"She'll turn up," exclaimed the captain, when he brought home the intelligence, which it would be useless to attempt concealing from Norah. The news appeared in print in the public papers, and an opinion was expressed that she had not been captured by the enemy, it being thought more likely that she had been capsized in a squall and gone down, or run during a dark night on one of the numerous reefs in the seas she was navigating and been dashed to pieces before any of her people could escape. "I won't believe it, any more than I'll believe that the _Ouzel Galley_ is lost," exclaimed the captain. "Don't give way, Norah. These newspapers tell lies; they're published for no other object. I shouldn't be surprised if we hear that the _Champion_ has never been missing, and that the admiral has sent her on some particular service; probably the next packet from Jamaica will give us an account of her return to Port Royal." Still poor Norah could not restrain her tears. "I don't believe that she's lost, Norah. Don't, now!" repeated her father. The captain, indeed, did his best to comfort her, but it was a hard matter for him; especially as he himself, notwithstanding his bold assertions, knew how likely it was that the sloop of war had really been lost. His honest heart was racked with grief as he thought that the days of his gallant young son had been cut short. Fresh despatches arrived from Jamaica, detailing the capture of several of the enemy's ships, the return to port of various British cruisers, and the arrival of merchantmen; but not a word was said about the _Champion_. Further despatches arrived, which appeared in the public prints. A short paragraph alone mentioned that all hope of her safety had been given up, while another spoke somewhat pityingly of the vain notion entertained by a former commander of a well-known Jamaica trader, the _Ouzel Galley_, that that vessel was still in existence. "Indeed," it continued, "go certain it is that she must be lost, that the masters and pilots of the vessels trading in those seas have ceased to make inquiries about her." "I hold to my opinion, notwithstanding," exclaimed the captain; "if others refuse to help in looking for the good ship, I'll go myself. There's an old proverb that the man who wants a thing goes for it himself, and I'll not believe that either Owen or Gerald are lost till I've had a thorough hunt for them. I've cash enough of my own to fit out a stout vessel, and to arm and man her too. I intended it for you, Norah, and Gerald, but there'll be sufficient left for what you may want, my poor child, even if it comes to the worst; and you must stay at home and take care of Widow Massey--you've need to comfort each other."