s eagle eye, our friends sought the Adelphi,
whither, at Mr. Alboni's request, Sampson joined them; for there was
something in the words which he had uttered, that struck upon that
gentleman's ear; and yet, what it was, was not clear to his mind.

"You have spoken of some noble lady," remarked Mr. Alboni; "pray tell me
if you have never met with but one whom you could distinguish by that
title, in all your travels?"

"And for a very sensible reason; there never was but one like her; or,
that is, I have always thought so until to-day," replied the tar,
glancing toward Natalie; "for my old eyes have seen pretty much
everything they have got in this little world. Ha! I should like to see
the inch of land or water that my foot hasn't measured."

"Let us hear a little of your history, my good fellow: begin with the
beautiful lady," said Mr. Alboni, proudly contemplating his
grand-daughter.

"It's a yarn, your honor, that hasn't been spun to every jack tar that's
sailed the seas, for I've a sort of feeling about me, that her memory
shouldn't be used to gratify common curiosity; and, sir, it's only
through the lady's sweet face, so much like _her_, that I am induced to
tell the story, word for word. Ye see, it was about twenty years ago,
come September, and I shipped for a voyage to America in the De--De--,
well, never mind the name; those Frenchmen always spile their crafts
with a jaw-breaker of a name. Well, we had a fair time of it, till we
got pretty well on to the American shores; and as for me, I never expect
to enjoy myself again, as I did the first part of that voyage. We had
quite a crowd of passengers, and among them was a gentleman, with his
lady and child; if that wasn't the handsomest couple that I ever sot
eyes on, then I've missed my reckonings! The lady,--why, your honor, it
fairly dazzled my eyes to look at her! She always had a kind word for
everybody; even us old tars she would talk with, as if she wasn't the
best lady in the world; there wasn't one of us but would have gone to
the mast-head feet first, to do her a favor; and as for gold, she wasted
a young fortune on our ugly selves. We were within a couple o' days sail
of New York, when one of those moist fogs came up, such as will make a
fellow lose a whisk of his patience, if he happens to have any. Well, we
kept on, as we thought, in the same course, for about twelve hours,
when, like a clap of thunder, we struck fast upon a rock! It was as calm
as