han
I can make out--for imprisoned I take it that he is, and strictly
guarded too, or he'd have long since found his way home."

"The more reason, then, that we should go in search for him," exclaimed
Norah. "Oh, father, let us sail as soon as possible."

"Captain O'Brien will soon be back from Bristol, and nothing need longer
delay us, except the want of funds," said the captain, "and they must
first be raised. But with the assurance that Owen is still alive--and I
think the account we have heard affords that--I believe that my friends
Ferris, Twigg, and Cash will no longer hesitate to advance the required
amount. For, though we have no evidence that the _Ouzel Galley_ has
escaped destruction, my belief is that she is safe, as well as her
master, although we are at present almost as much in the dark as ever as
to where she is. Had Tim Reardon survived, we should, I have no doubt,
been able to obtain much valuable information to guide us; but as he is
dead, we must trust to what we can hereafter gain. We'll hear, however,
what further our friend the seaman can tell us. Perhaps, after he has
had some food, he may remember more of what Tim said to him."

"I'm mighty hungry, yer honour--it's the truth," said Larry, looking up;
on which Norah hastened to get some cold meat and bread, not forgetting
a noggin of whisky, at which Larry's eyes glistened. The captain
allowed him to eat in silence, and he proved how hungry he must have
been by the quickness with which he devoured the viands placed before
him. Another examination elicited little further information, however,
from the seaman; his messmate had never mentioned the circumstances
under which he had met the person who had given him the paper with the
initials O.M. on it. He remembered only that he had once spoken of a
fine ship of which O.M. had been master, and which he had not long ago
seen, although he either did not know her name or was bound not to
divulge it. It was evident, indeed, that the unfortunate Tim Reardon
was under some fearful oath which he was afraid to break, and that he
had always spoken with the greatest caution, lest he might in any way
commit himself.

"Many would call yours a cock-and-bull story," observed Captain Tracy,
"but I believe you, Larry, and you may have the satisfaction of knowing
that you have fulfilled your promise to your dying messmate. Though you
ask for no reward, I'll do what I can to repay you for the information