s alone."

"Well, who knows but I might, sir! My idee of the Folly, just now, sir,
is that she is somewhere off Capri, under short canvas, waiting for
Captain Rule and I to join her, and keeping a sharp lookout after the
inimies' cruisers."

Now, this was not only precisely the position of the lugger at that very
moment, but it was what Ithuel actually believed to be her position.
Still nothing was further from this man's intention than to betray his
former messmates. He was so very cunning as to have detected how little
Cuffe was disposed to believe him; and he told the truth as the most
certain means of averting mischief from the lugger. Nor did his _ruse_
fail of its object. His whole manner had so much deceit and low cunning
about it, that neither Cuffe nor Griffin believed a word he said; and
after a little more pumping, the fellow was dismissed in disgust, with a
sharp intimation that it would be singularly for his interest to look
out how he discharged his general duties in the ship.

"This will never do, Griffin," exclaimed the captain, vexed and
disappointed. "Should anything occur to Clinch, or should the admiral
happen to be off with the king, on one of his shooting excursions, we
shall be in a most serious dilemma. Would to God we had not left the
anchorage at Capri! _Then_ might communicate with the flag with some
certainty. I shall never forgive myself if anything fatal actually
take place!"

"When one does all for the best, Captain Cuffe, his mind ought to be at
ease, and you could not possibly foresee what has happened. Might
not--one wouldn't like either--but--necessity is a hard master----"

"Out with it, Griffin--anything is better than suspense."

"Well, sir, I was just thinking that possibly this young Italian girl
might know something about the lugger, and, as she clearly loves the
Frenchman, we should get a strong purchase on her tongue by means of
her heart."

Cuffe looked intently at his lieutenant for half a minute; then he shook
his head in disapprobation.

"No, Griffin, no," he said, "to this I never can consent. As for this
quibbling, equivocating Yankee, if Yankee he be, one wouldn't feel many
scruples of delicacy; but to probe the affections of a poor innocent
girl in this way would be going too far. The heart of a young girl
should be sacred, under every circumstance."

Griffin colored, and he bit his lip. No one likes to be outdone, in the
appearance of generosity, at least; a