hat she was a man-of-war, a frigate, or perhaps a
line-of-battle ship. She stood steadily on, as if steering for the
boat, which, however, could scarcely yet have been discovered. As the
expectation of being saved grew stronger, Owen felt his energies--which
he had hitherto by great effort maintained, when the lives of his
companions seemed to depend on his retaining his senses--giving way.

He saw the hull of the ship rise above the water, he could count her
guns, he knew that she was a frigate; he was certain that the boat was
discovered, and then he lost all consciousness.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

When Owen regained his senses he found himself in a hammock in the sick
bay of the frigate, with Mike and Nat close alongside of him.

"How do you feel, Mike?" asked Nat, who had not observed that Owen was
awake.

"Mighty quare, but not sorry to find myself here. I hope Mr Hartley
will come to soon. They seem to treat him as one of us."

"He ought to be with the officers aft," said Nat. "The mate is with
them, I suppose, but I have not seen him."

"Shure he'll not fail to make himself out to be a big man somehow or
other," said Mike. "He'll be after swaring he was the captain of the
ship, although he will forget to say that it was through him that she
was cast away."

The conversation was cut short by the appearance of the surgeon, who
observed, as he glanced over the hammocks--

"I am glad to see you are coming round again, lads."

He stopped by Owen's side.

"Well, boy, how do you feel?" he inquired, in a kind tone.

"Very weak, sir," said Owen; "but all I want is food and water."

"You shall have an ample supply by-and-by, but in your present state you
must take only a little at a time."

One of the sick bay attendants brought in three small basins of broth,
from one of which the doctor fed Owen.

"Thank you, sir," said Owen, "though I think I might save you that
trouble."

"You shall be welcome to do so next time," answered the doctor, smiling.

"What rating did you hold on board the ship you belonged to?" asked the
surgeon.

"I was a passenger, although I did duty as a midshipman."

"Why, the captain described you as a ship's boy," observed the doctor.

"Arrah, shure, he'd not the captain at all, at all," exclaimed Mike,
lifting up his head; "he was first mate until the raal capt'n died. But
maybe he didn't say how the ship came to be cast away."

The doctor made no reply to the Irishman's