"You have met this gentleman before?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where, may I ask, and when?"
"About a year and a half since, sir. You remember when the Maidstone was wrecked? He saved me from death then, and after Captain Jones put me ashore, you know--"
"He spared my life too, as well, sir, at that time," said Coventry; "they both did."
"You seem to be a good hand at saving lives, Lieutenant O'Neill, Marquis de Richemont, perhaps you can think now of some way of saving your own," remarked the admiral, sarcastically.
"'Tis useless to me now, my Lord, and not worth the saving," answered the young man, calmly; "but I would not have you mar the approaching nuptials of your son and ward by an execution. Let me at least live until after the wedding. I shall be more willing to die then," he added softly.
"You came here for what purpose?" continued the admiral, disregarding the latter words of the young man as utterly irrelevant.
"To find out the number and force and disposition of the ships in the harbor."
"At the instance of--"