Three hundred men rested that night in full security--and how-few were fated to see another sunset! Morning dawned--the breeze was light; the ocean mists rose rapidly; gradually the sea view enlarged; and every eye turned in that direction where the ship, arrived from England, might be expected to present herself. At last, a sail was announced from the mast-head, and the Harpy’s course was altered towards the stranger’s. In half-an-hour, the ship in sight was proclaimed by the look-out men “a heavy frigate.” The private signal was made--some minutes passed--the signal was unanswered--and every glass and eye were directed towards a ship now ascertained to be an enemy. In a moment orders were given to crowd canvass on the frigate. The drum beat to quarters; the sails were accurately trimmed; and, as if she had determined to sustain her well-earned reputation to the last, the Harpy dashed through the water gallantly--and for every two knots the chase sailed, we went three. When the frigate was under a cloud of sail, Captain O’Brien retired to his cabin to dress, leaving orders that the progress of the chase, from time to time, should be reported. As he passed me, he touched my arm and whispered me to follow him. I did so. The captain desired his servant to retire, put on his uniform, affixed a foreign order to his breast, and, having unlocked a drawer, he took from it a sealed packet, and thus addressed me. “Rawlings,” he said, “from the hour you entered this frigate, I have remarked your character and conduct. From the high opinion I formed of both, I selected you to fill a place of trust, and I am now about to give you what may be a last proof of confidence. “I am the founder of my own fortune. My father was an humble curate, not ‘passing rich on forty pounds a year,’ but poor as a church-mouse, and my mother the daughter of a farmer. I was born in one of the remotest villages on the western coast of Ireland; and, except the advantages of education--the only boon my poor father could bestow--I had nothing to distinguish me in boyhood from the sons of the fishermen who inhabited our secluded hamlet. Like them, the sea was the element I loved; and, but for an accident, like them also, I should have lived and died upon that element unknown.