Captain Paul

side the rustl

led-and anchoring

loiterers on t

nding from the

oars keep concer

keel upon the sh

and which was the subject of their inquiries, was a noble beautiful frigate, carrying 32 guns, which had been anchored for about a week, not in the port, but in a small cove in the roadstead, and which had been perceived for the first time early one morning, like an ocean flower which

ose heavy galleries, ornamented with sculpture, which is the compulsory decoration of the stern of every daughter of the ocean, or of the Mediterranean, born on the stocks of Brest or of Toulon; others, again, knowing that the flags were frequently used as a mask to hide the real face, maintained that the lion and the towers of Spain would have more properly been placed upon the ensign waving from her peak, than the three fleur-de-lis of France: but the latter were asked whether the straight and elegant sides and quarters of the frigate all resembled the bulging build of Spanish galleons. In short, there were some among them who would have sworn that this beautiful fairy of the waters had been brought to life among the frogs of Holland, had not the dangerous boldness of her masts and rigging fully contradicted the suggestion that she could have been built by those old but prudent sweepers of the seas. But, as we have sa

discovered that this person, whom they thought a stranger, was the young Count d'Auray, the last scion of one of the most ancient families of Brittany. The castle inhabited by his family rose above the shores of the Golf of Morbihan, at six or seven leagues, distance from Fort Louis. The family consisted of the Marquis d'Auray, a poor insane old man, who for twenty years had never been seen beyond the boundaries of his estates; of the Marchi

g carelessly on the tiller of the small boat, while the coxswain, who, thanks to the caprice of his officer, had nothing to do, was sitting in the bow. From the moment that it first made its appearance, every eye was directed towards it, as if it contained the means of solving the mystery which had so much puzzled them. The boat, urged on by the last efforts of its oarsmen, took the ground at eight or ten feet distance from the beach, there being too little water in that place to allow it to come nearer. Two of the sailors jumped into the sea up to their knees. The young lieutenant then rose up in a careless way, walked to the bow of the b

so closely by the crowd, that for a moment he appeared half inclined to use the rattan which he carried in his hand, to make way through it. However after having flourished it with impertinent affectation above the heads of those who were nearest him, he appeared all at once to change his mind, and perceiving Count Emanuel, whose distinguished appearance, and elegant uniform, contrasted strikingly with the vul

ill you have the goodness to tell me what there is so extraordinary about me, that I seem to cause quite a revolution in the country? Or is the appearance of an officer of the navy an event so rare and so extraordinary at Lorient, that his mere prese

our person-and the proof of this is, my dear comrade-for I see by your epaulettes that we are of equal rank in the service of his majesty-that I participate with these honest B

our disposal. Only the position we are in is not a comfortable one to carry out mathematical demonstrations. Will it plea

dily, as, if I do not deceive myself, by walking this wa

you we can take another. I have plenty of time; and my men are less eager to, retur

o the beach the better we can discuss the matter in question. L

hese two young men, who had thus met for the first time, walked arm in arm, as though they had been friends from infancy, towards the end of the p

ards the ship: "Yes," replied he, negligently, "it is a pretty frigate carrying two and thirty gu

ou. It signifies little to me how many guns she carries, or by what

hat I wish to know is, to what nation she actually belongs,

he belongs to," rep

"And finally, as to her captain, that is a much more difficult matter.. There are some people who would swear he is a young man about my own age or yours, for; I, believe we left the cradle pretty closely the one after, the other, although the professions we follow may place a long interval between our graves. There are others who pretend he is of the same age with my uncle the Cou

au

Captai

l, w

surmount the whole with a knight's casque, or a baron's coronet: so that their seals or their carriages bear the evidence of belonging to some ancient family, quite delightful to reflect upon? Well! so it is with him. At this moment he calls himsel

n the singular mixture of simplicity and sarcasm which pervaded t

ut, my dear baro

plied Emanu

n then-but hold-I, myself, as you now see me, have ploughed for twenty years, at one time with the keel of a brig, at another with that of a frigate, this vast expanse, which now extends itself before us. My eyes, for so I may express myself, discerned the ocean almost at the same moment that they saw the sky above it; since my tongue was able to join two wo

ou, my dear-duke

young sailor, bowing, as

ical lecture on the passions of Captain Paul. I only wish to inform mys

s to the meaning of words, my dear count-what

ant, that this question is a most sin

Egyptians adored him under the form of a scorpion-the Israelites, under that of a golden calf. So it is with honor. There is the honor o

ther his word may

e never doubted that he would keep, even unto death, an oath which he had sworn to. This point is, therefore, believe me, fully settled. In this r

he would faithfully obey an

Maje

iculty of comprehension which would better sui

e different thrones of Europe. We have his Catholic Majesty-a feeble majesty, who allows the inheritance, left him by Charles, the Fifth, to be torn from him piece by piece;-we have his Britannic Majesty-

im I wish to spe

would feel disposed to obey an ord

teersman, some buccaneer, who owes no allegiance, and which I should doubt from the appearance of the frigate he commands, and from the way she is fitted. He must have then in some drawer of his cabin, a commission s

patient at the strange and evasive answers given by his companion. "I will only ask you one more quest

ay of getting on b

ting towards his own boat, which lay rocked,

! why, is

ll take you

his Captain

dmiral, who commands a squadron. Besides which, we sailors have secret signs among us, a certain masonic language, by which we know one another as brothers in whatev

ice, then," said

t it," continued he smiling, "my dear count, the solicitude of a seaman's life has given to us children of the sea, the habit of solil

or human things, and of poetic feeling toward the works of God. But finding that this singular man was disposed to render him, although in a strange manner, the service he had asked of him, he accepted his proffered assistance. Five minutes afterwards, the two young men were advancing to