But the worst of them , his childish propensity to take offence and to pick quarrels , he greatly laid aside in my case , out of regard for the battle of the round-house . But whether it was because I had done well myself , or because I had been a witness of his own much greater prowess , is more than I can tell . For though he had a great taste for courage in other men , yet he admired it most in Alan Breck . CHAPTER XIII THE LOSS OF THE BRIG It was already late at night , and as dark as it ever would be at that season of the year -LRB- and that is to say , it was still pretty bright -RRB- , when Hoseason clapped his head into the round-house door . `` Here , '' said he , `` come out and see if ye can pilot . '' `` Is this one of your tricks ? '' asked Alan . `` Do I look like tricks ? '' cries the captain . `` I have other things to think of -- my brig 's in danger ! '' By the concerned look of his face , and , above all , by the sharp tones in which he spoke of his brig , it was plain to both of us he was in deadly earnest ; and so Alan and I , with no great fear of treachery , stepped on deck . The sky was clear ; it blew hard , and was bitter cold ; a great deal of daylight lingered ; and the moon , which was nearly full , shone brightly . The brig was close hauled , so as to round the southwest corner of the Island of Mull , the hills of which -LRB- and Ben More above them all , with a wisp of mist upon the top of it -RRB- lay full upon the lar-board bow . Though it was no good point of sailing for the Covenant , she tore through the seas at a great rate , pitching and straining , and pursued by the westerly swell . Altogether it was no such ill night to keep the seas in ; and I had begun to wonder what it was that sat so heavily upon the captain , when the brig rising suddenly on the top of a high swell , he pointed and cried to us to look . Away on the lee bow , a thing like a fountain rose out of the moonlit sea , and immediately after we heard a low sound of roaring . `` What do ye call that ? '' asked the captain , gloomily . `` The sea breaking on a reef , '' said Alan . `` And now ye ken where it is ; and what better would ye have ? ''
`` Ay , '' said XXXXX , `` if it was the only one . ''
Alan Ben Breck Hoseason Mull moon night offence round-house treachery