“I have very bad news,” he said.  “King James, who arrived here two days ago, has been taken suddenly ill, and until he is partially recovered we cannot sail, for it is absolutely necessary that he should be with us.  This may mean the delay of a week or ten days, and may defeat all our arrangements.  The English Government have spies here, as well as elsewhere; and their fleet has, for the last week, been hovering off the coast.  They may not have known the purpose of the assembly of troops here, for this has been kept strictly secret; and few even of the French officers of the expedition knew, until they arrived here, for what reason the regiments had been ordered to Dunkirk.  But the arrival of King James, of course, showed what was the intention, and, as soon as the news reaches London, you may be sure that the English fleet will be sent to intercept us.”

It was, indeed, ten days before James was sufficiently recovered to be embarked—­a delay which probably cost him his kingdom, for there can be no doubt that, on landing, he would have been joined at once by all the great clans, and by no small proportion of the able-bodied men of the country.

The consequences were so evident, to all engaged in the expedition, that despondency took the place of the enthusiasm with which they had embarked.  The fact that the expedition, after being so carefully and secretly prepared, should at its outset meet with so serious a misfortune, was considered an omen of evil.  At last, however, James embarked, under a salute by the guns of the ships of war; and as the sails were hoisted and the anchors weighed, the spirits of all again rose.

They had sailed but a few miles when it became evident that the Salisbury was the slowest ship in the fleet, for, although she had every stitch of canvas set, she lagged behind the rest, and the other vessels were obliged to lower some of their sails, in order to allow her to keep up with them.

“I begin to think, Kennedy,” O’Neil said, “that the good fortune that has hitherto attended you has spent itself.  O’Sullivan and I both regarded it as a good omen that you should be the one ensign selected to go with us, but this miserable delay at Dunkirk, and the fact that we are on board the slowest tub in the fleet, seems to show that Dame Fortune is no longer going to exercise herself in your favour.”

“It looks like it, indeed,” Desmond agreed.  “Still, I can’t hold myself responsible for either the king’s illness, or for our being allotted to this heavy-sailing craft; and, perhaps, even if fortune should not favour me any longer, she will do something for some of the others.

“She has always been favourable to Colonel Wauchop.  He has been through innumerable engagements.  Though many times wounded, he has never been seriously so, though scores of other officers have fallen in enterprises in which he has taken part.  In his case, fortune has not been fickle, and, as he is the chief officer on board, we must hope that she has not deserted him on this occasion.  I think there is a certain amount of luck in the fact that we carry a large amount of guns and ammunition.  If that had not been the case, it is likely that, rather than delay, the squadron would sail on at full speed, and have left us to follow as best we might.”