very twenty-four
hours. He is ever full of confidence and brimming with hope when the
wind is from the eastward; but let it only come a point west, his
spirits fall at once, and he dreams of frigates and gunboats, and the
hulks in the Thames; and though they offered him a cardinal's hat, he 'd
not venture out to sea."

The warning looks of the bystanders, and even some signals to be
cautious, here interrupted the speaker, who paused for a few seconds,
and then fixed his eyes on me.

"I have no fears, gentlemen, on that score. I know my countrymen well,
though I have lived little among them. My namesake here may like the
service of the Emperor better than that of a king,--he may prefer the
glitter of the eagle to the war-cry of Saint Louis,--but he 'll never
betray the private conversations nor expose the opinions expressed
before him in all the confidence of social intercourse.

"We are speaking, Mr. Burke, of an abbe who is about to visit Ireland,
and whose fears of the English cruisers seem little reasonable to some
of my friends here, though you can explain, perhaps, that they are not
groundless. I forgot,--you were but a boy when you crossed that sea."

"But he will go at last," said Madame de Langeac; "I suppose we may rely
on that?"

"We hope," said the general, shrugging his shoulders with an air of
doubt, "because, when we can do nothing else, we can always hope." And
so saying he arose from the table, and taking a courteous leave of each
person in turn, pleading the fatigue of his journey, he retired for the
night.

I left the saloon soon after, and went to my room full of all I had
heard, and pondering many thoughts about the abbe and his intended
voyage. I spent a sleepless night. Thoughts of home, long lost in the
excitement of my career, came flocking to my brain, and a desire
to revisit my country--stronger, perhaps, because undefined in its
object--made me restless and feverish. It was with delight I perceived
the day dawning, and dressing myself hastily, I descended into the
garden. To my surprise, I found General Burke already there. He was
sauntering along slowly by himself, and seemed wrapped in meditation.
The noise of my approach startled him, and he looked up.

"Ah! my countryman,--so early astir?" said he, saluting me courteously.
"Is this a habit of yours?"

"No, sir; I cannot claim the merit of such wakefulness. But last night
I never closed my eyes. A few words you dropped in conversa