Fernando explained that he had
two friends; but the captain did not care if he had a dozen, and in less
time than the whole matter could be told the three travellers found
themselves in the vehicle whirling up the avenue of trees, many of which
still bore the marks of shells and cannon shot.
The greeting between Fernando and Morgianna was warm, but formal.
Terrence impulsively grasped the little hand of the "maid o' the beach,"
as he called her, and paid her some pretty compliment, which caused her
to blush, enhancing her beauty a hundred fold.
She was formally introduced to Mr. St. Mark, the gunner whose skill had
saved them. She had seen the quiet man at a distance during the siege,
but had never talked with him.
"Say, Fernando, do yez mark how Misther St. Mark stares at Miss
Morgianna?" asked Terrence that evening. "Bad luck to his ill manners,
if he wasn't so ould, I'd think he was in love with her."
Fernando made no response. Captain Lane, during the evening, engaged
St. Mark in a discussion about General Jackson, who was undergoing a
trial by the civil courts of New Orleans for the violation of the civil
laws in saving the city. Captain Lane was loud in his condemnation of
the Peace faction, which, not satisfied with having thrown every
possible obstacle in the way of the administration in the prosecution of
the war, was now ridiculing the manner in which it had terminated.
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