto,
named Isaac Forbes, a fisherman who lived in a
lonely cottage on that part of the " main"—
as the largest island is called, which partly
enriches King's Harbour, the waters we crossed
on the evening of our arrival in Bermuda—that
returning home late at night he had seen a
figure stealing through a thicket in the
neighbourhood of the Admiral's Cave, whom he
thoroughly believed was Joel Tucker. He had
reason enough for knowing him, having once
sailed in his vessel, and suffered severely from
the cruelty with which Tucker was in the habit
of treating his crew.

Amongst the natural curiosities of Bermuda,
the most remarkable are the numerous caves
which undermine the islands in so many places.
Many of them penetrate to great distances, and
all are of extraordinary beauty; the profusion,