“From this noble, excellent man I received every kindness and attention. I was supplied with proper garments by one of the midshipmen, and allotted a berth in the Captain’s cabin for young Renaudin and myself, and had all my meals at the Captain’s table. Some of my old associates in the forecastle viewed my transition from the galley to the Captain’s cabin with envy and sneers; they imputed my exaltation to the simple act of saving the Captain’s son; but such was not the case; had I been of low birth, and one of the crew, he would have amply rewarded me, but never have admitted me to an intercourse with himself and his officers; who, hearing my story, considered me their equal, and were exceedingly kind. “Monsieur Renaudin was a man of high birth and refined mind. We often spoke of the horrors enacted in France during the Reign of Terror, and shuddered to think of Frenchmen having degenerated into demons. He knew my mother’s husband, the Duke de Coulancourt, and had heard of my beloved parent’s cruel misfortunes, but had no knowledge of her fate. He thought it too probable she and my little sister had perished under the monstrous rule of Collet d’Herbois. “I became attached to Alfred Renaudin, and did all in my power to instruct him; fortunately, before my family became victims to the Revolution, every pains had been taken with my education, so, though scarcely seventeen, I may, without vanity, say that I had profited by the masters I had. I will pass over a period of sixteen months, and come to the eventful morning when the French fleet, of which the Vengeance was one, was attacked by the British fleet under Lord Howe. Of this tremendous and glorious action, ending in victory to the English, I can only speak as it affected the Vengeance. I requested Captain Renaudin’s permission to remain on the quarter-deck. He hesitated, saying, ‘My dear young friend, you will be risking life uselessly;’ but I prevailed. I need not say my heart beat quicker as I gazed out over the broad ocean, and beheld it covered with noble vessels, all preparing for a deadly strife. I counted five-and-twenty stately ships; but no doubt you know all about that memorable fight, Captain O’Loughlin, better than I can relate it to you.” “Yes,” returned O’Loughlin, “but never from an eye-witness; moreover, there are some doubts thrown upon the exact cause of the foundering of the Vengeance. I pray you, therefore, to omit no particular that you witnessed.” Julian Arden then continued—