Nora's Peril

CHAPTER VII Ws Btarted at the earllest dawn of day, anp reached Dublin just in time to catch the mail train to Kiugstown. It was absolutely neeessary. Col. De Burgho said, to stay one day in London, in order to provide funds for our travelini; expenses aud procure pasaporta; but, bevond this, there would be no further delay. Wê eould do notliiug whatcver until our arrlval at Naples, and, aware of the necessity for uusbanding our Btrengtli, we Bougbt some reposc, wbich, indeed, was necebBary after our long and fatiguing travel during the day. We arrived in London early on the following morning, and after refreshment Col. De Burgho repaired to his bankers, aud to the ofllce where passports were obtainable, while I Ballied forth in quest of weapons of the kind I thought requisite for our undertakiug. I purchased tbree revolvers and asmauy daggers, ealculating that I mlght be so fortúnate as to find mv friend Dennis somewhere on the Italian coast, In which eaae I knew tliat hls services would be at our disposal. We sailed that night from Dover, and pursued our journey day and night for some days, as far as railway extended, and tbeu by diligence and steam, uutii on the eighth day we arrived at Naples. Worn oit and fatigued by om eontlnuous travel, we both retired early to recruit our exhausted strength. Early on the followlug moruiug we repairecl to the resideuce of the liritish consul ; what was ray relief and satlsfaction at flnding our good friend Dennis on the look out for us. He deinonstrated hls .oy at seeiui; me by throwing bis cap into the air, and shouting "hurroo!" seyeral times, to the amazement of the spectators, who evidently thought him insane. "Oeh, och!" exclaimed Dennis, "I knew ye'c be hot on his thracks ; an', begorra, av ycz had been wan day sooner ye'd have eotched liin here. We sailed into the bay yesterday morn ing, and took in provishins an' watther; am fafth, Mr. Mlrvyn," said he, "I thocht it was toime to give thim the slip, for I observed the Countan" that basteo' a mate eolloguing togither, an' looking hard at me, and I jist miz zied as qnlck as I could ; I slipped over the slde luto the 'dingy' and paddled ashore as fast ai ivir I did whiu I wor bathin', an' saw wan o thim bottle-nozed sharks about; an' I made oL througb the town till evenlng, au' thin I carne down to the mole an' saw she was goue ; an I've been lookin' out for ye all mrniu'. l'ra thinking I know where she's bound for, 01 thereabouts; tho' I don't know thenameof thi place, hut it's not far from 'Corfoo,' or wan o thim lslauds, aud iv ye can niake hot purshult ye'll be close on his heels yit." I asked Dennis bow he had got this iutelli ence; he told me he had "got thick" with a black boy that "6arved out" the "rashing' from the eook's galley, and was, he thought, a Malay, and that he had "got out of him,'Tfrom time to time during the voyage, that theCount had a house on the shore of oue of the Islauds in the Ureeian seas, and moorings for the Mie ht ; and that hu had hcard him telling the mate that he would take her there and remain for some inonths in those seas. We spent the greater part of the day making enquiries as to the most expeditious mode ol etting to Corfú, which wc thought would bt the best port to go to, in the flrst Instance, but were uuable to ascertain that there waa auy direct communication from Naples. We at . lengtli eoncluded that our beet plan was to liire or purchase a small veseel, which we should have to do in any case at Corfu; and we speut some hours in endeavoring to ascertain whether oue could be procured, but without suceess. VVearied and chagrincd at the dclay, aud apparent failure of our cfforts, the Colonel and 1 t-nfered a large cafe adjoining our hotel, aud ordered some dinner to be served imniediately, intending to pursue our inquines during the evening. The table9 were all occupied, and after walkine throuch the room for some utes in Bearch oí a seat, an oüicer iu thc unííonn oí tbc American navy said, - "I say, strauger, guess yer stumped, and don't íind Beata htmdy; don't bestreaked, - tel the garcon to bring your chiekin-tixins here. and I'll inake room for you and yer guvuor." Thanking him for hispoliteness, Colonel D( Burgho and I gladly availed ourselves gí hit iuvitation ; Ín a few minutes dinner was seryed, and we found ourselves chattlng familiarlj with our new acuaintance. "Guc8B, stranger," said he, addressing him self to me, "yer Britishers?" I replied that we wereproud to cali ourselves the subjeets of her Britanuic Majesty. "Yer right, strangers," lie replied, "yev a right to be proud of the old country, - the man that's a Britisher and isn't so, íb next to near what I cali a darued skunk ! I'in a na-tive of the United States oí Ameriky, and sport the eagle on my uniform, as you see, and oí course 1 stand np for my own land, but 1 love tbe old country too. Let's liqnor, and drink her health.1' This proposal having been duly honoredour friend contiuued. "I say, guvnor," said he, addrcssiug Colonel De Burgho, "if yere a stranger here- I carne here this morniug, aud I flatter myself I've done Naples, and know every hole and córner in it- iíyou'd like to take a walk round after dinner, I'll show yoi the place. My uame's Lieutenant Bakhus, uf thc United Btates frigate 'Poeohontas,' now lyiug at Ge-noa, - here's my pasteboard," handing his card,- "what's yoursí" At the íuentlon of his uamc I involnntarily looked down at bis íeet, which he instantly obeerving, said, - "Yeneedn't look at iny feet, stranger; I hevn'tgot hoofs, l'inno relation ni that ar old chap that was always dancing with tbe als, and drinking cocktails and eyc-openers; mv name iisu't spelt that way." Ï assured bim that he was wrong in his eurmise an to the cause of my downward glance ; and the Colonel, thankiug him for his offer, said that he was too much fatigued to avail himself of it, and that, iu addition, he aud I had some urgent business to attcnd to during the evening. "Perbaps, Colouel," said ], "Lieuteuant Bakhus could assist us in finding what we want." "If I can," said he. "guess I'll doit, stranger, and leel pesklly proud to help you, oí any Britiaher that's keelcd over." I then explained that we wished to purchase a ernall vessel to earry us to Corfú, and tbence to cruise amoug the islauds on the coast of Ureece, but that we had been as yet unable to tind oue suitable for our purpose. "Lieutenant Bakhus," said Colonel De Burgho, "I am a soldier, and observe that you belang to an equaüy honorable profession; you have kindly expreased your willinguess to assist me in my objeets, and I accept your offer witn gratitude; and, at the same tiíne. in a spirit of conflilence which should subsist between gentlemen who have defended the honor of their country, and bear her eouimission, I will frankly iuforin you of my dittlcultieb and objeet8 in undertaking this voy age." lie then, without reserve, iuformed hiui of the abduction of his daughter, describing the Ccmnt, his vessel, and crew; and requestiug Lieutenant Bakhus's advice nnd assistance. "Kurnal," said he, "I'm grit- aii'l don't thlnk J'm highíalutin when I say I'll lee you thro' this business, or my name's not Bakhus. But yer barking up the wrong tree; ve'll get notbing to buy here but some old fishiu' jigger that couldn't put to sea without being overhauled for a month, and the sailors here would hardly venture out of sight of the eoast. If it does come on squally, even off shore, down they go on their knees before an image of some saint, and let the vessel drift ; and for tlghtiug - they'd absquatulate at the first shot; they 're the biggest eowards in the world, as well as the greatest thieves. But I eau help you in anotherway; my ship, the 'Poeohontas,' is lying at üe-noa, and a friend of mine who has none home to the states,left his yacht iu my charge, - in fact, she's mine for the next two months ; sbe is well fitted out and ready for sea, all but provieions, i.nd they can be shipped in a day at most. I sailed dowa here along the coast in one of her boats in two days, and if you can start early to-mdrrow, we will reach Ge-noa in the 8ame time, as tbe wind is uow fair. I saw the yacht you describe, iu the bay yesterday, but sbe sailed in the evening ; she's a smart one, and well handled ; but I think the 'Arladne' - that's the name of my friend's yacht would be more than lier match in a head sea; as for fighting slie's manned by a crew that would swing doublé the number of tho6e red capped varmin you teil me are on board tile 'Gulnare; ; now, stranger, if yer up to ready, I'm spry." The Colonel thankeu our new friend with much warmth of feeling, anj expressed hls anxiety to depart at the earlieet moment. "Wa'al, then let's liquor on it ;- bere, gareon, cocktails, squiggle, you varmint, or I'll lift yer halr,," was the Lieutenant's reply. "We'll breakfast at dayllght, and sail in án hour after, and we can arrange our plans on the way. I'JJ wire to Ge-noa, and have the 'Ariadne' ready for sea, and save a day. Goodnight, Kurnal; jist you reckon there'll be no flzzlin' in this bizniss; we'll knock yer friend the Count into a cocked iiat in no time, if we can only catch him ; o keep up yer pecker, for 1 guess he'll be a gone coon before he's done with Zetli BakLus." CHAPTER VIII. At an early hour next morning wc? embarked on board a roomy and well-appointed boat, manned by a crew of three men, ineluding Dennis, whom we asked permisslon to bring. We sailed along the eoast, merely touching at Civita Vecchia aud Livorno for water ; at the latter piare the Colonel disembarked and visited his friend the consul, but acquired f rom htm ñt) further Information. "Kurnal," said Lieutenant Bakhus, as we sailed Bmoothly along on the morniug of our embarkation, "there's one thing I cau't see daylight Into at all- why you Britishers are always spread-eagled one day about your uavy, and funkingthe next; up gets oue of your Parliament men and says, 'We've forty Bhipfl in commis8ton that's fit to lickcreatton;' and another gets up when he sits down, and saye, 'We haven't one tit to go to sea.' The papers follow suit, aud yer always washing yer dirty linen in public. Now, I kuow, for I see your shipe in every station, that your talk'sall Ham. Yev good ships, and plenty of them ; and yer offieers aad men are f uil of grit, know their duty, ap'll do it ; but yev a lot of buncombes in yer Parliament House that are kinky and always gabbling about thiugs tbat are above their neads; and there'a as much tal] talk in yer House of Commons as tliere is at an Indian Sachcm Council ; and much the game resul for they both end in smoke." "ïou are right, Lieutenant Bakhns," sai( the Colonel; "I am often astonished an( ashamcd at the tone of our naval debate6 ; bu I fear this will alwaya be the case so long ai uuprofessional heads of departments are plaeei over our naval administration ; and this, think, will continue until we have anothi naval war, wben sorae groat nailor will distii guian bimself, and public opiujon will demani that professioually skilled administrators sha have thelr proper place and due roward. W are bettcr off in the army ; Wi' have a soldier a tbc head of it." "Wa'al, allí can say is, thatfor ships an guns, and men to work tbem, ycr navy eau lic creation, and a good deal to spare ; imt tak my advice, and have a sailor at tbc bead o your naval council, for the commercial me you eometimes appoint can't get the principl of limited liability out of their heads; and, in deed, it's but fair that their liability, or reepon sibility, should b(! tenderly considered whe their knowledge of naval matters munt be s limited." "That is a very fair witticism and reproach Lieutenant," said the Colouel : "but how d you manage these matters in the statusi" "We're worse off, by a long chalk, Kurnal, he replied. "Witb us it's all an almlgbty flzzl f rom top to bottom. We have a departmeut o the navy, as you have; but, toen, we build ani repair most of our ships by contract, and that' an all-flred bad way of getting a good war ship But look at your commercial navy - that's a eye-opener ; and your mail-carrying eteamers - why, if you hadn't a war ship at all, and bai time to convert them into lighting ships, I really believe you would be a match for any sin gle navy in the world." The Colonel expressed much surprise at thl statement, but 6aid be had not suificient] etudied the subject to eive a contideut opinio onit. "Wa'al, sir, I'vc studled It, an' say that you Government, in commercial matters, ia th longest-beaded, far-seelng govornment in th world. They know that postal and pasBengi facilities are needed by all classes, and tha the inoney they pay for them returns by f thousand channels of trade to the Impertí Treasury. Do you know, str, that the Britis mercantile marine of sea-going steam6hi amounts to more than two thousand vessels, o whtch over one hundred are snbsidized as ma boats, carrying passengers and letters to a parts of the globe - at a charge to your goveri ment of a million and a quarter annually, on] about a half of whlch ia returned to the Pos Offieei" We expressed our ignorance of this fact, an the Lieuteuan continued,- "Yes, eir, it's true; you Britishers hev go nearly the whole postal communieation of th world in your hands. Why a letter from New York to Brazil, four thousand miles distan must needs go by England, Portugal, the coas of África, Madeira, and the Cape de Verdes eight thousand miles, in a BritÍ6h packet Now what do we do! The American mal steamers are abont wenty-flve In number, som of which have only a nominal mail pay ; ou mercantile steam-marine conslsts of about sixt; ships, agalnst your two thousand. This ma appear incredible, but it is true; and further more, if we had more ships, we haven't erg ueers to man them. When one of our flrs American mail steamers sailed íor Europe, n practiced marine enginecr eould be found to work her englncs ; they took a first-class eng neer and corps of assistants froin one of th North River packets ; but as soon as the sbi got to 6ea, ana neavy weatner caini; on, all tn engineers and fircmen were taken sick, and fo turee daya it was constantly expected tbat th 6hlp would be lost. No river engineer is fit fo sen'.ce at sea until he lias had montas of expe rlenee and beeome accustomed to set. slckness. "No sir," be eoutinued, "you must hav strenrth, power, and 6peed; f ull-manued crews and first-elass olflcers. Your government bav got all these in the only way they are to be ha( - by paylng large subsidies to the contractin compuuies; mail steamers eaunot live withou them, and keep up the required speed. Do you know that a vessel of two thousand tons displacement, steaming six nautical miles per hour, will consume only seven and a half tons of coals per day, while at twelve miles she will consume sixty-one tous. This must be paid for, and also the additional crew required to work her, the additional wear and tear to huil, boilers, and maehinery, and the risk always aceompanying great speed. Your government know all this, and are content to bear a heavy loss upon the postal receipts, for the sake of the eommerce of the country, and the result is that England has almost a monopoly of the main passenger and postal routes of the world." "You have given me interesMnginformation, Lieutenant Bakhus," the colonel observed; "but ii your commercial navy is not in a satisfactory 6tate, you have at least a very flne war marine." "We've nothing of the kind, Kurnal," hejreplied; "we've a navy on paper that we're always spread-eagling and falutin' about, bat what is the faetf As regards our steam uavy, it ie too small to afford adequate protection to our commeree and eitizens, mueh lèss to defend the country in time of war. We have not steamers enough in the navy to place one at each of our important seaports, much less to send them to foreign stations." On the afternoou of the second day we were rapidly nearing Genoa, and arrivcd alongside the "Ariadne" early in the evening; having arranged to meet on the following morning, we separated for the night. Ou reassembliug, we found that she was quite ready for sea, and had laid iu water and seastock fora fortnight's cruise. We paid a visit to tbc commander of the "lJocohontas," inspected that fine vessel, asked and obtained au extensión of leave for Lieutenaut Bakhus, whieh was graeiously granted by that gallant ofticer, and returned to our yaeht. We set sail that evening for Corfu. As soon as we werc clear of the harbor the colonel proposed that we should go to the cabiu and hold a council of war, but from thi9 nothiug resulted, the fact being that until our arrival at Corfu we could get no Information of the whereabouts of the "Guiñare,'1 and we therefora adjourned our consultation for the present. We were glad to flnd that the yacht was wcll aupplied with charta of the Mediterranean, and of all the shores of Greeee, which tier owner had navigated, in search of pleasur, for some years past. "Ile's a go-ahead feller, the owuer of this yacht," said Lieutenant Bakhus, "and if he was here, would go into this adventure heart and soul. Bat the yaeht's mine for the time, and she is a ftrst class seaboat. If welrecover rour daughter, Kurnal, within a few days, as hope we will, I'll just turn her head to the iritish Islands, and deliver you all safe and sound on yer native sotl ; for I would like to see his affair out, and also to see the old castle, and the scène of your friend the Count's proceeding8. lt's a romance, thie aire." TO BE OONTINÜED.