many inquiries about you when they
found that your craft was missing."

The ladies were most grateful to Sir Peter when they heard of his
courtesy, and begged O'Driscoll to bear their thanks to him. My friend
remained till the stores came on board, and when he took his departure
he vowed that he had irretrievably lost his heart to the beautiful
widow. I at the same time made sail and stood to the southward. For
the first day we had a fair breeze and fine weather, and I was in hopes,
for the sake of my passengers, that we should make a good run of it to
the Delaware. I need not describe the various incidents which occurred,
interesting as they were to me, and important in their results. I
entirely won my way to the good opinion of Mrs Tarleton, and I could
not help being conscious that her niece no longer regarded me as a
common stranger. Still, how could I venture ever to indulge any hopes
of making her mine? I depended entirely on my profession for my
support, and that profession compelled me to appear as an enemy of her
relations and friends. Before I was aware of the tendency of her
reasonings, I found that she had taught me to look on the fratricidal
war we were waging in a very different light to that in which I had at
first regarded it. She, however, I must insist, in no way weakened my
patriotism. I loved old England as much as ever, but she taught me to
feel the warmest sympathy for her countrymen and mine truly, who were
fighting in the noble cause of liberty. I describe my feelings as they
then existed. I leave to others to judge whether they were right or
wrong. A fierce war began to rage within me between principle and
feeling, interest and duty, and all the tender sentiments of my nature.
A less high-minded person would have thrown all her weight into the
scale, and might have made me false to the sovereign in whose service I
was engaged; but then I flattered myself that a girl of her exalted
principles would not have so speedily won my affections. [See Note 1.]
Now the murder is out; in plain English, I was head over ears in love,
and it was a toss up whether I should, for the sake of Madeline Carlyon,
desert my colours, go over and join the Americans, and get a captain's
commission, or remain true to my king and run the chance of losing her.
It puts me into a fever even now, to think of all the feelings which
came bubbling up in my bosom, and all the ideas which came rushing into
my brain,