a spontaneous
crop of weeds and thistles. He approached the entrance, and as the rude
door creaked upon its hinges when he threw it open, was saluted by a
faint voice, which cried, "_Qui va la_?"

"Why there's Irishmen inside," observed the sailor.

"Frenchmen rather, I should imagine," replied our hero, as he entered
and discovered seven or eight of the unfortunate survivors of the French
line-of-battle ship, who had crawled there, bruised, cut, and apparently
in the last state of exhaustion.

"_Bonjour, camarade_," said one of them, with difficulty raising himself
on his elbow--"_As-tu d'eau-de-vie_?"

"I am afraid not," replied Seymour, looking with compassion on the
group, all of which had their eyes directed towards him, although, from
their wounds and bruises, they were not able to turn their bodies. "We
are shipwrecked as well as you."

"What! did you belong to that cursed frigate?"

"We did," replied Seymour, "and there are but few of us alive to tell
the tale."

"_Vive la France_!" cried the Frenchman; "_puisqu'elle n'a pas
echappee--je n'ai plus des regrets_."

"_Viva, viva_!" repeated the rest of the French party, in faint accents.

"_Et moi, je meurs content_!" murmured one, who, in a few seconds
afterwards expired.

"Are you the only survivors?" demanded Seymour.

"All that are left," replied the spokesman of the party, "out of eight
hundred and fifty men. _Sacristie--as-tu d'eau-de-vie_?"

"I hardly know what we have--something has been saved from the wreck,"
replied Seymour, "and shall cheerfully be shared with you with all the
assistance we can afford. We were enemies, but we are now brothers in
affliction. I must quit you to bring up our wounded men; there is
sufficient room, I perceive, for all of us. _Adieu, pour le moment_!"

"_Savez-vous que c'est un brave garcon ce lieutenant-la_?" observed the
Frenchman to his companions, as Seymour and his party quitted the hut.

Seymour returned to the beach, and, collecting his men, found the
survivors to consist of forty-four seamen and marines, the boatswain and
himself. Of these, fifteen were helpless, from wounds and fractured
limbs. The articles which had been collected were a variety of spars
and fragments of wood, some of the small sails which had been triced up
in the rigging, one or two casks of beef and pork, and a puncheon of
rum, which had miraculously steered its course between the breakers, and
had been landed without inj