"
He then took my letter and quitted the room. As soon as he was gone I
found myself quite well enough to go to Celeste, who waited for me, and
I told her what had passed. That morning I sat with her and the general,
and narrated all my adventures, which amused the general very much. I
did not conceal the conduct of my uncle, and the hopes which I faintly
entertained of being able, some day or another, to discover the fraud
which had been practised, or how very unfavourable were my future
prospects if I did not succeed. At this portion of my narrative the
general appeared very thoughtful and grave. When I had finished, it was
near dinner time, and I found that my clothes had arrived with a letter
from O'Brien, who stated how miserable he had been at the supposition of
my loss, and his delight at my escape. He stated that on going down into
the cabin, after I had shoved off, he, by chance, cast his eyes on the
barometer, and, to his surprise, found that it had fallen two inches,
which he had been told was the case previous to a hurricane. This,
combined with the peculiar state of the atmosphere, had induced him to
make every preparation, and that they had just completed their work when
it came on. The brig was thrown on her beam ends, and lay there for half
an hour, when they were forced to cut away the masts to right her. That
they did not weather the point the next morning by more than half a
cable's length; and concluded by saying, that the idea of my death had
made him so unhappy that, if it had not been for the sake of the men, it
was almost a matter of indifference to him whether he had been lost or
not.
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