wn man,--`You
know, Miss O'Regan, that the colonel put you under our charge, and we
must respectfully insist on your going below. You may suffer from the
night air coming off the shore, and you cannot hasten the colonel's
return by remaining on deck. We will let you know immediately he
appears or that we can get tidings of him.'

"If it had been Lieutenant Rogers or the captain himself saying this,
neither of them could have spoken more firmly.

"`I will do as you advise, and trust to your promise,' said the young
lady, and she and her maid went below, helped down the companion ladder
by Mr Gordon and Mr Desmond.

"After this one or the other was constantly coming on deck, sent by Miss
O'Regan, to learn if the boats were returning. I felt somehow as if all
was not right, and I could not bring myself to leave Mr Rogers, who
didn't go below all night, except for a few minutes to get supper."

CHAPTER TWELVE.

NEEDHAM'S NARRATIVE (CONTINUED)--THE SARAH JANE CAPTURED BY CARTHAGENAN
FLEET--THE COLONEL AND HIS DAUGHTER, WITH THE MIDSHIPMEN, CONVEYED ON
BOARD THE ENEMY'S CORVETTE--CARRIED TO PRISON IN CARTHAGENA--THE COLONEL
SEPARATED FROM HIS DAUGHTER--STELLA, AND THE MIDSHIPMEN, WITH NEEDHAM,
PLACED IN AN UPPER ROOM--THE GAOLER'S WIFE--PLANS FOR ESCAPING--DESMOND
AND NEEDHAM GET OUT--REACH THE CONSULATE--ALARM IN THE HOUSEHOLD--OBTAIN
A BOAT, AND GO IN SEARCH OF THE CONSUL--DRIVEN OUT TO SEA.

"The night I was speaking of seemed almost as long as those we spent on
the wreck. Just at dawn the first mate came on deck.

"`No sign of the boats yet?' he asked, in an anxious tone.

"`Yes, I hear them!' exclaimed Mr Rogers, and after listening for a
minute or so to be sure that he was right, he went below to tell Miss
O'Regan. She and the three midshipmen were presently on deck.

"`The boats are pulling very fast; you'll soon have the colonel on
board,' said Mr Rogers to the young lady, as she stood eagerly looking
towards the shore, where we could as yet see nothing on account of the
mist which still hung over it.

"`Good reason they have for coming fast, I suspect,' suddenly cried the
first mate, who was turning an eye to the offing. The darkness of night
had then pretty nearly rolled away. `What do any of you fancy those
craft are out there?'

"`Why,' says I, `I make out a ship, and a brig, and a couple of
schooners. The first are men-of-war, I judge, by the squareness of
their yards, and they are standi