We had not long been absent, when we were recalled, and M. Scager inquired how these papers came into Mirabel’s hands. She briefly told him how I had obtained them. The old man looked at me steadfastly and doubtingly for a moment, and then, seeming to assent to the truth of the documents he had been perusing, he exclaimed, “After all, Mirabel, your father was what he seemed, a noble and an honest man, and I have done him grievous wrong. Come here, my child.” As he said this, he held out his hand, and Mirabel approaching him, was taken in his arms, and the old man’s tears fell thick and fast upon her face. I felt the scene to be almost more than I could bear, and hastily left the room. I need not detail the events which immediately followed. It will be sufficient to say that in the course of a few days Mr. Hartley arrived, and upon consulting a lawyer, it was thought that the papers I had procured would be not only sufficient to establish my uncle’s innocence, but to enable him, if living, to recover from the insurance company an immense sum of money, not only for the loss of his cargo, but for interest, and the conspiracy which had been entered into with the captain of the wrecked vessel. If he were dead, these sums, it was thought, could be recovered by his heirs. It now became a matter of extreme interest to trace my uncle’s career from the time he escaped from the prison and left Paramaribo. M. Scager had received several letters from him, but these did not clearly indicate the place of his abode. After consulting these letters, and putting together all the information that could be obtained, it was determined, that I should proceed with all possible despatch, to Valparaiso, at which place it appeared tolerably certain he had been established in business about ten years before. Being supplied with letters of introduction and plenty of money, I took my departure; not, however, without an affectionate farewell from my gentle cousin. My plan was to proceed to Buenos Ayres in a vessel, and cross the continent in a westerly direction, to Chili, of which Valparaiso is the chief commercial port. I accordingly entered on board a brig bound for Buenos Ayres. We were soon upon the ocean, and I had now leisure to reflect upon the circumstances which had recently transpired, and the prospects that lay before me. Although I was still a youth, I had already accomplished something, and was now engaged in an enterprise seldom committed to the charge of one so young as myself. I was surprised to observe the change which had taken place in my feelings and character in the space of a few months. When I first arrived at Paramaribo, I was but a boy. I had now the settled thoughts, plans and purposes of a man. I was bound to a distant country, and dangers and trials lay before me; but these did not in the slightest degree shake my resolution. Though I was calm, I had still the ardent hope and sanguine expectation which belong to youth.