bundle of registers and memorandum-books lay on the
table; they were doubtless the compass of the Durande and the ship's
papers, handed by Clubin to Imbrancam and Tangrouille at the moment of
the departure of the long-boat. They were the evidences of the
magnificent self-abnegation of that man who had busied himself with
saving these documents even in the presence of death itself--a little
incident full of moral grandeur; an instance of sublime
self-forgetfulness never to be forgotten.

They were unanimous in their admiration of Clubin; unanimous also in
believing him to be saved after all. The _Shealtiel_ cutter had arrived
some hours after the _Cashmere_. It was this vessel which had brought
the last items of intelligence. She had passed four-and-twenty hours in
the same waters as the Durande. She had lain-to in the fog, and tacked
about during the squall. The captain of the _Shealtiel_ was present
among the company.

This captain had just finished his narrative to Lethierry as Gilliatt
entered. The narrative was a true one. Towards the morning, the storm
having abated, and the wind becoming manageable, the captain of the
_Shealtiel_ had heard the lowing of oxen in the open sea. This rural
sound in the midst of the waves had naturally startled him. He steered
in that direction, and perceived the Durande among the Douvres. The sea
had sufficiently subsided for him to approach. He hailed the wreck; the
bellowing of the cattle was the sole reply. The captain of the
_Shealtiel_ was confident that there was no one aboard the Durande. The
wreck still held together well, and notwithstanding the violence of the
squall, Clubin could have passed the night there. He was not the man to
leave go his hold very easily. He was not there, however; and therefore
he must have been rescued. It was certain that several sloops and
luggers, from Granville and St. Malo, must, after laying-to in the fog
on the previous evening, have passed pretty near the rocks. It was
evident that one of these had taken Clubin aboard. It was to be
remembered that the long-boat of the Durande was full when it left the
unlucky vessel; that it was certain to encounter great risks; that
another man aboard would have overloaded her, and perhaps caused her to
founder; and that these circumstances had no doubt weighed with Clubin
in coming to his determination to remain on the wreck. His duty,
however, once fulfilled, and a vessel at hand, Clubin assuredly would