The sailor hero

The war with France had just commenced. Vice-Admiral Lord Hood hoisted his flag on board the Victory, of one hundred guns; and, with the English fleet under his command, sailed...

In the month of August the British fleet, under Lord Hood, arrived before the port of Toulon. Two commissioners from the Royalist party came on board the Victory, to treat for t...

“True, I forgot the note; there will be daylight in another hour, its getting grey to the eastward. A terrible scene this poor lady and her child must have witnessed in Lyons,”...

It became very apparent to our hero, after traversing one or two streets, that there was some great commotion going on in other parts of the town, for the shouts and outcries fr...

In less than an hour the boat ranged up alongside of the huge Victory, towering above them in the dim light like a mighty fortress, her lofty masts being clearly defined in the...

As strict matter of history, we must refrain from recording the events that followed the taking of Toulon by the British. It will be sufficient to say as a midshipman William Th...

Lord Hood was alone, sitting at a table covered with papers, letters, and dispatches. His Lordship looked up, pointed with the pen in his hand to a seat, and then finished the l...

“You are one of fortune’s favourites,” said Charles Pole to William Thornton, who was taking leave of his comrades on board the Victory, previous to his departure the following...

This was the memorable storm on the 28th of December, 1793. So tremendous became the hurricane before sunset of the day following its commencement, that the Babet became literal...

The springing up of a breeze, and in an adverse direction, with a promise of blowing fresh, disappointed all on board; for they fully expected that with the land wind, usually b...

Towards sunset the following day the Babet was within sight of Gibraltar, the wind having shifted, during the night, to the eastward. The ladies were all on deck, anxious for a...

The main cabin of the Bon-Citoyen was, though not very large, extremely comfortable, and bore a very war-like aspect, the panels and sides all being covered with various small a...

Sir Godfrey Etherton, eight or ten days after the arrival of the Babet in Plymouth, received a letter from Mr. Joseph Stanmore, solicitor. The Baronet was in his study when the...

Three years have passed since the events recorded in our last chapter took place; and, at the end of that period we find our hero, whom we must still style William Thornton, thi...

Sir Sidney Smith, having pulled back to the Vengeance, found our hero busily engaged routing out all the shot that could be found; but, to their exceeding surprise and vexation,...

Early in life Sir Oscar De Bracy and his sister, Anne, were left orphans. On attaining his twenty-first year Sir Oscar, then a lieutenant in the navy, came into possession of th...

Five years have passed since Mabel Arden was placed under the care of Mrs. Sampson; and she was now seventeen years of age. For the last six months she had quitted school, and r...

Lady Etherton sincerely and deeply deplored the loss of her husband, for she really loved him; to her, his faults were in a measure hidden. But, alas, this was not the case with...

We left Lieutenant Thornton and Bill Saunders scrambling over the rough rocks, after swimming from the sunken lugger. It was not yet daybreak, and our hero was anxious to get as...

Our hero could hear every word spoken, and such an effect had the name of Gaudet upon him, that hungry as he was he paused to listen. Not so Bill; neither understanding nor cari...

Our young hero must have slept soundly, for he did not awake when, in the dusk of the evening, Dame Moret and her daughter entered the room, quietly laid a cloth, put some cold...

“Bill,” said Lieutenant Thornton, one morning after breakfast, as, habited in a very unpretending shooting-dress of dark green cloth, which fitted him well, “Bill, did you ever...

Our hero, followed by Bill Saunders—who was extremely puzzled to understand what had recently taken place, and turning over in his own mind what might be the consequence of livi...

The Onyx corvette was commanded by Captain Patrick O’Loughlin. Charles Pole, our hero’s comrade on board the Victory, was second lieutenant, he having had the good fortune to ge...

“At this time the French fleet was ready for sea, and I experienced the most painful thoughts; here I was, an Englishman by birth and feelings, about to be forced to fight again...

“Ah, that’s a merchant ship,” said Captain O’Loughlin, looking through his night-glass. “I am sure of it. What has brought her so close in with the French coast? It’s a great an...

Julian Arden was unable to continue his narrative, for the corvette had approached so close to the French coast as to require all her commander’s attention to their situation. T...

The following day, Julian Arden, attired in the garments of the French seaman, Louis Lebeau, and furnished with his papers and a good sum in French money, took leave of his kind...

On the day that Julian Arden landed from the Onyx, Lieutenant Thornton, Mademoiselle de Tourville, and her friend Julia Plessis having made arrangements for a day’s excursion, p...

We must now follow the footsteps of Monsieur Gramont, who, having finished singing his air of “Malbrook,” put up his fishing rod, gave a look after the retreating form of Bill S...

After parting from Julian Arden by the chestnut tree, Lieutenant Thornton proceeded to the house, his mind fully occupied with the sudden and strange appearance of Julian, and t...

Madame Coulancourt, her son Julian, her daughter Mabel, and our hero, were now together; each had related to the other his or her various adventures, and now all their attention...

Lieutenant Thornton and Bill Saunders reached the sand hills without meeting a single person, or, as they thought, without attracting the notice of any one; but they were mistak...

“We have her at last, by St. Patrick!” said Captain O’Loughlin, shaking our hero by the hand; “though I am sorry to say we have lost three men and seven hurt, three or four seve...

Leaving the Vengeance to keep watch off the Port of Havre, a thing at that period not at all a hazardous affair, whilst Vice-Admiral Colpoys was with his fleet off Brest or Isle...

Neither Mabel nor Madame Coulancourt, when they retired to rest that night, undressed, for they fully expected to be roused by the sounds of contention from Palos Creek. Mabel r...

“Yes, Monsieur Gramont, we did; he was certainly not in the château, and you did not give us further instructions than to search the house, and keep a careful guard, which we did.”

“That horrid man,” said Mabel, “thought to terrify you, dear mother, into some compromise or promise, by acting on your feelings with respect to my brother’s safety. He stated a...

The men were delighted with the privateer, the accommodation being so vastly superior to a vessel of war. The weather was remarkably beautiful, with smooth water and light breez...

of our ships off Brest and Isle Dieu, took our captain and first lieutenant and nineteen of the men on board the Virginie, and then this here chap put us fourteen down below, an...

The fifth morning after the cutting out of the Vengeance, Madame Coulancourt and her daughter, and Monsieur Plessis and his family, left the château in two carriages for Havre,...

So completely absorbed were all parties on board the Vengeance and the Etoile, during their fierce and sanguinary struggle, that no attention had been paid to the movements of t...

On casting anchor before the little village of Eure, some five leagues from Havre, Madame Coulancourt became intensely anxious about her son, but from this anxiety she was quick...

As soon as Lieutenant Thornton arrived in Plymouth with the Virginie and Vengeance, his first care, after the usual formalities had been gone through, was to get Commander O’Lou...