quietness; and in two hours from the time we had left the old Torch, we
were transferred from her orderly deck to the bustle of a crowded town.


One of our crew undertook to be the guide to the agent's house. We arrived
before it. It was a large mansion, and we could see lights glimmering in
the ground floor; but it was gaily lit up aloft. The house itself stood
back about twenty feet from the street, from which it was separated by an
iron railing.

We knocked at the outer--gate, but no one answered. At length our black
guide found out a bell--pull, and presently the clang of a bell resounded
throughout the mansion. Still no one answered. I pushed against, the
door, and found it was open, and Mr Treenail and myself immediately
ascended a flight of six marble steps, and stood in the lower piazza,
with the hall, or lower vestibule, before us. We entered. A very
welldressed brown woman, who was sitting at her work at a small table,
along with two young girls of the same complexion, instantly rose to
receive us.

"Beg pardon," said Mr Treenail, "pray, is this Mr-----'s house?" "Yes,
sir, it is."

"Will you have the goodness to say if he be at home?"

"Oh yes, sir, he is dere upon dinner wid company," said the lady.

"Well," continued the lieutenant, "say to him, that an officer of his
Majesty's sloop Torch is below, with despatches for the admiral."