"Thank you, miss," said my father, looking affectionately at my mother.

"And you must stay here as long as you can, Mister Burton," said old
Mrs Schank.

"Thank you again, ma'am. I shall be in no hurry to leave my wife now I
have come back to her," he said, with a sailor's bow.

"But we want to know, Mr Burton, where you have been, and what you have
been about," said Miss Martha Schank.

"That would take up a long time, but I will try and satisfy you ladies
as soon as you are ready to hear."

"As to going to bed without some notion, we should not sleep a wink all
night for thinking of it, and not be sure, after all, whether you are
yourself, or your ghost, or somebody else," exclaimed the Misses Schank
almost in chorus, Miss Anna Maria adding the last remark: "We heard that
you were knocked overboard and killed attacking a French ship off the
coast of Italy. Was that not the case?"

"It is all very true that I was knocked overboard," said my father.
"But had I been killed, I do not think I should be here. The fact is,
that when I fell into the water I came to myself, and not being able to
reach the boats I got hold of the rudder chains of the vessel we had
hoped to capture. There I hung on till the anger of the Frenchmen had
somewhat cooled down, and then, finding I could hold on no longer, I
sang out, and asked them to take me on board. They did so, and there
being a surgeon in the ship, he dressed my wounds. They treated me
pretty fairly till I got well, I must say that for them, but after that
they sent me to a French prison. Unfortunately I had no money in my
pocket, and was unable to buy paper to write a letter. What with the
hard treatment I received, and the thoughts that my wife and child were
left without anybody to look after them, I fell sick, and remained
between life and death for many months. A kind French widow and her
daughter took compassion on me, and by their means my life was saved. I
after this wrote several times, but my letters must have been treated as
were many others, and were never sent. I should, however, in time have
got my freedom, but I fell in with an English officer who was going to
be married, he told me, to a beautiful young lady, just when he was
taken, and now she would have to wait for him for many years, or perhaps
go and marry somebody else, thinking he was dead. He would, he said,
give everything to make his escape, so I promised to help him, which I
wished t