"Fortune at length favors me!" he cried. "This is kind, Cecilia; more
than I deserve, and much more than I expected. But you are not alone."
"'Tis my cousin Kate; to her piercing eyes you owe your detection, and
she has kindly consented to accompany me, that we might urge you to--
nay, that we might, if necessary, assist you to fly. For 'tis cruel
folly, Griffith, thus to tempt your fate."
"Have I tempted it, then, in vain! Miss Plowden, to you I must appeal
for an answer and a justification."
Katherine looked displeased; but after a moment's hesitation she
replied:
"Your servant, Mr. Griffith; I perceive that the erudite Captain
Barnstable has not only succeeded in spelling through my scrawl, but he
has also given it to all hands for perusal."
"Now you do both him and me injustice," said Griffith; "it surely was
not treachery to show me a plan in which I was to be a principal actor."
"Ah! doubtless your excuses are as obedient to your calls as your men,"
returned the young lady; "but how comes it that the hero of the Ariel
sends a deputy to perform a duty that is so peculiarly his own? Is he
wont to be second in rescues?"
"Heaven forbid that you should think so meanly of him for a moment! We
owe you much, Miss Plowden; but we may have other duties. You know that
we serve our common country, and have a superior with us, whose beck is
our law."
"Return, then, Mr. Griffith, while you may, to the service of our
bleeding country," said Cecilia, "and, after the joint efforts of her
brave children have expelled the intruders from her soil, let us hope
there shall come a time when Katherine and myself may be restored to our
native homes.
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