on my departure; then, tearing it slowly, threw the pieces into the
fire.

"What, then, is this?" said he, taking up a sealed packet, which I now
for the first time perceived was fastened to my knapsack. "It seems
meant for me; look at the address, 'Jacques Oloquette, on board the
"Rouge Galant."'" And so saying, he broke the seal, and bent over the
contents.

"Oh," cried he, in a voice of triumphant delight, "this is a prize worth
having,--the English signal-book!" And he held up the little volume
which Paul Dupont had rescued from the "Fawn."

"How came it here?" said I, horror-struck at the loss the poor sailor
had sustained.

"Old Martin, of the 'Star,' tells me he stole it from a marine of the
Guard, and that it cost him twenty-four flasks of his best Pomard
before the fellow and his companions were drunk enough to make the theft
practicable."

I remembered at once the eagerness of the landlord for my departure, and
the hurried anxiety of his wish that morning might find me miles off on
my journey, as well as the care he bestowed on strapping my knapsack,
and saw how all had occurred.

"I knew most of them already," continued the skipper. "But here is one
will serve our turn well now,--the very thing we wanted, for it
saves all delay and stoppage. That flag is the signal for Admiralty
despatches, which are often brought by small craft like ours when they
can't spare cruisers. We 'll soon rig it out, you 'll see, and run down
Channel with all our canvas set."

He went aft as he spoke; and in a few seconds the cutter's head was
directed straight towards the English coast, while, crowding on more
sail, she seemed to fly through the water.

The cheering freshness of the sea-breeze, the sense of danger past,
the hope of escape, all combining, raised my spirits and elevated my
courage; but through all, I felt grieved beyond measure at the loss
of poor Paul Dupont,--the prize the honest fellow valued next to life
itself, if not above it, taken from him in the very moment of his
exultation! Besides, I could not help feeling that suspicion must light
on me from my sudden disappearance; and my indignation was deep, to
think how such an imputation would tarnish the honor of that service I
gloried in so much. "How far may such a calumny spread?" thought I. "How
many lips may repeat the tale, and none be able to deny it?" Deep as was
my regret at the brave Breton's loss, my anger for its consequences
was still deeper