"Take this to Mr J----, and bring me an answer immediately."
The messenger left the room, and the Secretary said to Jenny--
"Wait a moment or two, if you please."
In a little while the messenger came back and handed the Secretary a
memorandum from the clerk to whom he had sent for information.
"There is no such person as Clifford on board the ship ----, nor, in
fact, in the service as a common sailor," said the Secretary,
addressing Jenny, after glancing at the memorandum he had received.
"Oh, yes, there is; there must be," exclaimed the now agitated girl.
"I received a letter from him at Valparaiso, dated on board of this
ship. And, besides, he wrote home to his father, at the time he
sailed, declaring what he had done."
"Strange. His name doesn't appear in the Department as attached to
the service. Hark! There's a gun. It announces, in all probability,
the arrival of the ship ---- at the Navy Yard."
Jenny instantly became pale.
"Perhaps," suggested the Secretary, "your best way will be to take a
carriage and drive down, at once, to the Navy Yard. Shall I direct
the messenger to call a carriage for you?"
"I will thank you to do so," replied Jenny, faintly.
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