onor--of
false honor--comforted him, and, animated by its spirit, he even looked
forward with pleasure upon his revenge,--upon the death of his opponent.
This would be in accordance with the justice of the case, and he
flattered himself that justice, if it did not always prevail, would
triumph in this instance. With such reflections he closed his eyes, and
sunk to his slumbers.

The Chalmetta moved lazily on her course. Her lights had all been
extinguished, and the idlers, who a few hours before had paced the
decks, were now slumbering in their berths, or on the cabin floor. The
clock over the clerk's office indicated the hour of twelve. On the main
deck forward the sleepy firemen were languidly supplying the furnaces;
the engineers, less actively employed, had fallen asleep by the
cylinders.

On the after quarter, laying flat upon the deck, were two men earnestly
engaged in conversation, in which the whispered brogue of Pat Fegan
might have been detected. After the conversation had continued some
time, one of them cautiously raised his head, as if to penetrate the
gloom that enshrouded them. Satisfied that they were alone, the two
rose, and, without noise, climbed up one of the posts to the gallery
which surrounded the cabin. Then, with a light step, they passed on, and
stopped before the state-room occupied by Vernon.

"Are you sure this is his room?" asked Hatchie, in a smothered whisper.

"Troth, I am, thin," responded his companion; "but be aisy, or you'll
wake him."

"The worse for him," replied Hatchie, as his teeth ground together.

Hatchie placed his hand upon the door, and softly opened it. The sleeper
heard him not. The negro groped about the room until his hand rested
upon some pistols which lay on a trunk by the side of the berth. These
he took, and, handing two of them to Pat, retained the third in his
hand. Closing the door, they proceeded, as they had come, to the main
deck.

Seating himself behind a heap of merchandise, Hatchie proceeded to
examine the pistols by the light of a lantern which Pat had _borrowed_
from the sleeping engineers. The pistols were of the common pattern used
in duelling. Two of the three were mates; and Hatchie discovered, on
examination, that neither of them were loaded with ball. The third
pistol, which contained two balls, was very similar in form and size to
the pair. Hatchie extracted the balls from this one, and loaded the pair
with one ball each, leaving the unmat