"Here we met Sir Dudley Aldcombe coming down from the batteries along with some Company's officers from India, and he stopped to speak to Lord Frederick, giving the first lieutenant and me a bow in return, as we lifted our hats and waited behind. The Admiral proposed to get Lord Frederick a pass to visit Napoleon along with himself next day, as the _Conqueror_ would probably arrive very soon. 'You will oblige me greatly, Sir Dudley,' said the captain of the _Hebe_. 'He seems as fond of seeing a true sailor,' said the Admiral, 'as if we'd never done him harm. Things will be worse after I go. By-the-way,' added he suddenly, ''tis curious enough, but there's one person in the island at present has made wonderful progress in Sir Hudson's good graces, for the short time--that American botanist, or whatever he calls himself, that Captain Wallis took off the burnt vessel on his way here. Your new lieutenant was aboard at the time, you know, Lord Frederick.' 'You saw him, sir, of course?' said the Admiral looking to me. 'Only for a minute that night, Sir Dudley,' said I; 'and afterwards both he and his servant were under the surgeon's charge below.' 'Well,' continued Sir Dudley to the captain, 'they seem quite recovered now; for I saw them to-day up at Plantation House, where the philosopher was in close discourse with the Governor about plants and such things; while her ladyship was as much engaged with the assistant, who can only speak Spanish. A remarkable looking man the latter is, too; a Mexican, I understand, with Indian blood in him, apparently--whereas his principal has a strong Yankee twang; and queer enough it was to hear him snuffling away as solemnly as possible about _buttany_ and such things--besides his hinting at some great discovery likely to be made in the island, which Sir Hudson seemed rather anxious to keep quiet from _me_.' "What Sir Dudley said made me prick up my ears, as you may fancy. I could scarce believe the thing; 'twas so thoroughly rich and so confoundedly cool at once, to risk striking at the very heart of things this way with the Governor himself; but the whole scheme, so far, flashed upon me in a moment, evidently carried on, as it had been all along, by some one bold enough for anything earthly, and with no small cunning besides. All that he needed, no doubt, was _somebody else_ with the devil's own impudence and plenty of talk; nor, if I'd thought for a day together, could one have pitched easily upon a customer as plausible as our friend Daniel, who hadn't a spark of fear in him, I knew, just owing to his want of respect for aught in the entire creation. Still, I couldn't, for the life of me, see what the end of their plan was to be, unless the strange Frenchman might have been some general or other under Bonaparte, and just wanted to see his old commander once more; which, thought I, I'll be hanged if I don't think fair enough, much pains as he had put himself to for the thing.