ch I entertain, I confess, very little doubt, Captain Thurot will
treat you with the same courtesy he did before, notwithstanding what has
occurred. I am the person he will chiefly blame; and I must beg you to
inform him how long I had been on watch and how fatigued I was when I
retired to my cabin. Morbleu! to tell you the truth, I am as anxious as
you can be to keep out of his way, but don't tell him that I said so."

"You may rest assured that we will do our best to avoid an encounter,"
answered the captain, "and, should we be recaptured, that we will say
all that we can in your favour; but I trust that we shall escape--it
would be cruel to be caught after all."

The wind was becoming lighter and lighter, and thus their anxiety was
prolonged. Still the _Coquille_--for that such she was very little
doubt existed--kept creeping up. The sea became much calmer.

"I will send a boat away with Norah and Gerald; it were better to save
her from the annoyance to which she would be exposed should we again
fall into the Frenchmen's hands," said Captain Tracy. "I should wish to
let you go too, Owen; suffering from your wound, you are but ill able to
stand the confinement of a French prison."

"I am grateful to you, captain; and thankfully would I escort your
daughter, but she will be safe with her brother, and I cannot bring
myself to desert the ship," answered Owen.

"That is like you, Owen," replied the captain; "perhaps I might have
said the same were I in your place. It is my principle that every
officer should stick to his ship as long as a plank holds together; but
we shall have hands enough to take her in, should yonder stranger prove
not to be the _Coquille_, but a friend--or should we be recaptured, the
fewer people there are on board, the fewer will there be to suffer. I
have therefore made up my mind that you shall go. I will send Dan
Connor or Pompey, and Tim and Gerald can pull an oar and you can steer;
you'll not have more than ten or twelve miles to row before you can get
fresh hands, either at Duncannon Fort or at Passage, to take you up to
Waterford. See, we are scarcely making three knots an hour; the boat
can pull nearly twice as fast as that, and you will be able to keep well
ahead of the enemy. Come, I wanted to see what you would say, but I
have resolved you should go; so order the boat to be got ready, and the
sooner you are off the better."

Owen was, of course, willing enough to go for the