I could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw him.

'Is that you, Bill Stubbs,' says I, 'at last ?' "'Lor love ye!' says he, 'is that you, Pilot ?' "He then took hold of my hand, and gave it such a shake as almost wrenched it off.
"'Where in all the earth did you hail from ?' he said.

'I thought you were dead and gone ?' "'And I thought you were the same,' said I, 'and no mistake.' "'Alive and hearty though, as you see, Pilot; only a little at sea amongst the _mounseers_.' "'But what about the _Hoboken_ ?' says I.
"'What _Hoboken_ ?' says he.
"'Were you not aboard a Yankee cruiser some months back ?' "'Never was aboard a Yankee in all my life,' says Bill.
"And no more he was, for he never left the _Nelson_ till she was high and dry in Havre dockyard; so, the short and the long of it is, that I must have been wrong in that instance." "So I should think," remarked Fritz.
"Yet the resemblance was very remarkable; the only difference was a carbuncle on the nose, which the real Bill has and the other has not, but which I had forgotten." "Like Cicero," remarked Jack.
"Another Admiral ?" inquired Willis, drily.
"No, he was only an orator." "Bill soon satisfied me that he was the very identical William Stubbs, and that the other was only a very good imitation." "He did not receive you with a punch in the ribs, at all events, like the apocryphal Bill," remarked Jack.
"No; but what is more to the purpose, he told me that, after having struggled with the terrible tempest off New Switzerland--which you recollect--the _Nelson_ found herself at such a distance, that Captain Littlestone resolved to proceed on his voyage, and to return again as speedily as possible.
"'We arrived at the Cape all right,' added Bill, 'landed the New Switzerland cargo, and sailed again with the Rev.Mr.Wolston on board.

A few days after leaving the Cape, we were pounced upon by a French frigate; the _Nelson_, with its crew, was sent off as a prize to Havre, and here I have been ever since,' said Bill, 'a prisoner at large, allowed to pick up a living as I can amongst the shipping.'" "And the remainder of the crew ?" inquired Fritz.
"Are all here prisoners of war." "And the Rev.Mr.Wolston and the captain ?" "Are prisoners on parole." "Where ?" "Here." "What! in Havre ?" "Yes, close at hand, in the Hotel d'Espagne." "And we sitting here," cried Jack, snatching up his hat and rushing down stairs four steps at a time.
Willis and Fritz followed as fast as they could.
When they all three reached the bottom of the stairs.
"If Captain Littlestone is here, Willis," said Jack, "he could not have been on board the _Boudeuse_." "That is true, Master Jack." "In that case, Great Rono, you must have been dreaming in the corvette as well as in the Yankee." "No," insisted Willis, "it was no dream, I am certain of that." "Explain the riddle, then." "I cannot do that just at present, but it may be cleared up by-and-by, like all the mysteries and miracles that surround us." FOOTNOTES: [I] This circumstance is historical, and will be found at length in the Memoirs of Napoleon, by Amedee Goubard..