"BRITISH MERCHANTMAN DELIVERANCE, }
"At Sea, Lat. 35 deg. 15 m., Lon. 49 deg. 27 m.,}
_December 1st, 18--_. }

"TO LYON BERNERS, Esq.: Sir--As you and your set made such a mess of it
in trying to save Mrs. Sybil Berners from the injustice of 'justice,' I,
who am an outlaw, undertook to take her from out of all your hands.

"The instrument of my work was my dutiful son Raphael. We had intended,
with the help of our brave band, to storm the prison, and deliver the
fair prisoner by force of arms. But before we were quite ready for that
difficult enterprise, the flood came and made all easy. We had only to
hire a boat, get into it, and permit ourselves to be lifted by the rise
of the waters to the level of her cell window, beat it in, and take her
out. We did that and saved her, and also, incidentally, the infant girl
and the old maid.

"We put out the woman at the foot of the Quarries, having first bound
her by an oath to secrecy as to the means of her rescue and the safety
of Sybil Berners--an oath, by the way, of which you hereby have the
authority to release her, should you see fit to do so.

"We placed the child at nurse with a woman by the name of Fugitt, who is
the wife of the overseer at Colonel Poindexter's plantation, not far
from Blackville. The nurse knows nothing of the child, except that she
was paid a hundred dollars down for taking care of it, and asking no
questions.

"We took the mother to the old ruined wind-mill, where we had a snug
room or two. There she was skilfully nursed by our old housekeeper
through the dangerous fever that followed her confinement and her
exposure. After her recovery and her full restoration to reason, we,
avoiding every reference either to her long imprisonment or maternity,
both of which events she had forgotten in the delirium of her illness,
we took her away to Norfolk, where we went on board the British merchant
ship 'Deliverance.' I write this letter from the sea, about half-way
across the Atlantic, and I wait to send it by some homeward-bound ship.

"_December 9th._--The man on the look-out reports a sail in sight,
heading this way. If she should prove to be an American-bound ship, her
name ought to be 'The Surprise,' for when I send this letter by her she
will take you a very great surprise.

"If this should reach you in season, pray accept it as a Christmas gift.

"Mrs. B