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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Paul Gerrard, by W.H.G. Kingston
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Paul Gerrard
+       The Cabin Boy
+
+Author: W.H.G. Kingston
+
+Release Date: June 12, 2007 [EBook #21812]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAUL GERRARD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+Paul Gerrard, The Cabin Boy, by W.H.G. Kingston.
+________________________________________________________________________
+Here is another book in the true Kingston style - lots of swimming,
+sharks, wrecks, battles, pirates, woundings.
+
+Paul goes to sea in the first place because his father has lost a legal
+case in which the Devereux family had been claiming his estates and
+land.  To Paul's surprise, who should be in the midshipman's mess but a
+young man called Devereux, whose life Paul was able to save following
+his serious wounding.  So we just need to keep in mind that Paul is
+always looking slightly askance at Devereux.  Eventually they become
+great friends.
+
+It makes a good audiobook.
+________________________________________________________________________
+PAUL GERRARD, THE CABIN BOY, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+Darkness had set in.  The wind was blowing strong from the southwest,
+with a fine, wetting, penetrating rain, which even tarpaulins, or the
+thickest of Flushing coats, would scarcely resist.  A heavy sea also was
+running, such as is often to be met with in the chops of the British
+Channel during the month of November, at which time of the year, in the
+latter part of the last century, a fine frigate was struggling with the
+elements, in a brave attempt to beat out into the open ocean.  She was
+under close-reefed topsails; but even with this snug canvas she often
+heeled over to the blast, till her lee-ports were buried in the foaming
+waters.  Now she rose to the summit of a white-crested sea; now she sunk
+into the yawning trough below; and ever and anon as she dashed onward in
+spite of all opposition, a mass of water would strike her bows with a
+clap like that of thunder, and rising over her bulwarks, would deluge
+her deck fore and aft, and appear as if about to overwhelm her
+altogether.  A portion of the officers and crew stood at their posts on
+deck, now and then shaking the water from their hats and coats, after
+they had been covered with a thicker shower than usual of rain or spray,
+or looking up aloft at the straining canvas, or out over the dark
+expanse of ocean; but all of them taking matters very composedly, and
+wishing only that their watch were over, that they might enjoy such
+comforts as were to be found below, and take part in the conviviality
+which, in spite of the gale, was going forward.
+
+It was Saturday night, and fore and aft the time-honoured toast of
+"sweethearts and wives" was being enthusiastically drunk,--nowhere more
+enthusiastically than in the midshipmen's berth; and not the less so
+probably, that few of its light-hearted inmates had in reality either
+one or the other.  What cared they for the tumult which raged above
+their heads?  They had a stout ship and trusted officers, and their
+heads and insides were well accustomed to every possible variety of
+lurching and pitching, in which their gallant frigate the _Cerberus_ was
+at that moment indulging.  The _Cerberus_, a fine 42-gun frigate,
+commanded by Captain Walford, had lately been put in commission, and
+many of her officers and midshipmen had only joined just before the ship
+sailed, and were thus comparatively strangers to each other.  The
+frigate was now bound out to a distant station, where foes well worthy
+of her, it was hoped, would be encountered, and prize-money without
+stint be made.
+
+The midshipmen's berth of the _Cerberus_ was a compartment of somewhat
+limited dimensions,--now filled to overflowing with mates, midshipmen,
+masters'-assistants, assistant-surgeons, and captain's and purser's
+clerks,--some men with grey heads, and others boys scarcely in their
+teens, of all characters and dispositions, the sons of nobles of the
+proudest names, and the offspring of plebeians, who had little to boast
+of on that score, or on any other; but the boys might hope,
+notwithstanding, as many did, to gain fame and a name for themselves.
+The din of tongues and shouts of laughter which proceeded out of that
+narrow berth, rose even above the creaking of bulkheads, the howling of
+the wind, and the roar of the waves.
+
+The atmosphere was somewhat dense and redolent of rum, and could
+scarcely be penetrated by the light of the three purser's dips which
+burned in some battered tin candlesticks, secured by lanyards to the
+table.  At one end of the table over which he presided as caterer, sat
+Tony Noakes, an old mate, whose grog-blossomed nose and bloodshot eyes
+told of many a past debauch.
+
+"Here's to my own true love, Sally Pounce," he shouted in a husky voice,
+lifting to his lips a stiff glass of grog, which was eyed wistfully by
+Tilly Blake, a young midshipman, from whose share of rum he had
+abstracted its contents.
+
+"Mrs Noakes that is to be," cried out Tilly in a sharp tone.  "But I
+say, she'll not stand having her grog drunk up."
+
+"That remark smells of mutiny, youngster," exclaimed Noakes, with a
+fierce glance towards the audacious midshipman.
+
+"By the piper, but it's true, though," put in Paddy O'Grady, who had
+also been deprived of the larger portion of his grog.
+
+Most of the youngsters, on finding others inclined to stand up for their
+rights, made common cause with Blake and O'Grady.  Enraged at this,
+Noakes threatened the malcontents with condign punishment.
+
+"Yes, down with all mutiny and the rights of man or midshipmen,"
+exclaimed in a somewhat sarcastic tone a good-looking youth, who himself
+wore the uniform of a midshipman.
+
+"Well said, Devereux.  We must support the rights and dignity of the
+oldsters, or the service will soon go to ruin," cried the old mate,
+whose voice grew thicker as he emptied glass after glass of his
+favourite liquor.  "You show your sense, Devereux, and deserve your
+supper, but--there's no beef on the table.  Here boy--boy Gerrard--bring
+the beef; be smart now--bring the beef.  Don't stand staring there as if
+you saw a ghost."
+
+The boy thus summoned was a fine lad of about fourteen, his shirt collar
+thrown back showing his neck, which supported a well-formed head, with a
+countenance intelligent and pleasant, but at that moment very pale, with
+an expression denoting unhappiness, and a feeling of dislike to, or
+dread of, those on whom he was waiting.  A midshipmen's boy has seldom a
+pleasant time of it under any circumstances.  Boy Gerrard, as he was
+called, did his best, though often unsuccessfully, to please his
+numerous masters.
+
+"Why do you stand there, staring like a stuffed pig?" exclaimed
+Devereux, who was near the door.  "It is the beef, not your calf's head
+we want.  Away now, be smart about it."
+
+The sally produced a hoarse laugh from all those sufficiently sober to
+understand a joke.
+
+"The beef, sir; what beef?" asked boy Gerrard in a tone of alarm.
+
+"Our beef," shouted old Noakes, heaving a biscuit at the boy's head.  It
+was fortunate that no heavy missile was in his hand.  "Take that to
+sharpen your wits."
+
+Devereux laughed with others at the old mate's roughness.  The boy gave
+an angry glance at him as he hurried off to the midshipmen's larder to
+execute the order.
+
+Before long, boy Gerrard was seen staggering along the deck towards the
+berth with a huge piece of salt beef in his hands, and endeavouring to
+keep his legs as the frigate gave a heavy lurch or pitched forward, as
+she forced her way over the tumultuous seas.  Boy Gerrard gazed at the
+berth of his many masters.  He thought that he could reach it in another
+run.  He made the attempt, but it was down hill, and before he could
+save himself he had shot the beef, though not the dish, into the very
+centre of the table, whence it bounded off and hit O'Grady, the Irish
+midshipman, a blow on the eye, which knocked him backward.  Poor Gerrard
+stood gazing into the berth, and prepared for the speedy punishment
+which his past experience had taught him would follow.
+
+"By the piper, but I'll teach you to keep a taughter gripe of the beef
+for the future, you spalpeen," exclaimed O'Grady, recovering himself,
+and about to hurl back the joint at the head of the unfortunate
+boy, when his arm was grasped by Devereux, who cried out,
+laughing,--"Preserve the beef and your temper, Paddy, and if boy
+Gerrard, after proper trial, shall be found to have purposely hurled the
+meat at your wise caput, he shall be forthwith delivered over to condign
+punishment."
+
+"Oh, hang your sea-lawyer arguments; I'll break the chap's head, and
+listen to them afterwards," cried O'Grady, attempting to spring up to
+put his threat into execution.
+
+Devereux again held him back, observing, "Break the boy's head if you
+like; I have no interest in preserving it, except that we may not find
+another boy to take his place; but you must listen to my arguments
+before you commence operations."
+
+"Hear, hear! lawyer Devereux is about to open his mouth," cried several
+voices.
+
+"Come, pass me the beef, and let me put some of it into my mouth, which
+is open already," exclaimed Peter Bruff, another of the older mates, who
+having just descended from the deck, and thrown off his dripping outer
+coat, had taken his seat at the table.  His hair and whiskers were still
+wet with spray, his hands showed signs of service, and his fine open
+countenance--full of good-nature, and yet expressive of courage and
+determination, had a somewhat weather-worn appearance, though his crisp,
+curling, light hair showed that he was still in the early prime of
+manhood.
+
+"Listen, gentlemen of the jury, and belay your jaw-tackles you who have
+no business in the matter, and Bruff being judge, I will plead boy
+Gerrard's cause against Paddy O'Grady, Esquire, midshipman of his
+Majesty's frigate _Cerberus_," cried Devereux, striking the table with
+his fist, a proceeding which obtained a momentary silence.  "To
+commence, I must go back to first causes.  You understand, gentlemen of
+the jury, that there is a strong wind blowing, which has kicked up a
+heavy sea, which is tossing about our stout ship in a way to make it
+difficult for a seaman, and much more for a ship's boy, to keep his
+legs, and therefore I suggest--"
+
+"Belay all that, Master Long-tongue," shouted Noakes; "if the boy is to
+be cobbed, why let's cob him; if not, why let him fill the mustard-pot,
+for it's empty."
+
+Others now joined in; some were for cobbing poor Gerrard forthwith;
+others, who had not had their supper, insisted on the mustard-pot being
+first replenished.
+
+Devereux had gained his point in setting his messmates by the ears, and
+Peter Bruff seeing his object, sent off Gerrard for a supply of the
+required condiment.  It was O'Grady's next watch on deck; and thus
+before Gerrard returned, he had been compelled to leave the berth.
+Devereux, however, immediately afterwards turned on Gerrard and scolded
+him harshly for not keeping steady while waiting at the door of the
+berth.  At length the master-at-arms came round, the midshipmen were
+sent to their hammocks, and Paul Gerrard was allowed to turn into his.
+He felt very sick and very miserable.  It was the commencement of his
+sea life, a life for which he had long and enthusiastically yearned, and
+this was what it proved to be.  How different the reality from what he
+had expected!  He could have cried aloud for very bitterness of heart,
+but that he was ashamed to allow his sobs to be heard.
+
+"He treat me thus! he by birth my equal! to speak to me as if I was a
+slave! he who might have been in my place, had there been justice done
+us, while I should have been in his.  A hard fate is mine; but yet I
+chose it, and I'll bear it."
+
+With such thoughts passing through his mind, the young ship-boy fell
+asleep, and for a time forgot his cares and suffering.  He dreamed of
+happier times, when he with his parents and brothers and sisters enjoyed
+all the luxuries which wealth could give, and he was a loved and petted
+child.  Then came a lawsuit, the subject of which he could not
+comprehend.  All he knew was, that it was with the Devereux family.  It
+resulted in the loss to his father of his entire fortune, and Paul
+remembered hearing him say that they were beggars.  "That is what I will
+not be," he had exclaimed; "I can work--we can all work--I will work."
+
+Paul was to be tried severely.  His father died broken-hearted.  It
+seemed too probable that his mother would follow him ere long.  Paul had
+always desired to go to sea.  He could no longer hope to tread the
+quarter-deck as an officer, yet he still kept to his determination of
+following a life on the ocean.
+
+"I will enter as a cabin-boy; I will work my way upwards.  Many have
+done so, why should not I?" he exclaimed with enthusiasm; "I will win
+wealth to support you all, and honours for myself.  `Where there's a
+will there's a way.'  I don't see the way very clearly just now; but
+that is the opening through which I am determined to work my way
+onward."
+
+Paul's mother, though a well-educated and very excellent person, knew
+nothing whatever of the world.  She would, indeed, have hesitated, had
+she known the real state of the case, and what he would have to go
+through, ere she allowed her son to enter before the mast on board a
+man-of-war; but she had no one on whom she could rely, to consult in the
+matter.  Mrs Gerrard had retired to the humble cottage of a former
+servant in a retired village, where she hoped that the few pounds a year
+she had left her would enable her to support herself and her children,
+with the aid of such needlework as she might obtain.  Little did she
+think, poor woman, to what trying difficulties she would be exposed.
+Not only must she support herself, but educate her children.  She had
+saved a few books for this purpose, and some humble furniture for her
+little cottage; everything else had been sold to raise the small sum on
+the interest of which she was to live.
+
+"Mother! mother! do let me at once go to sea!" exclaimed Paul, who
+understood tolerably well the state of affairs.  "I can do nothing at
+home to help you, and only eat up what should feed others; if I go to
+sea, I shall get food and clothing, and pay and prize-money, and be able
+to send quantities of gold guineas home to you.  Reuben Cole has been
+telling me all about it; and he showed me a purse full of great gold
+pieces, just the remains of what he came ashore with a few weeks ago.
+He was going to give most of it to his sister, who has a number of
+children, and then go away to sea again, and, dear mother, he promised
+to take me with him if you would let me go.  Mary and Fred will help all
+the better, when I am away, to teach Sarah and John and Ann, and Fred is
+so fond of books that he is certain to get on some day, somehow or
+other."
+
+What could the poor widow say to these appeals often repeated?  What
+could she hope to do for her boy?  There was a romance attached in those
+times to a sea life felt by all classes, which scarcely exists at the
+present day.  She sent for Reuben Cole, who, though a rough sailor,
+seemed to have a kind heart.  He promised to act the part of a father
+towards the boy to the best of his power, undertaking to find a good
+ship for him without delay.  The widow yielded, and with many an earnest
+prayer for his safety, committed Paul to the charge of Reuben Cole.  The
+honest sailor was as good as his word.  He could scarcely have selected
+a better ship than the _Cerberus_.  He volunteered to join, provided
+Paul was received on board; his terms were accepted, and he thought that
+he was doing well for his young charge when he got him the appointment
+of midshipmen's boy.  The employment was very different from what Paul
+had expected, but he had determined to do his duty in whatever station
+he might be placed.  The higher pay and perquisites would be of value to
+him, as he might thus send more money to his mother, and he hoped soon
+to become reconciled to his lot.  One day, however, the name of a
+midshipman who had just joined struck his ear,--it was that of Devereux,
+the name of the family with whom his father had so long carried on the
+unsuccessful lawsuit.
+
+From some remarks casually made by one of the other midshipmen while he
+was waiting in the berth, Paul was convinced that Gilbert Devereux was a
+son of the man who had, he conceived, been the cause of his father's
+ruin and death.  Paul, had he been asked, would have acknowledged how he
+ought to feel towards young Devereux, but he at times allowed himself to
+regard him with bitterness and dislike, if not with downright hatred.
+He well knew that this feeling was wrong, and he had more than once
+tried to overcome the feeling when, perhaps, some careless expression
+let drop by Gilbert Devereux, or some order given by him, would once
+more arouse it.  "I could bear it from another, but not from him," Paul
+over and over again had said to himself after each fresh cause of
+annoyance given by young Devereux, who all the time was himself utterly
+ignorant that he had offended the boy.  Of course he did not suspect who
+Paul was; Paul had determined to keep his own secret, and had not
+divulged it even to Reuben.  Reuben was somewhat disappointed with Paul.
+"I cannot make out what ails the lad," he said to himself, "he was
+merry and spirited enough on shore; I hope he's not going to be afraid
+of salt-water."
+
+Poor Paul was undergoing a severe trial.  It might prove for his benefit
+in the end.  While the frigate was in harbour, he bore up tolerably
+well, but he had now for the first time in his life to contend with
+sea-sickness; while he was also at the beck and call of a dozen or more
+somewhat unreasonable masters.  It was not, however, till that Saturday
+night that Paul began really to repent that he had come to sea.  Where
+was the romance?  As the serpent, into which Aaron's rod was changed,
+swallowed up the serpents of the Egyptian magicians, so the stern
+reality had devoured all the ideas of the romance of a sea life, which
+he had till now entertained.
+
+Yet sleep, that blessed medicine for human woes, brought calm and
+comfort to his soul.  He dreamed of happier days, when his father was
+alive, and as yet no cares had visited his home.  He was surrounded by
+the comforts which wealth can give.  He was preparing, as he had long
+hoped to do, for sea, with the expectation of being placed as a
+midshipman on the quarter-deck.  His uniform with brass buttons, his
+dirk and gold-laced hat, lay on a table before him, with a bright
+quadrant and spy-glass; and there was his sea-chest ready to be filled
+with his new wardrobe, and all sorts of little comforts which a fond
+mother and sisters were likely to have prepared for him.  He heard the
+congratulations of friends, and the prophecies that he would some day
+emulate the deeds of England's greatest naval heroes.  He dreamed on
+thus till the late events of his life again came into his thoughts, and
+he recollected that it was not his own, but the outfit of another lad
+about to go to sea which he had long ago inspected with such interest,
+and at length the poor ship-boy was awakened to the stern reality of his
+present condition by the hoarse voice of a boatswain's mate summoning
+all hands on deck.  Paul felt so sea-sick and so utterly miserable that
+he thought that he would rather die where he lay in his hammock than
+turn out and dress.  The ship was tumbling about more violently than
+ever; the noise was terrific; the loud voices of the men giving
+utterance to coarse oaths as they awoke from their sleep; their shouts
+and cries; the roaring of the wind as it found its way through the open
+hatches down below; the rattling of the blocks; the creaking of timbers
+and bulkheads, and the crash of the sea against the sides of the ship,
+made Paul suppose that she was about to sink into the depths of the
+ocean.  "I'll die where I am," he thought to himself.  "Oh, my dear
+mother and sisters, I shall never see you more!"  But at that instant a
+kick and a blow inflicted by Sam Coulson, one of the boatswain's mates,
+made him spring up.
+
+"What, skulking already, you young hedgehog," exclaimed the man; "on
+deck with your or your shoulders shall feel a taste of my colt."
+
+Although Paul was as quick in his movements as his weak state would
+allow, a shower of blows descended on his back, which brought him on his
+knees, when, ordering him to pick himself up and follow, on pain of a
+further dose of the colt, Sam Coulson passed on.  The sharp tattoo of a
+drum beaten rapidly sounded at the same time through the ship; but what
+it signified Paul in his ignorance could not tell, nor was there any one
+near him to ask.  Bewildered and unable to see in the darkness, he tried
+in vain to gain the hatchway.  He groped his way aft as fast as he
+could, for fear of encountering the boatswain's mate.  "If the ship
+sinks I must go down with her; but anything is better than meeting him,"
+he thought to himself.  "Besides, I cannot be worse off than those on
+deck, I should think."
+
+He worked his way aft till he found himself near the midshipmen's
+chests; there was a snug place between two of them in which he had more
+than once before ensconced himself when waiting to be summoned by his
+masters.  "Here I'll wait till I find out what is happening," he said to
+himself as he sank down into the corner.  The din continued, the frigate
+tumbled about as much as before, but he was very weary, and before long
+he forgot where he was, and fell fast asleep.
+
+He was at length awoke by a crashing sound, as if the timbers were being
+rent apart.  What could it be?  He started up, scarcely knowing where he
+was.  Had the ship struck on a rock, or could she be going down?  There
+was then a loud report; another and another followed.  The reports
+became louder; they were directly over his head.  The main-deck guns
+were being fired.  The ship must be engaged with an enemy, there could
+be no doubt about that.  The light from a ship's lantern fell on the
+spot where he lay.  The gunner and his crew were descending to the
+magazine.  His duty he had been told would be in action to carry up
+powder to the crew; he ought to arouse himself.  The surgeon and his
+assistants now came below to prepare the cockpit for the reception of
+the wounded.  More lights appeared.  The carpenter and his crew were
+going their rounds through the wings.  Men were descending and
+ascending, carrying up shot from the lockers below.  All were too busy
+to discover Paul.  The sea had by this time gone down, and the ship was
+less tumbled about than before.  Sleep, too, had somewhat restored his
+strength, and with it his spirits and courage.
+
+"What am I about, skulking here?  I ought to be ashamed of myself; have
+all my once brave thoughts and aspirations come to this?  I will be up
+and do my duty, and not mind Sam Coulson, or the enemy's shot, or
+anything else."  Such were the thoughts which rapidly passed through his
+mind; he sprang to his feet, and, as he hoped, unobserved reached the
+main-deck.  He fortunately remembered that his friend Reuben Cole was
+captain of one of the main-deck guns, and that Reuben had told him that
+that was the gun he was to serve.  The deck was well lighted up by the
+fighting-lanterns, and he had thus no difficulty in finding out his
+friend.  The men, mostly stripped to their waists, stood grouped round
+their guns with the tackles in their hands, the captains holding the
+slow matches ready to fire.  Paul ran up to Reuben, who was captain of
+his gun.
+
+"What am I to do?" he asked; "you said you would tell me."
+
+"So I will, lad; and I am glad to see you, for I was afraid that you had
+come to harm," answered Reuben, in a kind tone.  "I said as how I was
+sure you wasn't one to skulk.  Where was you, boy?"
+
+Paul felt conscience-stricken, and he dared not answer; for utter a
+falsehood to excuse himself he would not.  "Tell me what I am to do, and
+I'll try to do it," he said, at length.
+
+"Why, then, do you go down with Tom Buckle to the powder-magazine with
+that tub there, and get it filled and come back and sit on it till we
+wants it," replied his friend, who possibly might have suspected the
+truth.
+
+"Then I am about to take part in a real battle," thought Paul, as,
+accompanying the boy Tom Buckle, he ran down to the magazine.  In a
+moment, sickness, fatigue, and fear were banished.  He was the
+true-hearted English Boy, and he felt as brave as he could wish, and
+regardless of danger.  Paul knew he was doing his duty.  His tub was
+quickly filled, and he was soon again at Reuben's gun, behind which he
+was told to sit--one of a row of boys employed in the same manner.  Many
+of his companions were laughing and joking, as if nothing unusual was
+occurring, or as if it was impossible that a shot could find them out.
+
+Paul was now, for the first time, able to make inquiries as to the state
+of affairs.  Reuben told him that, at about midnight, the lights of two
+ships had been seen.  It was possible that they might be those of the
+look-out frigates of an enemy's squadron, at the same time as they might
+be British, and as Captain Walford had resolved that nothing should
+drive him back, the _Cerberus_ was kept on her course.  Whatever they
+were, the strangers seemed determined to become better acquainted.  As
+they drew nearer, signals were exchanged; but those of the stranger's
+were not understood.  The drum on this beat to quarters, and the ship
+was prepared for battle.  The two ships approached, and soon gave the
+_Cerberus_ a taste of their quality by pouring their broadsides into
+her; but, in consequence of the heavy sea which was then running, very
+few of their shot had taken effect.  Two, however, which had struck her
+hull, had passed through the bulwarks and killed two of her men, whose
+bodies now lay stark and stiff on the main-deck, near where they had
+stood as their mates were now standing, full of life and manly strength.
+Paul's eyes fell on them.  It was the first time he had seen death in
+its most hideous form.  He shuddered and turned sick.  Reuben observed
+the direction in which his glance was turned.
+
+"Paul, my lad, you mustn't think of them now," he cried out.  "They've
+done their duty like men, and it's our business to try to do ours.
+We've got some pretty sharp work before us; but it's my belief that
+we'll beat off our enemies, or take one or both of them, maybe.  Hurrah!
+lads.  That's what we've got to do."
+
+The crews of the guns within hearing uttered a cheerful response.  "All
+ready!"
+
+"Let 'em come on!"
+
+"The more the merrier!"
+
+"We'll give 'em more than we'll take!"
+
+These, and similar expressions, were heard from the seamen, while now
+and then a broad joke or a loud laugh burst from the lips of the more
+excited among them.  But there was no Dutch courage exhibited.  One and
+all showed the most determined and coolest bravery.  The officers whose
+duty it was to be on the main-deck kept going their rounds, to see that
+the men were at their stations, and that all were supplied with powder
+and shot and all things necessary.  Then the first-lieutenant, Mr
+Order, came down.
+
+"My lads," he exclaimed, "the captain sends to you to say that we have,
+perhaps, tough work before us; but that he is sure you all will do your
+duty like men, and will help him to thrash the enemy, as he hopes to do
+by daylight, when he can see them better."
+
+A loud cheer rang out from the throats of the seamen, fore and aft.  Mr
+Order felt satisfied that they were in the right temper for work.  He
+returned again on deck.  It was still very dark, and nothing could be
+seen through the open ports.  Every now and then, however, the crest of
+a sea washed in and deluged the decks, washing from side to side till it
+could escape through the scuppers.  Any moment the order to fire might
+be heard, or the shot of the enemy might come crashing through the
+sides.  It was a trying time for old salts, who had fought in many a
+previous battle; much more so for young hands.  Paul sat composedly on
+his tub.  Not far off from him stood Gilbert Devereux, in command of a
+division of guns.
+
+"If a shot were to take his head off, there would be one of our enemies
+out of the way," thought Paul; but directly afterwards his conscience
+rebuked him.  "No, no; that is a wicked feeling," it said; "I would
+rather be killed myself, if it were not for my poor mother and all at
+home--they would be so sorry."
+
+Still, Paul could not help eyeing the aristocratic-looking young
+midshipman, who, with a firm, proud step, trod the deck, eager for the
+fight, and little aware that he was watched with so much interest by the
+humble ship's boy.  Peter Bruff, who had the next division of guns under
+his charge, came up to Gilbert.
+
+"Well, Devereux, how do you like this fun?" he asked.  "Have you ever
+before been engaged?"
+
+"Never; but I like the idea of the sport well enough to wish to begin,"
+answered Devereux.  "Where are our enemies?"
+
+"Not far off, and they will not disappoint us," answered Bruff.  "We
+shall have pretty tough work of it, depend on that."
+
+"The tougher the better," answered Devereux, in a somewhat affected
+tone.  "I've never been in a battle, and I really want to see what it is
+like."
+
+"He's wonderfully cool," thought Paul.  "He hasn't seen the dead men
+there, forward.  It would be some satisfaction if he would show himself
+to be a coward, after all.  I could throw it in his teeth when he
+attempts to tyrannise over me."
+
+Paul's feelings were very far from right; but they were natural,
+unfortunately.  Gilbert's firm step and light laugh showed that there
+was little chance of Paul's wishes being realised.  Now a rumour spread
+from gun to gun that the enemy were again drawing near.  The men took a
+firmer hold of the gun-tackles, hitched up their trousers, drew their
+belts tighter round their waists, or gave some similar sign of
+preparation for the coming struggle.
+
+"Silence, fore and aft!" cried the officer in command of the deck.
+
+He was repeating the order which the captain had just given above.  The
+frigate plunged on heavily through the seas.  The awful moment was
+approaching.  There was neither jest nor laughter now.  The men were
+eagerly looking through the ports.  The lights from two ships were seen
+on the weather beam.  In smooth water the enemy having the weather-gauge
+would have been to the disadvantage of the _Cerberus_; but with the
+heavy sea which then ran it mattered, fortunately, less.
+
+"Starboard guns!  Fire! fire!" was shouted by the officers.
+
+"Hurrah, lads!  We have the first of it this time, and it's my belief we
+hit the mounseer," cried Reuben Cole, as he discharged his gun.
+
+Scarcely had the smoke cleared off from the deck when the roar of the
+enemy's guns was heard, and several shot came crashing against the side.
+One, coming through a port, passed close above Paul's head, and though
+it sent the splinters flying about in every direction, no one was hurt.
+
+"I've an idea there'll be work for the carpenters, to plug the
+shot-holes," cried Reuben, as the guns, being rapidly run in, loaded,
+and run out again, he stood ready for the command to fire.
+
+It soon came, and the whole broadside of the _Cerberus_ was poured, with
+good aim, into the bows of the leading Frenchman, which had attempted to
+pay her the same compliment.  For a few moments at a time Paul could
+catch sight of the lights of the enemy's ships through the ports; but
+the smoke from their own guns quickly again shut out all objects, except
+the men standing close to him.  Paul had plenty to do; jumping up to
+deliver the powder, and running down to the magazine for more when his
+tub was empty.  He discovered that, small as he was, he was taking a
+very active part in the battle, and doing considerably more than the
+midshipmen, who had to stand still, or only occasionally to run about
+with orders.  This gave him infinite satisfaction.
+
+"After all, I am doing as much as he is," he thought, looking towards
+Devereux.
+
+The firing became very rapid, and the enemy were close to the frigate;
+for not only round-shot flew on board, but the rattle of musketry was
+heard, and bullets came pattering through the ports.  Such a game could
+not be played without loss.  Fore and aft the men were struck down,--
+some never to rise again; cut in two, or with their heads knocked off.
+Others were carried below; and others, binding up their wounds, returned
+eagerly to their guns.  Now there was a cessation of firing.  The smoke
+cleared off.  There stood Devereux, unharmed, and as cool as at the
+commencement of the action, though smoke-begrimed as the rest of the
+crew; but as Paul glanced round and saw the gleam of the lanterns on the
+blood-stained decks, and the pale faces of the dead, and the bandaged
+heads and limbs of the wounded, he again turned sick, and wished, as
+many a person has wished before, that there was no such thing as
+fighting and slaughtering one's fellow-creatures.
+
+It was supposed that the enemy had hauled off to repair damages.  The
+crew of the _Cerberus_ were accordingly called away from their guns to
+repair those she had received, as far as could be done in the darkness.
+Not much time was allowed them.  Again their enemies returned to the
+attack.  Each ship was pronounced to be equal in size to the _Cerberus_,
+if not larger than it.  She had already suffered severely; the men were
+again ordered to their quarters.  The suspense before the firing should
+recommence was trying,--the very silence itself was awful.  This time it
+was broken by the enemy, but their fire was speedily returned by a
+broadside from the _Cerberus_.  Now, as rapidly as the guns on both
+sides could be loaded, they were run out and fired, for the British had
+an enemy on either beam, and each man knew that he must exert himself to
+the utmost to gain the victory.  When did English sailors ever fail to
+do that?  There could be no doubt, however, that the _Cerberus_ was hard
+pressed.
+
+Dreadful was the scene of havoc and carnage; the thunder of the guns;
+the rattle of the musketry; the crashing of the enemy's shot as they
+tore the stout planks asunder; the roar of the seas as they dashed
+against the sides, and the cries of the wounded, while the shouts of the
+men, who, as the fight grew more bloody, were more and more excited,
+became louder and louder; bright flashes, and wreaths of dark smoke, and
+splinters flying about, and men falling, and blood starting from their
+wounds, made up that horrid picture.  Paul had seen old Noakes carried
+below; O'Grady followed, badly hurt; others of his masters were killed
+or wounded.  Devereux seemed to bear a charmed life.  No! no man's life
+is charmed.  One moment he was standing full of life, encouraging his
+men; the next he lay wounded and bleeding on the wet and slippery deck.
+As he saw the handsome youth carried writhing in agony below, Paul's
+feelings of animosity instantly vanished.  He would have sprung forward
+to help him, but he had his own duty to attend to, and he knew that he
+must not neglect it, even though it was only to sit on a tub.
+
+From the exclamations of the men, Paul thought that the battle was going
+against them; still the crew fought on as bravely as at first.  "Fire!
+fire!"  What dreadful cry is that?  "The ship is on fire!"
+
+"All is lost!"  No; the firemen leave their guns and run forward to
+where some hay is blazing.  The enemy have discovered what has occurred
+and redouble their efforts.  The fire must be got under in spite of shot
+and bullets.  The men rush up to the flames fearlessly.  Buckets upon
+buckets of water are thrown on them; the burning fragments of timber are
+hove overboard.  The fire is reported to be got under.  The British
+seamen cheer, and good reason have they to do so now, for flames are
+seen bursting from the ports and hatchways of their most determined
+opponent.  Still all three ships tear on over the foaming ocean.  Thus
+closes that fearful night, and so must we our first chapter.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+The _Cerberus_, stout frigate that she was, plunged onward across the
+foam-covered ocean.  On one side was the burning ship, at which not a
+shot had been fired since her condition was discovered; on the other was
+a still active enemy.  With the latter, broadside after broadside was
+rapidly exchanged, but without much damage being sustained.  From the
+burning ship a few shots continued for a short time to be fired, but as
+the fire increased, the crew must have deserted their guns, and as the
+flames gained the mastery, they burned through the ropes and attacked
+the sails, and the ship fell off and rolled helplessly in the trough of
+the sea, where the two combatants soon left her far astern.
+
+"I wish as how we could heave-to and send a boat to help them poor
+fellows," cried Reuben Cole, looking at the burning ship.
+
+"To my mind, the mounseer out there would be doing better if he was to
+cry, Peccavi, and then go and look after his countrymen, instead of
+getting himself knocked to pieces, as he will be if he keeps on long at
+this game."
+
+The sentiment was highly applauded by his hearers.  There was not a man
+indeed on board the frigate who was not eager to save the lives of the
+hapless crew of the burning ship, which they had till now striven so
+hard to destroy.
+
+The firing had ceased; the grey dawn broke over the waste of waters;
+astern was seen the smoke from the burning ship, with bright flashes
+below it, and away to leeward their other antagonist making all sail to
+escape.  The battle was over, though the victor could boast but of a
+barren conquest.  The guns were run in and secured, and the weary crew
+instantly set to work to repair damages.  As the wind had fallen and the
+sea had considerably gone down, the work was performed without much
+difficulty.  Captain Walford had narrowly watched his flying foe, in the
+hopes that she might go to the assistance of her late consort.  Her
+royals had not long sunk below the horizon when once more the _Cerberus_
+was in a condition to make sail.
+
+Captain Walford considered whether he should go in pursuit of the enemy,
+or attempt to save the lives of the unfortunate people from the burning
+ship.  In the first case he might possibly capture an enemy's ship, but
+ought he for the chance of so doing to leave his fellow-creatures to
+perish miserably?
+
+"No, I will risk all consequences," he said to his first-lieutenant
+after a turn on deck.  And the _Cerberus_ stood towards the wreck.
+
+The wind had fallen so much that her progress was very slow.  The
+English now wished for more wind, for every moment might be of vital
+consequence to their late enemies.  Not a man on board felt the least
+enmity towards them; even the wounded and dying when told of their
+condition looked on them as brothers in misfortune.
+
+War is sad work, sad for those at home, sad for those engaged in it, and
+the only way to mitigate its horrors is to treat the fallen or the
+defeated foe as we should ourselves wish to be treated.
+
+While the frigate sailed on, the crew were repairing as far as possible
+the damages she had received; for at that season of the year it was
+probable that another gale might spring up, which she was as yet
+ill-prepared to encounter.  The men were nearly dropping with fatigue,
+but they worked on bravely, as true-hearted seamen always do work when
+necessity demands their exertions.
+
+Meantime Paul was summoned below.  The midshipmen who were not required
+on deck were again assembled in the berth; but the places of several
+were vacant.  They were eating a hurried meal which Paul had placed on
+the table, and discussing the events of the fight.  One or two of the
+youngsters were rather graver than usual, but Paul thought that the rest
+took matters with wonderful indifference.  He was anxious to know what
+had happened to Devereux, whom he had seen carried below badly wounded.
+Nobody mentioned him; perhaps he was dead; and he did not feel sorry at
+the thought.  After a time, though, he had some compunctions of
+conscience.  He was thinking that he would find his way towards the sick
+bay, where the wounded midshipmen and other junior officers were placed,
+when one of the assistant-surgeons came towards the berth.
+
+"Here, boy Gerrard, I can trust you, I think," he exclaimed.  "I want
+you to stay by Mr Devereux, and to keep continually moistening his
+lips, fomenting his wound as I shall direct.  He is very feverish, and
+his life may depend on your attention."
+
+Paul felt as he had never felt before, proud and happy at being thus
+spoken to, and selected by the surgeon to perform a responsible office,
+even though it was for one whom he had taught himself to look upon in
+the light of an enemy.  He was soon by the side of the sufferer.  The
+sight which met his eyes was sufficient to disarm all hostility.  The
+young midshipman, lately so joyous, with the flush of health on his
+cheeks, lay pale as death, groaning piteously; his side had been torn
+open, and a splinter had taken part of the scalp from his head.  The
+assistant-surgeon showed him what to do, and then hurried away, for he
+had many wounded to attend to, as the chief surgeon had been killed by a
+shot which came through one of the lower ports.
+
+Gerrard felt greatly touched at Devereux's sufferings.  "Poor fellow! he
+cannot possibly live with those dreadful wounds, and yet I am sure when
+the fight began that he had not an idea that he was to be killed, or
+even hurt," he said to himself more than once.  Paul was unwearied in
+following the surgeon's directions.  Devereux, however, was totally
+unconscious, and unaware who was attending on him.  He spoke now and
+then, but incoherently, generally about the home he had lately left.
+Once Paul heard him utter the name of Gerrard.
+
+"We beat them, though they kept us long out of our fortune, and now they
+are beggars as they deserve.  Hard for the young ones, though, I think;
+but it cannot be helped--must not think about them."
+
+Such expressions dropped at intervals from the lips of Devereux.  How he
+came to utter them at that time Paul could not guess.  Did he know him,
+or in any way associate his name with the family of whom he was
+speaking?
+
+"He has some sympathy, at all events, poor fellow, with our
+misfortunes," thought Paul.  "I wish that I had not thought so ill of
+him.  I hope he won't die.  I will pray that God will spare his life;
+even if he were my enemy I should do that."
+
+The surgeon, when he came his rounds, expressed his approval of the way
+Paul had managed his patient.
+
+"Will he live, sir?" asked Paul, in a trembling voice.
+
+"That is more than the wisest of us can say," was the answer.
+
+Paul was at length relieved from his charge by a marine who acted as
+Devereux's servant.  He was, however, very unwilling to quit his post.
+He was feeling more interest in the wounded midshipman than he could
+have supposed possible.
+
+Paul, as soon as he could, made his way on deck.  He wanted to know what
+had become of the burning ship.  He looked around; she was nowhere to be
+seen.  He inquired what had happened to her.  She had blown up; and
+probably nearly all on board had sunk beneath the waves.  There were men
+aloft, however, looking out, and now they were pointing in the direction
+of where the burning ship had gone down.  A speck on the ocean was
+observed; it was probably part of the wreck, and perhaps some of the
+crew might be clinging to it.  The captain ordered a boat to be lowered,
+for the wind was so light that the frigate would take a much longer time
+than it would to reach the spot.  The boat pulled away; the men in the
+rigging and all on deck eagerly watched her progress.  It seemed,
+however, doubtful whether any one of their late foes had escaped
+destruction.  The crew in the boat made no sign that they saw any one.
+At length, however, they reached the spot towards which they were
+rowing.
+
+"Anyhow, they've got something," cried a topman.
+
+The boat made a wide circuit round the fatal spot.  After some time she
+was seen returning to the ship.
+
+"They have got a man, I do believe," exclaimed one of the men.
+
+"No; to my mind it is only a mounseer midshipmite," observed Reuben
+Cole, looking down from his work into the boat.
+
+"They've picked up a few other things, though, but it's a poor haul, I
+fear."
+
+When the boat came alongside, a fine young boy in a French uniform was
+handed up and placed on the deck.  He looked around with a bewildered
+air, as if not knowing where he was.  Captain Walford then took him
+kindly by the hand, and told him that he should be well cared for, and
+that he would find friends instead of those he had lost.  The boy
+sighed.
+
+"What! are all, all gone?" he asked in French.
+
+"I fear so," answered the captain.  "But you are cold and wet, and you
+must go below to the surgeon, who will attend to you."
+
+The poor young stranger was, however, very unwilling to leave the deck,
+and kept looking up into the countenances of the bystanders as if in
+search of some of his missing friends.  Paul watched him with interest.
+
+"Poor boy!" he said to himself; "I thought that I was very forlorn and
+miserable; but I have Reuben Cole and others who are kind to me, and he
+has no one here who can care for him.  How fortunate that I learned
+French, because now I can talk to him and be useful to him."
+
+When the humane Captain Walford found that all the rest of the hapless
+crew of his late antagonist were lost, he ordered all the sail to be
+made which the frigate in her present crippled state could carry, in
+chase of his other opponent, having noted carefully the direction in
+which she was steering when last seen.
+
+"I thought that we had done with fighting for the present," said Paul to
+Reuben Cole, who told him that they were looking out for the other
+frigate.
+
+"No, boy, that we haven't, and what's more, I expect we shan't, as long
+as the flag of an enemy of old England flies over the salt sea.  You'll
+live, I hope, Paul, to help thrash many of them.  I liked the way in
+which you behaved in the action just now.  You was cool and active,
+which is just what you should be.  It won't be my fault if you don't
+make a first-rate seaman some day."
+
+Paul was again much pleased with Reuben's commendations.  He was sure
+that he would keep his promise, and he resolved to profit by his
+instructions, as far as his duties in the midshipmen's berth would allow
+him.  Before long, the young Frenchman made his appearance on deck,
+dressed in the uniform of an English midshipman who had been killed.  He
+lifted his hat in the politest manner to the captain and officers, and
+thanked them for the courtesy they had shown him.  He was in the middle
+of his speech, which was very pathetic, when his eye fell on some of the
+articles which had been picked up and had not been taken below.  Among
+them was a long narrow case.  He sprang towards it with a shout of joy.
+
+"C'est a moi! c'est a moi!" he exclaimed, as he produced a key from a
+lanyard round his neck.  He opened the case and drew forth a violin and
+bow.  The case had been well made and water-tight; he applied the
+instrument to his chin.  At first, only slow melancholy sounds were
+elicited; but by degrees, as the strings got dry, the performer's arms
+moved more rapidly, and he at last struck up a right merry tune.
+
+The effect was curious and powerful.  The captain unconsciously began to
+move his feet, the officers to shuffle, and the men, catching the
+infection, commenced a rapid hornpipe, which Mr Order, the
+first-lieutenant, in vain attempted to stop.  The young Frenchman,
+delighted at finding that his music was appreciated, played faster and
+faster, till everybody on deck was moving about in a fashion seldom seen
+on the deck of a man-of-war.
+
+"Stop, stop!" shouted the first-lieutenant; "knock off that nonsense,
+men; stop your fiddling, I say, youngster--stop your fiddling, I say."
+
+The discipline of the ship was very nearly upset; the men, however,
+heard and obeyed; but the young Frenchman, not comprehending a word, and
+delighted moreover to get back his beloved violin, continued playing
+away as eagerly as at first, till Mr Order, losing patience, seized his
+arm, and by a significant gesture, ordered him to desist.  His musical
+talent, and his apparent good-nature, gained for the French lad the
+goodwill of the crew, and of most of the officers also.
+
+"What is your name, my young friend?" asked Captain Walford.
+
+"Alphonse Montauban," was the answer.
+
+"Very well; you will be more at your ease in the midshipmen's berth, I
+suspect.  Take him below, Mr Bruff, and say that I beg the young
+gentlemen will accommodate him and treat him with kindness.  You'll get
+a hammock slung for him."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," answered Bruff, taking Alphonse by the hand.  "Come
+along, youngster."
+
+Bruff was anxious to say something kind to the poor boy, but there was a
+bar to this, as neither understood each other's language.  Paul
+followed, guessing this, and hoping that his knowledge of French might
+be put into requisition.  Alphonse, with his fiddle tucked under his
+arm, entered the berth.
+
+"Here's a young chap who is a first-rate hand with the catgut, and if
+any of you can tell him that he is welcome in his own lingo, I wish you
+would, mates," said Bruff.
+
+"Mounseer, you are mucho welcomo to our bertho," exclaimed Blake.
+"Here's to your healtho, Mounseer.  I hope, Bruff, this is first-rate
+French."
+
+"It doesn't sound like it, but maybe he understands you, for he's bowing
+to you in return," answered Bruff.
+
+Similar attempts at speaking French were made; but, as may be supposed,
+the young foreigner was as unable as at first to understand what was
+said.
+
+"How very ignorant they are," thought Paul.  "I wish that they would let
+me speak to him."
+
+The young Frenchman, who was of an excitable disposition, at last
+thinking that the English boys were laughing at him, began to lose
+temper, and so did they, at what they considered his unexampled
+stupidity.
+
+Paul, who was standing near the door, mustering courage, at length
+interpreted what was said into very fair French.  The young stranger,
+with a pleased smile, asked--
+
+"What! can a poor boy like you speak my dear language?"
+
+"Yes, I learned it of my sisters at home," answered Paul.
+
+"Then we must be friends, for you can sympathise with me more than can
+these," said Alphonse.
+
+"Do not say so to them," observed Paul; "they may not like it.  I am but
+a poor ship's boy and their servant."
+
+"Misfortune makes all people equal, and your tone of voice and the way
+you speak French, convince me that you are of gentle birth," said
+Alphonse.
+
+It is possible that the midshipmen might have looked at Paul with more
+respect from hearing him speak a language of which they were ignorant,
+though some sneered at him for talking the Frenchman's lingo.
+
+Paul, as soon as he could leave the berth, hurried to the side of
+Devereux.  He found the surgeon there.
+
+"Ah! come to look after your patient, boy?" said Mr Lancet.  "You have
+performed your duty so well, that I have begged Mr Order to relieve you
+from your attendance on the young gentlemen, and to give you to me
+altogether."
+
+Paul thanked Mr Lancet, but told him frankly, that though he was very
+glad to be of service to Mr Devereux, or to any other wounded shipmate,
+he wished to learn to be a sailor, and therefore that he would rather be
+employed on deck; still he was gratified at what Mr Lancet had said.
+
+He devoted himself, however, to Devereux, by whose side he spent every
+moment not absolutely required for sleep or for his meals.  Mr Order
+sent another boy, Tom Buckle, to attend on the young gentlemen, who came
+to the conclusion that he was a perfect lout after Paul.
+
+"There is something in that youngster after all," observed Bruff, who
+resolved to try what he was really worth, and to befriend him
+accordingly.
+
+Meantime, the _Cerberus_ continued in chase of the French frigate, which
+Alphonse told Captain Walford was the _Alerte_, and perhaps to induce
+him to give up the chase, he remarked that she was very powerfully armed
+and strongly manned, and would prove a dangerous antagonist.  Captain
+Walford laughed.
+
+"It is not a reason for abandoning the chase which would weigh much with
+any one on board this ship, I hope, though it will make them the more
+eager to come up with her," he answered.
+
+Alphonse also let drop that the two frigates were bound out to the West
+Indies with important despatches.  It was most probable, therefore, that
+the _Alerte_, in obedience to orders, would make the best of her way
+there.  Captain Walford resolved to follow in that direction.
+
+The _Alerte_ had probably not received as much injury in her rigging as
+was supposed, and as Alphonse said that she was very fast, there was
+little expectation on board the _Cerberus_ that they would come up with
+her before she got to her destination.  Still, Captain Walford was not a
+man to abandon an object as long as there remained a possibility of
+success.  He was a good specimen of a British naval officer.  Brave,
+kind, and considerate, his men adored him; and there was no deed of
+daring which he would not venture to undertake, because he knew that his
+crew would follow wherever he would lead.  He never swore at or abused
+those under him, or even had to speak roughly to them.  Every officer
+who did his duty knew that he had in him a sincere friend; and his men
+looked upon him in the light of a kind and wise father, who would always
+do them justice, and overlook even their faults, if possible.
+
+Mr Lancet took an opportunity of speaking to the captain of the boy
+Gerrard, and remarked that he was far better educated than were lads
+generally of his class.
+
+"I will keep my eye on the lad, and if he proves worthy, will serve him
+if I can," was the answer.
+
+Devereux continued in great danger; the surgeon would not assert that he
+would recover.  It was some time before he remarked Paul's attention to
+him.
+
+"You are boy Gerrard, I see," he observed faintly.  "You are very good
+to me, and more than I deserve from you; but I never meant you ill, and
+I got you off a cobbing once.  I have done very few good things in the
+world, and now I am going to die, I am afraid.  You'll forgive me,
+Gerrard, won't you?"
+
+"Oh, yes, yes, sir!" answered Paul, with tears in his eyes; "even if you
+had wronged me much more than you have done; but it wasn't you, it was
+your father and those about him."
+
+"My father!  What do you mean, boy; who are you?" exclaimed Devereux, in
+a tone of astonishment, starting up for a moment, though he immediately
+sank back exhausted; while he muttered to himself,--"Gerrard!  Gerrard!
+can it be possible?"  He then asked quietly--
+
+"Where do you come from, boy?"
+
+"No matter, sir," answered Paul, afraid of agitating Devereux.  "I will
+tell you another time, for I hope that you will get well soon, and then
+you may be able to listen to what I have to say; but the doctor says
+that at present you must be kept perfectly quiet, and talk as little as
+possible."
+
+Devereux, who was still very weak, did not persist in questioning Paul,
+who had time to reflect how far it would be wise to say anything about
+himself.  He was not compelled to be communicative; and he considered
+that Devereux ill, and expecting to die, and Devereux well, might
+possibly be two very different characters.  "If I were to tell him, he
+might bestow on me a sort of hypocritical compassion, and I could not
+stand that," he thought to himself.  Whatever were Paul's feelings, he
+did not relax in his care of Devereux.
+
+Day after day came, and the first question asked of the morning watch
+was, "Is there anything like the _Alerte_ yet ahead?"  All day, too, a
+bright look-out was kept from the mast-heads for her; but in vain, and
+some began to think that she must have altered her course and returned
+to the coast of France.
+
+Paul was not sorry when he heard this, for he had seen enough of the
+effects of fighting to believe that it was not a desirable occupation;
+and he, moreover, felt for young Alphonse, who naturally earnestly hoped
+that the _Cerberus_ would not fall in with the _Alerte_.
+
+No one rejoiced more than did Paul when one day Mr Lancet pronounced
+Devereux to be out of danger, and that all he required was care and
+attention.  Paul redoubled his efforts to be of use.  Alphonse missed
+him very much from the berth, as he was the only person who could
+interpret for him, and whenever he wanted anything he had to find him
+out and to get him to explain what he required.  Before long, therefore,
+the young Frenchman found his way to the sick bay, where Devereux and
+others lay.  Devereux was the only midshipman who could speak French,
+though not so well as Paul.
+
+The ship had now reached a southern latitude, and the balmy air coming
+through an open port contributed to restore health and strength to the
+sick and wounded.  When Devereux heard Alphonse addressing Paul, and the
+latter replying in French, he lifted up his head.
+
+"What, boy Gerrard, where did you learn French?" he asked.
+
+"At home, sir," answered Paul, quietly.
+
+"Yes, he speaks very good French, and is a very good boy," remarked
+Alphonse.
+
+"And you, monsieur, you speak French also?"
+
+Devereux replied that he did a little.
+
+"That is very nice, indeed," said the young Frenchman.  "We will talk
+together, and I shall no longer fear dying of _ennui_."
+
+After this, Alphonse was constantly with Devereux, and when the latter
+was better, he brought his fiddle and played many a merry tune to him.
+Indeed, the young Frenchman, by his light-hearted gaiety, his
+gentleness, and desire to please, became a general favourite fore and
+aft.
+
+"Ah, mounseer, if there was many like you aboard the frigate which went
+down, I for one am sorry that I had a hand in sending her there,"
+exclaimed Reuben Cole one day, in a fit of affectionate enthusiasm.
+
+Alphonse, who understood him, sighed.  "There were many, many; but it
+was the fortune of war."
+
+"But, suppose, Reuben, we come up with the other, and have to treat her
+in the same way, what will you say then?" asked Paul.
+
+"Why, you see, Paul, the truth is this: if the captain says we must
+fight and sink her, it must be done, even if every one on us had a
+mother's son aboard.  I stick up for discipline, come what may of it."
+
+The ship was within one or two days' sail of the West Indies, when, as
+Paul was on deck, he heard the man at the mast-head shout out, "A sail
+on the lee-bow standing for the westward."
+
+"It is the _Alerte_," thought Paul, "and we shall have more fighting."
+Others were of the same opinion.  Instantly all sail was made in chase.
+The crew of the _Cerberus_ had been somewhat dull of late, except when
+the little Mounseer, as they called Alphonse, scraped his fiddle.  They
+were animated enough at present.  Even the sick and wounded were eager
+to come on deck.  Devereux especially insisted that he was able to
+return to his duty.  Mr Lancet said that he might not suffer much, but
+that he had better remain out of harm's way, as even a slight wound
+might prove fatal.  He would listen to no such reasoning, and getting
+Paul to help him on with his uniform, he crawled on deck.
+
+"Gerrard," he said as he was dressing, "if I am killed, you are to be my
+heir as regards my personal effects.  I have written it down, and given
+the paper to Mr Lancet, witnessed by Mr Bruff, so it's all right.  I
+have an idea who you are, though you never told me."
+
+Captain Walford was surprised at seeing Devereux on deck, and though he
+applauded his zeal, he told him that he had better have remained below.
+
+As soon as the stranger discovered the _Cerberus_, she made all sail to
+escape.  It was questioned whether or not she was the _Alerte_, but one
+thing was certain, that the _Cerberus_ was overhauling her, and had soon
+got near enough to see her hull from aloft.  It was now seen, that
+though she was a large ship, she was certainly not a frigate; it was
+doubted, indeed, whether she was French.  The opinion of Alphonse was
+asked.
+
+"She is not the _Alerte_, she is a merchantman and French; she will
+become your prize.  I am sorry for my poor countrymen, but it is the
+fortune of war," he answered as he turned away with a sigh.
+
+A calm, of frequent occurrence in those latitudes, came on, and there
+lay the two ships, rolling their sides into the water, and unable to
+approach each other.
+
+"If the stranger gets a breeze before us she may yet escape," observed
+the captain.  "Out boats, we must attack her with them."
+
+The sort of work proposed has always been popular among seamen.  There
+was no lack of volunteers.  The boats were speedily manned; the
+second-lieutenant went in one boat; old Noakes, though badly wounded,
+was sufficiently recovered to take charge of another; Peter Bruff had a
+third.  Paul was seized with a strong desire to go also.  In the hurry
+of lowering the boats, he was able to slip into the bows of the last
+mentioned, and to hide himself under a sail thrown in by chance.  Reuben
+Cole went in the same boat.  Devereux watched them away, wishing that he
+could have gone also.  The boats glided rapidly over the smooth, shining
+ocean.  Their crews were eager to be up with their expected prize.  The
+sun beat down on their heads, the water shone like polished silver, not
+a breath of air came to cool the heated atmosphere; but they cared not
+for the heat or fatigue, all they thought of was the prize before them.
+Paul lay snugly under his shelter, wondering when they would reach the
+enemy's side.  He soon began to repent of his freak; he could hear the
+remarks of the men as they pulled on.  The ship was from her appearance
+a letter of marque or a privateer, and such was not likely to yield
+without a severe struggle, he heard.  Paul could endure the suspense no
+longer, and creeping from under his covering, he looked out over the
+bows.
+
+"Hillo, youngster, what brings you here?" sung out Mr Bruff.  "If you
+come off with a whole skin, as I hope you will, you must expect a taste
+of the cat to remind you that you are not to play such a trick again."
+
+The reprimand from the kind-hearted mate might have been longer, but it
+was cut short by a shot from the enemy, which almost took the ends off
+the blades of the oars of his boat.  The men cheered and dashed forward.
+At the same moment eight ports on a side were exposed, and a hot fire
+opened on the boats from as many guns, and from swivels and muskets.
+Hot as was the fire, it did not for a moment stop the boats.  Paul
+wished that he had remained on board.  The deck of the enemy seemed
+crowded with men.
+
+"Hurrah, lads!" cried Peter Bruff when he saw this, "they'll only hamper
+each other and give us an easier victory."
+
+The boats dashed alongside.  Langrage and grape and round-shot were
+discharged at them, and boarding-pikes, muskets, and pistols were seen
+protruding through the ports ready for their reception.  The boats
+hooked on, and, in spite of all opposition, the British seamen began to
+climb up the side.  Some were driven back and hurled into the boats,
+wounded, too often mortally; the rest persevered.  Again and again the
+attempt was made, the deck was gained, a desperate hand-to-hand combat
+began.  It could have but one termination, the defeat of the attackers
+or the attacked.  Paul climbed up with the rest of his shipmates.  It is
+surprising that human beings could have faced the bristling mass of
+weapons which the British seamen had to encounter.  Paul followed close
+behind Reuben, who kept abreast of Mr Noakes.  Pistols were fired in
+their faces, cutlasses were clashing, as the seamen were slashing and
+cutting and lunging at their opponents.  In spite of all opposition the
+deck was gained; the enemy, however, still fought bravely.  Mr Larcom,
+the second-lieutenant of the _Cerberus_, fell shot through the head.
+Several men near him were killed or badly wounded; it seemed likely that
+after all the boarders would be driven back.  Old Noakes saw the danger;
+there was still plenty of British pluck in him in spite of the pains he
+took to wash away all feeling; the day must be retrieved.  "On, lads,
+on!" he shouted, throwing himself furiously on the enemy; "follow me!
+death or victory!"
+
+Again the Frenchmen gave way; at first inch by inch they retreated, then
+more rapidly, leaving many of their number wounded on the deck.  Bruff
+had faced about and driven the enemy aft; Noakes and Reuben still pushed
+forward.  Paul, following close at their heels with an officer's sword
+which he had picked up, observed, fallen on the deck, a man, apparently
+a lieutenant, whose eye was fixed on Noakes, and whose hand held a
+pistol; he was taking a steady aim at Noakes's head.  Paul sprang
+forward, and giving a cut at the man's arm, the muzzle of the pistol
+dropping, the contents entered the deck.
+
+"Thanks, boy, you've saved my life, I'll not forget you," cried Noakes.
+"On, on, on!"
+
+"Well done, Gerrard, well done!" exclaimed Reuben.  "You've saved your
+hide, boy."
+
+The Frenchmen, finding that all was lost, leaped down the fore-hatchway,
+most of them singing out for quarter.  A few madly and treacherously
+fired up from below, which so exasperated the seamen, that nearly half
+of them were killed before their flag was hauled down and the rest
+overpowered.  The frigate was by this time bringing up a breeze to the
+prize.
+
+"It's a pity it didn't come a little sooner; it might have saved the
+lives of many fine fellows," observed Bruff, as he glanced round on the
+blood-stained deck.
+
+"It's an ill wind that blows no one good," remarked Noakes, looking at
+Mr Larcom's body.  "If he had been alive, I shouldn't have gained my
+promotion, which I am now pretty sure of for this morning's work,
+besides the command of the prize."
+
+"`There's many a slip between the cup and the lip.'  I've found it so,
+and so have you, mate, I suspect," said Bruff; "yet, old fellow, I hope
+you'll get what you deserve."
+
+There was no jealousy in honest Bruff's composition.  He put his old
+messmate's gallantry in so bright a light privately before Captain
+Walford, that the captain felt himself bound to recommend Noakes for
+promotion to the Admiralty, and to place him in charge of the prize to
+take home.  She was the _Aigle_, privateer, mounting sixteen guns,
+evidently very fast, but very low, with taut masts, square yards, and
+seemingly very crank.  Most of the prisoners were removed, and Mr
+Noakes got leave to pick a crew.  He chose, among others, Reuben Cole
+and Paul Gerrard.  The surgeon advised that Devereux and O'Grady should
+go home, and Alphonse Montauban was allowed a passage, that he might be
+exchanged on the first opportunity.
+
+"Be careful of your spars, Noakes," observed Mr Order, as he looked up
+at the _Aigle's_ lofty masts, "remember that you are short-handed."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," answered the old mate as he went down the side, adding to
+himself, "I should think that I know how to sail a craft by this time;
+I'm no sucking baby to require a nurse."
+
+Paul was very glad to find himself with Devereux and Alphonse, as also
+with Reuben, on board the prize.  Mr Noakes did not forget the service
+he had rendered him, and was as kind as could well be.  He called him
+aft one day.
+
+"Gerrard, my boy, you want to be a seaman, and though I can't give you
+silver and gold, I can make you that, if you will keep your wits about
+you, and I'll teach you navigation myself.  You are a gentleman by
+birth, and that's more than some of us can boast of being; but I don't
+advise you to aspire to the quarter-deck.  Without money or friends, you
+may repent being placed on it, as I have often done; that's no reason,
+however, that you shouldn't become fit to take command of a ship; a
+privateer or a merchantman may fall in your way; at all events, learn
+all you can."
+
+Paul resolved to follow his new friend's advice.  A course was shaped
+for Plymouth, and the _Aigle_ proceeded merrily on her way.
+
+Noakes could give good advice to others, but he did not follow after
+wisdom himself.  He had a great failing, from the effects of which he
+had often suffered.  Drink was his bane, as it is that of thousands.
+Several casks of prime claret were found on board; it would not have
+done much harm by itself, but there were some casks of brandy also.  By
+mixing the two with some sugar, Noakes concocted a beverage very much to
+his taste.  He kept his word with Paul as long as he was able, and lost
+no opportunity in giving him instruction in seamanship and navigation;
+but in time the attractions of his claret-cup were so great, that he was
+seldom in a condition to understand anything clearly himself, much less
+to explain it to another.  Devereux and O'Grady expostulated in vain.
+He grew angry and only drank harder.  The prisoners observed matters
+with inward satisfaction.  They might have entertained hopes of
+regaining their ship.  Alphonse warned Devereux.
+
+"They have not spoken to me, or I could not say this to you, but they
+may, so be prepared," he observed one day as they were on deck together,
+no one else being near.
+
+Noakes was compelled to keep watch.  He always carried on more than
+either of his companions ventured to do.  It was night, and very dark;
+the first watch was nearly over; the weather, hitherto fine, gave signs
+of changing.  Devereux, who had charge of the deck, was about to shorten
+sail, when Noakes came up to relieve him.
+
+"Hold all fast," he sung out, adding, "Nonsense, Devereux, your wounds
+have made you weak and timid.  We've a slashing breeze, and let's take
+advantage of it to reach the shores of old England."
+
+"Too much haste the worst speed," observed Reuben to Paul; "our sticks
+are bending terribly, they'll be whipping over the sides presently, or
+will capsize the craft altogether.  I don't like the look of things,
+that I don't, I tell you."  Scarcely had he spoken, when a blast,
+fiercer than its predecessor, struck the ship.
+
+"Let fly of all," shouted Noakes, sobered somewhat.
+
+The crew ran to obey the orders, but it came too late.  Over went the
+tall ship; down, down, the raging tempest pressed her.
+
+"Axes, axes, cut, cut," was heard from several mouths.
+
+"Follow me, Paul, and then cling on for your life," cried Reuben Cole,
+climbing through a weather port; "it's too late to save the ship."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+"What are we to do now?" asked Paul, after he had secured his hold in
+the main-chains.
+
+"Hold on, Jack, where you are, while I will go and try to help some of
+our shipmates," answered Reuben.  "There's Mr Devereux, who can't do
+much to help himself; and the young Mounseer, I should like to save
+him."
+
+Several men had already got to the upper side of the ship, some in the
+main, and others in the mizen-chains, while others were in the rigging.
+As the ship was light, she still floated high out of the water.  Many
+might possibly, therefore, be alive below.  Reuben had not been gone
+long, when he put his head through the port, singing out--
+
+"Here, Paul, lend a hand and help up Mr Devereux."
+
+Devereux had been partially stunned, but had happily clung to a
+stanchion, where Reuben had found him.  Paul hauled him up, while Reuben
+again dived in search of some one else.  He was gone for some time, and
+Paul began to fear that some accident had happened to him.  At length
+his voice was again heard.
+
+"Hurrah, Paul, here he is; and what is more, he has his fiddle, too, all
+safe and sound."
+
+Sure enough, there was Alphonse and his beloved fiddle in its case,
+which he had contrived to get up from below at no little risk of being
+drowned himself.
+
+"Ah!  I would not part from this," he exclaimed, as he made himself
+secure in the chains.  "It is my own dear friend; shall I play you a
+tune now?"
+
+"No, thank ye, Mounseer, it might chance to get wet, and may be there
+are more poor fellows to help up here," answered Reuben.
+
+"Ah! truly, I forgot what had happened," said Alphonse in a dreamy tone,
+showing that his mind was wandering, overcome by the sudden catastrophe.
+It was no time for laughter, or Paul would have laughed at the oddness
+of the young Frenchman's remark.  Still, awful as was the scene, he felt
+very little sensation of fear.  The night was very dark, the wind
+howled, the rain fell in torrents, the sea dashed over the wreck, nearly
+washing off those who clung to it, while vivid flashes of lightning
+darted from the clouds and went hissing along like fiery serpents over
+the summits of the waves.  The party in the main-chains spoke but
+little.  It seemed too probable that none of them would ever see another
+day.  Indeed, even should the ship not go down, Paul feared that
+Devereux could scarcely endure the hardships of their situation.  He
+asked Reuben if nothing could be done.
+
+"If we could get at the axes, we might cut away the masts and the ship
+might right," answered Reuben.  "But, you see, we want daylight and the
+officers to give the order, so that all may act together."
+
+While he was speaking, a voice was heard apparently from the mizen
+rigging, shouting, "Cut, I say, all of you; cut, I say, and cut
+together."
+
+It was that of Mr Noakes.  Directly after, a flash of lightning
+revealed him standing in the mizen-top, holding on with one hand, while
+he waved the other wildly around.  His nervous system had been
+completely weakened by drinking, and it was evident that he had lost his
+senses.  He continued to shout louder and louder, and then to abuse the
+crew for not obeying his orders.  Flash after flash of lightning
+revealed him still waving his arm; his hat had fallen off, and his long
+grizzly hair flew wildly about his head.  He seemed unaware of the
+danger of his position and indifferent to the seas which frequently
+dashed over him.  He was thus seen standing, when a sea rose high above
+the half-submerged hull, and rolling over the after part, struck the
+mizen-top.  A loud shriek was heard, and by the glare of a flash of
+forked lightning, the unhappy officer, the victim of hard drinking, was
+seen borne away amid its foaming waters.  In vain he stretched out his
+arms to catch at floating ropes; in vain he struck out boldly towards
+the ship, and shouted to his men to help him.  His strength was as
+nothing, no aid could be given, and in another instant the waves closed
+for ever over his head.  O'Grady was the only other officer not
+accounted for.  He had been below, and it was to be hoped had got to the
+upper side and had thus escaped being drowned.  While his messmates were
+inquiring for him, his voice was heard shouting for help.  He had
+clambered up through a hatchway, scarcely knowing what had occurred.
+Reuben Cole and Paul helped him up to the main-chains.  Devereux and
+Alphonse bore up wonderfully well.  The former especially showed what
+spirit and courage ran do under difficulties and hardships.
+
+"I wish that the day were come," said Paul more than once.
+
+"It's what many have wished before, boy, and if has come in good time,"
+answered Reuben.
+
+"There's just only one thing for it, and that's patience, as Sandy
+McPherson, an old shipmate of mine, used to say whenever he was in
+trouble."
+
+The dawn did come at last, but it was very grey and very cold; but the
+wind and sea had gone down and the ship was still afloat.  Whether she
+could be saved was the first question asked by all.  Devereux was now
+senior officer, but his experience was very limited.
+
+"I wish that I had attended more to this sort of thing," he observed to
+O'Grady.  "I never thought of the possibility of this happening to
+myself."
+
+"Faith, I can't say that I ever thought much about it either," answered
+the other midshipman.  "But I think that we couldn't do better than to
+follow old Noakes's last order, to cut away the masts.  If the ship
+keeps on her side much longer, she'll go down, that's pretty certain."
+
+"It's very well to give the order, but where are the axes to cut with?"
+asked Devereux.
+
+"Well, to be sure, I didn't think about that," answered O'Grady.  "But
+I'll volunteer to go and search for them, and probably others will come
+and help me."
+
+"I will, sir," exclaimed Paul, who overheard the conversation.
+
+"And so will I," said Reuben Cole; "and what is more, even if the ship
+does not go down, we shall starve if we don't, for there isn't a scrap
+of food among any of us."
+
+Alphonse also expressed his readiness to go on the expedition, but
+O'Grady begged that he would remain and take care of Devereux.  No time
+was to be lost.  As soon as there was sufficient light for them to see,
+securing themselves by ropes, they slipped through a port and
+disappeared.  Devereux, who was unfit for any exertion, remained in the
+chains.  Some minutes passed.  He became at last very anxious about his
+companions.  He shouted to them, but no one replied.  It appeared to him
+that the ship was turning over more, and settling deeper than before in
+the water.
+
+"They have only gone a short time before me," he thought.  "It matters
+but little, yet how unfit I am to die.  But I must not yield without a
+struggle.  People in our circumstances have formed rafts and escaped;
+why should not we?  Though without food, or water, or compass, or chart,
+we shall be badly off."  He proposed his plan to Alphonse and the people
+near him.  All promised to obey his directions.  They were on the point
+of climbing along the masts to get at the lighter spars, when Paul poked
+his head through a port, flourishing above it an axe.
+
+"We've found them, we've found them," he shouted; "but there's no time
+to be lost, for the water is already making its way through the
+hatches."
+
+The rest of the party appearing, corroborated this statement.  Devereux
+roused up his energies and distributed his crew, some at the masts, and
+the rest at the shrouds.
+
+"Cut off all, and cut together!" he shouted.  In a minute every shroud
+and stay and mast was cut through.  The effect was instantaneous.  The
+ship rolled up on an even keel so rapidly, that Devereux and those with
+him could with difficulty climb over the bulwarks to regain the deck.
+Their condition was but little improved, for so much water had got down
+below, that it seemed improbable the ship could swim long, and there she
+lay a dismasted wreck in the middle of the wide Atlantic.  The young
+commander's first wish was to endeavour to clear the ship of water, but
+the pumps were choked, and long before the water could be bailed out,
+another gale might spring up and the ship go down, even supposing there
+was no leak.  It was probable, however, that from the quantity of water
+in her she had already sprung a serious leak.  Every boat on board had
+been washed away or destroyed when the ship went over.  Blank dismay was
+visible on the countenances of even some of the boldest of the crew.
+The masts and spars were, however, still hanging by the lee rigging
+alongside.
+
+"We could make a stout raft anyhow," observed Reuben.
+
+The idea was taken up by the rest.  There was a chance of life.
+Devereux gave orders that a raft should be formed.
+
+"But we'll be starving entirely, if we don't get up some provisions,"
+observed O'Grady.
+
+"May I go and collect them?" asked Paul.  "Stronger people than I can be
+working at the raft."
+
+"And I will go too," said Alphonse, when Paul had obtained the
+permission asked.
+
+They found, however, that most of the casks and jars in the officers'
+cabins had been upset and their contents washed away, while there was
+already so much water in the hold, that they could not get up anything
+from it.  A cheese, some bottles of spirits, and a small cask of wet
+biscuit, were all they could collect.  While groping about in the hold,
+it appeared to them that the water was rising; if so, the ship must have
+sprung a serious leak.  With the scanty supply of provisions they had
+obtained, they hurried on deck to report what they had remarked.
+Considerable progress had been made with the raft, but without food and
+water it could only tend to prolong their misery.  Reuben, with three
+other men, were therefore ordered below, to get up any more provisions
+which they could find.  They very soon returned with the only things
+they could reach,--a small cask of pork, another of biscuit, and a keg
+of butter.  Water was, however, most required, and it was not to be
+obtained.  It was evident, too, that the ship was settling down more and
+more, and that no time must be lost in getting the raft finished.  All
+hands now worked with the knowledge that their lives depended on their
+exertions, rapidly passing the numerous lashings in a way of which
+sailors alone are capable.  Even before it was completed, the small
+amount of provisions which had been collected were placed on it, for all
+knew that at any moment it might prove their only ark of safety.
+
+Devereux had no occasion to urge his men to increased exertion.  A sail
+and spars for a mast, and yards and rudder were got ready.  At length
+all the preparations were concluded.
+
+"To the raft! to the raft!" was the cry, for the ship had sunk so low
+that the water was already running through the scuppers.  Gradually she
+went down; the raft was slightly agitated by the vortex formed as the
+waters closed over her, and then it floated calmly on the wide ocean.
+
+The crew looked at each other for some time without speaking.  Devereux
+was very young to be placed in so trying a position, still he saw that
+he must maintain discipline among those under his command, and prevent
+them from sinking into a state of despondency.  There was much to be
+done; the mast to be rigged, the sail to be fitted, and a rudder formed.
+It was necessary also to secure the articles on the raft, and all being
+done, he steered a course for the west, hoping to reach one of the West
+India Islands.
+
+Paul had often when at home pictured such a scene as that in which he
+was now taking a part, but how far short did the scene he had drawn come
+of the reality!  Scarcely had the ship disappeared than the wind fell
+and the sea became like glass, while the sun shone with intense heat on
+the unprotected heads of the seamen.
+
+"Reuben, can I ask for a mug of water, do you think?  I am dreadfully
+thirsty," said Paul.
+
+Reuben looked at him with compassion.  "Every drop of water we've got is
+worth its weight in gold and many times more," he answered.  "It will be
+served out to us in thimblefuls, and each officer and man will share
+alike.  It will be well for us if it even thus lasts till we make the
+land or get picked up."
+
+Not a mouthful of food had been eaten since the previous evening.
+
+"It's mighty like starving we are," observed O'Grady; "we had better
+begin to eat a little, or we shall grow so ravenous, that it will be no
+small allowance will satisfy us."
+
+"You are right, Paddy," said Devereux, rousing himself up.  "Ascertain
+what quantity we have, and calculate how long it will last."
+
+O'Grady commenced the examination as directed.  He soon reported that
+there was enough food to support life for eight, or perhaps, ten days.
+
+"And water?" asked Devereux.
+
+"Not for eight," was the answer.
+
+"Heaven preserve us!" ejaculated Devereux.  "It will take us double that
+time to reach the land!"
+
+The provisions were served out with the greatest care and in equal
+portions.  The people on the raft suffered more from heat than from any
+other cause.  The sea remained perfectly calm, the sun sank down, and
+darkness reigned over the ocean.  It was their first night on the raft.
+Who could say how many more they might have to spend on it?  Devereux
+did his best to keep up the courage of his men, but in spite of all he
+could say, the spirits of many sank low.  He encouraged them to tell
+stories, to narrate their adventures, to sing songs, and he himself took
+every opportunity of talking of the future, and spoke confidently of
+what he would do when they should reach the shore.  Paul felt very
+unhappy.  He was hungry and thirsty, and that alone lowers the spirits.
+The men were grouped round their officers in the centre of the raft.
+Paul was sitting near Reuben.
+
+"I don't think that I shall ever live through this," he said, taking his
+friend's hand.  "You are strong, Reuben, and you may weather it out.  If
+you do, you'll go and tell my poor mother and sisters how it all
+happened and what became of me.  Tell them that if I had lived I might,
+perhaps, have been placed on the quarter-deck and become a captain or an
+admiral; but that dream is all over now."
+
+"As to that being a dream, a dream it is, Paul," said Reuben; "but as to
+your living and turning out a good seaman, I've no fear about that, my
+boy," he added cheerfully.  "You see, there's One above cares for us,
+and if we pray to Him He'll send us help."
+
+The night passed on, the stars shone brightly down from the pure sky,
+the waters flashed with phosphorescence, the inhabitants of the deep
+came up to the surface to breathe, while not a breath of air ruffled the
+face of the ocean.  Except two appointed to keep watch, all on the raft
+soon sank into a deep sleep.  They were awoke by the hot sun beating
+down on their heads; then they again wished for night.  As the rays of
+the sun came down with fiercer force their thirst increased, but no one
+asked for more than his small share of water.  Those only who have
+endured thirst know the intensity of the suffering it causes.  Devereux
+had no more able supporter than Alphonse, who had saved his well-beloved
+violin.  The moment the young Frenchman saw that the spirits of the
+people were sinking, he pulled it from its case, and putting it to his
+chin, began scraping away with right good will; now a merry, now a
+pathetic air.  The excitable state of the nerves of the seamen was shown
+by the effect he produced.  On hearing the merry tunes they burst into
+shouts of laughter; with the pathetic, even the roughest melted into
+tears.  Alphonse played on till his arm ached, and scarcely was he
+rested before they begged him to go on again.  Before the day closed,
+however, several of the party appeared to be sinking into a state of
+apathy, scarcely knowing where they were, or what they were saying.
+Some clamoured loudly for food, but Devereux mildly but firmly refused
+to allow any one to have more than his allotted share.  Paul looked at
+him with a respect he had never before felt.  He seemed so cool and
+collected, so different from the careless, thoughtless midshipman he had
+appeared on board the frigate.  He had evidently risen to the
+difficulties of his position.  He well knew, indeed, that the lives of
+all the party would depend in a great measure on his firmness and
+decision; at the same time, he knew that all he could do might avail
+them nothing.  He also felt compassion for Paul, who was the youngest
+person on the raft.  He had brought him away from the frigate, and it
+was very probable that he would be one of the first to sink under the
+hardships to which they were exposed.  Paul was not aware that Devereux,
+when serving out the food, gave him a portion of his own scanty share,
+in the hopes that his strength might be thus better supported and his
+life prolonged.  Another night passed by, and when the sun rose, it
+shone as before on a glassy sea.  There was no sign of a breeze, and
+without a breeze no ship could approach the raft, nor could the raft
+make progress towards the land.  Still Devereux persevered as before in
+endeavouring to keep up the spirits of his men.  Alphonse and his fiddle
+were in constant requisition, and in spite of his own suffering, as long
+as he could keep his bow moving, he played on with right good will.
+When Alphonse grew weary, Devereux called for a tale; now for a song;
+now he told one of his own adventures, or some adventure he had heard.
+
+"Come, O'Grady, you used to be one of the best singers in the berth till
+the Frenchman's shot knocked you over; try what you can do now!" he
+exclaimed, so that all might hear.  "Never mind the tune, only let it be
+something comic, for a change," he added in a whisper; "you and I must
+not let the rest know what we feel."
+
+"I'll do my best, though, faith, it's heavy work to sing with an empty
+stomach," answered O'Grady.  "However, here goes:--
+
+  "'Twas on November, the second day,
+  The Admiral he bore away,
+  Intending for his native shore;
+  The wind at south-south-west did roar,
+  There likewise was a terrible sky,
+  Which made the sea to run mountains high.
+
+  "The tide of ebb not being done,
+  But quickly to the west did run,
+  Which put us all in dreadful fear,
+  Because there was not room to wear;
+  The wind and weather increased sore.
+  Which drove ten sail of us ashore.
+
+  "Ashore went the _Northumberland_,
+  The _Harwich_ and the _Cumberland_,
+  The _Cloister_ and the _Lion_, too;
+  But the _Elizabeth_, she had most to rue,
+  She ran stem on and her _Lion_ broke,
+  And sunk the _Cambridge_ at one stroke.
+
+  "But the worst is what I have to tell,
+  The greatest ships had the greatest fall;
+  The brave `_Crounation_' and all her men,
+  Was lost and drownded every one,
+  Except a little midshipman and eighteen more
+  Who in the long-boat comed ashore.
+
+  "And thus they lost their precious lives,
+  But the greatest loss was unto their wives,
+  Who, with their children, left ashore,
+  Their husbands' watery death deplore;
+  And weep their fate with many of tears,
+  But grief endureth not for years.
+
+  "Now you who've a mind to go to sea,
+  Pray take a useful hint from me;
+  Oh! stay at home and be content
+  With what kind Providence has sent;
+  For these were punish'd unto their deeds,
+  For grumbling when they had no needs.
+
+  "Now may Heaven bless our worthy King,
+  Likewise his ministers we sing,
+  And may they ever steer a course,
+  To make things better 'stead of worse;
+  And England's flag triumphant fly,
+  The dread of every enemy."
+
+O'Grady's song, though often heard before, was received with no less
+applause in consequence.  Other songs followed, but the effort was
+greater than many of the seamen could make.  Several attempted to tell
+stories or their own adventures, but the former had no ending, and they
+very soon lost the thread of their adventures.  Then they wandered
+strangely; some stopped altogether; others laughed and cried
+alternately.  Even Devereux could with difficulty keep command of his
+own senses.  Food and a few drops of precious water were distributed
+among the sufferers; without it, few could have survived another night.
+That night came, however, and that night passed, though some on the raft
+had passed away from life when another sun arose.
+
+Paul more than once asked himself, "Why did I come to sea?"
+
+Reuben overheard him.  "To my mind, Paul, when a person has done what he
+believes is for the best and because he thinks it is right, he has no
+cause to grumble or to be unhappy," he observed in his quiet way.
+"Don't you fear, all will turn out right at last."
+
+Paul felt weaker than he had ever done before, and his eye was dim and
+his voice sounded hollow, and yet his thoughts flowed as freely as ever.
+He was fully aware that death might be approaching, yet he had no fear
+of death.  He thought of home and of his mother and sisters, and he
+prayed for them, and that they might not grieve very much at his loss.
+He was but a poor young ship-boy, but he knew that his mother would
+mourn for him as much as would the mother of Devereux, or any other
+high-born midshipman on board.
+
+The sun rose higher and higher in the sky: its rays struck down as hotly
+as on the day before.  "Water! water! water!" was the cry from all on
+the raft; still discipline prevailed, though only a young midshipman was
+the chief, and not a man attempted to take more than his share.  At
+about noon Paul was feeling that he could not endure many more hours of
+such thirst, when he saw Reuben's eyes directed to the north-east.
+
+"Yes! yes! it is! it is!" exclaimed Reuben at length.
+
+"What! a ship?" asked Paul, almost breathless with eagerness.
+
+"No, but a breeze," cried his friend.  "It may carry us to land; it may
+send us rain! it may bring up a ship to our rescue."
+
+All eyes were now turned in the direction from which the breeze was
+supposed to be coming.  At the edge of the hitherto unvarying expanse of
+molten silver, a dark blue line was seen; broader and broader it grew.
+With such strength as they possessed the seamen hoisted their sail.  It
+bulged out and again flattened against the mast; now again it filled,
+and the raft began to glide slowly over the ocean.  A faint cheer burst
+from the throats of the hitherto despairing crew; yet how many long
+leagues must be passed over before that raft could reach the land!  How
+many of those now living on it would set foot on that land?  Too
+probably not one--not one.  Day after day the raft glided on, but each
+day death claimed a victim.  Still, Devereux and O'Grady and Alphonse
+kept up their spirits in a way which appealed wonderful to Paul, till he
+found that he was himself equally resolved to bear up to the last.
+There was still some food; still a few drops of water.  Rain might come;
+the wind was increasing; clouds were gathering in the sky; the sea was
+getting up, and the raft, though still progressing, was tossed about in
+a way which made those on it feel the risk they ran of being thrown or
+washed off it.  They secured themselves with lashings.  Again the water
+was served out.  A mouthful was given to Paul.
+
+"Poor boy! let him have it," he heard Devereux say; "it is the last
+drop."
+
+Now more than ever was rain prayed for.  Without rain, should no succour
+come, in a few days the sufferings of all the party would be over.
+Faster and faster the raft drove on.  It was well constructed, or it
+would not have held together.  Still they dared not lessen their sail.
+Land might be reached at last if they would persevere.  Now they rose to
+the summit of a foaming sea, now they sank into the deep trough.  It
+seemed every instant that the next must see the destruction of the raft,
+yet, like hope in a young bosom, it still floated buoyantly over the
+raging billows.  Now dark clouds were gathering.  Eagerly they were
+watched by the seamen with upturned eyes.  A few drops fell.  They were
+welcomed with a cry of joy.  More came, and then the rain fell in
+torrents.  Their parched throats were moistened, but unless they could
+spread their sail to collect the precious fluid, they could save but
+little for the future.  Still, life is sweet, and they might obtain
+enough to preserve their lives for another day.  As they dared not lower
+their sail, they stretched out their jackets and shirts, and wrung them
+as they were saturated with fresh water into the only cask they had
+saved.  Before it was a quarter full the rain ceased.  They watched with
+jealous eyes the clouds driving away below the horizon, while the sun
+shone forth as brightly as before on their unguarded heads.  Still the
+raft tumbled furiously about, and with the utmost difficulty the seamen
+retained their hold of it.  Night returned; it was a night of horror.
+Their provisions were exhausted.  When the morning at length broke, two
+who had been among the strongest were missing.  They must have let go
+their hold while sleeping and been washed away.
+
+"It may be our lot soon," observed Paul, whose strength was failing.
+
+"The same hand which has hitherto preserved us few still alive on this
+raft is strong to preserve us to the end," said James Croxton, an old
+seaman, who, even on ordinary occasions said but little, and had only
+spoken since the ship went down to utter a few words of encouragement to
+his companions.  He was known on board the frigate as Jim the Methodist,
+but was respected by the greater number of his shipmates.  "Never fear,
+mates, help will come if we pray for it, though we don't see the Hand
+which sends it.  Let us pray."
+
+Jim's words and example had a great effect.  It was followed by all, and
+the united prayers of the seamen, acknowledging their own utter
+helplessness, ascended together on high.  One and all seemed to gain a
+strength they had not before felt.  The raft continued to be tossed
+about as before, and the hot wind blew, and the sun shone on their
+unsheltered heads.  The sun rose higher and higher and then descended,
+watched anxiously by the seamen till it dipped below the horizon.  Could
+any of them expect to see another sun arise?  They seldom spoke to each
+other during the night.  The voice of Jim Croxton was now most
+frequently heard, exhorting his companions to repentance, and to put
+their faith in the loving and merciful One.  When the morning broke they
+were all alive, and the voice of Reuben, who had dragged himself upright
+by the mast, was heard crying, "A sail! a sail! standing towards us!"
+
+The information was received in various ways by the people on the raft;
+some laughed, others wept, a few prayed, and others groaned, declaring
+that they should not be seen, and that the ship would pass them by.  Old
+Croxton, however, who had simply poured forth his heart in a few words
+of thanksgiving, kept his eyes steadily on the approaching ship.
+
+"She is nearing us! she is nearing us!" he uttered slowly every now and
+then.
+
+Paul gasped his breath, and felt as if he should faint away altogether,
+as he saw that the ship was a British man-of-war, and that the raft was
+evidently perceived by those on board.  She drew nearer and nearer, and,
+heaving to, lowered two boats, which rapidly approached the raft.  In
+that tumbling sea there was no small difficulty in getting close enough
+to the raft to take off the people.  Paul, as the youngest, was the
+first to be transferred by his companions to the nearest boat.  Even at
+that moment he was struck by the expression of the countenances of most
+of the crew.  No one smiled; no one seemed pleased at the work of mercy
+they were performing.
+
+"You think, youngster, that you'll be changing for the better, getting
+off your raft aboard that frigate there?" growled out one of the men, as
+Paul was passed along forward.  "You've got out of the frying-pan into
+the fire, let me tell you.  It's a perfect hell afloat, and to my mind
+the captain's the--"
+
+"Silence there, forward!" shouted the officer in command of the boat.
+"Back in again."
+
+One by one the people were taken off the raft.  Devereux insisted on
+remaining to the last, and he was taken off in the second boat.  No
+sooner had he been placed in her than several of her crew leaped on to
+the raft.
+
+"Better run the chance of a watery grave than live aboard there,"
+shouted one of the men, attempting to hoist the sail which had been
+lowered.  "Hurrah, lads! for the coast of America and freedom!"
+
+"Back into the boat: back, you mutinous scoundrels!" shouted the officer
+in command.  "What foolery are you about?  If you were to go, and small
+loss you would be, you would all of you be dead before a week was over.
+Back, I say."
+
+In vain the men tried to hoist the sail.  The mast gave way, throwing
+one of them into the sea.  He made an attempt to save himself, but sank
+in sight of his shipmates.  The boat was soon again dropped alongside
+the raft, and the men with sulky indifference returned on board.  Very
+little was said by anybody as the boats pulled back to the frigate.  The
+officers, indeed, saw that those they had taken off the raft were in no
+condition to answer questions.  Devereux and his companions were lifted
+up on deck, and from thence at once transferred to the sick bay below
+under the doctor's care.  Paul, after a sound sleep, recovered his
+senses, and very soon perceived, that although there was strict
+discipline maintained on board, each person went about his duty in a
+dull, mechanical way.  Reuben was, however, on foot before Paul.  He
+came to the side of the hammock in which the latter still lay unable to
+move.
+
+"I am thankful, Reuben, that we are safe off that dreadful raft," said
+Paul.
+
+"No reason to call it dreadful, boy.  It was our ark of safety, as Jim
+Croxton says, rightly, and we should be grateful that we were allowed to
+be saved by it.  There's many here, as you saw, would rather be on that
+raft than aboard this fine frigate," answered Reuben.
+
+"Why? what is the matter with the ship?" asked Paul.
+
+"Why, just this," answered his friend; "the captain is a tyrant; many of
+the officers imitate him, and altogether the men's lives are miserable.
+The ship is a complete hell afloat."
+
+Several days passed by; the frigate was steering for the West Indies,
+which were sighted soon after Paul had managed to creep on deck.  He saw
+the men casting wistful glances at the land.
+
+"If once I set my foot ashore, it will take a dozen red coats to carry
+me aboard again!" exclaimed a seaman near him.
+
+"Ay, Bill, it's a dog's life we lead; but there's a way to free
+ourselves if we were men enough to use it," said another.
+
+"It's not the first time that has been thought of," observed a third.
+"But hush, mates, that boy may hear; he looks like a sharp one."
+
+The men were silent till Paul walked farther aft, where he saw them
+still earnestly engaged in talking together.  He considered what he
+ought to do.  Should he tell Devereux what he had heard?  Perhaps, after
+all, it meant nothing.  He could trust Reuben; that is to say, Reuben
+would not betray him; but he might take part with the men.  He would
+consult Croxton.  He found old Jim after some time, but had no
+opportunity of speaking to him alone.  There was an ominous scowl on the
+countenances of all the men, which confirmed his suspicions that
+something was wrong.  Below they gathered together more in knots than
+usual, speaking in subdued voices.  Whenever an officer approached, they
+were silent, and generally dispersed with an appearance of indifference.
+Thus two or three more days passed, and Paul felt as well able as ever
+to do his duty.  It was the forenoon watch; the men were summoned to
+divisions.  It was perfectly calm; no land was in sight; the sun struck
+down fiercely on their heads.
+
+"There's work in hand for us to-day," exclaimed a topman, as he sprang
+on deck.
+
+In a little time the order to furl sails was given.  The men flew aloft.
+
+"Reef topsails," cried the first-lieutenant.
+
+The men appeared to do the work slowly.  Oaths and curses were hurled at
+them by the officers on duty.  Paul took the opportunity of going down
+to see Devereux, who, with O'Grady and Alphonse, was still too weak to
+go on deck.  He told him that he was afraid something was wrong.
+Devereux answered--
+
+"I fear that the men are dissatisfied, but they dare do nothing.  I pity
+them, though, poor fellows."
+
+The words were overheard by some of the idlers, as they are called
+below.  While Paul was speaking to Devereux, Croxton came in.  He also
+heard what had been said.
+
+"Man is born to suffer," he remarked.  "He must submit, and leave the
+righting in the hands of Providence.  He cannot right himself."
+
+His remarks were scarcely understood by those who heard him, even by
+Devereux, who, however, remembered them.  After a time, Paul returned on
+deck.  The captain was still exercising the men at furling sails.  With
+watch in hand he stood on the quarter-deck, his rage increasing as he
+found that they could not or would not accomplish the work in the time
+he desired.  At length he shouted in a voice which made the blood run
+cold in Paul's veins--
+
+"The last men in off the yards shall get four dozen for their pains.
+Remember that, ye scoundrels!  Away aloft!"
+
+Again the men ascended the rigging.  The sails were furled.  Two active
+young topmen on the mizen-yard made an attempt to spring over the backs
+of the rest.  They missed their hold.  With a fearful crash they fell
+together on the deck.
+
+"Throw the lubbers overboard!" exclaimed the captain, kicking
+contemptuously their mangled remains.
+
+These words were the signal of his own destruction.  The men, regardless
+of his threats, sprang below.
+
+"Vengeance! vengeance!" was the cry.
+
+The first-lieutenant who ventured among them was cut down, and while yet
+breathing, hove overboard.  Others who appeared met with the same fate.
+The mutineers then rushed to the captain's cabin.  He stood fiercely at
+bay, but in vain.  Bleeding from countless wounds, he was forced through
+the stern port.  His last words were, "Vengeance! vengeance! vengeance!"
+Fearfully it was paid.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+The deed of blood was not yet completed, although we would fain avoid
+entering more minutely than is necessary into the horrible details of
+the massacre which followed the death of the captain.  It is a proof of
+the evil passions which dwell within the bosoms of men, and shows how
+those passions may be worked up by tyranny and injustice to make men
+commit deeds at which, in their calmer moments, their minds would
+revolt.  Many of the victims struggled manfully for their lives.  Among
+the officers was a young midshipman.  He was fighting bravely by the
+side of one of the lieutenants, who was at length cut down.
+
+"Will you swear not to utter a word of what you have seen done to-day?"
+exclaimed Nol Hargraves, a quartermaster, who was one of the leaders of
+the mutineers, if any could be called leaders, where all seemed suddenly
+inspired by the same mad revengeful spirit.  The brave boy, as he stood
+leaning on his sword, looked undaunted at Hargraves and at those
+standing round him.
+
+"Swear--no!" he exclaimed.  "If I live to see you brought to justice, as
+you will be some day, I will say that you were cowardly murderers of
+your officers; that you killed sleeping men; that you threw others,
+still alive, overboard, and that you murdered the surgeons who had cured
+the wounded, and tended the sick like brothers.  I'll say that you
+butchered one of my helpless messmates--a poor boy younger than myself;
+I'll--!"
+
+"Overboard with him--overboard!" exclaimed Hargraves, who had just cut
+down the lieutenant, and seemed like a tiger, which having once tasted
+blood, thirsts for more.
+
+The midshipman, already fatigued and wounded, raised his weapon to
+defend himself.  Hargraves rushed at the boy, who in an instant
+afterwards lay writhing at his feet.
+
+"Heave the carcase overboard.  It is the way some of us have been
+treated, you know that, mates," he exclaimed, throwing the yet
+palpitating form of the boy into the sea, when it was eagerly seized on
+by the ravenous sharks, waiting for their prey supplied by the savage
+cruelty of man.  Many even of the mutineers cried, "Shame! shame!"
+Hargraves turned fiercely round on them--
+
+"Ye none of you cried shame when the captain did the same--cowards! why
+did ye not do it then?  Were the lives of our brave fellows of less
+value than the life of that young cub?"
+
+The men were silenced, but the eyes of many were opened, and they began
+from that moment bitterly to repent the cruel deed of which they had
+been guilty.  Oh! if they could have recalled the dead, how gladly would
+they have done so,--their officers, who, if they had sometimes acted
+harshly, were brave men and countrymen; even the captain, tyrant as he
+was, they wished that they could see once more on his quarter-deck, with
+the dreadful scene which had been enacted wiped away; but the deed had
+been done--no power could obliterate it.  They had been participators in
+the bloody work.  It stood recorded against them in the imperishable
+books of Heaven.  Blood had been spilt, and blood was to cry out against
+them and to demand a dreadful retribution.
+
+The mutinous crew stood gazing stupidly at each other; the helm had been
+deserted, the wind had fallen, the sails were flapping lazily against
+the masts, and the ship's head was going slowly round and round towards
+the different points of the compass.  Hargraves and others felt that
+something must be done; there was no safety for them while their frigate
+floated on the broad ocean.  What if they should fall in with another
+British man-of-war?  What account could they give of themselves?  Some
+were for scuttling her and saying that she had foundered, while they had
+escaped in the boats, but the boats would not hold them all, and could
+they trust each other?  What likelihood that all would adhere to the
+same tale?  Was it probable that all the crew should have escaped, and
+not an officer with them?  The boats might separate, to be sure, but to
+what lands could they direct their different courses?  On what shore,
+inhabited by countrymen, dared they place their feet without fear of
+detection?  Discussions loud and long took place.  It was agreed that
+the ship should be carried to a Spanish port; sold, if the sale could be
+effected, and with the proceeds and with such valuables as the murdered
+officers possessed, they would separate in various directions, and by
+changing their names, avoid all chance of discovery.
+
+But while these dreadful events were occurring, what had become of those
+who had been so lately rescued from a terrible fate on the raft?  Had
+they suffered one still more terrible by the hands of their own
+countrymen?  Paul Gerrard was asleep in his hammock when he heard a
+voice calling him.  It was that of old James Croxton.
+
+"Turn out, Paul," he said, "there is some fearful work going forward on
+deck, and I know not who may be the sufferers.  We may save some of
+them, though."
+
+Paul was on his feet and dressed in an instant.
+
+"What is to be done?" he asked.
+
+"Mr Devereux is in danger; we might save him," said the old man.  "The
+people are gone mad.  Come along."
+
+Paul followed Croxton to the sick bay.  Devereux had heard the
+disturbance, and from the expressions uttered by the men as they passed,
+feared that an attack was being made on the officers of the ship.  He
+was endeavouring to get up for the purpose of joining the officers, and
+sharing their fate, whatever that might be.  O'Grady was still asleep.
+Croxton guessed what Devereux was about to do.
+
+"It's of no use, sir--they'll only murder you with the rest," he
+whispered: "you must keep out of their way till they're cool.  Rouse up
+Mr O'Grady, Paul, and come along."
+
+Saying this, the old man, with a strength scarcely to be expected,
+lifted up Devereux, and carried, rather than led him, down to the hold.
+Paul, meantime, had awakened O'Grady, who, though not comprehending what
+had occurred, followed him mechanically.  The two midshipmen found
+themselves stowed away in total darkness among chests and casks
+containing stores of various sorts.
+
+"The crew have mutinied, there's no doubt about that," answered old Jim
+to an inquiry made by Devereux; "but we will go and face them, they will
+not harm either the boy or me.  Don't you speak, though, or make the
+slightest sound; they'll think that you are hove overboard with the
+rest."
+
+These words confirmed the midshipmen's worst apprehensions.  They had no
+time to ask questions, before the old man, taking Paul by the hand,
+hurried away.  Paul and his companion reached the deck unobserved.  The
+mutineers were all too eager in the desperate work in which they had
+engaged to remark them.  At that moment Paul saw his friends Reuben Cole
+and the young Frenchman, Alphonse, with some of the inferior and petty
+officers, dragged forward by the mutineers.  Hargraves was the chief
+speaker.
+
+"What is to be done with these?" he asked, turning round to his
+companions in crime.
+
+"Serve them like the rest," shouted some.
+
+"Dead men tell no tales," muttered others.
+
+"We've had enough of that sort of work," cried the greater number.  "No
+more bloodshed!  Let them swear to hold their tongues and do as we bid
+them."
+
+"You hear what is proposed," said Hargraves, gruffly.  "Will you fellows
+take your lives on these terms?"
+
+"Not I, for one, ye murderous villains," exclaimed Reuben Cole, doubling
+his fists and confronting the mutineers.  "I'll take nothing at your
+hands, but I'm very certain that there are plenty of men aboard here
+who'll not stand idly by and see me butchered on that account.  As to
+peaching on you, I'm not going to do that, but you'll not get another
+word out of me about the matter."
+
+Had Hargraves had his way, it would have fared ill with honest Reuben;
+but the latter had not wrongly estimated the support he was likely to
+receive from his new shipmates, whose goodwill he knew that he had
+gained.
+
+"Reuben Cole is not the man to peach, even if he has the chance,"
+shouted several of them.
+
+"No fear; he'll prove true to us, and so will the little Mounseer there;
+won't you?" asked one, turning to Alphonse.  "We couldn't afford to lose
+you and your fiddle, especially just now, when we shall want something
+to keep up our spirits."
+
+Alphonse, not comprehending what was said, made no reply.  His silence
+was construed into contumacy, and some of Hargraves' adherents laid
+hands on him, and appeared as if they were about to throw him overboard,
+when Paul shouted out to him in French what was said.  Alphonse very
+naturally had no scruples to overcome.  He could only look on the fate
+of the captain as a just retribution on his tyranny.
+
+"Oh, yes, yes!  I play the fiddle," he exclaimed; "I go get it--I play
+for you all."
+
+Not waiting for an answer, he ran towards the nearest hatchway, and
+passing near Paul, inquired for Devereux and O'Grady.
+
+"Safe," whispered Paul, and the young Frenchman dived below.
+
+He speedily returned with his faithful violin, and without waiting to be
+asked, began to play.  The hearts of all his hearers were too heavy to
+allow them to be influenced as under other circumstances they would have
+been by the music, but it served in a degree to calm their fierce
+passions, and to turn them from their evil intentions.  Of the principal
+officers of the ship the master alone had hitherto escaped destruction.
+He was no coward.  He had seen with horror the murder of his messmates
+and captain, but life was sweet, and when offered to him, even on terms
+degrading, undoubtedly--that he would navigate the ship into an enemy's
+port--he accepted them.  The few warrant and petty officers who had
+escaped being killed, at once declared their intention of acting as the
+master had done.
+
+"It's fortunate for you, mates, that you don't belong to the brood who
+grow into captains," exclaimed Hargraves, fiercely.  "I, for one, would
+never have consented to let you live if you had."
+
+Paul trembled for the fate of his friends when he heard these
+expressions, for Hargraves looked like a man who would put any threats
+he might utter into execution.  Order was somewhat restored, officers
+were appointed to keep watch, and the ship was put on the course for the
+port to which it was proposed she should be carried.  The crew had once
+been accustomed to keep a sharp look-out for an enemy; they now kept a
+still more anxious watch to avoid any British cruiser which might
+approach them.  Day and night they were haunted with the dread of
+meeting their countrymen.  Paul overheard some of the ringleaders
+consulting together.
+
+"There are only two things to be done; if we can't run from them, to
+fight it out to the last, or to kill all those who won't swear to be
+staunch, and to declare that they died of fever," said one of them in a
+low, determined voice.
+
+"Ay, that's the only thing for it," growled out another; "I'm not going
+to swing for nothing, I've made up my mind."
+
+"Swing! who talks of swinging?  None of that, Tom," exclaimed a third,
+in uneasy tones.
+
+"It's what one and all of us will do, mates, if we don't look out what
+we're about," said Hargraves, who was waiting for an opportunity of
+pressing his plans on his companions.  "We have let too many of them
+live as it is, and it's my opinion there's no safety for any of us as
+long as one of them breathes.  I've heard tell what the old pirates used
+to do to make men faithful.  They didn't trust to oaths--not they--but
+they made those who said they were ready to join them shoot their
+shipmates who refused.  That's what we must do, mates; it's the only
+secure way, you may depend on't."
+
+Paul was convinced that the men spoke in earnest, and afraid of being
+discovered should he remain, he crept stealthily away.  He searched
+about till he found Croxton and Reuben, and told them at once what he
+had heard and feared.
+
+"There's little doubt but that you are right, Paul," said old Croxton,
+after meditating for some time.  "We thought that we were fortunate in
+getting on board this ship, and now, to my mind, we shall be fortunate
+to get out of her.  I'm afraid for poor Mr Devereux and Mr O'Grady.
+It will go hard with them if they're discovered."
+
+"I have it," said Reuben, after thinking for some time--speaking in a
+low voice--"We must leave this cursed ship and carry off the two young
+gentlemen.  I'd sooner be on the raft out in the Atlantic, than aboard
+of her."
+
+"Ay, lads, `Better is a dry crust with contentment,'" remarked old Jim.
+"But how to leave the ship, so as to escape without being followed--
+there's the difficulty."
+
+"`Where there's a will there's a way,'" said Reuben.  "If it must be
+done, it can be done."
+
+"Right, lad," said Croxton; "it must be done, for we deserve the fate of
+villains if we consort with them longer than we can help; though I'll
+not say that all on board this unhappy ship are equally bad.  There are
+many who would be glad to escape from her if they had but the chance."
+
+"It must be done," repeated Reuben.  "We may make off with a boat some
+dark night.  The young Frenchman and our own fellows will be sure to
+join, and I think that there's three or four others--maybe more--who'll
+be glad to get away at any risk."
+
+"We must run the risk, and it isn't a small one," said Croxton.  "If
+they were to catch us, they'd kill us.  There's no doubt about that."
+
+The whole plan was soon settled--who were to be got to join--the boat to
+be taken--the way she was to be lowered.  Devereux and O'Grady were to
+be told of it when all was ready, and were to be brought up on deck as
+soon as it was dark, and stowed away in the boat herself till the moment
+of escape had arrived.  Paul was usually employed to carry food to the
+midshipmen.  Sometimes, however, Croxton went, sometimes Reuben, to
+lessen the risk of his object being suspected.  Paul waited till night--
+the time he visited his friends--and hiding a lantern under his jacket,
+carefully groped his way down to them.  They highly approved of the plan
+proposed for escaping from the ship, and were eager for the moment for
+putting it into execution.  O'Grady, especially, was heartily weary of
+his confinement.
+
+"I doubt if my two legs will ever be able to stretch themselves out
+straight again, after being cramped up so long, like herrings in a
+cask," he exclaimed, in the low tone in which it was necessary to speak.
+"We owe you a heavy debt, Gerrard, and if you succeed in getting us out
+of this, it will be a huge deal greater."
+
+"If it were not for old Jim and Reuben Cole, I could be but of little
+use, so say nothing about that, Mr O'Grady," answered Paul.  "I am
+going to try and find out on the charts, when the master is working his
+day's work, exactly where we are, and if there's land near, we may,
+perhaps, get away to-morrow."
+
+Paul felt far from comfortable all the next day.  He could not help
+fancying that the mutineers suspected him, and that he should suddenly
+find himself seized and thrown overboard.  What he dreaded most was the
+ultimate failure of the undertaking.  His two friends had in the
+meantime sounded those they hoped might join them, but whether all were
+favourable to the plan he could not ascertain.  His eye was constantly
+on the master, who at length, seeing him near, sent him for his quadrant
+and tables.  This was just what Paul wanted.  He stood by while the
+observations were being taken, and then, carrying the instrument,
+followed the master to the cabin.  Paul brought out the chart, and
+placed it before him, watching anxiously the movements of his companion
+as he measured off the distance run since the previous day.
+
+More than once the master glanced round the cabin, and sighed deeply.
+"In five or six days my disgraceful task will be done," he muttered, as
+he moved the compasses towards the coast of the Spanish main.  "Then
+what remains for me in life?  If I escape an ignominious death, I must
+ever be suspected of having consented to the murder of my brother
+officers.  I would rather that the ship had gone down, and the whole
+history of the butchery been hid from mortal knowledge.  Yet God knows
+it, and it may teach officers for the future the dreadful consequences
+of tyranny and cruelty."
+
+He continued on in the same strain, not aware, it seemed, that Paul was
+listening.  Paul retired to a distance.  "Shall I ask the master to join
+us?" he thought to himself.  "No, it will not do.  It would greatly
+increase the risk of our being caught."  He waited till the master was
+silent.  He went back to the table.  "Shall I put up the charts?" he
+asked.  "But before I do so, will you, sir, kindly show me where we
+are?"
+
+Since the outbreak the poor master had not been treated with so much
+respect.  He showed Paul the exact position of the ship, the
+neighbouring lands, and remarked on the prevailing currents and winds.
+Paul rolled up the chart, and put it in its place.  He fancied that the
+master must have suspected his thoughts.  Paul soon after met his
+friends, and told them of all he had learned.
+
+It was agreed that they would wait till it was the master's watch, for
+so few of the mutineers could take command of a watch, that he was
+compelled constantly to be on deck.  It was suspected that he had at
+times given way to intemperance, and Paul had observed more than once
+that when he came on deck he appeared to have been drinking, and that he
+frequently dropped asleep when sitting on a gun or leaning against the
+side of the ship.  Many of the seamen who had free access to the
+spirit-room were also constantly tipsy at night, though the chief
+mutineers, from necessity, kept sober.  The once well-ordered man-of-war
+soon became like a lawless buccaneer.  The men rolled about the decks
+half tipsy, some were playing cards and dice between the guns, some were
+fighting, and others were sleeping in any shady place they could find.
+
+Paul passed old Croxton on deck.  "We shall have little difficulty in
+accomplishing our object if this goes on," he whispered.
+
+"Yes, Paul, what is lost by fools is gained by wise men," he answered.
+"Ay, and there is one who will gain more than all by the work done on
+board this ship.  He will soon leave his poor dupes to wish that they
+had never been born."
+
+Paul and his friends waited anxiously for night: they had resolved no
+longer to delay their attempt.
+
+"I'll take care that they don't follow us," said Reuben.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Paul.
+
+"I'll tell you, lad," was the answer; and he whispered something into
+his companion's ear.
+
+Paul felt that there was a great deal to be done, and longed for the
+moment of action.  He observed with satisfaction that frequent visits
+were made to the spirit-room, and that even the master was taking more
+than his usual share of grog.  The ship sailed steadily over the calm
+sea--night drew on.  Paul's heart beat unusually fast.  He waited till
+he was sure that he was not perceived, and then he climbed into one of
+the boats.  He was there for some time, and then descending he got into
+another; and so he visited all in succession.  Again he slunk down
+below.
+
+At length the master came on deck to keep his watch.  The night, for
+those latitudes, was unusually dark, but the sea was smooth.  The ship
+glided calmly on, the ripple made by her stem as she drove her way
+through the water showing, however, that a fair breeze filled her sails.
+The master leaned against a gun-carriage, and gradually sunk down on
+it, resting his head on his hands.  The helmsman stood at his post, now
+gazing at the broad spread of canvas above him, and then mechanically at
+the compass, with its light shining in the binnacle before him, but
+looking neither to the right hand nor to the left.  The rest of the
+watch placed themselves at their ease between the guns, and were soon,
+whatever might have been their intention, fast asleep.  One by one
+others now stole on deck towards the boat Paul had last visited.  Not a
+word was spoken.  At length two men appeared bearing two slight figures
+on their backs.  The latter were carefully deposited in the boat, which
+was quickly lowered.  The whole manoeuvre was executed with the greatest
+rapidity and in the most perfect silence.  Even the helmsman, who,
+though drowsy, could not have been entirely asleep, took no notice of
+them.  In another instant, had anybody been looking over the side, a
+dark object might have been seen dropping astern.  It was a boat, which
+contained Paul Gerrard and his companions, who had thus made their
+perilous escape from the blood-stained ship.  Not till they were far
+astern did any one venture to speak.  Devereux at last drew a deep sigh.
+"Thank Heaven, we are free of them!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Amen!" said old Croxton, in a deep voice.  "We have reason to rejoice
+and be thankful.  Sad will be the end of all those wretched men.  Their
+victims are more to be envied than they."
+
+As soon as it was deemed safe the oars were got out, a lantern was
+lighted to throw its light on the compass, and the boat was steered
+towards the north-west.  The wind soon dropped to a perfect calm.
+
+"We are safe now," exclaimed Paul.  "Even if they were to miss us they
+could not follow, for there is not a boat on board which can swim or an
+oar to pull with.  Some I dropped overboard, and others I cut nearly
+through just above the blades, and I bored holes in all the boats where
+they could not be seen till the boats were in the water."
+
+"Well done, Gerrard.  If we get clear off, we shall owe our escape to
+your judgment; but you ran a great risk of losing your life.  The
+mutineers would have murdered you if they had discovered what you were
+about."
+
+"I knew that, sir; but I knew also that nothing can be done without
+danger and trouble."
+
+"Ay, boy, and that no danger or trouble is too great, so that we may
+escape from the company of sinners," remarked old Croxton.  "Think of
+that, young gentleman.  If you consent to remain with them because you
+are too lazy to flee, you will soon fall into their ways, and become one
+of them."
+
+Some of his hearers remembered those words in after years.  All night
+long the oars were kept going, and when morning dawned the ship was
+nowhere to be seen.
+
+"Now let us turn to and have some breakfast," exclaimed O'Grady.  "It
+will be the first for many a day that you and I have eaten in sunlight,
+Devereux, and I see good reason that we should be thankful.  Then we'll
+have a tune from Alphonse, for I'll warrant that he has brought his
+fiddle."
+
+"Ah, dat I have," cried the young Frenchman, exhibiting his beloved
+instrument.  "But, mes amis, ve vill mange first.  De arm vil not move
+vidout de oil!"
+
+Alphonse had greatly improved in his knowledge of English.
+
+A good supply of provisions had been collected, but as it was uncertain
+when they should make the land, it was necessary to be economical in
+their use.  A very good breakfast, however, was made, and the spirits of
+the party rose as their hunger was appeased, and they thought of their
+happy escape.  As the sun, however, arose in the blue sky, its rays
+struck down on their unprotected heads, and they would gladly have got
+under shelter, but there was no shelter for them out on the glassy
+shining sea.  Still they rowed on.  To remain where they were was to die
+by inches.  Devereux did his best, as he had done on the raft, to keep
+up the spirits of his men, and, weak as he was, he would have taken his
+spell at the oar if they had let him.
+
+"No, no, sir; you just take your trick at the helm, if you think
+proper," exclaimed Croxton.  "But just let us do the hard work.  It's
+your head guides us, and without that we should be badly off."
+
+Devereux saw the wisdom of this remark.  They knew that they had five,
+and perhaps six days' hard rowing before they could hope to reach
+Dominica, the nearest island they supposed belonged to Great Britain,
+according to the information Paul had gained from the master.  They
+were, however, far better off than when they had been on the raft, for
+they had food, were in a well-found boat, and knew tolerably well their
+position.  Still they were not in good spirits, which is not surprising,
+considering the scenes they had witnessed, the dangers they had endured,
+and the uncertainty of the future.
+
+Dominica was an English possession, but it had once been taken by the
+French, and might have been again; and Alphonse fancied that he had
+heard that it was proposed to make a descent on the island, in which
+case they would fall among enemies instead of friends.
+
+"Ah! but your countrymen would surely treat us who come to them in
+distress as friends," observed O'Grady.
+
+"Ah, dat dey vould!" exclaimed Alphonse, warmly.
+
+"Well, mounseer, there is good and there is bad among 'em, of that
+there's no doubt," observed Reuben, taking his quid out of his mouth,
+and looking the young Frenchman in the face; "but do ye see I'd rather
+not try lest we should fall among the bad, and there's a precious lot on
+'em."
+
+Notwithstanding these doubts Devereux continued his course for Dominica.
+As the sun rose higher in the sky, the heat became greater and greater,
+till it was almost insupportable.  A sail spread over the boat afforded
+some shelter from its rays, but they pierced through it as easily as a
+mosquito's sting does through a kid glove, till the air under it became
+even more stifling than that above.
+
+All the time in turns they continued to row on--night and day there was
+to be no cessation.  Reversing the usual order, they longed for the
+night, when the air would be cooler, and their heads would escape the
+frying process going on while the sun was above them.
+
+"Och, but this is hot," cried O'Grady for the hundredth time.  "If this
+goes on much longer, we'll all be turned into real black ebony niggers,
+and the Christians on shore will be after putting us to work at the
+sugar-canes, and be swearing we've just come straight across from
+Africa.  As to our tongues, there'll be no safety for us through them,
+and they'll swear we've made off with the uniforms from some ship of war
+or other, and perhaps be tricing us up as thieves and murderers.  Did
+you ever hear tell of the Irishman--a sweet countryman of mine,--who
+once came out from the Emerald Isle to these parts--to Demerara, I
+believe?  As soon as the ship which brought him entered the harbour, she
+was boarded by a boat full of niggers.
+
+"`Will yer honour have your duds carried ashore now?' asks one, stepping
+up to him.  `It's myself will see ye all comfortable in a jiffy, if
+ye'll trust me, at Mother Flannigan's.'
+
+"My countryman looked at him very hard.
+
+"`What's your name now?' he asks with some trepidation.
+
+"`Pat O'Dwyer, yer honour,' says the nigger.
+
+"`Pat, how long have ye been here?' asks my countryman, solemnly.
+
+"`Faith, about two years, yer honour,' says the nigger.
+
+"`Two years, did ye say--two years only to turn a white Irishman into a
+nigger?' exclaimed my countryman with no little alarm.  `Then faith the
+sooner I get away back from out of this black-burning country the
+better--or my own mither down in Ballyshannon won't be after knowing her
+own beautiful boy again at all, and my father would be after disowning
+me, and my sisters and brothers to boot, and Father O'Roony would be
+declaring that it was a white Christian he made of me, and that I
+couldn't be the same anyhow.  Take my duds on shore.  No.  Take 'em
+below, and I'll go there too, and remain there too till the ship sails
+and I'm out of this nigger-making land.'  My countryman kept to his
+intention, and from that day till the ship sailed, never set foot on
+shore.  You'll understand that no small number of Irishmen go out to
+that country, and that the nigger boy had learnt his English from them--
+for he wasn't a real Irishman after all, but that my countryman did not
+find out till he got back to auld Ireland again.
+
+"Och, they are broths of boys the Paddies, but they do make curious
+mistakes somehow or other, it must be allowed.
+
+"I was one day dining at the mess of some soldier officers, when one of
+them, a Captain O'Rourke, positively declared on his faith as a
+gentleman that `he had seen anchovies growing on the walls at
+Gibraltar.'
+
+"Most of the party opened their eyes, but said nothing, for O'Rourke was
+not a man whose word a quietly-disposed person would wish in his sober
+moments to call in question.
+
+"Unfortunately, there was present an Englishman, a Lieutenant Brown,
+into whose head the fumes of the tawny port and ruby claret had already
+mounted.
+
+"`Anchovies growing on a wall?' he blurted out.  `That's a cram if ever
+there was one.'
+
+"O'Rourke was on his feet in a moment,--
+
+"`What, sir--it's not you who mean to say that you don't believe me, I
+hope?' he exclaimed, in a voice which meant mischief.
+
+"`Believe you!  I should think I don't, or any man who can talk such
+gammon,' answered Brown, in a tone of defiance.
+
+"As may be supposed, there was only one way in which such a matter could
+end.  Preliminaries were soon settled.  The affair would have come off
+that evening, but it would have broken up the party too soon, and
+besides it wouldn't have been fair, as Brown's hand was not as steady as
+it might have been.  So it was put off till the next morning soon after
+daylight, when there was a good gathering to see the fun.  The English
+generally took Brown's side.  I of course stood by O'Rourke, not that I
+was quite sure he was in the right, by-the-by.
+
+"It was very evident that Brown had no notion of handling his pistol.
+
+"`I'll just wing him to teach the spalpeen better manners,' whispered
+O'Rourke to his second.  `He's unworthy game for my weapon.'
+
+"The word was given to fire.  Brown's bullet flew up among some trees
+away to the right, not a little frightening the young in a nest of
+birds, who popped out their heads to see what was the matter.  It was
+now our friend's turn.
+
+He smiled as he sent his ball through Brown's trousers, cruelly grazing
+his leg, whereon he began to skip about in the most comical way possible
+with the pain.
+
+"`By ---, you've made that fellow cut capers at all events,' observed
+O'Rourke's second.
+
+"`Cut capers, did ye say?' exclaimed O'Rourke.  `Them's the very things
+I saw growing on the wall, and not anchovies at all, at all.'  And
+rushing up to poor Brown, who had fallen on the ground, he took his
+hand, greatly to the surprise of the wounded man, crying out,--`It's
+myself made the trifle of a mistake, my dear fellow, it's capers, it's
+capers, grows on walls, so get up and don't think anything more about
+the matter.'
+
+"Poor Brown went limping about for many a day afterwards, and didn't
+seem to consider the matter half as good a joke as the rest of us."
+
+O'Grady's stories amused the party, though Croxton very properly
+remarked that duelling was a wicked heathen custom, and that he wondered
+people who called themselves Christians could ever indulge in it.  Other
+stories were told, but their interest flagged, for people are not
+generally in a talkative mood with the thermometer above a hundred, and
+with a small supply of water.  Alphonse, however, from time to time kept
+his fiddlestick going, both to his own satisfaction, and that of his
+hearers.  Still he, on account of the heat, was often compelled to put
+it down, and to declare that he could play no longer.
+
+Great and unusual, however, as was the heat, it did not appear to cause
+any apprehension of danger in the mind of Devereux.  The night came on,
+and though the air even then was hot, the weary crew were refreshed by
+sleep.  The sun rose, and the air was hotter than ever, notwithstanding
+a dense mist, which gradually filled the atmosphere, while soon a lurid
+glare spread over it.  Croxton, as he watched the change, looked even
+graver than before.  "You've not been in these seas before, Mr
+Devereux, sir?" he observed.
+
+"No; and if the weather is always as broiling as it is at present, I
+don't wish to come to them again in a hurry," answered Devereux.  "But
+one thing is fortunate--they are calm enough to please any old ladies
+who might venture on them."
+
+"Don't count too much on that, sir, if an old man who has cruised for
+many a long year out here in every part may venture to give you advice,"
+said Croxton, in an earnest tone.  "The weather here is often like a
+passionate man--calm one moment, and raging furiously the next.  I tell
+you, sir, I don't like its look at present, and I fear, before long,
+that we shall have a job to keep the boat afloat."
+
+"What do you mean, Croxton?" said Devereux.  "The boat is the strongest
+and best-built belonging to the frigate."
+
+"I mean, sir, that a hurricane is about to burst over us, and that the
+strongest and best-built boat can scarcely live through it," was the
+answer.
+
+"I fear that you are right," replied Devereux.  "We'll prepare the boat
+as best we can for what is coming."
+
+No time was to be lost.  The staves of a cask knocked to pieces were
+nailed round the sides of the boat, and to these a sail, cut into broad
+strips, was nailed, so that the water might the better be kept out.  The
+men were also ordered to rest and to take some food, and then calmly
+they waited the expected event.  They were not kept long in suspense.
+
+"Here it comes," cried Croxton.  "Our only chance is to run before it."
+He pointed as he spoke astern, where a long line of snow-white foam was
+seen rolling on over the leaden ocean, the sky above it being even
+darker than before.
+
+"Out oars, and pull for your lives, lads!" cried Devereux.
+
+Scarcely had the boat gathered full away before the hurricane overtook
+her, and she was surrounded by a seething mass of foam; every instant
+the seas growing higher and higher, and rolling up with fierce roars, as
+if to overwhelm her.  It seemed impossible that an open boat could live
+in such tumultuous waters, yet still she kept afloat, flying on before
+the tempest.  Devereux firmly grasped the helm.  He knew that any
+careless steering would cause the destruction of the boat and all in
+her.  The crew looked at each other.  No wonder that many a cheek was
+pale.  Who could tell how soon they might be struggling helplessly amid
+the foam, while their boat was sinking down below their feet?  It was
+impossible to say also where they might drive to.
+
+On flew the boat.  As the hurricane increased in strength and gained
+greater and greater power over the water, the seas increased in height
+and came rolling and tumbling on, foaming, hissing, and roaring--
+threatening every instant to engulph her.  So great was the force of the
+wind, that the oars were almost blown out of the men's hands, their
+efforts being expended solely in keeping the boat running before the
+sea.  Those not rowing were employed in baling, for, in spite of all
+their efforts, the water washed in in such abundance as to require all
+their exertions to heave it out again.
+
+Paul, as he laboured away with the rest, thought a great deal of home
+and the dear ones he had left there.  He believed, and had good reason
+for believing, that he should never see them again, for by what possible
+means could he and his companions escape destruction, unless the
+hurricane was suddenly to cease, and it had as yet not gained its
+height.  Even as it was, the boat could scarcely be kept afloat.  Night,
+too, would soon arrive, and then the difficulty of steering before the
+sea would be greatly increased.  Still the boat floated.  Now a sea
+higher than its predecessors came roaring on--the foam blown from its
+summit half filled the boat.  With difficulty she could be freed of
+water before another came following with a still more threatening
+aspect.  The voice of old Croxton was heard raised in prayer.  Each one
+believed that his last hour was come.  It turned suddenly aside, and the
+boat still floated.  Again and again they were threatened and escaped.
+Darkness, however, was now rapidly coming on and increasing the terrific
+aspect of the tempest.  Devereux, aided by Reuben Cole, sat steering the
+boat.  Not a word was spoken.  The roar of the waves increased.
+
+"Breakers ahead!" cried old Croxton, in a deep solemn voice.  "The Lord
+have mercy on our souls!"
+
+The boat was lifted higher than before amid the tumultuous hissing
+cauldron of foaming waters, and then down she came with a fearful crash
+on a coral reef.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+The shrieks and cries and shouts of Paul's companions rang in his ears
+as he found himself with them struggling in the foaming water amid the
+fragments of their boat.  His great desire was to preserve his presence
+of mind.  He struck out with hands and feet, not for the purpose of
+making way through the water, but that he might keep himself afloat till
+he could ascertain in which direction the sea was driving him.  That
+some of his companions were yet alive, he could tell by hearing their
+voices, though already it seemed at some distance from each other.  He
+felt that, though now swimming bravely, his strength must soon fail him.
+Something struck him.  He stretched out his hands and grasped an oar.
+He found himself carried along, even more rapidly than before, amid the
+hissing foam.  He judged by the sensation that he was lifted to the
+summit of a wave; it rolled triumphantly on with him, and it seemed as
+if he was thrown forward by it a considerable distance, for he dropped,
+as it were, into comparatively smooth water.  He did not stop, but he
+was borne on and on till he felt his feet, for the first time, touch for
+an instant something hard.  It might have been the top of a rock, and he
+would be again in deep water; but no--he stretched out one leg.  It met
+the sand--a hard beach.  Directly after, he was wading, and rapidly
+rising higher out of the water.  He found some difficulty in
+withstanding the waters as they receded, but they did not seem to run
+back with the force they frequently do; and struggling manfully, he at
+length worked his way up till he was completely beyond their power.
+Then exhausted nature gave way, and he sank down in a state of
+half-stupor on the ground.  The hurricane howled over his head; the
+waves roared around him; he had the feeling that they would come up and
+claim him as their prey, and yet he had no power to drag himself farther
+away.  He had consciousness enough left to show that he was on a wild
+sea beach, and to believe that his last moments were approaching.  At
+length he fell asleep, and probably slept for some hours, for when he
+awoke he felt greatly refreshed.  It was still dark.  He tried to stand
+up, that he might ascertain the nature of the country on which he had
+been thrown; he could see no trees, and he fancied that he could
+distinguish the foam-covered waves leaping up on the other side of the
+land.  It might be a point of land, or it might be some small sandy
+islet; it had, at all events, a very desolate appearance.  Was he its
+sole occupant?  He scarcely dared to shout out an inquiry, lest the
+sea-bird's shriek should be the only reply he might receive--or, what
+would be worse, no responding voice should answer him.  He sat down
+again, wishing that day would come.  He felt very sad--very forlorn.  He
+could scarcely refrain from crying bitterly, and almost wished that he
+had been swallowed up by the foaming sea.  He sat on, wishing that the
+night would come to an end.  How long it seemed!  Hour after hour passed
+by; he could not sleep, and yet he would gladly have lost all
+recollection of his past sufferings, and thoughts of those which were to
+come.  He watched the hurricane decreasing; the wind grew less and less
+in strength; the waves lashed the island shores with diminished fury;
+and the foam no longer flew, as heretofore, in dense showers over him.
+Dawn at last broke, and before long the sun himself rose up out of his
+ocean bed.  Paul started to his feet, and looked about him.  Along the
+beach, at no great distance, his eye fell on two figures.  He rushed
+towards them.  They did not see him, for they were sitting down, looking
+the other way.  He shouted for joy on recognising Devereux and O'Grady.
+On hearing his voice they turned their heads, and the latter, jumping
+up, ran to meet him.  The greeting was warm, for both looked on each
+other as rescued from the grave.  Poor Devereux, however, did not move;
+and as Paul got nearer to him he saw that he was very pale.
+
+"I'm so glad that you have escaped, Gerrard, both for your sake and
+ours," exclaimed O'Grady, shaking hands with Paul, and forgetting all
+about their supposed difference in rank: "I do believe that with your
+help Devereux may recover.  He and I, you see, were thrown on shore near
+here, and as his feet were hurt I managed to drag him up here; but, had
+my life depended on it, I could not have dragged him up an inch further.
+We can manage to get some shelter for him from the heat of the sun, and
+while one stays by him, the other can go in search of food."
+
+"Oh! my good fellow, it will be all right," said Devereux, scarcely able
+to restrain a deep groan.  "I am sure Gerrard will be a great help, and
+we ought to be thankful; but I can't help mourning for the poor fellows
+who have gone.  There's Alphonse, and his fiddle too--I didn't know how
+much I liked the poor fellow."
+
+"Yes, he was a merry little chap; and then that honest fellow, Reuben
+Cole, and old Croxton too, in spite of his sermons--they were not very
+long, and he had good reason for them," chimed in O'Grady with a sigh,
+which sounded strange from his lips.  "It seems a wonder that any of us
+are alive.  But I am getting terribly hungry, and it doesn't seem as if
+there were many fruits or vegetables to be procured on this island;
+however, I will go in search of what is to be found, though I suspect we
+shall have to make up our minds to live on shell-fish and sea-weed.  In
+the meantime, Gerrard, do you look after Mr Devereux."
+
+"I will do as you order, sir; but perhaps I know more about getting
+shell-fish out of the crevices in the rocks than you do, and a person
+may easily slip in and be drowned: so if you will let me I will go,"
+observed Gerrard.
+
+"No, no, I'll go," said O'Grady; "lend me your knife--I shall want it to
+scrape the shells off the rocks.  And now I'm off."
+
+"Look out for fresh water on your way," said Devereux, as O'Grady was
+moving off; "I am already fearfully thirsty."
+
+Devereux and Paul watched O'Grady for some time as he walked along the
+beach, where, as there were no rocks, he vainly searched for shell-fish.
+At length he was lost to sight in the distance.
+
+"This is, I fear, a barren spot we are on, Gerrard; still, we must never
+give in while we are alive," observed Devereux.  "I say this, because I
+feel that I am not long for this world; and when you and O'Grady are
+left alone, you may fall into despair.  Remember, struggle on till the
+last moment, for you do not know when help may come."
+
+"Oh! don't speak in that way, Mr Devereux," cried Paul, taking the
+other's hand; "you are not acting as you advise us to act.  We may find
+food and water too.  The island seems much larger than I at first
+thought it was."
+
+"I have no wish to die, but still I do not feel as if I should recover,"
+answered Devereux, in a feeble voice.  "If I do not, and you should get
+home, I wish you to go to my father and mother and sisters, and to tell
+them that my earnest prayer was, that those who have the right to it
+should have the fortune, and that I said I would rather dig or plough
+all my days than enjoy what is not my own."
+
+Paul had little doubt as to what Devereux was thinking of; still he did
+not like to ask him to be more explicit, so he replied--
+
+"I am afraid that I should not be believed if I took such a message, so
+pray do not ask me to convey it."
+
+Devereux made no reply, and for some time seemed very unwilling to
+converse.  Paul earnestly wished that O'Grady would return, or that
+Devereux would give him leave to go in search of fresh water, which he
+thought might be found further in the interior.  Devereux, whose eyes
+had been shut, at last looked up.
+
+"Oh, for a glass of water, Gerrard!  None but those who have been placed
+as we are know its true value," he whispered.
+
+"Let me go and try to find some, sir," said Paul.  "I see a large shell
+a few yards off; it will carry as much as you can drink.  And now that
+the light is stronger, I observe in the distance some shrubs or low
+trees, and I cannot but hope that water will be found near them."
+
+"Then go," said Devereux; "but take care that you can find me again."
+
+Paul looked about, and saw a small spar floating on to the beach.
+Without hesitation, he ran into the water to bring it out.  He seized
+the prize, and was dragging it on shore, when a large monster darted
+towards him.  He struck out the spar with all his force in the direction
+of the creature.  It was almost torn from his grasp, and he was nearly
+dragged, with his face down, into the water; but he held on manfully,
+and sprang back.  He just saw a pair of fierce eyes, two rows of sharp
+teeth, and a glance of white skin, convincing him that he had narrowly
+escaped from the jaws of a ravenous shark.  He felt also that he had
+additional cause for thankfulness at having escaped the sharks when he
+and his companions had been so long helplessly tumbled about in the
+waves during the night.  "Poor Alphonse and the rest! what has been
+their fate?" he thought.  He did not tell Devereux of his narrow escape;
+but planting the pole in the sand, with a handkerchief tied to the top
+of it, he set off towards the spot where he hoped to find water.
+Devereux wished him good speed.
+
+"You will easily find me again," he said, as Paul left him.  Paul
+hurried on.  The ground was composed of sand and rock, with scarcely any
+vegetation.  The spot where he had left Devereux was the summit of a
+bank; the space he was traversing looked as if it had been recently
+covered by the sea.  The trees were much farther off than he had
+fancied.  The heat of the sun increased; he felt very weak and hungry,
+and it was with difficulty that he could make his way through the deep
+sand.
+
+"If I do not go on, poor Mr Devereux will die of thirst, and water must
+be found," he said to himself whenever he found his resolution flagging.
+A famous word is that _must_.  We _must_ do what has to be done.  We
+_must_ not do what ought not to be done.  Paul struggled on in spite of
+the heat, and thirst, and hunger, and weariness, and the strange
+creatures which crawled out from the crevices in the rocks, and ran
+along the hot sand.  He had no time to examine them.  At length he found
+that he was rising on the side of another bank, and what had seemed mere
+shrubs in the distance, now assumed the appearance of a group of tall
+cocoa-nut trees.  "Should there be no water below, I shall find what
+will be almost as refreshing," thought Paul, as he hurried on, almost
+forgetting his fatigue in his eagerness to reach the spot.  The sand,
+however, seemed deeper and hotter than any he had before traversed.
+Below the cocoa-nut trees there were low shrubs and some herbage.  These
+indicated water without doubt.  He ran on.  He stopped and hesitated.
+There was a long, low building, capable of holding a number of persons.
+If it was at present occupied, what reception could he expect to meet
+from its inmates?  He had read about savage Caribs, and buccaneers, and
+pirates, and he thought that, possibly, the people in the hut might be
+one or the other.  He advanced cautiously, expecting every moment to see
+some one come out of the hut.  "I am but a boy, and however bad they may
+be, they will not hurt me; and I must have the water at all events--for
+water there must be, or the hut would not have been built on that spot."
+Saying this, he hurried on, treading lightly, "The people may be
+asleep, and I may get the water and be away without any one seeing me,"
+he thought.  He passed the door of the hut.  Before him appeared a tank
+cut in the coral rock, with the pure clear water bubbling up in the
+middle of it.  Stooping down, he quickly washed out his shell, and then
+took a long, delicious draught.  He felt as if he could never take
+enough.  He did not forget his companions; and while he was considering
+how little the shell could carry, his eye fell on an iron pot by the
+side of the tank.  He stooped down and filled it, and was carrying it
+off, when the door of the hut opened, and a woolly head with a hideous
+black face popped out, and a voice which sounded like a peal of thunder,
+the roll of a muffled drum, and the squeak of a bagpipe, mingled in one,
+shouted out to him in a language he could not understand.  Instead of
+running away, Paul turned round and asked the negro what he wanted.  The
+latter only continued growling as before, and making hideous faces,
+while his eye glanced at the can.  Paul made signs that he was only
+borrowing it, and would bring it back.  He, however, did not venture
+within grasp of the unattractive-looking negro, who showed no
+inclination to follow him.  The reason was soon apparent, for, as the
+black came rather more out of the doorway, Paul perceived that he had
+lost both his legs, and stood upon two wooden stumps.  No one else
+appeared to be moving inside the hut, and Paul concluded, therefore,
+that the black was its only inmate.  To avoid that unprepossessing
+individual, he had made a circuit, and as he looked about to ascertain
+the direction he was to take, he discovered that he was near the head of
+a long narrow lagoon, or gulf, which ran up from the sea.  He had no
+time to examine it, as he was anxious to get back to Devereux.  He ran
+on as fast as he could without spilling the water.  He thought that he
+knew the way.  He stopped.  He feared that he had mistaken it.  He
+looked back at the tall cocoa-nut trees, and wished that he had brought
+some of the fruit with him; but then he remembered that alone he could
+not have got it, and that the black, might possibly not have chosen to
+give him any.  Again and again he stopped, fearing that he must be going
+in a wrong direction.  The flagstaff could nowhere be seen.  "Poor Mr
+Devereux! what will become of him should I miss him?" he said frequently
+to himself, as he worked his way on through the heavy sand.  At last the
+looked-for signal appeared above the top of a bank.  Devereux was lying
+where he had left him, but seemed unconscious of his approach.  "Was he
+asleep--or, dreadful thought! could he be dead?"  He ran on, nearly
+spilling the precious water in his eagerness.  He called.  Devereux did
+not answer.  He knelt down by his side.  His eyes were closed, and his
+arms were helplessly stretched out like those of the dead.  Paul
+moistened his lips, and by degrees got them far enough apart to pour
+some water down his throat.  At length, to Paul's great joy, Devereux
+opened his eyes.
+
+"Where is O'Grady?" he asked, and then continued--"Ah!  Gerrard, is that
+you?  Where did you get the water?  It is delicious! delicious!"
+
+In a short time Devereux appeared to be sufficiently recovered to
+understand what was said to him; and while Paul was giving him an
+account of his adventures, O'Grady was seen running towards them.  He
+arrived almost breathless, with his arms full of shell-fish, which he
+threw before them on the ground.
+
+"I have had hard work to get them, but there is no lack of more on the
+lee side of the island, so we shall not starve," he exclaimed.  "But set
+to and eat, for it won't do to wait for cooking, as we have no means of
+kindling a fire.  When we have broken our fast, I will tell you what I
+have seen."
+
+Although raw fish and cold water was not luxurious fare, the party were
+much strengthened by it, and after a time Devereux declared that he felt
+able to accompany his companions either to the spring, or in the
+direction O'Grady had been.  They came to the conclusion that the island
+was inhabited; for O'Grady had seen some objects moving, which he took
+for people, on a rock at some little distance from the shore, and he
+supposed that they had gone there in a canoe for the purpose of fishing.
+It was finally agreed that they would go towards the rock, and
+endeavour to gain some information as to the island on which they had
+been cast, which they were not likely to obtain from the black Paul had
+seen at the hut.  Devereux had much difficulty in walking, though with
+the help of his shipmates he got on faster than could have been
+expected.  They made a shorter cut than O'Grady had taken, and were soon
+opposite the rock on which he fancied that he had seen some people.
+
+"There are two men and a boy," exclaimed Paul, whose eyesight was the
+keenest of the party.  "Who can they be?"
+
+The three lads hurried on, as fast as Devereux's weakness would allow,
+to the beach.
+
+"I thought so.  There can be no doubt about it," cried Paul.  "They see
+us.  They are making signs to us.  There is Alphonse, and Reuben Cole,
+and old Croxton.  How can they get to us?"
+
+Devereux and O'Grady were soon convinced that they were their shipmates.
+O'Grady proposed swimming to them, as the distance was not great; but
+Paul remembered the shark from which he had so narrowly escaped in the
+morning, and urged him not to make the attempt.  It was then agreed that
+they must either hollow out a canoe or build a raft.
+
+"But where is the tree from which the canoe is to be formed, and the
+axes with which it is to be cut down?" asked Paul.  "There are no trees
+nearer than the fountain."
+
+The midshipmen had in their eagerness overlooked that consideration, and
+there did not seem much greater probability of their finding materials
+for the raft.  Still, something must be done to rescue their shipmates,
+and that speedily, or they would die of thirst if not of hunger.  Paul
+recollected the spar he had stuck up, and which had some rope attached
+to it, and O'Grady had observed some driftwood on the beach.  They had
+passed some low shrubs, with thick stems, of a bamboo character, and
+they would assist to make the platform for the raft if a framework could
+be formed.  The rope, by being unlaid, would serve to bind the raft
+together.  No time was to be lost.  Paul set off for the spar, while the
+other two, making signals to their friends that they would try to help
+them, went along the shore to collect what wood they could find.  There
+was plenty of driftwood fit for burning, but too small for their object.
+At last they found a plank, and not far off a spar, and then another
+plank.  Their spirits rose.
+
+"What is one man's poison is another man's meat," cried O'Grady, as he
+found several planks together.  "Some craft has been lost hereabouts,
+and probably all hands with her, and we are likely to benefit by her
+remains."
+
+They had now, they fancied, got enough wood, with the aid of the shrubs,
+to form a raft, on which they might ferry themselves across to the rock.
+They accordingly began to drag them towards the spot where they had
+parted from Paul.  It was a work, however, of no little labour, as they
+could draw only one plank at a time over the heavy sands.  They had
+made, three trips, and still Paul did not appear.  They began to fear
+some accident might have happened to him, and, now that they had found
+so large a supply of wood, to regret that they had sent him for the
+spar.  They had brought together all they had found; and while Devereux
+began to form the framework, O'Grady cut down with his knife branches
+from the shrubs near at hand.  They had little doubt that their friends
+on the rock knew what they were about.  While thus employed, a shout
+made them turn their heads, and, looking up, they saw Paul, with the
+spar on his shoulder, running towards them.  When he came up, he had an
+extraordinary tale to tell.  The spar, which had been left planted in
+the sand, had been removed.  He had hunted about for it in every
+direction, and had almost given up the search, when he saw it lying on
+the ground in the direction of the hut.  It was a sign that there must
+be somebody on the island besides the black, as with his wooden stumps
+he could scarcely have got as far and back again without having been
+seen.  Paul reported also that he had seen a vessel a long way to
+leeward, but that she appeared to be beating up towards the island.
+However, all their thoughts were required for the construction of their
+raft.  The rope had not been removed from the spar, and this was a great
+assistance in strengthening it.  The raft, however, without the means of
+guiding it, would be of little use.  They had, therefore, to construct a
+couple of paddles and a rudder, and they then found that, with the help
+of two small spars, they could form a makeshift mast and yard, their
+shirts and pocket-handkerchiefs fastened together forming a sail.  This
+would carry them to the rock, as the wind was off the shore, and they
+must trust to the assistance of their friends to get back.  What was
+their disappointment, on stepping on the raft, to find that it would
+only well support two people, and that although a third could be carried
+on it, a fourth would most certainly upset it, and bring it under water.
+The two midshipmen, therefore, agreed to go, and to leave Paul on
+shore, much to his disappointment.  "Shove us off," cried O'Grady to
+Paul, as he let fall the sail, to which their neck-handkerchiefs and
+stockings served as sheets.
+
+Devereux steered with the long spar, which had a piece of board fastened
+to the end of it, and O'Grady tended the sail with one hand, aided by
+his teeth, and paddled with the other.  They made fair progress, but
+Paul watched them anxiously, for the raft was difficult to steer, and it
+was very possible that they might miss the rock, and, if so, have hard
+work to save themselves from being carried out to sea.  The people on
+the rock waved their hands to encourage them.  The wind came somewhat
+more on the quarter, and they had to paddle hard to keep the raft on its
+proper course.
+
+Paul was eagerly watching their progress, when he was startled by a loud
+guttural sound behind him, and looking round there, he saw the hideous
+black standing on what might be literally called four wooden legs--for
+besides his two timber extremities, he supported his shoulders on a pair
+of crutches with flat boards at the bottom, which accounted for his
+being able to move on so rapidly over the soft sand.  Paul could not
+escape from him except into the sea, so he wisely stood still.  There
+was something very terrific in the black's countenance, increased by the
+grimaces he made in his endeavours to speak.  He pointed to the iron
+pot, which Paul had slung by his side.  Paul at first thought that he
+was accusing him of stealing it.  "If he catches hold of me, I do not
+know what he may do; but at the same time, as he has no weapon in his
+hand, I do not suppose that he intends to hurt me," he thought.  "I will
+boldly go up to him and give him the cup, and if he looks as if he would
+grab me, I can easily spring out of his way."
+
+Paul forgot that the black's crutch would make a very formidable and
+far-reaching weapon.  He advanced slowly, but was much reassured when
+the black, pointing to the rock, made signs of drinking.  "After all, he
+is come as a friend to help us.  He is not so ugly as I thought," he
+said to himself, as he handed the can to the black.  No sooner did the
+black receive it, than away he went at a great rate over the sand.
+
+Meantime the raft had been making good progress.  The great fear was,
+lest it might meet with some current which would sweep it out of its
+course.  Paul had no selfish feelings--he dreaded any accident as much
+as if he had been himself on the raft.  O'Grady seemed to be paddling
+harder than ever.  Devereux was too weak, he feared, to do much.  "I
+wish that I had gone," he said more than once to himself.  Now the raft
+was again making direct for the rock; the sail was lowered.  One of the
+men caught it as it was being driven round the rock by the surge of the
+sea, and while they steadied it Alphonse was placed upon it, and
+immediately it began to return to the shore.  Alphonse had taken a
+paddle, and he and O'Grady worked away manfully.  They made good
+progress, and in a short time reached the beach.  Alphonse was sitting
+on a box.  It was the case of his beloved fiddle.  He put it under his
+arm as he stepped on shore, and shook Paul warmly by the hand.
+
+"Ah! this has been the means of saving my life," he said; "I clung to it
+when I had nothing else to support me, and was washed, with the wreck of
+the boat to which Croxton and Cole were hanging on, up to the rock,
+though how we got on to it I do not know, nor do my companions, I
+believe."
+
+Alphonse looked very pale, and complained of hunger and thirst.  While
+he was speaking, the black was seen coming over the sand at a great rate
+on his four legs.  To one of his arms was slung the can of water.  It
+showed that he had good instead of evil intentions towards the
+shipwrecked seamen.  He made signs for Alphonse to drink, which he
+thankfully did.
+
+Paul was eager to go off for the rest, and obtained leave to take
+Devereux's place.  The negro seemed to take an interest in their
+proceedings, and both Devereux and Alphonse expressed their belief that
+he wished to be friendly.
+
+When O'Grady and Paul arrived at the rock, they found old Croxton and
+Reuben disputing who should remain to the last.
+
+"The old before the young," cried Reuben.
+
+"Ay, but the old should have the choice of the post of honour," said
+Croxton.
+
+However, he was at last induced to step on to the raft.  It was not a
+time to stand on ceremony, for the sky gave indications that the weather
+was about to change, and it was very evident that, should the sea get
+up, the rock would no longer be tenable.  The raft felt the weight of
+the old man, and the two boys found it much more difficult to paddle to
+the shore.
+
+They had not got far when Paul observed a dark triangular-shaped object
+above the water; then he saw a pair of fierce eyes fixed on him.  It was
+a huge shark--large enough to upset the raft with a whisk of his tail.
+He did not tell his companions, but paddled steadily on.  What did the
+appearance of the monster portend?  He had heard of the instinct of
+sharks.  Did the creature follow in the expectation of obtaining a
+victim?
+
+On this trip the shark was to be disappointed, for they reached the
+shore in safety, and landing the old man, who was suffering much from
+thirst, and was therefore doubly grateful for the supply of water
+brought by the black, they for the last time shoved off.  Both the lads
+felt greatly fatigued, and though they set their sail, they had to
+paddle hard to keep the raft on a right course.  The sea had been
+getting up, and every moment made Reuben's situation on the rock more
+insecure.  Even if he could have swum across the channel, the monster
+Paul had seen would have taken good care that he should never have
+reached the shore.  The knowledge of this, as well as their own safety,
+made them exert themselves to the utmost.  Already more than one sea had
+dashed over the rock, and Reuben had to grasp it tightly to prevent
+himself from being washed off.  A huge foaming billow was seen rolling
+in.  It must sweep over the reef, and perhaps come thundering down on
+the raft.
+
+The boys had just lowered their sail, and were paddling in.  Reuben saw
+the roller coming.  Making a sign to them to paddle back, he sprang into
+the water and struck out towards them.  On came the billow--roaring,
+foaming.  The rock was hidden from view by a mass of spray as the wave
+curled over it.
+
+"Oh, he has gone! he has gone!" cried Paul, as, looking back, he could
+nowhere see his friend.
+
+It was but for a moment.  He had been concealed by the swelling water.
+Again he appeared.
+
+"Your hand! your hand!" cried Reuben.
+
+Paul stretched out his hand with terror at heart, for at that moment he
+saw the dark fin of a shark on the surface of the water.  He seized
+Reuben's hand, and dragged with all his might.  The wave rushed on,
+dashing over the raft, and almost sweeping O'Grady and Paul from off it;
+but they held on, and it served the purpose of lifting Reuben on to it
+at the moment that a pair of ravenous jaws appeared opening in an
+attempt to seize him.  The same sea, lifting the raft, drove it rapidly
+towards the shore--and another following, the boys paddling at the same
+time, sent it high up on the beach; but even then the receding waters
+would have carried it off, had not the negro and old Croxton rushed
+towards them, the former planting his crutches against it, and the
+latter grasping it tightly.  Even thus they could not hold it long, but
+they gave time to the boys and Reuben to spring on shore, and then it
+was carried off, and soon shattered to pieces.
+
+The black now made signs to all the party to accompany him to his hut,
+which, as may be supposed, they gladly did.
+
+"Faith, Mr Charcoal is better than he looks," observed O'Grady, as he
+bade them enter.
+
+The inside offered a strong contrast to the outside.  There was a large
+table and chairs, and several bed-places, with coverlids to the beds of
+rich damask, and there were numerous chests and articles of ships'
+furniture in corners and ranged along the wall.  The black, too,
+produced from a chest several silver and richly-embossed plates, dishes,
+and other utensils, into which having emptied a rich stew from an iron
+pot, he placed them before his guests, and made them a sign to fall to.
+This they were not slack to obey, for all were desperately hungry.  No
+one inquired of what it was composed, though a qualm came over the
+feelings of Devereux, who was likely to be the most particular, as he
+hooked up what certainly looked very like the body and feet of a lizard.
+However, he said nothing, and minced up the remainder of his portion
+before he examined it.  O'Grady made some queer faces at some of the
+things which caught his eye in the pot, but he said nothing, as he was
+too hungry to be particular.
+
+When the whole party were satisfied, the good-natured black pointed to
+the couches, and signified that they might rest on them--a permission of
+which they did not fail immediately to avail themselves, and in a few
+minutes all were fast asleep.  The black, meantime, in spite of the
+warmth of the weather, sat down by the side of the fire at which he had
+been cooking, and gave himself up to contemplation.  How completely at
+that moment were all his guests in his power!  Who could tell what
+injuries he had to avenge on the white men?  Whatever were his feelings,
+he gave them no cause for suspicion.
+
+Having waited till they were so sound asleep that a great gun fired
+close to their ears would scarcely have awakened them, he took his
+crutches and stumped out of the hut.  Some hours passed away.  Paul was
+the first to open his eyes; no one besides his friends were in the hut.
+He did not like to rouse them up, though, in a short time, hunger--the
+same cause which had awoke him--made them also awake.  They had consumed
+all the food the negro had given them in the morning, and they could
+find nothing more to eat in the hut.  O'Grady proposed that they should
+climb the trees, and get some cocoanuts.
+
+It was, however, more easy to propose than to execute the achievement.
+He himself first tried to get up a tree, and then Paul made the
+experiment; but, sailors as they were, they could not manage to grasp
+the stem with sufficient firmness to ascend.  Paul, being the lightest,
+helped by his companions, had got up some way, when a gruff shout made
+them turn round, and old Charcoal, as they called the black, was seen
+shambling along on his crutches towards them.  He beckoned Paul to come
+down from the tree in a way which showed that he would not be disobeyed.
+They saw that he had a basket on his back, and, pointing to the
+fountain to intimate that he wanted water, he set about turning its
+contents, which were of a very heterogeneous character, into the large
+stew-pot from which he had supplied their breakfast.  The midshipmen, as
+before, saw enough to convince them that it would be wise not too
+minutely to examine the contents of the pot.  The black produced some
+rum at dinner, which, though they partook of it sparingly, helped down
+the strange mess.
+
+Two or three days passed by, and the black continued to treat them as at
+first, though O'Grady suggested that he was possibly like the ogre in
+the fairy tale--only fattening them up that he might eat them in the
+end.  Still, it was agreed that he was a very good fellow, and the
+majority were of opinion that he would help them to reach the nearest
+British island if he had the power.  However, hitherto not a word had
+been exchanged between him and them.  He made no objection to their
+exploring the island, but their discoveries only convinced them that it
+was very barren, and that no means existed of their getting away from
+it.  They came, to be sure, on a canoe, in which they concluded that the
+black occasionally went out fishing; but it was only just large enough
+to hold him, and the paddles were nowhere to be found.  Soon after this,
+O'Grady, who was in advance, saw a large boat hauled up under some
+bushes.  "Hurrah, boys! here's a craft which will carry us to Jamaica,
+if need be," he shouted, and ran on, followed by Paul and Alphonse.
+
+The tone of his voice changed as he got nearer.  "She has a mighty
+antique look about her, but she may still serve our purpose," he said.
+"But I'm not quite certain," he added, as he struck his fist against a
+plank, which crumbled away before the blow.  A kick sent another plank
+into fragments.  The whole boat was mere touchwood.
+
+There was a smile on the countenance of old Charcoal, who came in sight
+directly afterwards and had evidently been watching them at a distance.
+They were in a certain sense his prisoners, and yet he could not mean
+them ill, or he would not have treated them with so much hospitality.
+How he procured their food, was a question, and certainly it was his
+wish that they should not be able to provide it for themselves.  Over
+and over again they discussed the means by which they might get away;
+but when they expressed their wish to him by signs, he shook his head,
+and tried to show that it would be impossible to do so.
+
+At last they began to suspect that he had some motive for detaining
+them.  Not a vessel had been seen since the morning when they were
+thrown on the island; but one day, on waking, just as it was light, Paul
+got up, and going out, saw a schooner gliding along through the lagoon
+or creek leading to the hut.  He called up his companions, who were
+speedily on foot, and all rushed out to see the stranger.  She was a
+long, low, dark schooner, with mischief in her very look--such as was
+not at that time to be found in European waters.
+
+"That craft doesn't go about on any lawful errand," observed old Croxton
+to Reuben.
+
+"I should think not, mate.  If ever there was a pirate, that 'ere craft
+is one," was the answer.
+
+The matter was pretty well set at rest by the appearance of a black
+flag, which had hitherto hung against the mast, but which, now blown out
+by the breeze suddenly freshening up, exhibited the skull and
+cross-bones which the rovers of those days delighted to carry, either in
+the presence of a weak enemy, or to exhibit in triumph to their friends.
+
+The midshipmen felt that their uniforms would not be looked on with a
+favourable eye by the pirates, and yet they could not nor would have
+attempted to hide themselves.  The vessel was soon securely moored, and
+several boats being lowered, and hampers, casks, and cases placed in
+them, the crew, with shouts, and songs, and wild gestures, came on
+shore.  They appeared to be men of all nations and of every hue, from
+the jet-black African, to the fair Englishman or Dane.  They soon made
+it evident that they intended to indulge in a thorough debauch, for the
+greater number began without loss of time to unpack cases of wine and
+provisions in a shady spot under the trees.  Several, however,
+surrounded the Englishmen, and one of them, stepping forward, inquired
+in a rough tone what had brought them there.
+
+Devereux replied calmly that they had been cast on the island, and hoped
+that he and his companions would be treated with courtesy.
+
+"That depends on how you behave yourselves, my spark," answered the man,
+gruffly.  "We want a few hands to supply the places of those who were
+killed in our last engagement.  If you like to join us, well and good;
+if not, look out for squalls."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+The midshipmen and their companions were in an unpleasant predicament.
+The pirates, after abusing them in no measured terms, ordered them, on
+the peril of their lives, to remain where they were while they
+themselves joined their companions, who were just commencing their
+feast.  Old Charcoal, the black, soon appeared from the hole, and
+beckoning to Croxton and Reuben, he bade them carry a huge stew-pot full
+of viands, and place it in the midst of the pirates.  The outlaws, when
+they had done this, ordered them to be off, and to wait till they were
+again wanted, and then set to in earnest, digging their long knives and
+daggers into the pot, and ladling out its more liquid contents, some
+with silver, and others with wooden spoons.  It seemed a matter of
+indifference to them which they used.  Cases of champagne and claret
+were soon broken open, and each man seized two or three bottles, from
+which he drank, or poured the contents into silver flagons, which he
+drained in a couple of draughts.  Seasoned as were probably their heads,
+the result of these copious libations was soon apparent by the fiercer
+oaths they uttered, their louder laughter, and the quarrels which began
+to arise between those who apparently were strong friends a few minutes
+previously.
+
+The black had taken his seat on the ground near them; but though they
+every now and then handed him a jug of wine, Paul observed that he
+poured the chief part of its contents on the ground.  No long time
+passed before the wine began to take effect on the greater part of the
+crew.  Some rose to their feet with their eyes glaring, and their
+unsheathed knives in their hands, vociferating loudly.  Blows were
+exchanged, and wounds given, though on each occasion the combatants sank
+down again, and applied themselves afresh to their wine-cups.  Some
+sang, others shouted and fired off their pistols in the air, and others
+again got up and danced wildly round their companions, till, wearied
+with their exertions, they reeled back to their former places.  Old
+Charcoal shouted, and applauded, and clapped his hands with the rest.
+The day wore on--the orgies of the outlaws continued till the larger
+number lay helpless and unconscious on the ground, surrounded by broken
+bottles, though a few retained sufficient sense to reel towards the hut,
+where more comfortable couches than the ground could afford were to be
+found.  The black followed, making a sign to Paul and his companions to
+remain where they were.
+
+"He is our friend, sir, I am certain of it," said Paul to Devereux, who
+had not observed the sign; "there is a chance for us of escaping."
+
+"By what means?" asked Devereux.  "We could not get their vessel out of
+the harbour."
+
+"No, sir, but in one of their boats.  Before they recover their senses
+we might be far away out of sight of the island."
+
+"Very good, Gerrard; but without knowing in what direction to steer we
+might too probably float about till we were starved to death, or
+overtaken by another hurricane," answered Devereux, shaking his head
+mournfully.
+
+"But perhaps we may find a chart on board the pirate vessel," suggested
+O'Grady.  "If Charcoal is really our friend, as I think he is, he will
+help us to get a chart, a compass, and provisions also.  Hurrah!  I feel
+quite in spirits at the thought that we shall get away."
+
+"Be not over sanguine, young gentleman," observed old Croxton; "there's
+many a slip between the cup and the lip, and it's well to be prepared
+for reverses."
+
+In spite of this warning, the boys remained as sanguine as ever, and
+anxiously waited the appearance of old Charcoal, who, at length, was
+seen cautiously creeping out of the hut.  He came along very fast on his
+knees and hands.  They were surprised to see him without his legs and
+crutches, till he gave them to understand that the pirates had put them
+away out of his reach.  Paul's hopes were not to be disappointed; the
+black had resolved to take the opportunity for which he had long been
+waiting, while his hard taskmasters were overcome by drunkenness, to
+escape from their power.
+
+"They will make us all slaves, and keep us to work for them if we don't
+escape," observed O'Grady.  "I vote that we set about it at once."
+
+"But I will try to get old Charcoal's legs and crutches first," said
+Paul.
+
+"And I will not go vidout my cher violin," cried Alphonse; "it has been
+my good friend very often.  It may be again."
+
+The poor black signified his wish to have his wooden supporters, and
+together the two boys set off running to the hut, while the rest of the
+party, not to lose time, proceeded towards the schooner.
+
+The door of the hut was opened.  Paul and Alphonse stepped in
+cautiously, for any noise might arouse the sleepers.  They looked about
+for the crutches; they were placed across the rafters in the centre of
+the hut.  A tall man standing on the table had put them there.  Paul saw
+that even with the help of Alphonse he could not reach up so high; but
+he was not to be defeated--so going to the wall he put his feet on his
+companion's shoulders, and climbing up he reached the beam, along which
+he clambered, till he got hold of the crutches, and then he handed them
+down to Alphonse, and fortunately without making any noise.  The latter
+was now anxious to find his fiddle, for it was nowhere to be seen.  At
+length, with almost a groan of despair, the young Frenchman pointed to
+it.  A pirate had appropriated the case for a pillow.  Was he to leave
+it?  No!--he would perish first!  Fortunately the man was among the most
+drunken, and was sleeping heavily.  They agreed by signs to withdraw it,
+and to substitute something else.  A bundle of flags had been overlooked
+in a corner.  It might serve their purpose yet.  It was hazardous work.
+Alphonse drew his dirk, which he had retained; but Paul implored him by
+a look to put it up again.
+
+"If he does awake, only say that you want your fiddle-case to play a
+tune; he won't mind that," he whispered.
+
+Paul went on one side, and gently lifted the pirate's head with one hand
+while with the other he held the bundle of flags to shove under it as
+Alphonse gently pulled away the case.  All depended on the movement
+being regular.  A sudden jerk would have awakened the man, who was a
+fierce-looking ruffian.  One of his hands lay over the hilt of his
+dagger, which he seemed capable of using with effect at a moment's
+notice.  The manoeuvre required great nerve and courage, scarcely to be
+expected in such young lads.  It was not found wanting in them.  With
+intense satisfaction Paul let the outlaw's head sink on the soft pillow.
+The man uttered a few inarticulate sounds, but gave no other signs of
+awaking.  The boys held their breath, and for a minute dared not move
+lest they should make any noise which might even at the last arouse the
+man, or disturb any of the other sleepers.  At last they crept silently
+away, picking up Charcoal's crutches on the way, and made their escape
+out of the hut.  Darkness was coming on.  It would have been well to
+have had daylight to get clear of the island.  As soon as they had got a
+little distance from the hut, they set off running to overtake their
+companions.  Charcoal was as delighted to get back his wooden legs and
+crutches as Alphonse was to recover his fiddle.  They had to proceed
+cautiously as they passed the sleepers, and still more so when they
+entered the boat, lest the sound of an oar in the rowlock, or its splash
+in the water, might alarm them.  One of the boats in which the pirates
+had come on shore was selected for the voyage; but they had first to
+visit the vessel to obtain the various articles they required.  They
+quickly scrambled on board, and even the black showed a wonderful
+agility in getting up the side.  On going below, he lighted a lantern
+with which to search for the articles they required.  There would have
+been no difficulty in deciding on the character of the the vessel by the
+gorgeous and yet rude and tasteless style in which the chief cabin was
+furnished.  Pictures of saints and silver ornaments were nailed against
+the bulkheads, interspersed with arms of all sorts, and rich silks and
+flags, while the furniture showed that it had been taken from vessels of
+various sorts--for there were damask-covered sofas, and rosewood
+cabinets, with deal three-legged stools, and a rough oak table; and
+hanging to the beams above, or in the racks against the sides, were
+battered pewter mugs and plates, mixed with silver tankards and salvers,
+and other utensils of the same precious metal.  The party, however, had
+no time to pay attention to any of these things, or to wish even to
+possess themselves of any of them.  They were only anxious to find the
+articles which would facilitate their escape.  In a receptacle for all
+sorts of stores a ship's compass was found; but that without a chart,
+and oil for the lamp, would be of little use.  Nearly the whole ship had
+been searched through and no chart could be found.
+
+"We must find one though, unless the black knows the direction in which
+we should steer," exclaimed Devereux.
+
+"Let us ascertain if he does.  Does he know what we are looking for,
+though?"
+
+O'Grady got Charcoal to come to the table, and drawing with a piece of
+chalk a chart on it something like the West Indies, pointed to one spot
+where he supposed they were, and then to others, and demanded by signs
+how they should get there.  The black clapped his hands, and began
+looking about the cabins as a terrier hunts for a rat.
+
+In a cabin evidently used by the captain from the greater number of
+weapons hung up in it, and its richer furniture, Charcoal discovered a
+locker hitherto overlooked.  It was locked; but without ceremony it was
+broken open.
+
+"Robbing thieves is no robbery, I hope," observed O'Grady, as he lent a
+hand.
+
+"Necessity has no law, I've heard say, at all events," said Devereux.
+
+Everything that could be required was at length discovered, and placed
+in the boat alongside, except one thing.  They had shoved off, and were
+gliding noiselessly down the lagoon, when Paul, feeling his throat
+somewhat parched with the excitement he had gone through, asked Reuben
+for a mug of water from a cask he saw at his feet.  Reuben tapped it.
+It was empty.  To go without water would be destruction.  There was none
+on board the vessel.  An expedition to the fountain must be undertaken.
+Reuben and Croxton volunteered to go, as did O'Grady.  They had,
+however, first to return to the schooner to get more casks.  There was a
+fearful risk of waking up the sleeping men near whom they had to pass.
+Not a word was spoken by either party.  While one proceeded on their
+expedition, the other sat still as death in the boat.  Paul wished that
+he had gone also, for he was very anxious about his friends; he could
+not help fearing that should the pirates be awakened they would at once
+fire at strangers moving near them.  It appeared to him a very long time
+since they had left the boat.  He asked Devereux if he might go in
+search of them, as he feared that they might have lost their way.
+
+"They will be here soon," was the answer; "they have no light weight to
+carry between them."
+
+The time seemed longer perhaps than it really was.  At length footsteps
+were heard.
+
+"Here they come," said Devereux, and some figures emerged from the
+darkness.  They must be their friends; the pirates would have approached
+with cries and threats of vengeance.  O'Grady led the way, staggering
+under the weight of a cask; the men followed with still heavier burdens.
+
+"We must be off; we heard the fellows talking in the hut," he whispered.
+Not another word was spoken; it was a moment for prompt action, if they
+would save their lives, for if captured by the pirates they would be
+treated with scant ceremony or mercy.  The black took the helm; indeed,
+he alone knew anything of the shape of the lagoon, or of the passage
+which led from it to the sea.  There were oars for each of the party.
+They pulled on in perfect silence, placing their handkerchiefs in the
+rowlocks to lessen the noise of the oars.  There were numerous turns in
+the lagoon, which prevented them at first from feeling the wind.  After
+pulling some way, however, they discovered that a strong gale was
+blowing directly into the mouth of the lagoon.  It must have sprung up
+after they had visited the schooner, or they would have felt it before.
+A loud roar of breakers was heard, and the white surf could be seen
+breaking wildly over the surrounding reefs.
+
+"We are in a trap, I fear," remarked O'Grady.
+
+They were the first words which had been spoken since they embarked.
+There was no danger now of their being heard.
+
+"Let us ascertain what the black thinks," said Devereux.
+
+This was no easy matter in the darkness.  He seemed disposed, at all
+events, to proceed, for he continued steering towards the sea.  The
+rocks on either side were tolerably high, with numerous indentations,
+miniature bays, and inlets on either side.  The boat now began to feel
+the seas as they rolled in.  It seemed high time to stop unless they
+were to attempt passing through the rollers which came roaring in with
+increasing rapidity towards them.  Suddenly the black touched Devereux's
+arm, and made a sign to him to cease rowing.  He waited for a few
+minutes.  They were full of suspense.  Then he shook his head, and again
+signed for the starboard oars to pull round, and running back a little
+way, he took the boat into a small inlet, where she lay quiet, sheltered
+by the high rocks.  The disappointment was very great.  It would clearly
+have been suicidal to have attempted passing through the surf.  It would
+be better to face the anger of the pirates.  Poor Charcoal was most to
+be pitied.  They would hang or shoot him, or beat him to death to a
+certainty.
+
+"Could we not land him, and perhaps the pirates would not find out that
+he assisted in our attempt to escape?" suggested O'Grady.
+
+"You forget, Mr O'Grady, that he could not have got his crutches
+without our help," observed Paul.
+
+"The wind may moderate, and we may yet be away before daylight,"
+remarked Devereux.  "We could not leave him behind."
+
+The question had not, however, been put to the black; indeed it was
+difficult to ascertain his wishes.  He kept his seat, and made no sign.
+This made them hope that he still expected to get out of the lagoon
+before daylight.  It was possible that the pirates might take to
+drinking again as soon as they awoke; and if so, more time would be
+obtained for their escape.  These and similar speculations served to
+occupy the thoughts of the party as the dark hours of night passed by.
+Still the wind blew, and the seas, as they dashed over the coral reefs
+and broke on the sandy beach, roared as loud as before.  The black made
+no sign of moving; indeed they all knew it would be useless.  At length,
+with sinking hearts, they saw the first pale streaks of dawn appear.
+There is but little twilight in those southern latitudes; but the first
+harbinger of day is speedily followed by the glorious luminary himself,
+and the whole world is bathed with light.
+
+"I wonder if it's pleasant," soliloquised O'Grady.  "I don't know
+whether I should prefer being hung or having my throat cut."
+
+"Hush," said Devereux, "see the black is signing to you not to speak."
+
+"Nor will I, blessings on his honest face," answered O'Grady, whose
+spirits nothing could daunt.  "But I propose that before we put our
+necks into the noose we have our breakfast.  We shall have ample time
+for that before those honest gentlemen we left drunk last night will be
+up and looking for us."
+
+The proposition met with universal approval, and in another instant all
+hands were busily employed in discussing a substantial breakfast of
+biscuit, dried meat, and fish, washed down by claret in as quiet a
+manner as if they were out on a pleasant picnic party.  When it was
+over, some of the party scrambled up the rocks to ascertain if any of
+the pirates were yet on foot; but no one was to be seen moving on shore.
+It was possible that the pirates might suppose that they had already
+made their escape, and thus not take the trouble of looking for them.
+It was clearly their best chance to remain quiet, and so they all
+returned on board and lay down in the bottom of the boat.  The day, as
+the night had done, passed slowly on.  Their hopes again rose; they
+might remain concealed till night, and then make their escape, should
+the gale abate.
+
+"We have reason to be thankful that we are not outside now," observed
+old Croxton, who had said little all the time; "no boat could live in
+the sea there is running."
+
+"If we are discovered we may still fight for it," observed Reuben Cole.
+"We are a match for a few score of such buccaneering scoundrels as they
+are, I hope."
+
+"I will play them one tune on my cher violin; they will not hang us if
+they hear that going," said Alphonse, evidently perfectly in earnest.
+
+"We'll fight, undoubtedly, my friends," said Devereux.  "If we are
+taken, we will make the best of it, and may even then save our lives
+without dishonour."
+
+It was past noon.  They judged from the continued roar that the force of
+the gale had in no way decreased, and that nothing could be gained by
+leaving their rocky shelter.  Not a sound from the hut had reached them,
+when suddenly a loud shout reached their ears.  It startled most of the
+party, who, overcome by the heat, had fallen asleep.  Again and again
+the shout was repeated in tones of anger.  There could be no doubt that
+the pirates had discovered their flight, and were searching for them.
+They were still at some distance, and might not look into the creek
+where the boats lay hid.  If, however, they were to follow in a boat,
+they would scarcely pass by the mouth of the creek without exploring it.
+Paul, as the most active of the party, was directed to climb up the
+rock to try and ascertain in what direction the pirates were roaming.
+He clambered up the rock, concealing himself as much as possible by the
+projecting portions.  He saw in the far distance on the level ground
+figures moving rapidly about; but only a small part of the island was
+visible.  It was evident that those whose voices had been heard must
+have come much nearer.  He came down and made his report.
+
+"Hurrah! it never occurred to us before that we took the only boat they
+had on shore, and that those thieves of the world can't get aboard their
+vessel again," cried O'Grady, in great glee.  "There are some
+ugly-looking monsters in the lagoon, sharks or alligators, and it's just
+that they don't like swimming off lest they should make a breakfast for
+some of those pretty creatures."
+
+"Should your idea be correct, there is another chance for us; but they
+will not be long before they build a raft and get on board," said
+Devereux.
+
+"Oh, by the pipers, but I wish that we had remained on board, and fought
+the thieves from their own craft," cried O'Grady.  "We might have picked
+them off as they appeared on the shore one by one, and carried her out
+of the harbour in triumph.  Would it be too late to go back to try that
+same just at once?"
+
+"Too late to go back, except we wish to be picked off ourselves, yes
+indeed," said Devereux.  "And hark! there is the sound of oars coming
+down the lagoon; the villains have got on board, and are in search of
+us.  If we are silent, we may still avoid them."
+
+The whole party remained still as death.  The boat came nearer and
+nearer.  She passed the mouth of the creek, and went down to the
+entrance of the lagoon.  Those in her were apparently satisfied that
+their prisoners had escaped, for the splash of their oars, and their
+voices as they talked loudly, were again heard as they pulled up the
+lagoon.  Paul and his companions breathed more freely under the belief
+that they had escaped their enemies.  Poor Charcoal sat perfectly still,
+though he moved his large eyes about with an uneasy glance upwards and
+around on every side.  He ate and drank with the rest, but made no
+attempt to communicate to others what was passing in his mind.  The day
+was drawing on, when Paul, who, with the rest of the party, had dropped
+off into a drowsy state of unconsciousness, was aroused by a shout of
+derisive laughter, and a voice exclaiming:
+
+"Ah, ah! my masters, you thought to escape us, did you? and you're like
+mice in a trap, and you'll find that you've cats with precious sharp
+claws to deal with."
+
+On hearing this unpleasant announcement, Paul looked up and saw a
+hideous hairy face, ten times more hideous than that of Charcoal,
+because, though that of a white man, so fierce and sneering, grinning
+down upon them.  The man, for man he was, though more like a huge baboon
+than a human creature, levelled a blunderbuss at Devereux's head.
+
+"If you allow your men to put out an oar, I will fire," he exclaimed.
+"You cannot make your escape out to sea if you were to attempt it, and
+we can give you employment enough on shore; so we don't intend to take
+your lives."
+
+Devereux guessed pretty accurately the meaning of these last words.
+
+"Death rather than slavery, lads," he cried; "out oars, and let us make
+an attempt for liberty."
+
+Scarcely had he uttered the words, while all hands were getting out
+their oars, than the pirate pulled the trigger.  The moments of the
+young midshipman's life would have been numbered, but the firearm
+flashed in the pan.  With a curse at his failure, the man again primed
+his piece; but the delay, short as it was, enabled the Englishmen to get
+away out of the creek.  The blunderbuss was fired, but its shot fell
+harmless.  The report, however, served to call others of the pirates,
+who were searching for the fugitives, to the spot, and as the boat
+proceeded down again towards the mouth of the harbour, they were seen
+clambering along the rocks, shouting and gesticulating violently.  It
+bodied ill for the way they would treat their prisoners if they caught
+them.  The mouth of the lagoon was reached, but the surf broke as
+furiously as before.  The pirates were approaching, having climbed along
+over the rocks.  Already their shot could almost reach the boat.  The
+small arms of those days carried no great distance.  It would be madness
+to attempt running the boat through the surf.
+
+"What say you, friends, shall we make the attempt, or yield?" asked
+Devereux.
+
+"Push through it," cried O'Grady and Reuben.
+
+The black shook his head, and made a sign to them to pull round.
+
+"Then let us get on a rock and fight it out; we might keep the pirates
+at bay for many a day, as long as our provisions last," cried O'Grady.
+
+"There is one that will serve us, and the fellows may have no little
+difficulty in dislodging us."
+
+He pointed to a rock close to the mouth of the lagoon, some eighty or a
+hundred yards in circumference.  The sea dashed against it on one side,
+breaking into masses of foam, and the sides were high, steep, and
+slippery, so that neither could a boat approach, nor could a landing be
+effected; but on the other was a deep narrow inlet, scarcely wide enough
+to allow a boat to enter.  They pulled towards it, and, much to their
+satisfaction, discovered that they could just push in their boat.  As
+soon as they had secured her, they began carrying their water and
+provisions to the top.  The rock was full of deep crevices and hollows,
+amply large enough to shelter them thoroughly, while they could
+completely command the passage, and destroy the crew of any boat
+attempting to enter.  Scarcely had they made this arrangement, than a
+pirate boat was seen coming down the harbour.  The pirates on the rocks
+pointed out to their companions where the Englishmen had taken refuge.
+Those in the boat seemed aware of the strength of the position, for they
+ceased rowing and held a consultation.  The delay was of use to Devereux
+and his followers.  It gave him time to dispose of them to the best
+advantage, and allowed them to distribute their ammunition and to load
+all their arms.  They had fortunately brought a good supply of weapons
+and ammunition from the pirate vessel, so that they were prepared to
+stand a siege, although the most sanguine had very little hope of
+ultimate success.  The pirates, too, had loaded their arms, and once
+more they came on with loud shouts and threats of vengeance.  It
+appeared that they had only to climb up the rocks to wreak it on the
+heads of the small band.  The task, however, was not so easy as it
+seemed, for the ocean itself favoured the brave defenders of the rock.
+There was but one spot at which, under ordinary circumstances, a boat
+could land, and just at the moment that the pirates were about to
+approach, a succession of huge rollers came tumbling in, surging round
+the rock, and threatening to dash the boat to pieces, unless she could
+hit the mouth of the inlet into which the English had run.
+
+"Be cool, my friends," said Devereux, "and do not throw a shot away; I
+will tell you when to fire."
+
+A cheerful "Ay, ay, sir," was the reply from all, except from the black.
+He nodded his head, however, tapped the lock of his musket, and grinned
+broadly, intimating that he clearly understood what was said.
+
+The pirate boat lay off the rock, but her crew dared not, it was
+evident, pull in; and from the way she rocked about, it was impossible
+to take anything like a steady aim from her.  Devereux pointed out these
+circumstances to his companions, and ordered them to reserve their fire,
+and to shelter themselves as much as possible in the hollows of the
+rock.  It was well they obeyed, for the pirates, losing patience, began
+firing away as fast as they could load.  The shot came pattering on the
+face of the rock, while some whistled by above the heads of the
+defenders.
+
+"Steady, steady, boys!" cried Devereux.  "Those pellets can do us no
+harm.  We will keep our fire till it is wanted."
+
+"They'll think that we don't fire because we are afraid, or have no
+powder," said O'Grady.
+
+"Let them think what they like; we'll show them presently that we've
+powder and shot, too, if they tempt us," answered Devereux.
+
+Volley after volley was fired by the pirates with the same want of
+result.  No one was hit, though several of the bullets came near enough
+to them to show the besieged that they must not depend upon escaping
+with impunity.  Before, they had wished the gale to moderate, now they
+prayed that it might continue till nightfall, when they hoped the
+pirates would retire, and give them a chance of escaping.  They were not
+disappointed.  Long before dark the enemy ceased firing, as was
+supposed, because they had expended their ammunition, and away up the
+lagoon they went.
+
+"Hurrah!  Let us give three cheers for victory," cried O'Grady.  "We've
+beaten them off, anyhow, without firing a shot."
+
+To celebrate their bloodless victory, the party took a hearty meal, and
+then, when night came on, each crouched down, with his musket by his
+side, in his hole, to snatch a short sleep, to be prepared, should the
+gale cease, to escape.  It was, of course, arranged that one at a time
+should keep watch.  It appeared to Paul that the gale was abating, but
+he very soon became unconscious of all sublunary affairs.  He must have
+slept some hours, for he felt greatly refreshed.  The gale had ceased.
+He was surprised that, whosoever was on watch, had not summoned the rest
+of the party.  He was about to call out, when he found his shoulder
+clutched with a strong gripe, and looking up, he saw by the dim light of
+a young moon, the same hideous face which had appeared on the top of the
+rocks on the previous day, and a peal of derisive laughter broke forth,
+followed by the cries of his companions, as they found themselves in the
+power of their enemies.  Paul could scarcely help hoping and believing
+that he was in a dream, till the truth flashed on his mind that the
+pirates, accustomed to practise every kind of trick, must have
+approached the rock with muffled oars, and have climbed up it while he
+and his companions were asleep, and surprised them.  Such, indeed, was
+the case.  Whichever of the party ought to have been awake had
+undoubtedly dropped into forgetfulness, or the pirates must have
+approached in a wonderfully stealthy manner.  English seamen, when they
+have fought bravely, as they always do, and have striven to the last,
+and are overpowered, do not struggle or bluster, but yield to their
+destiny with calmness and dignity.
+
+"So you thought to escape us, did you?" exclaimed one of the pirates, as
+he secured Devereux's hands.  "What do you think you deserve, now, for
+running away with other people's property?  Hanging is too good for you;
+that's the way you would have treated us, if we had been caught doing
+the same thing to you--ha, ha!"  And the man laughed at what he
+considered a very good joke.  "But come along, mister officer, we'll try
+you by judge and jury all fair and shipshape to-morrow morning, and if
+you're found guilty, you'll have no cause to complain," added the
+pirate, as he in no ceremonious manner dragged the poor young midshipman
+down the rock.
+
+Paul found himself held tight by the savage who had at first seized him,
+and the whole party were quickly transferred to the boats, which
+proceeded up the lagoon.
+
+Paul found himself in the boat in which they had attempted to escape,
+seated next to Alphonse, who had managed to secure his fiddle-case.
+
+"De music vil soften de savage breast, I have heard--I vill try," said
+the young Frenchman, stooping down to open the case, for their arms were
+at liberty.
+
+The pirates were amusing themselves by taunting and deriding their
+prisoners, some in one language, some in another.  Alphonse took no
+notice of what was said--probably he understood but little.  Paul felt
+that he should like to jump up and attack them, but he wisely kept his
+seat.  Alphonse at length succeeded in getting out his bow and violin,
+and without saying a word, struck up a French tune.
+
+"Hillo, you are a merry young chap," exclaimed one of the English
+pirates.  "Scrape away, we don't hear much like that."
+
+Alphonse played on without stopping.
+
+"Ah, c'est de ma patrie--c'est de ma belle France," cried a Frenchman
+from the bow of the boat, and Alphonse felt a hope that there was one
+near who would befriend him.  On landing, the prisoners, including poor
+old Charcoal, were marched up to the hut, into one end of which they
+were thrust, and told that their brains would be blown out if they moved
+or spoke.  This made but little difference.  They could expect but one
+fate, and by no plan they could devise were they likely to escape it.
+
+When the morning came, some biscuit was given them, and the black was
+ordered to go and bring them water.  This gave them hopes that they were
+not, at all events, to be murdered forthwith.  The pirates all the
+morning were either asleep or very sulky, but at noon, having spread a
+supply of provisions in the shade and broached a cask of wine, they
+became merry, and one of them, the ugly hirsute fellow before described,
+proposed as an amusement, that they should try the prisoners and punish
+them afterwards according to their deserts.  The proposal was received
+with great applause, and Devereux and his companions were ordered to
+appear before their captors.  The pirate captain was the judge, and two
+of the officers undertook to be counsel for the defendants.  The case,
+however, was made out very clearly against them, and except extenuating
+circumstances, they had nothing to plead in their favour.  Poor Charcoal
+had still less chance of escape.
+
+"He is guilty of ingratitude, of robbery, of rebellion and high treason,
+for either of which he deserves hanging, and hanged he shall be
+forthwith," cried the judge, draining off a jug of wine.  "We couldn't
+before have done without him, but now one of you can take his place.
+You are a stout fellow," he added, addressing Reuben Cole.  "Are you
+inclined to save your life and to work honestly for your bread?"
+
+"To work for you, so as to let you hang that poor dumb fellow, Charcoal?
+No, that I'm not, yer scoundrels," he exclaimed vehemently.  "If you
+touch a hair of his head, you'll not get a stroke of work out of me as
+long as you live unhung."
+
+This reply excited the laughter rather than the anger of the crew.  The
+same question was put to Devereux and Croxton, and answers to the same
+effect were given.  Still the voice of the majority was for hanging the
+black.  He, meantime, stood resting on his crutches, the most
+unconcerned of all the actors in the scene.
+
+"Well, then, the young Frenchman shall hang him," cried the hairy
+savage, with a grin, seizing poor Alphonse by the arm.  "Or stay--the
+other two youngsters shall perform the office, while mounseer shall
+fiddle him out of the world while we dance to the tune."
+
+"No, you villains; I vill not play, if you hurt one hair of dat poor
+man's head," exclaimed Alphonse, starting up with unusual animation.  "I
+vill play from morn to night, and you shall dance and sing as much as
+you vill, but if you hang him, I vill casser mon cher violin into
+pieces, and it vill never play more--dere!"
+
+His address was received with much applause by many of the party, and,
+encouraged by it, he seized his violin and commenced playing,
+vigorously, one of his most animating tunes.  The effect was
+instantaneous.  Many of the pirates leaped to their feet and began
+dancing furiously one by one; even the more morose joined them, and old
+Charcoal took the opportunity of hobbling off to get out of their sight,
+hoping that if he could escape for a day or two, they might possibly
+forget their evil intentions with regard to him.  Still, Devereux knew
+that, from their treacherous nature, as soon as the dance was over, they
+were very likely, for the sake of the amusement, to hang him and his
+elder companions, at all events, and to make slaves of O'Grady, Paul,
+and Alphonse.  While the excitement was at its height, the pirates, with
+their frantic gestures and loud shrieks and cries, appearing more like a
+troop of demons than human beings, a large boat was seen coming up the
+harbour, pulled at a rapid rate.  Her crew leaped on shore, and the
+pirates rushed to meet them.  A few words overheard by Paul served to
+explain their errand.
+
+"Our craft was sunk--we were pursued by a British man-of-war.  Hardly
+escaped them.  Some of our fellows taken prisoners.  Are certain to
+betray us and to bring the enemy down here.  Not a moment is to be lost.
+Our only chance is to escape to sea."
+
+From what he heard, Paul guessed that the new comers were part of the
+crew of a consort of the pirate schooner, and he thought it probable
+that the pirates might carry him and his companions off as hostages.  He
+therefore hastened to Devereux, who was at a little distance, and told
+him what he had heard.  Devereux fully agreed with him, and before the
+pirates had time to recover from the excitement into which the news had
+thrown them, he and his companions, separating so as not to excite
+observation, walked quietly away till they were out of sight of the
+pirates.  They then, once more meeting, set off running as hard as they
+could go towards the extreme end of the island.  Before long, as they
+halted to take breath, they had the satisfaction of seeing sail made on
+the schooner, and presently she glided down with a fair wind towards the
+entrance of the lagoon.  Before, however, she reached it, Paul, as he
+turned his eyes towards the west, caught sight of another sail
+approaching from that direction.  He pointed it out to his companions.
+
+"She is a square-rigged ship," cried Devereux; "a man-of-war, too, if I
+mistake not, come in search of the pirates.  Unless their craft is a
+very fast one, their career will soon be brought to an end."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+The look-out from the mast-head of the pirate schooner must have
+discovered the stranger soon after Paul had seen her, and her appearance
+must have caused some uncertainty and irresolution on board.  The wind
+dropping, they furled sails, as if about to remain where they were and
+fight it out.
+
+"It will give the boats of the man-of-war some work to do," exclaimed
+Devereux, when he saw this.  "I wish that we could get off to them
+first, though.  I would give much to have a brush with those piratical
+scoundrels."
+
+Before long, however, the pirates again altered their minds.  The breeze
+returning, sail was once more made, and the schooner, with the boats
+towing ahead, stood through the entrance.  The time lost was probably of
+the greatest consequence to them, and by the time that the schooner was
+clear of the reefs, the man-of-war had drawn so near, that her character
+was no longer doubtful.  Devereux had been anxiously watching her for
+some time, so had Reuben Cole.
+
+"What do you think of her, Cole?" asked Devereux.
+
+"What you knows her to be, sir--the _Cerberus_ herself, and no other,"
+cried Reuben, in a more animated tone than he had indulged in for many a
+long day.
+
+"I made sure it was she, sir, five minutes ago, but I was just afraid to
+speak; but when you axed me, sir, then I knowed it was all right."
+
+"The _Cerberus_!" cried the rest of the party in the same breath.
+
+"Ay, she's the fine old girl, no doubt about it," exclaimed O'Grady.
+"Three cheers for the _Cerberus_!  Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!"
+
+All the party joined heartily in the shout.  It was echoed from a
+distance, and old Charcoal was seen scrambling along on his crutches
+towards them.  They congratulated him by signs at having escaped the
+fate which his cruel taskmasters had intended for him, and he seemed no
+less pleased than they were at the appearance of the English frigate.
+Their attention was, however, soon fully engrossed by the chase.  The
+frigate had caught sight of the schooner, and was now crowding on all
+sail to overtake her.  The latter was keeping as close in with the shore
+as the reefs would allow, with the intention, probably, of rounding the
+island and putting it between herself and her enemy.  She, however, by
+keeping so close in, lost the sea breeze, which the frigate, keeping
+from necessity further out, retained.  The pirates thus lost the
+advantage which the knowledge of the shore would have given them.  Their
+craft was a fast one, but there was no faster frigate on the station
+than the _Cerberus_.  She seemed putting forth all her speed, and it was
+soon evident that she was gaining rapidly on the chase.  The wind, it
+must be understood, was off the land, along the south coast of which the
+vessels were standing towards the east.  It was necessary, therefore,
+for the schooner, in order to get on the north side, either to stand a
+long way to the east, or else to make short tacks, so as to weather the
+eastern end of the island.  The temptation to watch her proceedings was
+very great, and though the way round was long, and over soft sand in
+places, the party set off in that direction as fast as they could run.
+By the time they had reached a slight elevation, whence they could watch
+the further progress of the chase, the frigate had gained so greatly on
+the schooner, that the latter would, in a few minutes, be within range
+of her guns.  The pirates must have seen that they had now little chance
+of escaping, but they would not give in.
+
+"Hurra!  There goes her first shot," cried O'Grady, as a puff of smoke
+and a flash was seen to proceed from the frigate's side, followed by a
+report, as the iron missile went leaping over the water, but falling
+short of the object at which it was aimed.  For some half-hour or more
+the frigate did not throw another shot away; the schooner, meantime,
+made several tacks in shore, but the wind veered as she went about, and
+she gained far less ground than if she had continued on one tack.  Still
+she managed nearly to weather the eastern point.  The _Cerberus_,
+however, was by this time standing directly towards her, a point off the
+wind, so as to make her escape almost impossible.  Again the frigate
+fired--the water was smooth, and her gunnery was good.  The shot struck
+the schooner's hull.  Another and another followed.  Still she stood on.
+She was in stays; another tack or two would carry her round the point,
+and there were reefs amid which she might possibly make her escape, when
+a shot, flying higher than the rest, struck the head of her main-mast.
+Over the side went the topmast and topsail, down came the mainsail, and
+the vessel's head paying off, in five minutes she was hard and fast on a
+reef.  The frigate had, meantime, been shortening sail, and scarcely had
+the schooner struck, when she dropped her anchor in a position
+completely to command the wreck with her guns.
+
+"The villains will get their due now.  Hurrah!" cried O'Grady.  "But
+see, they are lowering their boats to escape on shore.  If they fall in
+with us, they will knock us on the head to a certainty.  Won't
+discretion with us be the best part of valour? and hadn't we just best
+get out of their way?"
+
+"They will scarcely attempt to come on shore here, I should think,"
+observed Devereux.  "They will more probably pull along close in with
+the shore, and, if they can, get away from the island altogether."
+
+The attempt of the pirates to escape was immediately seen from the
+frigate, which, thereon, opened her fire to prevent them, while at the
+same time her boats were lowered to cut them off.  The frigate's shot
+had knocked one of the schooner's boats to pieces.  Most of her crew
+crowded into the other two, which shoved off, leaving some on board, who
+loudly entreated them to return.  But, overloaded as they were, they
+could not have done so had they wished, and it was with difficulty they
+reached the shore, swearing vengeance on the heads of their victors.
+
+"It's time for us, at all events, to be off, if we would save our
+throats from being cut, or our heads from being broken," cried O'Grady,
+as he saw them about to land.
+
+The rest of the party agreed with him, and signed to Charcoal to
+accompany them.  But the old black seemed bewildered, and shook his
+head, to signify that he could not move as fast as they could, and that
+they must hurry on without him.  In vain they urged him and showed him
+that they would help him on.
+
+"Come, old fellow, just you get up on my back, and I will carry you,"
+exclaimed Reuben Cole, who was by far the strongest of the party.
+
+Still the black refused--the whole party were in despair.  It was high
+time, indeed, to move away from the spot, not only to escape the
+pirates, but to avoid the shot from the _Cerberus_, some of which,
+passing over the schooner, had struck the ground very close to them.
+One of the shot at length settled the dispute by flying along and
+striking the poor old man on the shoulder, and very nearly taking off
+Reuben's head at the same time.  His moments were evidently numbered,
+and to move him while seemingly in the agonies of death, would have been
+cruelty.  Devereux, therefore, reluctantly ordered his followers to run
+for their lives, before they were discovered and pursued by the pirates.
+It was doubtful, indeed, whether they had not already been seen.  Paul,
+as they came along, had observed a patch of rocky ground to the south
+near the shore, with low shrubs growing about it.  He pointed it out to
+Devereux.
+
+"Right, Gerrard, the very place for us; we'll steer towards it," he
+answered.
+
+By running on at full speed, they had just time to conceal themselves
+among the rocks as the pirates reached the shore.  Devereux had ordered
+them all to lie down, so that they were unable to observe the direction
+the outlaws took.  O'Grady and Paul were crouching down close to each
+other.  Both felt a strong inclination to look out from their
+hiding-place.
+
+"I say, Gerrard, don't you think that you could manage, just with half
+an eye above the rock, to see what the spalpeens of pirates are about
+there?" whispered the former.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir, but our orders were not to look out at all," answered
+Paul, in a very low voice.
+
+"Right, Gerrard, right; but by the powers, our fellows are a long time
+getting on shore from the frigate," said O'Grady.
+
+"Silence, lads!" whispered Devereux, who overheard them talking.  "I
+hear footsteps."
+
+Sure enough, the tramp of men running fast was heard, and, it seemed,
+coming in the direction of the rock.  Probably the pirates were
+hastening there for shelter.  Paul was sure, as most likely were the
+rest of the party, that they would wreak their vengeance on their heads
+if they discovered them.  He felt very uncomfortable; his satisfaction
+was not increased, when he heard a voice shout out, "Here they are, the
+scoundrels! don't let one of them escape."
+
+As there was no object in remaining to be cut down, he was about to
+follow the ordinary instinct of nature, and to try and escape by flight,
+when another voice added, "Come on, men, here they are, a dozen or two
+skulking scoundrels, too."
+
+There was a shrill squeak in the sound, which Paul was certain he had
+heard many times before.  He was not mistaken.  There, on the top of a
+rock, stood honest Bruff, and by his side, Tilly Blake.
+
+"There are two of the villains--young ones, though," cried Tilly,
+pointing to O'Grady and Gerrard.
+
+Then he stopped, with a look of astonishment which made them almost
+burst into a fit of laughter, as they sprang forward to meet him, while
+the rest of the party at the same time rose up from their lair.
+
+"Why, Devereux, old fellow, I thought that you were safe in England with
+our prize by this time," cried Bruff, as he shook his messmate's hand.
+
+Devereux could with difficulty reply, his feelings had so completely
+mastered him; so Bruff continued: "Ah, I see how it was; the scoundrels
+surprised and captured you, and brought you prisoners here.  Well, I'm
+thankful we've got you back safe, though I conclude poor old Noakes has
+lost the number of his mess."
+
+In a few words, Devereux, who soon found his tongue, explained what had
+occurred, and the whole party, with the rest of the frigate's crew who
+had landed, set forward in pursuit of the pirates.  It was important to
+come up with them before they could have time to fortify themselves.  In
+high glee, the whole party hurried on, led by Bruff, and guided by
+Devereux and O'Grady.  It was likely that the pirates would make a stand
+either at the hut or on the top of a rocky mound on which some thick
+brushwood, with a few trees, grew.  It was a strong post naturally, and
+might be made much stronger if the pirates had time to cut down the
+trees and form barricades.  Bruff, therefore, with his small party,
+without waiting for reinforcements from the ship, pushed on.  They had
+already passed round the head of the lagoon without finding the enemy.
+
+"They must have got into the hut, and we must be cautious how we
+approach it, or they may pick us off without our being able to return a
+shot," observed Devereux, as they came in sight of it.
+
+Bruff, in consequence of this, at once divided his men, sending one
+party to the right, another to the left, while he advanced directly
+towards the hut, keeping, however, under such shelter as the cocoa-nut
+trees and bushes afforded.  Whether the generalship was good might be
+doubted, for should the pirates break out, they might overwhelm one of
+the smaller parties, and make good their retreat to another part of the
+island, where they might hold out till the frigate was compelled to
+leave the coast.  This was Reuben's opinion, which he imparted to Paul.
+Still the enemy did not appear.  The parties closed in--not a shot was
+fired.  "Charge!" shouted Bruff.  The door was burst open--the hut was
+empty.  There were treasures of all sorts scattered about, which the
+pirates had not time to pack up when they hurriedly left the island.
+
+The crew of the _Cerberus_ very naturally wished to take possession of
+the plunder, but Bruff called them together, and ordered them to proceed
+at once to the mound where Devereux and O'Grady thought that the pirates
+must have gone.  It was hot work.  They stopped for a few seconds at the
+fountain to wash the sand out of their throats, and pushed on.  The hill
+was soon in sight.  The place looked naturally strong.
+
+"The fellows are there, for they are cutting down the trees already,"
+cried O'Grady.  "If we could but wait for an hour or so, they'd be
+pretty well ready for us, and we should get heaps of honour and glory in
+taking them."
+
+"Thank you, Paddy, but we'll not give them time to get ready," answered
+Bruff.  "On, lads, on!"
+
+So busily engaged were the pirates, that the English were close up to
+the mound, for hill it was not, before they perceived that their enemies
+were on them.  Led on by Bruff and the other midshipmen, the seamen
+clambered up the hill in spite of all obstacles.  The pirates stood to
+their arms and fought desperately.  They were a fierce set of ruffians.
+The hairy baboon, as O'Grady called the man who had seized Paul on the
+rock, led them on.  Their captain, probably, had been killed, for he
+seemed to be the principal officer among them.  Among gentry of that
+class, when the day is going against them, no one is anxious to be
+looked upon as a leader.  Whether he wished it or not, however, the
+hairy baboon was a conspicuous object.  With three brace of pistols
+stuck in his belt, his arms bare, and a huge sword in his hand, he stood
+like a wild beast at bay.  The pirates, when overpowered at other
+points, rallied round him.  Again and again Bruff attempted to pick him
+out, in the hopes of cutting him down, but each time calling his men
+around him, the pirate avoided the combat.
+
+The pirates were, however, getting the worst of it.  Several of them had
+fallen, killed, or desperately wounded.  Some of the English also had
+been hurt, and two killed.  Bruff, determining to put an end to the
+conflict, once more dashed up the slope, and with his brave fellows,
+leaping over all obstacles, pushed up to where the savage stood behind
+the trunk of a fallen tree.  Devereux was at his side, and Paul followed
+close behind, armed with a pistol which had been given him by one of the
+seamen.  His great wish was, should opportunity occur, of being of use
+to Devereux, just as he had been, on a former occasion, to poor old
+Noakes.  This was fiercer work, for quarter was neither asked nor taken.
+The English among the pirates were the most desperate, for they knew
+that they were fighting with halters round their throats.  The pirate
+plied his weapon with right good will, and kept Bruff fully occupied,
+bestowing, indeed, more than one wound on him.  Devereux was, meantime,
+engaged with another fellow, evidently an officer by his gay dress and
+ornaments.  He also was a good swordsman; and while the English seamen
+were engaged on either side, he managed to strike down Devereux's
+cutlass, and would the next moment have cut him from the head to the
+neck, when Paul, seeing that the moment for action had arrived,
+springing forward, fired his pistol with so good an aim, that the
+pirate, shot through the heart, sprang into the air and fell forward
+over the tree, while Devereux, recovering his guard, saved his head from
+the blow of the falling sword, which he sent flying away among the
+pirates.  At liberty for a moment, he turned on Bruff's antagonist, who,
+unable to parry his rapid blows, was at length brought to the ground.
+As he lay writhing in the agonies of death, he attempted to fire a
+pistol, which he drew from his belt, at his victor's head; but his eye
+was dim--the shot flew into the air, and his hand fell powerless by his
+side.  The pirates, though they still fought on, were evidently
+disheartened at the fall of their leaders; but the English were
+proportionately encouraged, and dashing on once more, they cut down
+every pirate opposing them.  Some attempted to fly, prompted by the
+instinct of self-preservation; but they were met by a party under
+O'Grady, sent round to attack them in the rear, and at last, in the
+hopes of prolonging their lives, they threw down their arms and begged
+for quarter.  However fierce men may be, very few will fight on with the
+certainty of being killed if they do, and the possibility of escaping if
+they yield.  The pirates were completely disarmed, and were then
+surrounded by seamen, with pistols at their heads, marched towards the
+spot where the boats of the _Cerberus_ lay waiting for them.  The hut
+and its contents were not forgotten, and one party of men was ordered to
+collect and bring along all the more valuable articles which could be
+found.  As they marched along, Devereux called Paul up to him.
+"Gerrard, I am anxious to tell you that I feel how heavy a debt of
+gratitude I owe you," he said.  "You have tended me with a brother's
+care since I was wounded, and I saw the way in which you saved my life
+just now.  Fortunately, Mr Bruff saw it also, and as you thus certainly
+contributed to the success of the undertaking, I am certain that he will
+place your conduct in its most favourable light before the captain, and,
+for my part, I think that there is one reward which you ought to obtain,
+and which you will obtain, too."
+
+"What can that be, sir?" asked Paul, innocently.  "All I know is, that I
+wished to be of use to you, and I am very glad that you think I have
+been of use."
+
+"Indeed you have, Gerrard," answered Devereux.  "I should have been food
+for the land crabs if it hadn't been for you; but we'll not say anything
+more about the reward just now."
+
+They were approaching the beach where the boats were waiting.
+
+"Hillo, what is that?" cried O'Grady.  "Oh, you vile scoundrels--you did
+that, I know you did."
+
+He shook his fist at the prisoners as he spoke, and pointed to the body
+of the poor black, which lay in their course, with the head smashed to
+pieces.  The pirates had evidently found him wounded on the ground when
+they landed, and had thus wreaked their vengeance on him.
+
+The seamen stopped a few short minutes to bury him in the sand, and the
+midshipmen, as they passed on, muttered, "Poor old Charcoal, good bye."
+
+The pirates would have had very little chance just then of escaping with
+their lives had the seamen been their judges, and in consequence of the
+cruel murder of the black, they got many a punch in the ribs and a lift
+with the knee as they were bundled into the boats.  Hitherto, of course,
+those on board the _Cerberus_ were ignorant that Devereux and his
+companions were on the island.  As the boats approached the ship, all
+glasses were turned towards them; but it took some time after they had
+climbed up the sides to explain who they were and where they had come
+from, so haggard in countenance were they, and so tattered in dress, and
+blood and smoke-begrimed.  Devereux lost not a moment in speaking to
+Captain Walford in warm terms of Paul's conduct throughout all the
+events which had occurred, adding, "To-day, sir, he saved my life by
+shooting a man who was on the point of cutting me down, and I must
+entreat you to give him the only reward he would value, or indeed, I
+believe, accept."
+
+"What is that?" asked Captain Walford, smiling at the idea of a ship-boy
+being punctilious as to the style of reward he would receive.
+
+"Why, sir, that you would place him on the quarter-deck," answered
+Devereux, boldly.  "There is no one who will do it more credit, or is
+better fitted to become an officer than Paul Gerrard, sir."
+
+"I will keep him in mind, and perhaps he may have an opportunity of
+distinguishing himself while under my eye," answered the captain; but he
+made no promise to promote Paul, and Devereux left him, fearing very
+much that he was displeased at his having mentioned the subject.
+
+All the party were, however, warmly welcomed on board, and Alphonse, who
+had now learned a good deal of English, became a great favourite both
+with officers and men.  As there happened to be no fiddler among the
+crew, his violin was in great requisition.  He had no pride, and as he
+took delight in giving pleasure, he constantly went forward to play to
+the men while they danced.  There was nothing they would not have done
+for the "little mounseer," as they called him.
+
+Before the _Cerberus_ left the island, one of the pirates declared that
+a large amount of treasure was hidden near the hut, and volunteered to
+show it, provided that his life was spared.  Captain Walford would make
+no promise, but let the man understand that if the treasure was found,
+and he chose to turn king's evidence, the circumstance might possibly
+tell in his favour.  The pirate held out for the promise of a pardon and
+refused to afford any further information unless it was given.  The
+captain, however, sent a party on shore, under Mr Bruff with O'Grady,
+to search for the supposed treasure.  Reuben and Paul were of the party.
+There were two boats.  They pulled up the lagoon.
+
+"I feel very different now from what I did t'other day when the pirates
+were after us.  Don't you, Paul?" said Reuben Cole, in a moralising
+tone.  "Many are the ups and downs in the world.  The pirates was then
+thirsting after our blood, and now we're thirsting after the pirates'
+gold.  It's not much good our blood would have done them, and I'm
+afeared the gold won't do us much good either, if it's spent as most of
+us spends it when we gets ashore.  Paul, don't you go and throw away
+your hard-earned gains as seamen generally do--you'll be sorry for it
+some day, if you do."
+
+Paul promised to follow his friend's advice.  He was very eager,
+however, to find the pirate treasure, as he hoped to be able to send his
+share home to his mother and sisters.  He was not aware of the efforts
+Devereux had been making to get him placed on the quarter-deck, in which
+case the share would be considerably more than that of a cabin-boy.  The
+search was commenced, but except a bag of dollars and a few gold
+doubloons, nothing of value could be found.  The men dug about in every
+direction.  There was no sign of the earth having been turned up.
+
+"I say, Reuben, I wonder where all the gold we are looking for can be,"
+exclaimed Paul, after they had searched in vain again and again.
+
+"Just possible, nowhere," answered Reuben.  "Them chaps is much more
+likely to spend their money ashore than to bury it in the ground."
+
+It seemed very probable that Reuben's opinion was the right one.  The
+seamen dug and dug more frantically and eagerly as the prospect of
+finding the gold became less and less.  Reuben's spade at length struck
+something hard.
+
+"Hurrah!  Here it is," cried several voices, and half a dozen spades
+were plunged into the hole at the same time.  A human skull was soon
+brought to view.
+
+"All right," cried O'Grady.  "The pirates always bury a man above their
+treasure, that his spirit may keep guard over it."
+
+Thus encouraged, the seamen dug on, the bones were thrown up with very
+little ceremony, and all expected every instant to come upon an iron
+case, or an oak chest, or something of that sort, full of gold, and
+pearls, and diamonds.  While thus employed, a gun from the ship was
+heard.  They dug more desperately than ever.  The gun was the signal for
+their return: it must not be disobeyed.  Still, within the very grasp of
+their treasure, it seemed hard to lose it.  They dug, and they dug, but
+there was no sign of treasure.  Another gun was heard.
+
+"We must be away!" cried the leader.  "Shoulder spades, and march!"
+
+O'Grady, stopping behind, leaped into the hole and ran his sword up to
+the hilt into the sand, but it met with no impediment.  Again and again
+he plunged his sword in all directions.  He saw that it was of no avail.
+"I must be out of this and run after the rest," he said to himself.
+But to propose was easier than to execute.  In vain he tried to get up
+the sandy sides of the pit--he made desperate efforts.  He ought not to
+have stopped behind, and did not like to cry out.  "Oh!  I shall have to
+take the place of the disinterred body, and that would not be at all
+pleasant," he muttered--"One more spring!"  But no--down he came on his
+back, and the sand rushed down and half covered him up.  He now thought
+that it was high time to sing out, and so he did at the very top of his
+voice.  He shouted over and over again--no one came.  His companions
+were getting further and further off.  He scrambled to his feet and made
+another spring, shrieking out at the same time, "Help! help!"
+
+Fortunately, Paul and Reuben were bringing up the rear, and Paul
+happening to speak of Mr O'Grady, observed that he was not in front.
+At that moment the cry of "Help, help!" reached his ears.
+
+"It's Mr O'Grady," he exclaimed, and he ran forward to Mr Bruff and
+obtained leave to go and look.  Reuben and several other men had,
+however, to go to his assistance to get poor Paddy out of the hole, and
+pretty hot they all became by running towards the boats, so as not to
+delay them.  Nothing was said of O'Grady's adventure, and the captain
+did not seem much surprised at no treasure having been found.  A course
+was steered for Jamaica, where the pirates were to be tried.  The
+_Cerberus_ arrived at her destined port without falling in with an
+enemy.  Numerous witnesses came forward to prove various acts of piracy
+committed by the prisoners, the greater number of whom were condemned to
+death, and were accordingly hung in chains, as the custom of those days
+was, to be a terror and warning to like evil-doers, as dead crows and
+other birds are stuck up in a field to scare away the live ones wishing
+to pilfer the farmer's newly-sown seed.
+
+The frigate having refitted in Port Royal harbour, was again to sail--
+like a knight-errant--in search of adventures.  It was not likely that
+she would be long in finding them.
+
+As soon as the commander-in-chief heard of the capture of the frigate by
+the mutineers, he became very anxious to re-take her.  A brig of war
+before long arrived with a Spanish prize lately out of Puerto Cabello on
+the Spanish Main.  Her crew gave information that the frigate was there
+fitting for sea by the Spaniards, to whom the mutineers had delivered
+her; that she was strongly armed, and manned with a half more than her
+former complement.  It soon became known on board the _Cerberus_ that
+Captain Walford had volunteered to cut out the frigate, but that the
+admiral objected to the exploit as too hazardous.
+
+"Just like our skipper," exclaimed O'Grady.  "He would try it and do it
+too.  We'd back him, and so would every man on board."
+
+"No fear of that," cried several voices.  "Let us but find her, and she
+will be ours."
+
+"I wish that we could have the chance," observed Devereux to O'Grady.
+"It would be a fine opportunity for Gerrard, and the captain would, I
+think, be glad of a good excuse for placing him on the quarter-deck."
+
+As there was no longer a reason for Alphonse Montauban remaining on
+board the _Cerberus_, he had to be left at Jamaica to wait till an
+opportunity should occur for sending him to France.  His friends parted
+from him with many regrets.
+
+"We shall meet some day again, old fellow," said O'Grady, as he wrung
+his hands.  "But I say, I hope that it won't be with swords in our
+fists."
+
+"Oh no, no!" cried Alphonse; "I will never more fight against you
+English.  I was told that you were little better than barbarians--a
+nation of fierce lords, money-making shopkeepers, and wretched slaves;
+but I find you very different.  I love you now, and I love you for
+ever."
+
+Alphonse parted in a most affectionate manner from Paul, telling him how
+glad he should be, when the war was over, if he would come and see him
+at his father's chateau, where he said he should go and remain quietly,
+and escape, if possible, being sent again to sea.
+
+The _Cerberus_ sailed with sealed orders.  This was known.  It was hoped
+that they would give permission to the captain to attack the Spanish
+frigate.  The captain opened his orders off the east end of the island,
+when he found that he was to proceed off Cape Delavela, on the Spanish
+Main, a point of land about seventy leagues to leeward of Puerto
+Cabello, and that he was to remain as long as his provisions, wood, and
+water would allow, to endeavour to intercept the frigate supposed to be
+bound to the Havana.  Thither the _Cerberus_ accordingly proceeded.  To
+wait in expectation of meeting a friend is a matter of no little
+interest; but when an enemy is looked-for, and there is the prospect of
+a battle, and a pretty tough one to boot, the excitement is immense.  In
+this instance it was tenfold: the enemy was no ordinary one; the object
+was to win back a ship foully taken and disgracefully retained.
+
+"There is no necessity to tell you to keep a sharp look-out," said the
+captain to the officers of the watch, as he went below the first night
+of their arrival on their cruising-ground.
+
+"She'll be clever if she escapes us," was the answer.  However, the
+captain was on deck that night several times, as he was on many
+subsequent nights, and sharp eyes were looking out all night and all
+day, and still no enemy's frigate hove in sight.  Paul was very
+ambitious to be the first to see her.  Whenever his duty would allow, he
+was at the mast-head till the hot sun drove him down, or darkness made
+his stay there, useless.  He often dreamed, when in his hammock at
+night, that he heard the drum beat to quarters, and jumping up, slipped
+into his clothes, and hurried on deck, when finding all quiet, with no
+small disappointment he had again to turn in.  "The opportunity will
+come, however, in some way or other," said Paul to himself as he tried
+to go to sleep, and succeeded, as ship-boys generally do.  "I must have
+patience.  Even if I were to be killed the next day, I should like to
+have been a midshipman."  Week after week passed away; no enemy
+appeared.  Now and then a prize was taken; but it was always the same
+story--the frigate was still in Puerto Cabello.  At length it became
+known that the water and wood were running short, while it was a fact no
+one would dispute, that the provisions were very bad.  The _Cerberus_
+must return to Jamaica.  The disappointment was general.
+
+"Och, the blackguards of Dons, to keep us waiting all this time, and not
+to give us the satisfaction of thrashing them after all!" cried Paddy
+O'Grady, as the matter was discussed in the midshipmen's berth.
+
+"The fellow has probably slipped by us in the dark; but we'll catch him
+some day; that's a comfort," observed Devereux.
+
+"Our skipper is not a man to take that for granted without ascertaining
+the fact," remarked Bruff.
+
+He was right.  Before a course was shaped for Jamaica, the _Cerberus_
+stood for Puerto Cabello.  All hands were eagerly on the look out as
+they approached the port, to ascertain whether the frigate was still
+there.  A shout of satisfaction broke from the throats of the crew as
+she was discovered with her sails bent ready for sea, though moored head
+and stern between two strong batteries, one on either side, at the
+entrance of the harbour.  By herself, she looked no insignificant
+opponent; while the batteries, it was supposed, mounted not less than
+two hundred guns.  The _Cerberus_ stood in till she was within gun-shot
+of the enemy, and then continued her course, as if fearing a contest.
+Not a word was said by the captain as to what he intended doing.  Hope
+returned when the ship was tacked.  For two or three days the _Cerberus_
+continued cruising up and down before the port.  Another day was drawing
+to a close, when, as it seemed, she had given a farewell to the port.
+Some of the officers had been dining with the captain.  They came out of
+the cabin with an expression of satisfaction on their countenances.
+
+"Something is in the wind," said Reuben to Paul.  "They wouldn't look so
+pleased otherwise."
+
+Not long after this, all hands were sent aft to the quarter-deck, where
+the captain stood, surrounded by his officers, ready to receive them.
+
+"I told you so," whispered Reuben to Paul.  "He's got some good news,
+depend on that; I see it in his eye."
+
+"My lads, we have been waiting a long time to get hold of that
+villainous frigate in there," the captain began.  "If we don't take her,
+somebody else will, and we shall lose the honour and glory of the deed.
+She will not come out to fight us fairly, and so we must go in and bring
+her out.  It's to be done, I know, if you'll try to do it.  What do you
+say to that?"
+
+"That we'll try and do it," cried a voice from among the seamen.
+
+"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!"  Three hearty cheers broke from the crew.
+Again and again was given forth from the seamen's throats that
+soul-thrilling shout which none but Englishmen can utter.
+
+"Thank you, my lads," cried the captain.  "I knew that you would be
+ready to do it; and, what is more, I know that you will do it.  It will
+not be your fault if that frigate is not ours before many hours are
+over.  There will be six boats with their regular crews, and I have
+arranged already of whom the boarding-parties are to consist.  I will
+myself lead."
+
+Saying this, he handed a list to the first-lieutenant.  All were eager
+to ascertain its contents.  Bruff and Devereux had command of boats; the
+second-lieutenant had charge of another--the launch; the surgeon of a
+fourth.  Paul, with no small delight, heard his name called out for the
+captain's boat--the pinnace.  Reuben Cole was also to go in her.  The
+expedition was to consist of two divisions; the first formed by the
+pinnace, launch, and jolly-boat, to board on the starboard-bow, gangway,
+and quarter; and the gig, black and red cutters, to board on the
+opposite side.  Some of her crew were to remain in the launch to cut the
+lower cable, for which they were provided with sharp axes; the
+jolly-boat was to cut the stern cable and to send two men aloft to loose
+the mizen-topsail.  Four men from the gig were to loose the
+fore-topsail, and in the event of the boats reaching the ship
+undiscovered, as soon as the boarders had climbed up the sides, the
+crews were to cut the cables and take the ship in tow.  No arrangements
+could be more perfect, and all about to engage in the undertaking felt
+confident of success, eagerly waiting for the moment of action.  The
+ship stood towards the harbour, and in silence the crews and the
+boarding-parties entered the boats and shoved off.  Paul felt as he had
+never felt before.  He had gone through a good many adventures; but the
+work he was now engaged in would probably be of a far more desperate
+character.  Still his heart beat high with hope.  If the undertaking
+should be successful--and he felt sure that it would be--he believed
+that he should secure that position he had of late taught himself so
+ardently to covet.  The boats made rapid progress.  The pinnace led; the
+captain with his night-glass keeping his eye constantly on the enemy.
+No light was seen, either on board her or in the batteries, or other
+sign to show that the Spaniards were aware that a foe was approaching.
+The night was dark; the water was smooth.  There was a sound of oars.
+Two large gun-boats were seen at the entrance of the harbour.  At the
+same instant the Spaniards, discovering the English, began firing.  The
+alarm was given; lights burst forth in all directions, and round-shot
+and bullets came whizzing through the air.  Some officers might have
+turned back; not so Captain Walford.  Ordering the boats to follow, and
+not to mind the Spaniards, he gave three hearty cheers, and, dashing on,
+was quickly up to the frigate.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+The Spanish frigate lay moored head and stern, with her ports open, and
+the light from her fighting-lanterns streaming through them.  The crew,
+awakened by the firing, had hurried to their quarters, and were now
+rapidly discharging their guns, sending their shot right and left,
+though happily, it seemed, without any definite aim.  A shot passed
+close over the captain's head; so close that Paul expected for a moment
+to see him fall, but he did not even notice the circumstance, and only
+urged his men to pull up alongside the enemy.  The pinnace was crossing
+the frigate's bows.  Suddenly her way was checked.
+
+"She's aground, sir," cried the coxswain.  "A rope has caught our
+rudder--unship it, man," answered the captain, who was as cool as if
+about to go on board his own ship.
+
+In another instant the pinnace had hooked on to the Spaniard's bows; and
+her crew, led by their brave captain, were climbing up to gain a footing
+on their forecastle.  Paul's heart beat quick--not with fear, but with
+the belief that the moment for distinguishing himself had arrived.  He
+resolved to follow the captain closely.  Captain Walford had hold of the
+anchor which hung at the bows, when his foot slipped, and he would have
+fallen back, had he not caught at the lanyard and hauled himself up.
+The delay, though brief, enabled some of the men to be up before him.
+Paul was among the number; and, finding a rope, he hove it to the
+captain, which enabled him to gain the deck.  Not an enemy was found;
+but, looking down on the main-deck, the English discovered the Spaniards
+at their quarters, not dreaming, it seemed, that the foe already stood
+on the deck of their ship.  There they stood, some loading, others
+firing; fierce-looking fellows enough as the light of the lanterns fell
+on their countenances.  The foresail had been left laid across the deck
+ready for bending, and the thick folds of the canvass served as a screen
+to the first of the gallant hoarders while the rest were climbing up.
+Not a moment was to be lost, and before the Spaniards had discovered
+that the English were on board, a party of the latter, led by their
+brave captain, were literally in the midst of them, fighting their way
+towards the quarter-deck, where it had been arranged that all the
+parties should rendezvous.
+
+The Spaniards, taken by surprise, were cut down or leaped to the right
+hand or to the left to escape the cutlasses of the boarders.  At length,
+however, some of the Spaniards rallied; and, led by one of their
+officers, made so furious an attack on the captain's party that he and
+most of his men were separated from each other.  Paul had stuck by his
+captain from the first.  His arm was not very strong, but he was active;
+and, while he managed to avoid the blows of his enemies, he bestowed
+several as he leaped nimbly on.  He, with the captain and Reuben Cole,
+had nearly gained the quarter-deck when a Spaniard rushed at the latter,
+and knocked him over with the butt-end of a musket.  At the same moment
+the captain's foot slipped, and another Spaniard striking him a furious
+blow on the head, he fell senseless on the coaming of the hatchway, very
+nearly going over below.  Paul fully believed that his brave captain was
+killed, and that his last moment was come.  The Spaniard was about to
+repeat the blow when Paul, springing in, regardless of consequences to
+himself, cut him so severely under the arm with his sword that the man
+missed his aim, and he himself fell headlong down the hatchway.
+
+Paul then, while he laid about him with his weapon, did the best thing
+he could by shouting at the top of his voice, "Help! help!--the captain
+is down--help! help!" at the same time laying about him in so energetic
+a way that none of the Spaniards seemed disposed to come within reach of
+his weapon.  His shouts quickly brought several of the crew of the
+_Cerberus_ to the rescue; and, while some kept the Spaniards at bay, the
+others assisted the captain, who was recovering from the effects of the
+blow, to rise.  Paul, as soon as he saw the captain on his feet, hurried
+with two of his companions to the assistance of Reuben Cole, just in
+time to prevent some Spaniards from giving him his quietus.  Reuben's
+head was a tolerably thick one; and, notwithstanding the severity of the
+blow, he quickly came to himself; and, seizing his cutlass with right
+good will, joined the party under the captain, who were employed in
+preventing the Spaniards from regaining possession of the quarter-deck.
+Meantime, several separate combats were going on in different parts of
+the ship.  The Spaniards, as they recovered from their first surprise,
+rallied in considerable numbers; and, attacking the boatswain's party,
+which had been separated from that of the captain's, fought their way
+forward and re-took the forecastle.  Paul could only discern what was
+going forward by the flashes of the pistols of the combatants on deck,
+and of the great guns which those below still continued to fire.  As
+yet, however, the English mustered but few hands, considering the
+magnitude of the enterprise.  Paul anxiously looked for the arrival of
+the other boats.  Now some dark forms were seen rising above the hammock
+nettings.  The Spaniards rushed to repel them, but at the same moment
+the cry was raised that others were appearing on the opposite side.
+Others came swarming over the bows, another party climbed up on the
+quarter.  The shouts and cries of the combatants increased.  On every
+side was heard the clashing of steel and the sharp crack of pistols.
+The British marines now formed on deck, and, led by their officers,
+charged the Spaniards.  The bravest of the latter, who had been
+attacking the captain, threw down their arms and cried for mercy or
+leaped below.  They were quickly followed by Bruff and Devereux, who
+drove them into the after-cabin, where some sixty of them lay down their
+weapons and begged for quarter.  Others, however, still held out.  The
+game was not won; reinforcements might come from the shore, and the
+gun-boats might pull up and prove awkward customers.  The deck was,
+however, literally strewed with the bodies of the Spaniards, while as
+yet not an Englishman was killed, though many were badly wounded.  Many
+of the Spaniards still held out bravely under the forecastle, and others
+on the main-deck; but the gunner and two men, though severely wounded,
+had got possession of the wheel.  The seamen who had gone aloft loosed
+the foretop sail, the carpenters cut the stern cable, the best bower was
+cut at the same moment, just in time to prevent the ship from canting
+the wrong way.
+
+The boats took the frigate in tow, and though as yet those on deck were
+scarcely in possession of the ship, directly she was seen to be moving,
+the batteries on either side opened a hot fire on her, but, undaunted,
+the brave crews rowed on in spite of the shot whizzing over their heads,
+and the efforts of the yet unsubdued portion of the Spaniards to regain
+the ship.  Those of the latter who attempted to defend the forecastle
+suffered most, and were nearly all killed or driven overboard.  Still
+the victory was not assured; a cry was raised that the Spaniards
+retreating below were forcing open the magazine for the purpose of
+blowing up the ship.
+
+Devereux was the first to hear the report, and calling on Paul, who was
+near him, and a few others to follow, he leaped down the hatchway, and
+sword in hand dashed in among the astonished Spaniards, who with
+crowbars had just succeeded in breaking open the door of the magazine.
+One man grasped a pistol ready to fire into it.  Paul, who felt his
+spirits raised to the highest pitch, and ready to dare and do any deed,
+however desperate, sprang into the midst of the group and struck up the
+Spaniard's arm, the pistol going off and the bullet lodging in the deck
+above.  Several of the others were cut down by Devereux and his men, and
+the rest, strange as it may seem, fell on their knees and begged for
+quarter; though an instant before they were preparing to send themselves
+and their foes suddenly into eternity.
+
+"Quarter!  Pretty sort of quarter you deserve, ye blackguards, for
+wishing to blow up the ship after all the trouble we've had to take
+her," cried Reuben, giving one of the Spaniards, who still stood at the
+door of the magazine, a kick which lifted him half-way up the ladder
+leading to the deck above.
+
+All opposition after this ceased below, but there was work enough to
+secure the prisoners and prevent them from making any similar attempt to
+that which had just been so happily frustrated.  The hands on deck were
+meantime employed in making sail with all speed; and good reason had
+they for so doing, for the shot from a hundred guns were flying above
+and around them, some crashing on board and others going through the
+sails and cutting the running and standing rigging; but in spite of the
+iron shower not a man aloft shrank from his duty.  As soon as a brace
+was cut, or a shroud severed, eager hands were ready to repair the
+damage.  The gallant captain, though bleeding from more than one wound,
+stood by the mizen shrouds conning the ship, and not till she was clear
+of the harbour and no shot came near her did he relinquish his post.
+
+The triumphant moment was, however, when the two frigates neared each
+other, and the victors shouted out, "We have got her--we have got her,
+without the loss of a man, though we have some pretty severe scratches
+among us.  Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!"
+
+Loud and hearty were the cheers; but there was too little time for
+making speeches.  Most of the prisoners were removed to the _Cerberus_.
+A prize-crew, under the command of the second lieutenant, was put on
+board the re-captured frigate, and a course was immediately shaped for
+Jamaica.  When Paul at length was able to turn into his hammock he felt
+very low-spirited.  Not a word had been said of anything that had been
+done.  He felt that he had certainly saved the captain's life, and had
+in all probability prevented the ship from being blown up.  Yet he would
+not be his own trumpeter, and he thought that very likely no one had
+observed what he had done, and that it would be entirely overlooked.
+"Well, I should not care so much for myself," he thought, "but dear
+mother--how she would rejoice to hear that I had made my own way up to
+the quarter-deck.  It can't be helped, I must wait for another
+opportunity."
+
+The fate Paul dreaded has been that of many who have struggled on year
+after year in the hopes of winning fame, and have after all missed the
+object at which they aimed.
+
+It was reported that the captain was suffering severely from his wounds,
+and for some days he did not appear on deck.  Devereux, however, had not
+forgotten Paul, and took the first occasion to tell him that he would
+mention him to the captain as having preserved the ship and all their
+lives from destruction.  Paul, on this, felt very much inclined to say
+that he had been the means also of preserving the captain's life.  "No,
+I won't, though," he thought; "the captain will make inquiries as to
+what happened when he was struck down, and the men who saw me defending
+him will surely tell him the truth."
+
+He therefore simply thanked Devereux for his kind intentions.
+
+"You know, sir, that what I did was to save my own life as well as that
+of others," he added.
+
+"Very true, but still I think that the captain will consider your
+conduct worthy of reward," answered Devereux.
+
+To Reuben, Paul was more communicative.
+
+"But do you know which were the men who came when you called for help?"
+asked the former.
+
+Paul could not be positive as to one of them, on account of the darkness
+and confusion.
+
+"Then I must find out, my lad, and make all things square," muttered
+Reuben, as he walked away.
+
+The victors had plenty of hard work in putting the prize to rights, in
+manning her and their own ship, and in looking after the prisoners.
+However, not long after they had lost sight of land, a sail hove in
+sight.  Chase was made, and the stranger proved to be a Spanish
+schooner.  She quickly hauled down her colours, and a boat was sent to
+bring her captain on board.  The Don stood, hat in hand, trembling in
+every joint, at the gangway, his long sallow face drawn down to twice
+its usual length, expecting to be carried off a prisoner, and to have
+his vessel destroyed.  As Captain Walford was unable to come on deck,
+Mr Order received him.  If it had been possible for a Don to throw up
+his hat and to shout for joy, the Spanish skipper would have done it
+when the first-lieutenant told him, that if he would undertake to carry
+the prisoners back to Puerto Cabello in his schooner, he might go free.
+He did not skip, or throw up his hat, or sing, but advancing with a deep
+bow, one hand holding his hat, and the other pressed on his heart, he
+gave the lieutenant an embrace and then retired to the gangway.  Mr
+Order did not exhibit any sign of satisfaction at this proceeding, but
+it was too ridiculous to make him angry; so he told him to get on board
+and prepare for the reception of his countrymen.  The Spanish prisoners
+were soon tumbled into the boats, and heartily glad were the English
+seamen to be rid of them.
+
+"Their habits are filthy, and as to manners, they have none," was the
+opinion generally formed of them on board.
+
+"Now, if we'd have had as many mounseers, they'd have been fiddling and
+singing away as merry as crickets, and been good sport to us--long afore
+this," observed Reuben to Paul, as the schooner made sail to the
+southward.
+
+Although the captain's hurts were severe, he was, after some days, able
+to come on deck.  He looked pale and weak, but there was fire in his eye
+and a smile on his lip as he glanced at the captured frigate sailing at
+a few cables' length abeam.
+
+"Let the people come aft, Mr Order," he said in a cheerful voice.
+
+The crew were soon assembled, hat in hand, looking up to their captain
+with eager countenances as he opened his lips.
+
+"My lads," he said, "I have been unable before to thank you, as I do
+from my heart, for the gallant way in which you carried out my wishes
+the other night when you re-took yonder frigate, so disgracefully held
+by the Spaniards.  Where all did well, it is difficult to select those
+most deserving of praise, yet to the second-lieutenant and the boatswain
+and gunner my thanks are especially due, as they are to the surgeon for
+the able support he gave me.  They will, I trust, receive the reward
+they merit in due time; but there is another person to whom I am most
+grateful, and whom I have it in my power to reward, as he fully
+deserves, immediately.  To his presence of mind I find the preservation
+of the lives of all on board the prize is due, and I fully believe, that
+had it not been for his courage, I should not have been conscious of the
+glorious achievement we have accomplished.  Paul Gerrard, come up here.
+Accept this dirk from me as a slight token of gratitude, and from
+henceforth consider yourself a quarter-deck officer--a midshipman."
+
+Paul, his eyes sparkling, his countenance beaming, and his heart
+beating, sprang forward, helped on by the arms of the crew, all
+sympathising with his feelings.  The captain shook him warmly by the
+hand before giving him his dirk--an example followed by all the officers
+and midshipmen, and by none more cordially than by Devereux and O'Grady.
+They then took him by the arm and hurried him below, where he found a
+suit of uniform, in which they speedily clothed him and returned with
+him in triumph on deck.  Their appearance was the signal for the crew to
+give three as hearty cheers as ever burst from the throats of a
+man-of-war's crew.  Paul's heart was too full to speak, and he could
+with difficulty stammer out his thanks to his captain.  He felt indeed
+as if he had already reached the summit of his ambition.  The captain
+reminded him, however, that he had a long way yet to climb, by observing
+that he had only just got his foot on the lower ratline, but that, if he
+went on as he had begun, he would certainly, if he lived, get to the
+top.  The advice was indeed, from beginning to end, very good, but need
+not be repeated.  Paul was so cordially received in the midshipmen's
+berth, that he soon felt himself perfectly at home, though he did not
+forget that he had a short time before served at the table at which he
+now sat.
+
+The frigates arrived without accident at Jamaica, where the officers and
+crew received all the honours and marks of respect they so justly
+merited.  The _Cerberus_ required no repairs, and the prize was quickly
+got ready for sea.  Captain Walford, however, suffered so severely from
+his wounds, that he was ordered home to recruit his strength.  Devereux
+and O'Grady had never entirely recovered from their illness, and they
+also obtained leave to go home.  Paul was very sorry to lose them, not
+being aware how much he was himself knocked up by the hardships he had
+gone through.  Three or four days before the ship was to sail, the
+doctor came into the berth, and looking hard at him, desired to feel his
+pulse.
+
+"I thought so," he remarked.  "You feel rather queer, my boy, don't
+you?"
+
+"Yes, sir, very ill," said Paul; "I don't know what is the matter with
+me."
+
+"But I do," answered the doctor.  "A fever is coming on, and the sooner
+you are out of this the better.  I'll speak to the captain about you."
+
+The fever did come on.  Paul was sent to the hospital on shore, where he
+was tenderly nursed by Devereux, aided by O'Grady; the _Cerberus_,
+meantime, having sailed on a cruise under the command of Mr Order.  As
+no ship of war was going home, Captain Walford took his passage in a
+sugar-laden merchantman, having Devereux and O'Grady with him, and he
+got Paul also invalided home.  Paul's chief source of delight was the
+thought that he should present himself to his mother and sisters as a
+real veritable midshipman, in the uniform he so often in his dreams had
+worn, and of the happiness he should afford them.  Their ship was not a
+very fast one, though she could carry a vast number of hogsheads of
+sugar, and was remarkably comfortable.  The captain was more like a kind
+father and a good-natured tutor than most skippers, and they all had a
+very pleasant time of it.  Paul had had no time for study while he was a
+ship-boy, and so the captain advised him to apply himself to navigation
+and to general reading; and he did so with so much good will, that,
+during the voyage, he made considerable progress.  They were nearing the
+mouth of the Channel.
+
+"In another week we shall be at home," said Paul.
+
+"Yes, it will be jolly," answered Devereux.  "You must come and see me,
+you know, at the Hall, and I'll introduce you to my family, and they'll
+make you amends somehow or other, if they can; they must, I am
+determined."
+
+"Thank you heartily, Devereux," answered Paul; "but the short time I am
+likely to be at home I must spend with my mother, and though I know your
+kind wishes, people generally will not look with much respect on a
+person who was till lately a mere ship-boy."
+
+"No fear of that, Gerrard; but we'll see, we'll see," answered Devereux.
+
+"A sail on the weather bow," shouted the look-out from aloft, "standing
+across our course."
+
+The West Indiaman, the _Guava_ was her name, went floundering on as
+before; the master, however, who had gone aloft, kept his glass on the
+stranger.  After some time he came down, his countenance rather paler
+than usual.
+
+"She has tacked and is standing towards us," he said, addressing Captain
+Walford.
+
+"Sorry to hear it, Mr Turtle.  Is she big or little?"
+
+"Why, sir, she has very square yards, and has much the look of a foreign
+man-of-war," answered the master.
+
+"Umph!  If she is Spanish we may beat her off, but if she proves French,
+she may be a somewhat tough customer; however, you will try, of course,
+Mr Turtle."
+
+"If you advise resistance, we'll make it, sir, and do our best," said
+Captain Turtle, who, though fat, had no lack of spirit.
+
+"By all means.  Turn the hands up, load the guns, and open the
+arm-chest," was the answer.
+
+The crew of the _Guava_, which was rather of a mixed character--blacks,
+mulattoes, Malays, Portuguese, and other foreigners,--were not very
+eager for the fight, but when they saw the spirit of the naval officers,
+especially of the young midshipmen, they loaded the guns, stuck the
+pistols in their belts, and girded on their cutlasses to prepare for the
+fight.
+
+The _Guava_, of course, could not hope to escape by flight, so the
+safest course was to put a bold face on the matter, and to stand on.
+The stranger rapidly approached.  There could no longer be any doubt as
+to her nationality, though no colours flew from her peak.  She was
+pronounced to be French, though whether a national ship or a privateer
+was doubtful.
+
+"If she is a privateer and we are taken, our chances of fair treatment
+are very small," observed Captain Walford.
+
+"It will be hard lines for the skipper, after performing so gallant an
+action, to fall into the hands of the enemy," observed O'Grady.  "For my
+part, I'd sooner blow up the ship."
+
+"Not much to be gained by that," answered Devereux.  "Let us fight like
+men and yield with dignity, if we are overmatched."
+
+"The right sentiment," said Captain Walford.  "There is no disgrace in
+being conquered by a superior force."
+
+"As I fear that we shall be," muttered the master of the _Guava_.  "Now,
+if I'd been left alone, I'd have knocked under at once.  We've not the
+shadow of a chance."
+
+"Then it's not like Captain Turtle's own shadow," whispered O'Grady, who
+could even at that moment indulge in a joke.
+
+Matters were indeed becoming serious.  The stranger was, it was soon
+seen, a powerful vessel, cither a large corvette or a small frigate,
+against which the heavily-rigged, ill-manned and slightly-armed merchant
+ship, had scarcely a chance.  Still, such chance as there was, the
+English resolved to try.  The order was given to fire high at the
+enemy's rigging, and the rest of the crew stood prepared to make all
+possible sail directly any of the Frenchman's spars were knocked away.
+Paul had been so accustomed to believe that whatever his captain
+undertook he would succeed in doing, that he had no fears on the
+subject.  The _Guava_ rolled on, the stranger approached, close-hauled.
+Captain Turtle, with a sigh, pronounced her to be a privateer, and a
+large frigate-built ship.  She would have to pass, however, some little
+way astern of the _Guava_, if she continued steering as she was then
+doing.  Suddenly she kept away, and fired a broadside from long guns,
+the shot flying among the _Guava's_ rigging and doing much damage.  The
+merchantman's guns could not reply with any effect, her shot falling
+short.  The Frenchman saw his advantage.  His shot came rattling on
+board the _Guava_, her spars and blocks falling thickly from aloft.  At
+length the former was seen drawing near, evidently to range up
+alongside; and many of the crew, fancying that resistance was hopeless,
+ran below to secure their best clothes and valuables, while the
+officers, with heavy hearts, throwing their swords overboard, saw
+Captain Turtle haul down the colours.  The Frenchmen were soon on board.
+They proved to be, not regular combatants, but rascally privateers;
+fellows who go forth to plunder their fellow-men, not for the sake of
+overcoming the enemies of their country and obtaining peace, but for the
+greed of gain, careless of the loss and suffering they inflict.  These
+were of the worst sort.  Their delight was unbounded, when they found
+that they had not only taken a rich prize, for sugar at that time
+fetched a high price in France, but had taken at one haul a post-captain
+and several officers, for besides the three midshipmen, there were two
+lieutenants, a surgeon, and master, going home for their health.  The
+privateer's-men began by plundering the vessel and stripping the crew of
+every article they possessed about them, except the clothes they stood
+in.  They took the property of the officers, but did not, at first, take
+anything from their persons.  Captain Walford retained his coolness and
+self-possession, notwithstanding the annoyances he suffered, and the
+insults he received.  The other officers imitated him.  They were all
+transferred to the privateer.
+
+"To what French port are we to be carried?" he asked of his captain.
+
+"To Brest--and it will be a long time before you see salt-water after
+that," was the answer.
+
+"Probably never--if we are not to be liberated till France conquers
+England," said Captain Walford, quietly.
+
+"Sa-a-a, you may be free, then, sooner than you expect," cried the
+Frenchman.
+
+In about five days, the privateer, with her rich prize, entered Brest
+harbour.  The prisoners were treated on landing with very scant
+ceremony, and were thrust into the common prison--the officers in one
+small room and the men in another.  In those days the amenities of
+warfare were little attended to.  It was all rough, bloody, desperate,
+cruel work.  In truth, it is seldom otherwise.  The prisoners were not
+kept long at Brest, but one fine morning in spring, after a not over
+luxurious breakfast of black bread, salt fish, and thin coffee, were
+mustered outside the prison to begin their march into the interior.  The
+midshipmen kept together and amused themselves by singing, joking, and
+telling stories, keeping up their spirits as well as they could.  Their
+guards were rough, unfeeling fellows, who paid no attention to their
+comforts, but made them trudge on in rain or sunshine, sometimes
+bespattered with mud, and at others covered with dust, parched with
+thirst, and ready to drop from the heat.  The country people, however,
+looked on them with compassion, and many a glass of wine, a cup of
+coffee, and a handful of fruits and cakes, were offered to them as they
+passed through the villages on their road.
+
+"Och, if some of those pretty little villagers who are so kind with
+their cakes would just increase their compassion and help us to get out
+of the claws of these ugly blackguards, I'd be grateful to them from the
+bottom of my soul to the end of my days," said O'Grady to Paul, as they
+approached a hamlet in a hilly, thickly-wooded part of the country.
+
+It was in the afternoon, and, although they generally marched on much
+later, to their surprise, the captain of their guard, for some reason
+best known to himself, called a halt.  Instead of being placed in
+prison, as there was none in the village, they were billeted about in
+different houses, with one or two guards over each.  Paul and O'Grady
+found themselves, together with Reuben Cole and two other men, in a neat
+house on the borders of the village.  They were the first disposed of,
+so that where their companions were lodged they could not tell.  The
+people of the house did not appear to regard their guards with friendly
+eyes, so that they concluded that they were not attached to the present
+order of things.
+
+"See that you render them up safe to us to-morrow morning," said the
+captain to an old gentleman, who appeared to be the master of the house.
+
+"I am not a gaoler, and can be answerable for no one," was the reply, at
+which the captain shook his fist and rode off, exclaiming, "Take care,
+take care!"
+
+Though very unwilling to receive the prisoners, the old gentleman
+treated them with a courtesy which seemed to arise rather from respect
+to himself than from any regard he entertained for them.  The two
+midshipmen were shown into one small room, and the seamen, with their
+guards, into another.  In the room occupied by O'Grady and Paul, there
+was a table and chairs and a sofa, while the view from the window
+consisted of a well-kept garden and vineyard, a green meadow and wooded
+hills beyond.  As far as accommodation was concerned, they had little of
+which to complain; but they were very hungry, and O'Grady began to
+complain that the old Frenchman intended to starve them.
+
+"I'll go and shout and try to get something," he cried out, but he found
+that the door was locked outside.
+
+The window was too high from the ground to allow them to jump out, and
+as they would probably be caught, and punished for attempting to run
+away, they agreed to stay where they were.  At length the door opened,
+and a bright-eyed, nicely-dressed girl came in with a tray covered with
+edibles, and a bottle of wine in her hands.  They stood up as she
+entered, and bowed.  She smiled, and expressed her sympathy for their
+misfortunes.  Paul had, hitherto, not let the Frenchmen know that he
+understood French.
+
+"I think that I may venture to speak to her," he said to O'Grady.  "She
+would not have said that if she didn't wish to assist us."
+
+O'Grady agreed that it would be perfectly safe, and so Paul addressed
+her in the choicest French he could command, and told her how they had
+been coming home in a merchantman, and had been captured, and robbed of
+all they possessed, instead of being, as they had hoped, in a few days
+in the bosom of their families, with their mothers and brothers and
+sisters.
+
+"And you both have brothers and sisters, and they long to see you,
+doubtless," said the little girl.
+
+"Oh yes, and we long to see them," exclaimed Paul, believing that he had
+moved her heart.
+
+She sighed.  "Ah, I once had many, but they are all now in the world of
+spirits; they cannot come to me, but for their sakes I will try to serve
+you," answered the girl.
+
+"Oh, thank you, thank you!" said Paul.  "If you could help us to get out
+of this house, and to hide away till the pursuit is over, we should be
+eternally grateful."
+
+She smiled as she answered--
+
+"You are too precipitate.  If you were to escape from this house, my
+father would be punished.  Means may be found, however.  We have no love
+for these regicides, and owe them no allegiance; but you must have
+patience."
+
+"It is a hard thing to exercise; however, we are very much obliged to
+you," said Paul.
+
+"Just ask her her name," put in O'Grady.  "Tell her we should wish to
+know what to call one who for ever after this must dwell like a bright
+star in our memories, especially one who is so lovely and amiable."
+
+"That's rather a long speech to translate, and perhaps she won't like
+all those compliments," remarked Paul.
+
+"Won't she, though?" said O'Grady, who had seen rather more of the world
+than his companion; "try her, at all events."
+
+Paul translated as well as he could what Paddy had said, and as the
+latter stood with his hand on his heart, and bowed at the same time, the
+young lady was not left in doubt as to who was the originator of the
+address.  Paddy was remarkably good-looking and tall for his age, and
+the young lady was in no way displeased, and replied that her name was
+Rosalie, and that she was her father's only daughter.  She had had two
+brothers, both of whom had been carried away by the conscription.  One
+had been killed in a battle with the Austrians, and the other was still
+serving in the ranks, though he ought long ago to have been promoted.
+
+"Ah! the cruel fighting," she added; "our rulers take away those we love
+best, and care not what becomes of them, or of the hearts they break,
+and bring with sorrow to the grave."
+
+Rosalie soon recovered herself, and, wiping her eyes, told the
+midshipmen that she would come back again when they had eaten their
+supper, and would in the meantime try and devise some means to enable
+them to make their escape while they were travelling.
+
+"She's a sweet, pretty little girl," observed O'Grady, after Rosalie had
+gone.  "She'll help us if she can, and do you know I think that she is a
+Protestant, for I don't see any pictures of saints and such-like figures
+stuck about the walls as we do in most other French houses?"
+
+"It is possible; but what difference can that make to you?" asked Paul.
+
+"Why, you see, Gerrard, I have fallen in love with her, and I'm thinking
+that if she helps us to make our escape, when the war is over, I'll come
+back and ask her to marry me."
+
+Paul laughed at his friend's resolve.  It was not at all an uncommon one
+for midshipmen in those days to entertain, whatever may be the case at
+present.  They enjoyed their meal, and agreed that they had not eaten
+anything half so good as the dishes they were discussing for many a long
+day.  Rosalie came back in about an hour.  She said that she had been
+thinking over the matter ever since, and talking it over with an old
+aunt--a very wise woman, fertile in resources of all sorts.  She advised
+that the young Englishmen should pretend to be sick, and that if the
+captain consented to leave them behind, so much the better; but if not,
+and, as was most probable, he insisted on their walking on as before,
+they should lag behind, and limp on till they came to a certain spot
+which she described.  They would rise for some time, till the road led
+along the side of a wooded height, with cliffs on one side, and a steep,
+sloping, brushwood--covered bank on the other, with a stream far down in
+the valley below.  There was a peculiar white stone at the side of the
+road, on which they were to sit to pretend to rest themselves.  If they
+could manage to slip behind the stone for an instant, they might roll
+and scramble down the bank to a considerable distance before they were
+discovered.  They were then to make their way through the brushwood and
+to cross the stream, which was fordable, when they would find another
+road, invisible from the one above.  They were to run along it to the
+right, till they came to an old hollow tree, in which they were to hide
+themselves, unless they were overtaken by a covered cart, driven by a
+man in white.  He would slacken his speed, and they were to jump in
+immediately without a word, and be covered up, while the cart would
+drive on.  They would be conveyed to the house of some friends to the
+English, with whom they would remain till the search for them had
+ceased, when they would be able to make their escape to the coast in
+disguise.  After that, they must manage as best they could to get across
+the Channel.
+
+"The first part is easy enough, if Miss Rosalie would give us the loan
+of a little white paint or chalk," observed O'Grady; "but, faith, the
+rest of the business is rather ticklish, though there's nothing like
+trying, and we shall have some fun for our money at all events."
+
+"I wish that Reuben Cole could manage to run with us.  He'd go fast
+enough if Miss Rosalie's friends would take care of him," remarked Paul.
+
+"You can but ask her," said O'Grady.  "Tell her that he's been with you
+ever since you came to sea, and that you can't be separated from him."
+
+Rosalie heard all Paul had to say, and promised that she would try to
+arrange matters as he wished.  Paul then described Reuben, and gave
+Rosalie a slip of paper, on which he wrote: "Follow the bearer, and come
+to us."  Though Reuben was no great scholar, he hoped that he might be
+able to read this.
+
+"Tell her she's an angel," exclaimed O'Grady, as Rosalie took the paper.
+"I wish that I could speak French, to say it myself; but I'll set to
+work and learn at once.  Ask her if she'll teach me."
+
+Rosalie laughed, and replied that she thought the young Irishman would
+prove an apt scholar, though she could not understand how, under the
+circumstances, she could manage to do as he proposed.
+
+"Och! but I've a mighty great mind to tell her at once all I intend to
+do, and just clinch the matter," cried Paddy; but Paul wouldn't
+undertake to translate for him, and advised him to restrain his feelings
+for the present.
+
+It was getting near midnight, when a gentle rap was heard at the door,
+and Reuben poked in his head.  The arrangements which had been made were
+soon explained to him, and he undertook to feign lameness and to drop
+behind and roll down the bank as they were to do.
+
+"You sees, young gentlemen, if they goes in chase of me, that'll give
+you a better chance of getting off.  If they catches me, there'll be no
+great harm done; they won't get me to fight for them, that I'll tell
+them, and if I get off scot free, why there's little doubt but that I'll
+be able to lend you a hand in getting to the coast, and crossing the
+water afterwards."
+
+The arrangements being made, Reuben stole down to rejoin the other
+seamen, and the midshipmen then coiling themselves up in their blankets
+in different corners of the room, resolved to remain there till summoned
+in the morning, were soon asleep.
+
+When their guards appeared, they made signs that they could not move,
+O'Grady singing out, "Medecin, medecin," by which he wished to intimate
+that he wanted physic, and they thought that he asked for a doctor.  In
+spite, however, of all their remonstrances, they were compelled to get
+up and dress by sundry applications of a scabbard.
+
+They found a breakfast prepared for them in the hall, though they had
+but a few minutes allowed them to consume it before they were driven on
+through the town to join the rest of the prisoners, no time being
+allowed them to bid farewell to Rosalie and her father.  She, indeed,
+had wisely kept out of their way to prevent any suspicion.  They limped
+along, looking as woe-begone as they could, though their hearts were in
+no way sad.  Their only regret was, that they must part from Devereux
+and their captain, but they consoled themselves by believing that they
+could report where they were, and thus manage to get them exchanged.
+
+"We are nearing the spot," said Paul.  "This is the scenery Rosalie
+described, and this must be the hill.  I hope Reuben understands what he
+is to do.  Ah! there is the stone.  Come, let us sit down."
+
+They made signs to the last guard that they would follow.  Believing
+that they were ill he allowed them to remain.  They saw that Reuben was
+watching them.
+
+"We mustn't stay long, though," said O'Grady.
+
+"No; now's the time.  Over we go," cried Paul; and suiting the action to
+the word, over he rolled, followed by O'Grady, and both were speedily
+hid from sight in the brushwood.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+The two midshipmen rolled away down the hill at a very rapid rate, and
+then, getting on their feet, rushed on through the brushwood, not
+minding how much they tore their clothes, and running no little risk of
+scratching out their eyes.  As yet no shouts had reached their ears,
+which they knew would have been the case had their flight been
+discovered.  They had got so far that they did not mind speaking, and
+were congratulating each other on escaping so well, when they heard
+several voices cry out, and some shots fired in rapid succession.
+
+"That must be Reuben," cried Paul.  "Oh, I hope that they haven't hit
+him."
+
+"The first shot did not, or they wouldn't have fired others, and they
+wouldn't have fired at all had he not got to some distance before they
+shouted, on discovering that he had escaped," observed O'Grady.
+"However, as we cannot help him, we must push on, or we shall be retaken
+ourselves."
+
+Paul saw that his friend was right, though he did not like the idea, as
+he thought it, of deserting Reuben.
+
+"If he does not join us, we must send or come and look for him.  He is
+not likely to leave the shelter of the wood," he observed.
+
+They spoke as they ran on, verging always to the right.  They forded the
+shallow though rapid stream, found the road, and continued their flight,
+till they came to the remarkable old tree which had been described to
+them.  There was an entrance on one side into the interior.
+
+"Up, up, Gerrard!" said O'Grady.  "If we are pursued, they are certain
+to look in here, but I see a cavity, some way up, into which we may get,
+and the soldiers might look in and still not find us."
+
+They climbed up.  There was not room for both in one hole.  Fortunately
+Paul found another, and there they sat, as O'Grady said, like owls in
+their nests, waiting for the cart.  They heard voices--men shouting to
+each other.  They must be the soldiers still searching for them.  They
+came nearer and nearer.  There was a laugh and an oath.  Paul heard a
+man say, "Ah! they must be in there--just the place for them to hide
+in."
+
+He gave up all for lost.  He drew in his legs, shut his eyes, and coiled
+himself up in as small a space as possible, hoping that O'Grady would do
+the same.  He heard a man stop and lean against the tree, as if looking
+in.  Fortunately a cloud at that moment passed across the sun, and
+prevented the man from seeing the holes.
+
+"No, they are not here--they must have gone the other way," shouted the
+soldier.
+
+"Then the sailor must have gone with them.  It is strange--they must
+have known the country.  Such a thing could not have happened at any
+other spot on the road."
+
+"Very glad that we did not miss the opportunity," thought Paul.
+"Reuben, too, has not yet been taken--that's a comfort."
+
+They waited and waited.  They were afraid to get out of their holes,
+lest their enemies should still be looking for them.  At length, the
+wheels of a cart were heard in the distance.  Paul, by climbing a little
+higher, could look out.  It was a covered cart, driven by a man in
+white.
+
+"All right," he said; "we must be prepared to jump in."
+
+The cart came slower.  They slid down, and a quick pair of eyes alone
+could have detected them as they ran across the road, and, without a
+word, leaped into the cart.  The driver did not even look behind him,
+but, as soon as he heard Paul whisper _Nous sommes ici_, he lashed his
+horse and drove on faster than ever.
+
+"Miss Rosalie is a brick," whispered O'Grady, as he and Paul crept under
+some sheepskins which the cart contained.  "Hasn't she done the thing
+beautifully?"
+
+They drove on rapidly for many miles.  Of course they had not the
+slightest notion where they were going.  Paul was chiefly anxious about
+Reuben, while O'Grady feared, as they were going so far away, that they
+might not meet Rosalie.  Still, they were not very unhappy, though
+rather hot under the sheepskins.  They would, however, have gone through
+greater inconvenience for the sake of gaining their liberty.  At last,
+passing through a forest, the trees of which had lost most of their
+branches, lopped off for firewood, they reached an old grey chateau,
+with high pointed slate roof, and no end of towers and turrets, and
+gable ends, and excrescences of all sorts.  The cart drove into a paved
+court-yard, on two sides of which were outhouses or offices.  The
+entrance-gate was then shut, and the driver backed the cart against a
+small door on one side.  Not a soul appeared, and he did not shout for
+any one to come and help him.  Pulling out the skins, he whispered,
+_Descendez, mes amis_--_vite, vite_; and Paul, pulling O'Grady by the
+arm, they jumped out, still covered by the skins, and ran through the
+open door.  Had any curious eyes been looking out of any of the windows
+of the chateau, they could scarcely have been seen.  They were in a
+passage, leading on one side to a sort of store-room, but the man told
+them to turn to the left, and to go on till they came to a door, where
+they were to wait till some one came to let them through.
+
+"What fun," whispered O'Grady.  "I delight in an adventure, and this
+will prove one and no mistake.  We shall have some old woman coming and
+shutting us up in an apple-loft or a ghost-haunted chamber, or some
+place of that sort.  It may be weeks before we get to the coast, and
+something new turning up every day.  I wouldn't have missed it for
+anything."
+
+He was running on in this style when the door opened, and Miss Rosalie
+herself appeared, with a countenance which showed how pleased she felt
+at the success of her arrangements.  O'Grady was, at first, quite taken
+aback at seeing her, and then very nearly bestowed a kiss and an embrace
+on her in the exuberance of his delight.  Whether she would have found
+great fault with him it is impossible to say; she merely said, "I must
+not stop to listen here to what you have to tell me--but come along to
+where we shall not be interrupted, and then I will gladly hear all that
+has happened."
+
+She forthwith led them up by a winding stair to the top of one of the
+towers, where there was a small room with very narrow windows.
+
+"There you will be safe enough," she remarked, "for if you were to look
+out of the casement, no one could see you from below, and it will be
+pleasanter than being shut up in a cellar or a lumber-room, where, if
+anybody came to search the chateau, they would be sure to look for you.
+See, too," she added, "there are further means of hiding yourselves--for
+we cannot be too cautious in these sad times.  Here is a panel.  It
+slides on one side, and within you will find a ladder, which leads to a
+space between the ceiling and the roof.  You might there manage to exist
+for some days--not very pleasantly, but securely at all events."
+
+The ceiling was pointed the shape of the roof, and it was difficult to
+suppose that there could be space sufficient between the two to admit a
+person.  Rosalie, however, pulled aside the panel and showed the ladder,
+that there might be no mistake.  She charged them also not to leave
+anything about which might betray them.  "If I were to tell you all we
+have gone through, you would not be surprised at my caution," she
+remarked.
+
+She then inquired about the sailor they hoped would have accompanied
+them.  Paul told her that he believed Reuben had escaped from the
+guards, and was probably still lurking about in the same neighbourhood.
+
+"We will send and try to find him," she answered at once.  "Our faithful
+old servant will undertake the work.  Here, write on a slip of paper
+that he is to follow the bearer and do whatever he is told.  It is
+important to find him before night, as he might otherwise, growing
+hungry, come out of his hiding-place in search of food, and be
+discovered.  I will tell our worthy Jaques to sing out his name as he
+drives along, and perhaps that may draw him from his lair.  What is it?"
+
+Paul told her.  "Oh, that is a very good name to pronounce,--Rubicole!
+Rubicole!  Jaques can cry out that very well."
+
+So away she went, leaving the midshipmen to their own reflections--
+O'Grady more in love than ever.  As they had nothing to do, they looked
+through the window, and saw the cart which had brought them driving
+rapidly away.  Rosalie came back soon afterwards with a very nice dinner
+on a tray.  She said that she alone would attend on them, for though she
+could safely trust the people in the house, the fewer who knew that they
+were there the better.  The chateau, she told them, belonged to her
+uncle, a Royalist, a fine old gentleman, who had nearly lost his life in
+the Revolution.  She had come over that day, as had previously been
+arranged, to attend on her uncle, who was ill, and would, therefore, be
+unable to see them, but hoped to do so before their departure.  She
+concluded that they were in no great hurry to be off.
+
+"Not in the slightest, tell her," exclaimed O'Grady, when Paul explained
+what she had said: "we are as happy as bees in a sugar-bason."
+
+Rosalie did not object to stay and talk with the midshipmen, but she had
+her uncle to attend on.  She told them that she would close a door at
+the bottom of the turret steps; when opened, it would cause a small bell
+to ring in the room, and that the instant they should hear it, they were
+to retreat by the panel and take refuge in the roof.  She again
+cautioned them not to leave anything in the room which might betray
+them; and having placed a jug of water, a bottle of wine, and some bread
+and cheese in the recess, she carefully brushed up the crumbs, and
+carried the tray with her down-stairs.
+
+"Well, she is first-rate," cried O'Grady; "she's so sensible and pretty.
+I don't care who knows it--I say she'll make a capital wife."
+
+"I dare say she will," said Paul.  He did not think it prudent to make
+any further remark on the subject.
+
+Having exhausted the subject of Miss Rosalie, and declared fully fifty
+times over that she was the most charming person alive, Paddy relapsed
+into silence.  They waited hour after hour for the return of the cart,
+hoping that it might bring in Reuben.  At last they rolled themselves up
+in their blankets and went to sleep.  Rosalie had brought them in with
+pillows, and reminded them that they must drag the whole up with them
+into the roof, if they heard the bell ring.  When Rosalie appeared the
+next morning, she said that Jaques had returned, but that he had seen
+nothing of the English sailor.
+
+Several days passed by, and at last Rosalie said that her uncle would be
+well enough, she hoped, to visit them on the following day.  They would
+have found their time pass somewhat heavily, had not she frequently
+visited them.  She also brought them a French book, and, with it to
+assist him, Paul set to work to teach O'Grady French.  Rosalie, when she
+came in, corrected his pronunciation, which was not always correct.
+O'Grady learnt very rapidly, and he declared that he thought it was a
+pity that they should not remain where they were till he was perfect.
+
+"You see, Gerrard," he observed, "we are living here free of expense.
+It's very pleasant, and we are not idling our time."
+
+Paul, however, who was not in love, though he thought Rosalie a very
+amiable young lady, insisted that it was their duty to get back to
+England as fast as they could.  He also wished to see his mother and
+sisters, and to put them out of their anxiety about him.  At last he
+told O'Grady that he wouldn't help him any longer to learn French if he
+did not put such foolish notions out of his head, and that he was very
+sure without him he would never get on.  Paddy had sense enough to see
+that he must knock under, and that Paul was, in reality, the better man
+of the two.  They were to see _Mon Oncle_, as Rosalie always called the
+owner of the chateau, on the following day.  They were not allowed to
+have a light in the turret, lest it should betray them; so, as soon as
+it was dark, they went to sleep.  The weather outside was unpleasant,
+for it was blowing and raining hard.  They had not long coiled
+themselves up in their respective corners, when there was a loud
+knocking at the chief door of the chateau, the noise resounding through
+the passages up to their turret.
+
+"Some benighted travellers seeking shelter from the storm," observed
+O'Grady.  "I am glad that we are not out going across country in such a
+night as this."
+
+There was a pause, and again a loud knocking.
+
+"Old Jaques is in no hurry to let in the strangers," observed Paul.  "He
+suspects that these are not friends; we must keep our eyes open.
+Remember what Rosalie told us."
+
+"Ay, ay, mate, I am not likely to forget what she says," answered Paddy,
+who had not quite got over his feeling of annoyance with Paul.
+
+They listened attentively.  Those outside were at length admitted, they
+fancied; but, further than that, they could make out nothing.  They
+waited all ready to jump up and run into their hiding-place, for they
+were persuaded that this evening visit had reference to them.  They
+heard doors slamming and strange sounds produced by the blast rushing
+through the passages and windows.
+
+"Yes, I am certain that there is a search going on in the house,"
+whispered O'Grady.  "I hope _Mon Oncle_ won't get into a scrape on our
+account, or dear Rosalie," (he had got to call her "dear" by this time.)
+"Hark! how the wind roars and whistles."
+
+There was a door banged not far from the foot of the stairs; it made the
+whole tower shake.  They were silent for a minute, when a bell tinkled.
+Before it had ceased to vibrate, the midshipmen had started up, and,
+seizing their bed-clothes, had rushed to the panel.  They started
+through and closed it behind them, but only just in time, for the door
+opened as the panel closed.  What midshipmen were ever in a more
+delightful situation?  They were not frightened a bit, and only wished
+that they could find some crevice through which they could get a look at
+the intruders, and O'Grady regretted that they had not a brace or two of
+pistols with which they could shoot them.  They sprang up the ladder
+only as cats or midshipmen could do, and had placed themselves on the
+roof, when they heard the clank of sabres and spurs, and the tread of
+heavy men, and a gleam of light came through a crevice in the wooden
+ceiling.  It was close to Paul's head, and looking down he saw three
+gendarmes peering round and round the room.  They were evidently at
+fault, however.  Behind them stood old Jaques with a lantern from which
+he sent the light into every corner of the room.  There was a book on
+the table, and a chair near it.
+
+"Who reads here?" asked one of the men.
+
+"My young mistress, of course," answered Jaques, promptly.
+
+"She said just now that she was here to attend on her uncle," remarked
+the gendarmes.
+
+"So she is, and good care she takes of the old gentleman; but he sleeps
+sometimes, so I relieve her," returned Jaques.  "She is fond of
+solitude."
+
+"That is a pity; I should like to keep her company," said the gendarme,
+with a grin, which made O'Grady clench his fist, and Jaques look
+indignant.  The man put the book under his arm, and having been unable
+to discover anything apparently, ordered his companions to fallow him
+down-stairs.  O'Grady was for descending into the room at once from
+their uncomfortable position; but Paul held him back, observing that
+they had not heard the door at the foot of the stairs shut, and that
+they might easily be surprised.  He advised that they should as
+noiselessly as possible take their bed-clothes up to the roof, and sleep
+there, however uncomfortable it might be to do so.
+
+"Not for our own sakes alone, but for that of Rosalie and _Mon Oncle_,
+we are bound in honour to do so."
+
+That settled the question--fortunately--for before long the door opened
+softly, and one of the gendarmes crept in on tip-toe.  He crept round
+and round the room with a lantern in his hand, like a terrier hunting
+for a rat which he is sure has his hole thereabouts.  O'Grady had gone
+to sleep, and had begun to snore.  Happily he had ceased just as the man
+appeared.
+
+Paul was afraid that he would begin again, and he dared not touch him
+lest he should cry out.  He leaned over towards him till he could reach
+his ear, and then whispered, "Don't stir, for your life!"
+
+O'Grady pressed his hand to show that he heard.  He moved his head back
+to the chink.  Had he made any noise, the storm would have prevented its
+being heard.  The gendarme was not yet satisfied.  He ran his sword into
+every hole and crevice he could find, and attacked several of the
+panels.  For the first time Paul began to fear that they should be
+discovered.  As yet he had passed over the moving panel.  He began to
+grind his teeth in a rage, and to utter numerous "_sacres_" and other
+uncouth oaths, and at last made a furious dig close to the panel.  His
+weapon, however, instead of going through the wood, encountered a mass
+of stone, and broke short off.  The accident increased his rage, and
+produced numerous additional _sacres_, and, which was of more
+consequence, made him trudge down-stairs again, convinced that there was
+no hole in which even a rat could be concealed.  He slammed the door
+after him; but Paul, suspecting that this might be a trick, persuaded
+O'Grady to remain where they were.
+
+The night passed on, and both midshipmen fell asleep.  When they awoke
+they saw that daylight was streaming full into the room below them,
+though it was dark up in the roof; still they wisely would not stir, for
+they felt sure that, as soon as the gendarmes were fairly away, Rosalie
+would come to them and bring them their breakfast.
+
+"I hope she may," observed Paddy, "for I am very peckish."
+
+Paul thought that he could not be so very desperately in love.
+
+At last they heard the tramp of horses' hoofs, and about a quarter of an
+hour afterwards, though they thought it much longer, Rosalie appeared
+with a tray, with coffee, and eggs, and bread, and other substantial
+fare.  They were down the ladder in a twinkling, and warmly expressing
+their thanks.  They did not require much pressing to set to; indeed,
+O'Grady had begun to cast ravenous glances at the viands alternately,
+with affectionate ones towards her, while Paul was translating what he
+desired him to say.  She looked very pale, and told them that she had
+been very anxious, though the gendarmes had come, not to look for them,
+but for a political criminal, a royalist of rank, who had been concealed
+in the chateau, but had fortunately escaped.  About noon she came back
+with a very nice old gentleman, a perfect picture of a French man of
+rank of the old school--buckles, knee-breeches, flowered waistcoat, bag,
+wig, and all.  She introduced him as _Mon Oncle_.  He at once began to
+talk with Paul, and soon became communicative.
+
+"I once had two brave boys," he said.  "I have lost both of them.  One
+perished at sea; the other has been desperately wounded fighting in a
+cause he detests; yet he was dragged away without the power of escaping.
+I scarcely expect to see him again; but if he recovers, my prayer is
+that he may be taken prisoner, for I am sure that he will be kindly
+treated by the brave English people.  That is one of the reasons that I
+desire to help you.  I have other reasons.  One is, that I hope through
+the English the cause I espouse may triumph.  I am sorry to say,
+however, that my chateau is no longer a safe abode for you.  It will be
+subject to frequent visits from the police, and I myself may be dragged
+away with all my domestics, when you must either starve or be
+discovered."
+
+The midshipmen agreed to the wisdom of this, and Paul, after thanking
+the old gentleman again and again for the refuge he had afforded them,
+said that they thought with him that it would be wise for them to start
+immediately on their journey to the north.  They had consulted with
+Rosalie how they were to proceed, and they thought with her that they
+might make their way dressed as country lads from some place in the
+south of France where a patois was spoken scarcely known in the north;
+that he, Paul, was to act as spokesman, and that O'Grady was to pretend
+to be deaf and dumb.  As a reason for their journey, Paul was to state
+that their father was a sailor, and that they had heard he was lying
+wounded at some place on the coast, and wanted to see them before he
+died.
+
+This story, it must be understood, was concocted by Miss Rosalie, whose
+active fingers had been engaged night and day for nearly a week in
+making the costumes for the two midshipmen.  They had reason to be
+thankful to her.  The day was spent in preparing for the journey.  The
+clothes fitted beautifully.  Rosalie said that she did not know she was
+so good a tailor.  The difficulty was to make them look sufficiently
+worn.  Rosalie suggested, however, that they were to be the grandsons of
+a small farmer of a respectable class, by whom they had been brought up,
+and that therefore they would be well clothed, with some little money in
+their pockets.  She had also fastened up in two belts some gold and
+silver coins, all the little money she possessed, and she told them that
+they must take it and repay her when they could.  O'Grady, who fully
+intended to come back, had no hesitation about accepting the money, but
+Paul wished that they could manage without it; however, he yielded when
+the former observed, "You don't suppose that we can get on without money
+in France more than in any other country, and if we intend to starve we
+had better have remained prisoners."
+
+In the afternoon Jaques drove the cart into the court-yard, and backed
+it up to the door by which they had entered.  Rosalie came up to the
+midshipmen; her eyes were red with crying; still she looked very pretty.
+
+"I have come to tell you that it is time for you to go; you will follow
+out the directions you have received as nearly as possible."
+
+It had been arranged that they should go on in the cart till dark, and
+then walk as far as they could on foot during the night, concealing
+themselves in some secluded spot in the day-time.  If they were
+discovered, they were to plead fatigue for resting; they were not to
+court observation, though they were not to dread it, if it could not be
+avoided.  They were, however, on no account to enter a town, by night or
+by day, if they could help it.  No one, indeed, could have arranged a
+more perfect plan than Miss Rosalie had done.  There's nothing like the
+wits of an honest clear-sighted woman when people are in trouble, to get
+them out of it.
+
+Rosalie had provided them with wallets well filled with food, so that
+they need not for some days stop at any village to procure food--not,
+indeed, till they were well to the north of the line of road the Brest
+prisoners passed.
+
+Both the midshipmen were very, very sorry at having to part from
+Rosalie, and O'Grady felt more in love with her than ever; still they
+must be away.  Her uncle gave them a kind embrace, and she accompanied
+them down-stairs, and kissing them both as if they were young brothers
+going to school, hurried them into the cart.  It was loaded with sacks
+of corn going to the mill to be ground, with several span new sacks to
+fill with flour.  There was a clear space formed by placing two sacks
+across two others, with the empty sacks thrown over the inner end.  Into
+this they crept.  They could look out from behind the loose sacks, and
+as the cart drove out of the court-yard they could see Rosalie watching
+them with her apron to her eyes.  They drove rapidly on, though more
+than once Jaques stopped and talked to some one, and then on he went at
+the same pace as before.  One man asked for a lift, but he laughed and
+said, that the cart was already laden heavily enough with so many sacks
+of wheat, and that it would break down if a burly fellow like the
+speaker were to get into it, or the horse would refuse to go.  It was
+getting dark, but the sky was clear, and as they could see the stars by
+which to steer, they had little doubt that they should find their way.
+Jaques drew up in a solitary spot a little off the read.
+
+"Farewell, young gentlemen, farewell!" he said, as he helped them to get
+from under the sacks: "may you reach your native land in safety.  Go
+straight along that road; you will make good way before the morning.  I
+wish that I could go further with you, but I dare not.  Farewell,
+farewell!"  Saying this, he shook them by the hand, and giving them a
+gentle shove on in the direction they were to take, as if his heart
+longed to go with them, he jumped into the cart and drove rapidly away.
+
+They now felt for the first time how helpless they were, and the
+difficulty of their undertaking; but they were brave lads, and quickly
+again plucked up courage.  They had been provided with sticks, and
+trudged on boldly.  Mile after mile of dusty road, up and down hill, and
+along dead flats, were traversed.
+
+"It will make us sleep all the sounder," observed O'Grady, who had a
+happy facility for making the best of everything.  "If we were at sea
+now we should have to be pacing the deck with a cold breeze in our
+teeth, and maybe an occasional salt shower-bath."
+
+Paul agreed, though they were not sorry when daylight came and warned
+them to look out for a resting-place.  They saw a forest some way from
+the high road, and, going into it, before long discovered numerous piles
+of wood prepared for burning.
+
+"They are not likely to be removed for some time," observed O'Grady; "if
+they do, they will begin on the outer ones, and we shall have time to
+decamp.  Let's make ourselves some nests inside; see, there is plenty of
+dry grass, and we shall sleep as comfortable as on beds of down."
+
+By removing some of the logs the work was easily accomplished, and no
+one outside would have observed what they had done.  They crept in, and
+were very soon fast asleep.  They awoke perfectly rested, and prepared
+to resume their journey; but on looking out they found that it was not
+much past noon, and that they had the greater part of the day to wait.
+This they did not at all like.  O'Grady was for pushing on in spite of
+their first resolutions; Paul wished to remain patiently till the
+evening.  No one had come to remove the wood, so that they were not
+likely to be disturbed.  As they were hungry they ate some dinner,
+emptying their bottle of wine, and then tried to go to sleep again--not
+a difficult task for midshipmen.
+
+Paul, after some time, was awoke by hearing some one singing.  He
+touched O'Grady's arm.  They listened.  The words were English, and they
+both had an idea that they knew the voice.  The singer appeared to be
+near, and employed in removing the logs of wood.  Paul slowly lifted up
+his head.  A shout and an expression indicative of astonishment escaped
+from the singer, who stood, like one transfixed, gazing at Paul.  The
+shout made O'Grady lift up his head, and they had ample time to
+contemplate the strange figure before them.  His dress was of the most
+extraordinary patchwork, though blue and white predominated.  On his
+head, instead of a hat, he wore a wisp of straw, secured by a
+handkerchief; his feet were also protected by wisps of straw, and round
+his waist he wore a belt with an axe stuck in it.  Altogether, he did
+not look like a man possessed with much of this world's wealth.  The
+midshipmen looked at him, and he looked at the midshipmen, for a minute
+or more without speaking.
+
+"It is--no it isn't--yes it is!" exclaimed the man at length.  "Why,
+young gentlemen, is it really you? you looks so transmogrified, I for
+one shouldn't have known you!"
+
+"What, Reuben Cole, is it really you?  I may ask," cried Paul, springing
+out of his lair, and shaking him by the hand, followed by O'Grady.
+"This is a fortunate meeting."
+
+"Why, that's as it may turn out; but how did you come to look like
+that?"
+
+Paul told him, and then put the same question to him.
+
+"Why, do ye see, when I got away from our Jennydams, I found a hole in
+the hillside close under where I jumped off the road.  Thinks I to
+myself, if I tumbles in here, they'll all go pelting away down the hill
+through the wood, leaving me snug; and so they did.  I heard them
+halloing, and cursing, and swearing at one another, and I all the time
+felt just like an old fox in his cover till they'd gone away on their
+road wondering where I'd gone.  I then started up and ran down the hill
+just in time to see a cart driven by a man in white.  I shouted, but he
+didn't hear me, and so I hoped it would be all right for you, at all
+events.  Then I went back to my hole, and thinks I to myself, if I goes
+wandering about in this guise I'll sure to be taken: so I remembers that
+I'd got in my pocket the housewife my old mother gave me, and which the
+rascally privateer's-men hadn't stolen; so out I takes it and sets to
+work to make up my clothes in a new fashion.  I couldn't make myself
+into a mounseer--little or big--by no manner of means, so I just
+transmogrified my clothes as you see them, that I mightn't be like a
+runaway prisoner.  It took me two days before I was fit to be seen--
+pretty smart work; and that's how the servant the old gentleman sent out
+missed me.  At last I set out for the sea; but I was very hungry, and I
+can't say if I'd fallen in with a hen-roost what I'd have done.  I got
+some nuts and fruit though, enough to keep body and soul together.
+Three days I wandered on, when I found myself in this very wood.  I was
+getting wickedly hungry, and I was thinking I must go out and beg, when
+I sees a cart and a man coming along, so I up and axes him quite civilly
+if he'd a bit of a dinner left for a poor fellow.  I was taken all aback
+with astonishment when he speaks to me in English, and tells me that
+he'd been some months in a prison across the Channel, and knows our
+lingo, and that he was treated so kindly that he'd sworn he'd never bear
+arms against us again, if he could help it.  With that he gives me some
+bread and cheese and wine, and when his day's work was over he takes me
+to his house, at the borders of the forest, near a village.  As I
+wouldn't eat the bread of idleness, I offered to help him, and as I can
+handle an axe with most men, I have been working away ever since as a
+wood-cutter.  Now I know that if you'll come with me to his cottage,
+he'll gladly give you lodging and food as long as you like to stay, and
+then, of course, I must pack up and be off with you."
+
+The midshipmen told Reuben how glad they were to find him, though they
+agreed that by his travelling on with them their difficulties would be
+somewhat increased, as they were puzzled to know what character he could
+assume.  He was so thoroughly the English sailor that even his very walk
+would betray him.
+
+He acknowledged this; but after scratching his head for five minutes,
+and giving sundry tugs at his rather curious-looking breeches, he
+exclaimed: "I've hit it.  I'll go on crutches and follow in your wake;
+when no one is looking I'll make play, and I'll keep up with you, I'll
+warrant.  If I'm axed who I am, I'll pretend that I'm a 'Talian, or some
+other furriner, who can't speak the French lingo, and just make all
+sorts of gabblifications.  Just you leave it to me, young gentlemen, if
+you'll let me come with you."
+
+Though there was considerable risk in the plan, the midshipmen could
+think of no other.  They agreed to go to the wood-cutter's hut, and if,
+after talking the matter over, they could not improve on Reuben's plan,
+to start the following evening.  Having assisted him to load his cart,
+they set forward at once.  The path led them for most of the way through
+the forest.  It was still broad daylight when they approached the
+cottage.  It stood at the edge of a green, on which a number of
+villagers were seen collected.  They were themselves perceived before
+they had time to retreat, which it would have been wise for them, they
+felt, to do.
+
+"Let us put a bold face on the matter and go forward!" exclaimed
+O'Grady.  "Reuben, go on with the cart; we had better have nothing to
+say to you at present."
+
+They at once walked on towards the villagers without exhibiting any
+marks of hesitation.  Reuben looked after them with as indifferent an
+air as he could assume, as he drove his cart up to the woodman's
+cottage.
+
+"I see a high road; let us turn towards it, and walk along it as if we
+were not going to stop at the village," observed Paul; "we may thus
+avoid questions, and we may come back to the wood-cutter's when it is
+dark; Reuben will prepare him for our appearance."
+
+O'Grady agreed to this plan, and they were walking along pretty briskly,
+hoping to pass an auberge, or inn, at the side of the road, when the
+aubergiste, or inn-keeper, who happened to be in very good humour after
+his evening potations, caught sight of them, and shouted out, "Come in,
+come in, mes garcons! there is no other auberge in the place, and you
+would not pass by the house of Francois le Gros!"  And he patted his
+well-stuffed-out ribs, for there are fat Frenchmen as well as fat
+Englishmen.
+
+Thus appealed to, the midshipmen thought it wiser to go up to the man,
+and Paul told him that as they had very little money, they preferred
+stopping out at night when the weather was fine.
+
+"That will never do," cried honest Francois.  "Tell me all about
+yourselves, and you shall have board and lodging free.  Numerous great
+people stop here, and so does the diligence, and as I am patronised by
+all around, I can afford at times to help young wayfarers like
+yourselves."
+
+Paul, anxious especially to avoid so public a place as an inn, made more
+excuses.  While he was speaking the landlord looked very hard at him.
+Several other villagers did the same.
+
+"Why, you do not look very like what you say you are!" he exclaimed.
+"Come nearer, and let me have a better look at you."
+
+"Thank you," said Paul; "if you don't believe me, I won't ask you to do
+so; but let us go on, and we will not trouble you."
+
+This speech did not satisfy the landlord, and several disagreeable
+remarks were made by the bystanders.  Altogether, matters were looking
+very bad, when the attention of the villagers was called off by the
+sound of the loud cracks of whips, the tramping of horses, the rumbling
+of wheels, and the appearance of a cloud of dust, out of which emerged a
+huge lumbering vehicle with a vast hood in front, a long big body
+covered with boxes and baskets, and drawn by six horses, governed by two
+postillions dressed in huge jack boots, cocked hats, and gold-laced
+coats.  They dashed up to the inn with as much clatter and noise as they
+could make.  More of the villagers collected; and while the horses were
+being brought out, and the landlord was engaged in attending to his
+customers, O'Grady whispered to Paul that he thought they might possibly
+slip out of the crowd unobserved; and while some of the villagers had to
+move out of the way of the released horses, they moved round on the
+other side of the diligence and walked rapidly along the road.
+
+At that moment Francois had come out with a jug of wine for an old
+gentleman in the inside, and as he was returning, his eye fell on the
+fugitives.  His suspicions now increased; he shouted to some of his
+cronies to make chase and bring them back.  As the villagers were making
+holiday and had nothing to do, a dozen or more set off in chase.
+
+"I wish that we hadn't tried to get away," said Paul.  "Let's go back
+boldly, and say that we hoped to get on to the next village; but as they
+are determined to keep us, we will stay with them."
+
+They, however, had barely time to turn before their pursuers were upon
+them; and in no very happy state of mind they were dragged back to the
+village.  They came in sight of the inn just as the diligence had driven
+off.  One passenger had remained behind, who stood watching them with a
+look of considerable interest while the landlord was describing to him
+how they had made their appearance, and expressing his opinion that they
+were no better than they should be.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+Paul and O'Grady, as they were dragged back by the villagers to the inn,
+felt certain that their true character would be discovered, and that
+they would be sent to prison.  Paul was especially unhappy under the
+belief that his bad French had betrayed him.  He wished that he could
+give Reuben warning to keep out of the way of the meddling villagers,
+lest he also should be captured.  Still, he was not a lad to give in,
+and he determined to play the part he had assumed as long as he could.
+When the villagers saw Francois, they shouted out to him that they had
+got the young rogues fast enough.  Paul at once began to expostulate
+with the inn-keeper, and, with a volubility which did him credit, gave
+the whole story which had been arranged by Rosalie.  The traveller, who
+had retired on one side, but had remained near enough to hear what Paul
+said, now stepped forward, exclaiming, "Of course--all they say is true.
+I know all about them.  Their grandfather is a most estimable man--a
+tenant of my maternal uncle, the Sieur Caudbec.  I saw him when last I
+was in the south of France, and these lads, I think I saw them--yes,
+surely I know both of them.  You know me, the son of the Baron de
+Montauban--one who was always kind to the poor, and a friend of true
+liberty."
+
+Paul glanced at the speaker; he was very young.  He looked again.  There
+could be no doubt about it.  Though somewhat disguised by his travelling
+costume and civilian's dress, there stood before him Alphonse Montauban.
+He ran forward and took Alphonse's hand, not to shake it, however, but,
+remembering their supposed relative ranks, to put it to his lips.
+O'Grady, though not understanding what had been said, and wondering why
+he did so, followed his example.
+
+"Come, worthy Francois," said Alphonse; "though I had intended to
+proceed across the country, I will rest here to-night; and as I take an
+interest in the family of these lads, they shall spend the evening with
+me, and live at my cost.  Let a good supper be prepared for us all, and,
+mark you, a bottle of your best wine."
+
+Saying this, Alphonse led the way into the inn.  He stopped at the door,
+however, and taking some money out of his purse, handed it to the
+landlord, saying, "Let some of these honest people here, after their
+quick run, have wherewithal to drink my health."
+
+Alphonse, with considerable dignity, walked into a private room in the
+inn, and taking a chair, beckoned to the seeming peasant lads to sit
+near him, while the landlord received his orders for supper.  As soon as
+Francois had retired, he burst into a fit of laughter, and, jumping up,
+shook the midshipmen warmly by the hand, and begged them to tell him how
+they came to be there.  They gave him, as rapidly as they could, an
+account of their adventures.
+
+"And do you not know the name of the old gentleman, `mon oncle,' as you
+call him, and that of the chateau?  But I do.  He is my dear father, and
+that pretty little Rosalie is my very sweet cousin.  The story is just
+such as I could have supposed she would have invented.  And they think
+me dead.  That is very natural, for when the _Alerte_ escaped from the
+_Cerberus_, of course her people would have reported all on board their
+consort drowned.  You will be surprised that I should not have reached
+home before this, but I had a long voyage, and as I had no wish to go to
+sea again, when I found on landing that it was not known I had escaped,
+I made the best of my way to the house of a relative near the coast, who
+provided me with clothing and funds, and I have only lately been able to
+commence my journey homeward.  Now, however, I have a great inclination
+to turn back and to see you safely embarked to cross the Channel."
+
+The English midshipmen would not, however, hear of his carrying out such
+a proposal.  If caught, he would be more severely dealt with than they
+would, and they felt sure that, if they were cautious, they should be
+able to reach the coast by themselves.  At length, Alphonse, seeing the
+wisdom of their arguments, and remembering his duty to his father,
+consented.  He, however, said that he must first communicate with Reuben
+Cole, and let him know the road they had taken, that he might follow
+them.  Alphonse had become quite an Englishman in his habits, and the
+three old friends spent a very pleasant evening.  They were up before
+daylight, when Alphonse, slipping out, hurried off to the woodman's hut.
+The woodman and his new mate were on foot, and Reuben, having
+ascertained that the young strangers were at the auberge, was very
+doubtful how to proceed.  He rubbed his eyes, and hitched away
+convulsively at his belt, when he saw Alphonse, for some minutes, before
+he dared believe his own eyes.
+
+"Well, sir, things do come about curious," he exclaimed at last.  "First
+I falls in with the young gentlemen, and then they falls in with you,
+just in time for you to save them from being packed off to prison."
+
+As Alphonse knew that part of the country well, he was able to fix on a
+spot about three miles from the village, where he suggested that they
+and Reuben should lie concealed during the remainder of the day, and
+travel on, as they had proposed, at night.  Having made these
+arrangements with Reuben, he returned to the auberge.  Once more, after
+an early breakfast, the friends parted; Alphonse starting in a
+wonderfully old-fashioned _caleche_ on two wheels, which gave promise of
+breaking down on its way to his father's chateau, and the midshipmen
+proceeding northward on their own sturdy legs.  They fell in with Reuben
+Cole at the spot arranged on, and then all three, plunging into the
+forest, made themselves comfortable for the rest of the day.  Night
+after night they travelled on.  Sometimes they met people during the
+day, and either little notice was taken of them, or Paul easily answered
+the questions put to him.  Reuben always had his crutches ready, and in
+a wonderfully quick time he was on his wooden leg, and hobbling along at
+a rate of a mile or so an hour, so that no one would have suspected that
+he had a long journey before him.  The whole party were in very good
+spirits, for as they had found friends when they least expected it, and
+got out of difficulties when they thought that they were irretrievably
+lost, so they hoped that they might be equally fortunate another time.
+O'Grady declared that this life was that of a perpetual picnic.  They
+generally took shelter during the day in a wood, or among hills, or in
+some deserted hut, or, like gipsies, under a hedge in some unfrequented
+district; or, if it rained, which was not very often, they got into some
+barn or shed in the outskirts of a hamlet; and twice they found caves
+into which they could creep, and several times some old ruins of castles
+or chateaux afforded them shelter.  Their plan was to walk on till
+daybreak, and then O'Grady or Paul climbed a height or a tree, and
+surveyed the country ahead.  If no habitations were to be seen, they
+pushed on further, and then took another survey of the country, to find
+a place of shelter for the day.  When they required food, they generally
+first passed through a village, and then Paul went back, towards the
+evening to purchase it.  As soon as he had bought it, they proceeded
+onward, so that, should the villagers have any suspicions, they were not
+likely to overtake them.  They were now approaching the coast, and
+greater caution than ever was, of course, necessary.  Their greatest
+difficulty, however, would be finding a fit boat, and getting away
+unperceived.
+
+"I suppose that it will not be wrong to steal a boat," said Paul.  "I
+don't quite like the thoughts of that."
+
+O'Grady laughed, and remarked, "Why, you see, Gerrard, that necessity
+has no law.  The owner of the boat will not be pleased to lose it, but
+then he is one of a nation with whom England is at war, and we have as
+much right to run away with his boat, as his countrymen have to keep us
+prisoners."
+
+At length, after a long walk, at break of day the sea appeared in sight
+in the far distance, somewhere between Cherbourg and Barfleur.  With
+beating hearts they went on.  They could not resist the temptation of
+trying to ascertain whereabouts they were, and if there was a boat near
+which might serve their purpose.  It might have been wiser had they, as
+usual, lain by during daylight.  They walked on till they reached the
+top of a cliff overlooking the Channel.  Across those waters was the
+land they so earnestly desired to reach.  To the west a blue line of
+land stretched out into the sea.  It was the promontory on which
+Cherbourg is situated.  If they were able to get to the end, they would
+have much less distance to go by sea, and might, in the course of little
+more than a day, reach the Isle of Wight.  The great point was to find a
+boat.  Not one was in sight.  It was a question whether they should go
+east or west in search of some fishing village, where they might find
+one.  They carefully examined the coast, and as the sun rose in the sky,
+his beams lighting up the shore on the west, they fancied that they
+could make out some buildings in the distance.  They at once turned in
+that direction.  As they advanced, they found that they were not
+mistaken.  Before concealing themselves, as they proposed doing, till
+night, they carefully reconnoitred the place from the cliff above it.
+There was a tower, and a small harbour with several small craft and
+boats at anchor in it, and two or three better sort of houses, besides
+numerous cottages and huts, and, at a little distance, a chateau of some
+pretension to architecture.  They would have preferred a place where
+there were no gentlemen, who would naturally be less likely to believe
+their story.  In other respects, they could not have desired to reach a
+more satisfactory locality.  The cliffs appeared to be full of caves, in
+one of which they could lie hidden till night.  They calculated that
+their food would last them for a couple of days, so that by husbanding
+it, even if their voyage were prolonged, they would have enough to
+support life.  After hunting about for some time, they selected a cave
+half-way up the cliff, which sailors alone, and that not without some
+difficulty, could reach.  The entrance was small, but there was ample
+room for them to lie down, and, what was of importance, they were not at
+all likely to be disturbed.  As they had walked all night, and had been
+scrambling about all the morning, they were very tired, and directly
+they had taken some breakfast, they fell fast asleep.  Paul was awoke
+after some time by the roaring sound of the waves dashing against the
+shore.  He could see through the narrow opening dark clouds scouring
+across the sky, the rain descending in torrents, while ever and anon
+there came vivid flashes of lightning, followed by loud, rattling peals
+of thunder, which seemed to shake the very rock above their heads.  The
+wind, too, blew fiercely, and the whole ocean before them was covered
+with white-topped billows.  Reuben awoke and looked out.  He came back
+and seated himself.
+
+"Well, young gentlemen," he said quietly, "one thing is certain--we may
+make up our minds to have to remain here for some days to come.  That
+sea won't go down in a hurry, and till it does, it will be hard to come
+at a French boat which will carry us safe across."
+
+It was very evident that Reuben's observation was correct, yet it was
+very provoking to be thus, delayed when their expedition was so nearly,
+as they thought, brought to a happy conclusion.  Two days passed, and
+the gale did not abate.  It now, therefore, became necessary for Paul to
+go in search of provisions.  His companions wished to accompany him, but
+he preferred going alone, and, if possible, to some inland village where
+there was less risk of their object being suspected.  He set off early
+in the morning, and after walking for nearly three hours, he entered a
+village where he hoped to find both bread and meat.  He could not get
+it, however, without being asked some rather searching questions.  He
+replied promptly, that he had a brother with him, and that as they had
+still some way to go, and did not wish to delay on the road, he wished
+to lay in a stock of provisions at once.  Fortunately there were three
+or four small shops in the place, at each of which he made some
+purchases, filling up his wallet at a farm-house, where he got a supply
+of eggs and a ham.  Highly satisfied with the success of his
+undertaking, he took his way back to the cave.  He had got within a
+couple of miles of the end of his journey, rather tired with the weight
+of the provisions he carried, when, on sitting down on a bank to rest,
+he saw that somebody was following him.  He was puzzled what to do.
+Should he go on, his retreat would be discovered; if he stopped, he
+would be overtaken, and disagreeable questions might, perhaps, be asked
+of him.  So he got up and went on again as fast as his legs could carry
+him.  More than once, however, he looked back.  The man he had seen was
+still behind.  "He may, perhaps, only be going the same way that I am,"
+thought Paul.  "I will take the first turning I can find to the right or
+left, and he may then, perhaps, pass on and miss me."
+
+The opportunity occurred sooner than he expected.  The road made several
+sharp turns.  A narrow path, between high banks, led off to the right.
+He turned sharp into it, and by running rapidly along, was soon out of
+sight of the high road.  He sat down and waited.  No one came.  He hoped
+that he had escaped his pursuer.  At last he came cautiously out and
+looked about.  No one was in sight.  He walked on swiftly towards the
+cliff.  He had to descend and then to mount again to reach the cave.
+His companions welcomed him on their own account as well as on his, for
+they were nearly starved.  There was a stream, however, of good water
+close at hand, which had prevented them from suffering from thirst.
+They had now provisions to last them, they hoped, till they reached
+England.  Paul had bought a tin saucepan, in which they could boil their
+eggs and make some soup, and as O'Grady had collected a supply of drift
+wood, they were able to cook their dinner and to enjoy the warmth of a
+fire.  Altogether, they had not much reason to complain of their
+detention.  Three more days passed, and the wind abating, the sea went
+down, and once more the calm ocean shone in the beams of the rising sun.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried O'Grady; "we may sail to-night, and, if we're in luck
+and the wind holds, we may sight the shore of old England before the
+world is two days older."
+
+The day passed very slowly away, as they had nothing with which to
+employ themselves.  Fortunately, midshipmen, as O'Grady boasted, have a
+powerful knack of sleeping; and so they passed most of the time, in the
+intervals of their meals, lost in oblivion of all sublunary matters.  As
+the shades of evening drew on, they roused up and were all animation.
+They had reconnoitred the path to the village, and found that it would
+be necessary to get down to the beach while there was still daylight to
+enable them to see their way.  They hoped to find shelter in some
+boat-shed or out-house till the inhabitants had gone to bed.  They went
+on cautiously, Paul in advance, lest they should meet any one; Reuben
+hobbling forward on his wooden leg and sticks.  The lights in the
+village were being put out as they approached.  "They are early people--
+so much the better for us," thought Paul.  "We can easily seize a boat
+and get off."
+
+The thought had scarcely passed through his mind, when a voice
+exclaimed, "Hallo! who goes there?"
+
+"A friend," answered Paul.
+
+"How many friends?" asked the man.  "Let me see: two young lads and a
+lame man--answers the description.  Come along with me, my friends, for
+I have more to say to you."
+
+The two midshipmen and Reuben followed, much crest-fallen.  They were in
+the hands of the police; of that there could be no doubt.  Should they
+keep up their assumed characters, or acknowledge their true ones and
+brave the worst.  They could not venture to speak to consult with each
+other.  Paul thought that the best plan would be to keep silent till
+compelled to speak.  He therefore got as near O'Grady as he could, and,
+pretending to stumble, put his finger against his friend's lips.
+O'Grady passed on the signal soon afterwards to Reuben.  This matter
+arranged, they quietly followed their captor--O'Grady doing his best to
+hum a tune which he had heard Rosalie sing, and forgetting that he
+pretended to be deaf as well as dumb.  There was still sufficient light
+for them to see that their captor was a gendarme, a discovery far from
+pleasant, as it led them to suppose that some person in authority was at
+the place, who might dispose of them in a somewhat summary manner.  The
+man turned round once or twice, and told them, in no pleasant voice, to
+walk quicker, while he led the way to the chateau they had observed from
+the cliff.  They found themselves standing before the chateau.  It
+looked vast and gloomy in the dark.  In another minute they were in a
+large hall in the presence of several persons, one of whom, a
+fierce-looking bearded official, inquired who they were, where they had
+come from, whither they were going.
+
+Paul, with a fluency which surprised himself, narrated the story which
+had been arranged by Rosalie, O'Grady going through his part, pointing
+to his lips, and making inarticulate sounds, while Reuben imitated him
+in a way which seemed to try the gravity of those before whom he stood.
+Paul thought that all was going on smoothly, when he was considerably
+taken aback by seeing the officer laugh, and hearing him say in fair
+English:--
+
+"You speak well, certainly, for one who has been so short a time in the
+country, but I should have understood you better had you spoken in
+English; and now I should like to know what your young friend here, and
+your lame companion, have to say for themselves.  There's a salt-water
+look about them which makes me suspect that they know more about a ship
+than a vineyard."
+
+The midshipmen saw that all further disguise was useless.
+
+"Well, sir," exclaimed O'Grady, "if you know that we are English
+officers, you will understand that we were captured in a merchantman
+returning home invalided, and that as we were not on our parole, we had
+a full right to endeavour to make our escape."
+
+"Granted, young sir," said the officer, blandly; "and not only had you a
+right to endeavour to escape, but you shall be allowed to proceed if you
+will answer me a few simple questions."
+
+"What are they?" asked Paul and O'Grady, in a breath.
+
+"Oh, a mere trifle," said the officer.  "Who concealed you when you
+first made your escape? who assisted you to obtain your disguise? who
+invented your well-arranged story? and who forwarded you on your way?"
+
+The midshipmen looked at each other.
+
+"Shall I answer, Paddy?" asked Paul, eagerly.
+
+"No, no, it's myself that will spake to the gentleman," exclaimed
+O'Grady, in that rich brogue in which an Irishman indulges when he is
+about to express a sentiment which comes up from the depth of his heart.
+"If your honour is under the belief that British officers are made up
+of such dirty ingredients that they would be capable of doing the vile,
+treacherous, ungrateful act you have insulted us by proposing, you never
+were more mistaken in your life.  We are prisoners, and you have the
+power of doing whatever you like with us; but at least treat us with
+that respect which one gentleman has a right to demand from another."
+
+The French officer started back with astonishment, not unmixed with
+anger.  "How have I insulted you?  How dare you address me in that
+style?" he asked.
+
+"When one man asks another to do a dirty action, he insults him, and
+that's what you've asked us to do, Mounseer," exclaimed O'Grady,
+indignantly.  "And just let me observe, that it is possible we may have
+had wits enough in our own heads to concoct the story we told you
+without being indebted to any man, woman, or child for it, especially
+when we were stimulated with the desire of getting out of this
+outlandish country, and being at you again; and as to the clothes, small
+blame to the people who sold them when they got honest gold coins in
+exchange."
+
+"That story will not go down with me, young gentleman," observed the
+officer with a sneer.  "However, enough of this trifling; we shall see
+in a few days whether you will alter your mind.  Monsieur," he
+continued, turning to an elderly gentleman standing at the side of the
+hall, "we must have these persons locked up in one of your rooms.  I beg
+that you will send your steward to point out a chamber from whence they
+cannot escape, and give us the trouble of again catching them."
+
+"Monsieur," said the old gentleman, drawing himself up with an indignant
+air, "all the rooms are occupied; my chateau is not a prison, and I have
+no intention of allowing it to become one."
+
+"Ho! ho!" cried the officer, pulling his moustache, and stamping with
+rage, "is that the line you have taken up?  I was ordered to respect
+your chateau, and so I must; but take care, citoyen...  However,
+sergeant, take them to the old tower; there is a room at the top of that
+where they will be safe enough.  The wind and rain beat in a little, to
+be sure, but for any inconvenience they may suffer, they will be
+indebted to my friend here.  Off with them!"
+
+With scant ceremony the sergeant dragged them through the hall, Reuben
+stumping along after them on his wooden leg.  They soon reached the
+tower, which was close to the little harbour.  It was a very old
+building of three low stories, surrounded by sand, and the stones
+outside were so rough and so frequently displaced, that even by the
+light of the now risen moon it seemed as if there could not be much
+difficulty in climbing up to the top from the outside, or descend by the
+same means.
+
+The sergeant shoved them on before him up a winding stair, which creaked
+and groaned at every step.
+
+"En avant, en avant!" cried the sergeant when O'Grady attempted to enter
+one of the lower chambers; and at length they found themselves in a room
+at the very top.  The sergeant, grumblingly observing that they would
+not require food till the next morning, gave Reuben a push which nearly
+sent him sprawling into the middle of the chamber, closed the door with
+a slam, and locked and bolted it securely.
+
+Reuben whipped off his wooden leg, and began flourishing it about and
+making passes at the door whence the sergeant had disappeared,
+exclaiming with a laugh, "Well, the beggars haven't found me out, and
+they'll be surprised at what a man with a timber toe can do!"
+
+He tied it on again, however, very soon, for a heavy step was heard on
+the stairs, and they saw by the light of the moon that their own wallets
+and a jug of water were placed on the floor just inside the door.
+
+"We have a friend somewhere, probably the old gentleman at the chateau,
+or we should not have got back those things," observed Paul; "so let's
+cheer up: we might have been much worse off."
+
+All agreed to the truth of this remark, and, as they were hungry, took
+some supper, and then Paddy proposed that they should reconnoitre the
+premises.
+
+The windows were very narrow, with an iron bar down the centre, so that
+it was impossible to get through them.  There was not a particle of
+furniture in the room, nor anything which would serve for their beds.
+
+"It isn't cold yet, and we must make ourselves as comfortable as we can
+in the least windy corner of the place," observed Paul.
+
+"What do you think of trying to get away instead?" asked O'Grady.
+
+"With all my heart!" answered Paul; "but what do you say to the moon?
+Should we not be seen?"
+
+"It might help us, and it might betray us," said O'Grady.  "Let us ask
+Cole."
+
+Reuben said that he must have a look round from the windows, before he
+pronounced an opinion.  The midshipmen helped him up to each of them in
+succession.  He considered that in so bright a light they were nearly
+certain to be seen; but as the moon rose later every day they would have
+a fair chance of making good their escape.  That they could not go at
+once was very evident, so they dusted a corner, and coiled themselves up
+to sleep.  Daylight revealed the dirty condition of the room, and also
+the rotten state of the roof.  Reuben pointed it out and remarked,
+"There, if we can't get through the windows, it will be hard if we do
+not make our way out by the roof.  If they keep us here many days, we'll
+do it."
+
+In the course of the morning a man appeared with a fresh jug of water,
+and some bread and cheese, and dried figs.  It was better than ordinary
+prison fare, and as the man did not look very savage, Paul thought that
+he would try and move him to procure them something on which to sleep.
+He explained, in the most pathetic language he could command, the misery
+they had suffered, and begged for bedding of some sort.  The man nodded,
+and returned in the evening with some bundles of straw.
+
+"But there is nothing to cover us, and barely sufficient to keep us from
+the floor," observed Paul.
+
+The man smiled, and replied, "To-morrow, perhaps, I may find something
+of more use to you."
+
+The following day he came again, loaded with a bundle of old sails.
+"Seamen have no reason to complain who can obtain such coverlids as
+these," he remarked, as he threw them down, and again left the room.
+
+Each time that he went, they heard the sound of the door being locked
+and bolted.  On undoing the sails they found that ropes were attached to
+them, and on examining these they were found to be sound and strong.
+
+"That man is our friend, and depend on it these ropes were not sent in
+here by chance," observed O'Grady positively.  "Very likely the old
+gentleman at the chateau sent him."
+
+They were confirmed in the opinion that the rope was intended for use,
+by the appearance of the man, in the evening, to bring them a fresh
+supply of provisions.
+
+"I've heard it said that it's no easy matter to keep English seamen in a
+cage when they have the will to get out," he remarked, as he turned
+round towards the door.
+
+"Are we likely to be kept here long?"  Paul asked.
+
+"Until directions have been received from head-quarters, and as they are
+some way off, and yours is not a matter of importance, it may be a month
+or more," was the answer.
+
+"He means to say that we may select our time for escaping," said Paul
+when the man had gone; "unless the rope was sent as a trap to tempt us
+to try and escape."
+
+"Oh, they would not take that trouble," observed O'Grady.  "If they had
+wished to treat us ill, they would have done so."
+
+Three more days passed.  The moon did not now rise till nearly midnight.
+This would give them ample time to get away out of sight of land before
+daylight.  That evening their friend brought, with other provisions, a
+small keg of water, and a bottle of brandy, which he placed under the
+sails, and nodding, took his departure.
+
+"No time to be lost," said O'Grady; "as soon as our guard has paid us
+his last visit, we must commence operations."
+
+Just before dark a gendarme as usual put his head in at the door, looked
+round the room, and then stamped down-stairs again to a guard-room, in
+which it seemed that three or four men were stationed.
+
+"There is no time to be lost, if it is to be done, gentlemen," exclaimed
+Reuben, stumping about the room as soon as the man was gone.  "If we
+can't get through a window, I have marked two or three spots where we
+can through the roof, and we've rope enough to help us out either way.
+We have first to make up some packs to carry our stores."
+
+It was important to do all this while daylight remained, now fast fading
+away.  The packs were soon made, and the various lengths of rope
+fastened together.  Reuben then, with the aid of his younger companions,
+climbed up to the roof, and, without difficulty, pulled down first the
+wooden lining, and then the slates, which he handed to them to avoid
+making a noise, and soon had a hole large enough for them to get
+through.  The slates and ropes and their packs were then hid under the
+straw, in case any one should visit them before the hour of starting,
+not that such an event was likely to occur.  They then threw themselves
+on their beds to be ready to pretend to be asleep at a moment's notice.
+The hours passed slowly.  The night was calm; that was fortunate, or any
+little wind there was came from the south, which was better.  They could
+hear a clock strike, that probably on the tower of the little church
+attached to the chateau.  It was already nine o'clock, and they thought
+that all chance of interruption was over, when they heard steps on the
+stairs.  The sergeant and a guard entered.  He held a lantern in his
+hand.  They lay trembling lest the light should be thrown upwards, and
+the hole in the roof be discovered.
+
+"They seem to be asleep," observed the sergeant; "it is wonderful what
+power of sleeping these Englishmen possess.  However, I must awake them.
+Rouse up, my boys, and understand that you are to march to-morrow for
+Paris at an early hour; but the worthy citizen Montauban has directed me
+to say that he will supply you with funds for your necessary
+maintenance, and to enable you to make your defence should you be
+accused, as he fears you may be, of being spies."
+
+Paul started up on hearing this address, with as much terror as he could
+assume, considering that he had hoped in a few hours to be out of the
+reach of all French myrmidons of the law, and in a few words thanked the
+citizen Montauban for his kind purpose, adding that a French midshipman
+of the same name had long been his companion.
+
+"Undoubtedly a nephew of citizen Montauban's, and his heir.  The young
+man was long supposed to be lost; but he was here a short time back, and
+it is owing to the kind way he was treated by the English, that the old
+gentleman takes so warm an interest in you.  However, lie down; I will
+tell him what you say, and he will communicate with you to-morrow,
+unless something should occur to prevent him.  Good night."
+
+"I hope that something will occur," cried Paul, jumping up as soon as
+the officer was gone.  "Very kind of the old gentleman, and just like
+Alphonse to interest his uncle in our favour."
+
+"Yes, indeed," said O'Grady; "curious, though, that we should have
+fallen in with so many of his relations."
+
+Just then, however, they were too much engrossed with the work in hand
+to talk on the subject.  They considered it safer to wait another hour
+or more before moving, lest they should encounter any straggler on their
+way to the harbour, or be seen descending the tower.
+
+"Time to start," cried O'Grady, who, as the senior officer, was to take
+the command.
+
+Their knapsacks were soon secured to their backs.  Reuben used his
+wooden leg to assist in securing the rope by driving it into the wall.
+They all soon climbed up to the roof, and let down the rope, which
+reached nearly to the bottom, as far as they could judge.  Should it not
+prove long enough, and stones be underneath, broken limbs would be the
+consequence.  Paul was certain that there was sand (as they had gone
+nearly round the tower when looking for the door), and, as the youngest
+and lightest, volunteered to go first.  He without hesitation flung
+himself off; but at the moment he began to descend, it occurred to him
+that he might possibly have to pass before one of the windows of the
+guard-room, and he half expected to find himself seized and dragged in
+by a gendarme.  It was too late, however, to go back.  All must be
+risked.  So down he cautiously slid, doing his best to make no noise.
+He kept his feet tightly pressed against the rope, that he might
+ascertain when he had reached the end.  Suddenly he felt that there was
+no more rope.  At all events all the windows had been avoided.  He
+lowered himself more cautiously than ever, till his hand grasped the
+very end in which Reuben had made a knot.  He hung down by it by one
+hand, and looked down.  He could see the ground; but it seemed still
+some way below him.  Should he risk a fall?  He recollected the uneven
+character of the wall, and hauling himself up a little, he was able to
+stretch out his feet sufficiently to reach it.  He put out one hand in
+the same direction, and caught hold of an iron staple.  He could now
+clutch the wall, and feeling his way, he descended about eight feet to
+the ground.  It was fortunate that he had not jumped, for, instead of
+sand, there was a slab of hard rock on which he would have fallen.
+Scarcely had he time to get under the rope, than he saw another figure
+descending.
+
+"Try to get to the wall," he whispered, "and I will help you down."
+
+It was Reuben.  After several efforts he reached the staple, and
+scrambled down.  Paddy quickly followed at a much greater speed.  There
+was no time to warn him that the rope was too short, and had not Reuben
+and Paul stretched out their arms and broken his fall, he would very
+likely have broken his legs.
+
+"I thought that I heard some one coming upstairs," he whispered.  "Not
+quite certain, but could not stop to learn.  Away for the harbour!"
+
+They stepped lightly till they were on the soft sands, and then they ran
+on as fast as their legs could move.  They examined the harbour; but not
+a boat could they find of any size on the shore.  They had all probably
+been removed by the order of the police, to prevent either prisoners of
+war or refugees from escaping.  A small one, however, lay moored off a
+little distance from the shore.
+
+"I will bring her in," whispered Paul; and without another word he
+stripped off his clothes, and, with knife in his mouth, slipped
+noiselessly into the water, and struck boldly out towards the boat.
+O'Grady and Reuben anxiously watched him, or rather the phosphorescent
+wake he left in the water.  Even that after a time disappeared.  Could
+the brave boy have sunk?  The hearts of both his friends trembled.
+Every instant they expected to be pounced upon by gendarmes; but though
+they listened earnestly as may be supposed, no sounds came from the
+tower.  At length the boat began to move.  Paul must have got on board
+all right, and cut the cable.  Yes, there he was standing up on a
+thwart, and working her on with a single paddle.
+
+"Jump in," he whispered, as soon as he reached the shore; "there are
+lights in the old tower, and our flight will quickly be discovered.  It
+may be some time, however, before they find a boat to pursue us."
+
+O'Grady and Reuben required no second bidding.  The former, however,
+very nearly forgot Paul's clothes.  He sprang back for them, and
+narrowly escaped a tumble into the water.
+
+"You dress while we pull out to look for a fit craft," said Paddy,
+seizing a paddle.  But Paul kept hold of his own, in his eagerness
+declaring that he did not feel the cold.
+
+To select a craft was easy; but it was possible that there might be
+people on board who might dispute their possession.  However, that must
+be risked.  O'Grady pointed out a small sloop of some eight or ten tons.
+She was not likely to have many people on board.  They must be
+surprised and silenced immediately.  While the boat drifted alongside,
+Paul put on his clothes.  It would not have been pleasant to fight as he
+was; and besides, he might not have had time to dress afterwards.
+Taking care that their boat should not strike against the side of the
+little vessel, the three adventurers leaped on board as noiselessly as
+possible.  The after hatch was closed.  No one could be in the cabin.
+But as they crept forward they discovered that the fore hatch was open.
+Reuben signed that he would go down first.  The midshipmen waited an
+instant, when they heard a noise, and leaping down they found their
+companion struggling with a powerful man, whom a boy, who had just
+leaped out of his berth, was about to assist.
+
+"You are our prisoners," cried Paul, throwing himself on the boy; while
+O'Grady assisted Reuben, and so completely turned the tables, that the
+Frenchman was quickly secured.  The boy who had struggled bravely with
+Paul, for the purpose, it seemed, of getting his head up the hatchway to
+sing out, then gave in.
+
+"You will be well treated, my friends, if you remain quiet; but if you
+make the slightest noise, I cannot answer for your lives," said Paul.
+
+To prevent any risk of the sort the hatch was clapped on after they had
+examined the vessel.
+
+"We will get ready to make sail, while you, Gerrard, cut the cable, and
+then go to the helm," said O'Grady.  "Cut!" he cried, in a few seconds.
+
+A light breeze came off the land.  Paul cut, and then hurried to the
+helm.  He started as he turned his glance towards the shore; for there,
+in the direction of the old tower, a bright light was burning.  It
+quickly increased in magnitude--bright flames burst forth.  "It must be
+the old tower itself," he thought, for there was no time to say
+anything.  The flames increased, and it now became evident that it was
+the tower itself; for the whole building was soon wrapped in flames, the
+glare reaching far down the harbour, and lighting up the sails of their
+vessel.
+
+"We shall be seen and pursued, I'm afraid," cried Paul.
+
+"Seen, or not, we must stand on; and at all events we shall have the
+start of them," answered O'Grady.  "It's not impossible that they may
+think we have perished in the flames.  I am sorry, though, for Reuben
+Cole's timber toe.  Ha! ha! ha! it would have enraged the monsieurs to
+find that they had been so completely duped."
+
+All this time the little vessel was gliding out from among a number of
+others, and the curious eyes of many persons were glaring at her, who
+wondered whither she was going.  The probabilities that the midshipmen
+and Reuben would be retaken seemed very great.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+The bold often succeed where the timid fail.  The young midshipmen and
+their companion, nothing daunted by the dangers which surrounded them,
+kept on their course.  The flames quickly ascending to the top of the
+old tower, sent their ruddy glare far across the ocean; and as their
+light fell on the adventurers and their little craft, it occurred to
+Paul that their strange, unseamanlike costume would at once betray them.
+
+"The chances are that the Frenchmen have left some jackets in the
+after-cabin," he observed; and as he spoke, jumping below, he soon
+returned with several garments and hats, with which they quickly dressed
+themselves.
+
+"Now we look pretty decent mounseers," observed Reuben, as he eased off
+the main-sheet a little.  "If we're hailed, you'll have to tell 'em,
+Paul--I mean Mr Gerrard--beg pardon--that we're bound for Cherbourg,
+and don't like to lose the breeze.  It's coming pretty strongish, and if
+I could but find a squaresail, for I sees there's a squaresail boom,
+we'd make the little craft walk along."
+
+Reuben was in high spirits, and indeed so were the midshipmen, at their
+hazardous enterprise having thus far succeeded.  Still they were not out
+of danger.  If it was believed that they had been burnt in the tower,
+they would not be pursued, unless the owners of the sloop or the
+remainder of her crew on shore should catch sight of her sailing away.
+There were still several vessels to pass; but they intended to give them
+as wide a berth as possible.  O'Grady was at the helm.  Paul and Reuben
+were removing the main-hatch in hopes of finding the squaresail, when a
+cry from O'Grady made them jump up, and they saw the head of the
+Frenchman, with his mouth open, as if about to shout out, rising above
+the covering of the forehatch.  An Englishman generally carries a weapon
+ready for immediate use, which at the end of a stout arm is of a
+somewhat formidable character--his fist.  Reuben with his dealt the
+Frenchman a blow which stopped his shout, knocked three of his teeth
+down his throat, and sent him toppling over into the fore-peak, from
+which he had emerged; he, Reuben, and Paul following so rapidly, that
+the boy, who had been capsized by his companion, had not time to pick
+himself up.  They this time took good care so to secure both their
+prisoners, that there was very little fear of their escaping, as the man
+had done before by expanding the muscles of his legs and arms while
+Reuben was securing him.
+
+"Please tell them, Mr Gerrard, that if they cry out or attempt to play
+any more tricks, we must shoot them," said Reuben.  "And now we'll go
+and look for the squaresail."
+
+The sail was found and bent on, and, Paul going to the helm, O'Grady and
+Reuben managed to set it.  The vessel felt the effects of the additional
+canvas, as she drew out more from the land, and rapidly glided past the
+different vessels in the roadstead.  There were only two more.  One of
+these, however, they were compelled to pass uncomfortably near.
+
+"When we are clear of her, we shall be all right," said O'Grady, looking
+back, and seeing nothing following.  "She looks like an armed vessel--a
+man-of-war perhaps; but it won't do to go out of our course; we must
+chance it."
+
+They stood on.  Although they were now some distance from the land, the
+old tower continued blazing up so fiercely, that a strong light was
+still thrown on their canvas.  Being between the suspicious vessel and
+the light, they were abreast of her before they were seen.  Just then a
+hail came from her, demanding who they were, and where they were bound.
+
+"Answer, Gerrard, answer!" cried O'Grady.
+
+But he did not tell him what to say; so Paul put up his hands and
+shouted, "Oui, oui; toute vite!" with all his might.
+
+"Heave-to," shouted the voice, "and we will send a boat aboard you."
+
+"Very likely," said Paul; and so he only cried out as before, "Oui, oui,
+to-morrow morning, or the day after, if you please!"
+
+As a vessel running before the wind cannot heave-to at a moment's
+notice, the sloop got on some little distance before any attempt was
+made to impede her progress.  Another hail was heard, and after the
+delay of nearly another minute, there was a flash from one of the
+stranger's ports, and a shot came whizzing by a few feet astern.
+
+"If any of us are killed, let the others hold on to the last," cried
+O'Grady.  "We are suspected, at all events, and may have a near squeak
+for it."
+
+Reuben, the moment the first shot was fired, jumped down into the hold--
+not to avoid another; no fear of that.  Directly afterwards he shouted
+out, "I have found the square-topsail.  Lend a hand, Paul, and we'll get
+it up."
+
+The square-top-sail was got up, rapidly bent on to the yard, and in
+another minute or two hoisted and set.  The man-of-war meantime kept
+firing away; her shots falling on either side of the little vessel; but
+as she was riding head to wind, it was evident that only her stern
+chasers could be brought to bear.
+
+"I wonder that she does not follow us," observed Paul, as the shots
+began to fall wider and wider of their mark.
+
+"Perhaps most of her crew are on shore, or we are thought too small game
+to make it worth while to get under weigh for," answered O'Grady.
+"However, don't let us be too sure; perhaps she will come, after all.
+We've got a good start of her though."
+
+"The mounseers are generally a long time getting under weigh, and to my
+mind they don't know what to make of us," observed Reuben, as he eyed
+the Frenchman with no loving glance.
+
+The breeze continued freshening, and the little craft, evidently a
+remarkably fast one, flew bravely over the water, increasing her
+distance from the French shore, and from the light of the burning tower.
+As the night was very dark, there was yet a chance of her escaping in
+the obscurity.  The adventurers were already congratulating themselves
+on having got free, when Reuben exclaimed, "The Frenchman thinks more of
+us than we hoped.  He's making sail."
+
+A sailor's eyes alone, and these of the sharpest, could have discovered
+this disagreeable fact; and even Paul could distinguish nothing but the
+dark outline of the coast.  Reuben kept his eye on the enemy.
+
+"I doubt if she can see us," he observed.  "And if she doesn't, we may
+still give her the go-by.  I'd haul up a little to the eastward, Mr
+O'Grady, sir.  The tide will be making down soon, and we shall just
+check it across.  She'll walk along all the faster, too, with the wind
+on the starboard-quarter, and no risk of jibing.  We'll take a pull at
+the main-sheet, Mr Gerrard.  Now we'll ease off the squaresail sheet.
+That'll do, sir.  Now the sail stands beautifully."
+
+O'Grady wisely followed Reuben's advice, and took no notice of his doing
+things which were so clearly right without orders.
+
+The sloop was now steering about north-east by north, and should the
+Frenchman stand a little to the westward of north, the two vessels would
+soon be out of sight of each other.  Reuben declared that he could still
+see the enemy now making all sail in chase, but could not tell exactly
+how she was standing.  It was anxious work.  O'Grady made her out, as
+well as Reuben, and all hoped devoutly that she was a slow sailer.  They
+kept the little vessel on a steady course, and for an hour or more
+scarcely a word was uttered.  Sometimes Reuben lost sight of the enemy;
+but before long she was again seen.  It proved that she did not sail
+very fast, and that the course they had taken was suspected.  Thus hour
+after hour they stood on, till dawn began to break.
+
+"It's all up with us if she sees us now," cried O'Grady.  "But I vote we
+die game any how, and not give in while there's one of us alive to steer
+the craft."
+
+The increasing daylight soon revealed them to the Frenchman, who at once
+began blazing away in a manner which showed that the long chase they had
+given him had made him not a little angry.  The shot, however, fell
+short; but he on this made more sail, and soon gained on them.  He
+ceased firing for half an hour or more, and then again began, the shot
+flying by on either side, or over the mast-head.  They came, indeed,
+much too near to be pleasant.  Reuben took the helm, and the two
+midshipmen stood facing their enemy, knowing that any moment might be
+their last; still, however, as resolved as at first not to yield.  In
+another twenty minutes or half an hour they must be killed or prisoners;
+escape seemed out of the question.
+
+"I wish that I could let my father, and mother, and brothers, and
+sisters at Ballyshannon know what has become of me," said Paddy, with a
+sigh.
+
+"And I wish that I could have again seen my dear mamma," said Paul, "and
+my sweet sister Mary, and jolly old Fred, and Sarah, and John, and
+pretty little Ann.  They know that I am a midshipman, and I suppose that
+that will be some consolation to them if they ever hear that I've been
+killed."
+
+"Don't talk like that, young gentlemen.  Look there.  What do you say to
+that?" exclaimed Reuben, pointing to the north-west, where standing
+towards them, close-hauled, and evidently attracted by the firing, was a
+large, ship, the beams of the rising sun shining brightly on her
+wide-spread canvas.
+
+"The enemy must see her, but fancy that she is French," observed Reuben.
+"But they are greatly mistaken, let me tell them."
+
+"Hurrah! they've found out that they're wrong, then," cried O'Grady.
+
+As he spoke, down came the Frenchman's studden sails, and with a few
+parting shots, which narrowly missed their mark, he hauled his wind, and
+stood close-hauled towards the coast of France.  He sailed badly before
+the wind; he sailed worse close-hauled.  The stranger, which soon proved
+to be an English frigate, her ensign blowing out at her peak, came
+rapidly up.  The adventurers cheered as she passed, and received a cheer
+in return.  Those on board evidently understood the true state of the
+case.
+
+"Why, I do believe that is Devereux himself!" cried Paul, in a tone of
+delight.
+
+"Well, it is difficult to be certain of a person at such a distance; but
+it is very like him," said O'Grady.  "But, again, how could he be there?
+He could not have made his escape from prison."
+
+The sloop hove to in order to watch the chase, which was soon
+terminated, for the frigate came up hand over hand with the slow-sailing
+brig, which found to her cost that instead of catching a prize she had
+caught a Tartar.  The midshipmen consulted together whether it would be
+wiser to continue their course for the Isle of Wight, or to get on board
+the frigate.  But as the Channel swarmed with the cruisers of the enemy,
+they decided to do the latter; and accordingly, when they saw the
+frigate returning with her prize, they stood towards her.  They were
+soon up to her, and, a boat being sent to them, as they stepped up her
+side the first person they encountered was Devereux.
+
+"Why, old fellows, where have you come from in that curious guise?" he
+exclaimed, as he warmly wrung their hands.
+
+"Oh, we ran away, and have been running ever since, barring some few
+weeks we spent shut up in an old castle and a tumble-down tower,"
+answered O'Grady.
+
+"And the captain, and I, and a few others, were exchanged two weeks ago
+for a lot of French midshipmen without any trouble whatever."
+
+"As to that, now we are free, I don't care a rope-yarn for all the
+trouble we have had, nor if we had had ten times as much.  But we ought
+to report ourselves to the captain; and we think--that is, Gerrard
+does--that we ought to let our prisoners take back the sloop which we
+ran away with."
+
+"I agree with Gerrard, and so I am sure will the captain," said
+Devereux.
+
+The frigate on board which the three adventurers so unexpectedly and
+happily found themselves was the _Proserpine_, Captain Percy, of
+forty-two guns.  As she was on her trial cruise, having only just been
+fitted out, she was short of midshipmen, and Captain Percy offered to
+give both O'Grady and Paul a rating on board if Reuben would enter.
+This he willingly did, and they thus found themselves belonging to the
+ship.  The occupants of the berth received them both very cordially, and
+paid especial attention to Paul, of whom Devereux had spoken to them in
+the warmest terms of praise.  The surprise of the Frenchman and boy on
+board the sloop was very great, when Paul and Reuben, accompanied by
+some prisoners from the prize, appeared and released them; and when Paul
+told them that they might return home, and that some countrymen had come
+to help them navigate the ship, to express his joy and gratitude, he
+would have kissed them both had they allowed him; and he seemed at a
+loss how otherwise to show it, except by skipping and jumping about, on
+his deck.  When he shortly afterwards passed the _Proserpine_, he and
+his companions waved their hats, and attempted to raise a cheer; but it
+sounded very weak and empty, or, as Reuben observed to one of his new
+shipmates, "It was no more like a British cheer than the squeak of a
+young porker is to a boatswain's whistle."
+
+The prize thus easily gained was sent into Portsmouth, and the
+_Proserpine_ continued her cruise.  O'Grady and Paul would have liked to
+have gone in her; but they thought it better to wait till the frigate
+herself returned to port, when they might get leave to go home and visit
+their friends, and perhaps take a little prize-money with them to make
+up for what they had lost.  They easily got a temporary rig-out on
+board, so that there was no absolute necessity for their going.  Paul
+had hitherto, young as he was, held up manfully in spite of all the
+fatigue and anxiety he had gone through; but no sooner had the prize
+disappeared, than his strength and spirits seemed to give way.  He kept
+in the berth for a day or two; but could scarcely crawl on deck, when
+Devereux reporting his condition to the surgeon, he was placed in the
+sick list.  Both his old shipmates, Devereux and O'Grady, attended him
+with the fondest care, and he would have discovered, had he possessed
+sufficient consciousness, how completely he had wound himself round
+their hearts.  He had done so, not by being proud, or boastful, or
+self-opinionated, or by paying them court, by any readiness to take
+offence, or by flattery, or by any other mean device, but by his bravery
+and honesty, by his gentleness and liveliness, by his readiness to
+oblige, and general good-nature and uprightness, and by being true to
+himself and true to others--doing to them as he would be done by.  They
+became at last very sad--that is to say, as sad as midshipmen in a
+dashing frigate, with a good captain, can become during war time; for
+they thought that Paul was going to die, and the surgeon gave them no
+hopes.  No one, however, was more sad than Reuben, who for many a watch
+below, when he ought to have been in his own hammock, sat by the side of
+his cot, administering the medicines left by the doctor, and tending him
+with all a woman's care and tenderness.  The thoughts of his friends
+were for a time, however, called off from Paul by an event which brought
+all hands on deck--the appearance of a strange sail, pronounced to be a
+French frigate equal in size to the _Proserpine_.  All sail was made in
+chase.  The ship was cleared for action, and Paul with other sick was
+carried into the cockpit to be out of the way of shot.  The gunner went
+to the magazine to send up powder; the carpenter and his mates to the
+wings, with plugs, to stop any shot-holes between wind and water; and
+the various other officers, commissioned and warrant, repaired to their
+respective posts.  Paul had sufficiently recovered to know what was
+about to take place, and to wish to be on deck.
+
+"Couldn't you let me go, doctor--only just while the action is going
+on?" he murmured out.  "I'll come back, and go to bed, and do all you
+tell me--indeed I will."
+
+"I am sorry to say that you could be of no use, my brave boy, and would
+certainly injure yourself very much; so you must stay where you are,"
+answered the surgeon, who was busy in getting out the implements of his
+calling.  "You will have many opportunities of fighting and taking other
+prizes besides the one which will, I hope, soon be ours."
+
+The remarks of the surgeon were soon cut short by the loud roar of the
+guns overhead, as the frigate opened her fire on the enemy.  Then
+speedily came the crashing sound of the return shot, as they tore
+through the stout planks, and split asunder even the oaken timbers.  It
+was evident that the two ships were very close together by the loud
+sound of the enemy's guns and the effects of his shot.  Not many minutes
+had passed since the firing commenced, when steps were heard descending
+the ladder, and first one wounded man, and then another, and another,
+was brought below and placed before the surgeon.  He had scarcely begun
+to examine their wounds, when more poor fellows were brought below badly
+wounded.
+
+"Ah! sir," said one of the seamen who bore them, as he was hurrying
+again on deck, in answer to a question from the surgeon, "there are many
+more than these down for whom you could do nothing."
+
+"What, is the day going against us?" asked the surgeon.
+
+"No, sir; I hope not.  But the enemy is a big one, and will require a
+mighty deal of hammering before she gives in."
+
+Paul looked out; but he soon closed his eyes, and he would gladly have
+closed his ears to the shrieks and groans of anguish which assailed
+them, while the poor fellows were under the hands of the surgeons, or
+waiting their turn to have their wounds dressed, or their limbs
+amputated.  Paul was more particularly anxious about his old friends;
+and whenever anybody was brought near him, he inquired after them.  The
+report was, from those who had seen them, that they were at their posts
+as yet unhurt.  Again he waited.  Now there was a cessation of firing.
+Once more it was renewed, and the wounded were brought down in even
+still greater numbers than at first.  Paul's spirits fell very low.  He
+had never felt so miserable, and so full of dread.  What, if after all
+the _Proserpine_ should be overmatched, and he and his companions again
+fall into the hands of the French, or should perhaps Devereux, or
+O'Grady, or his firm friend Reuben Cole, be killed!  Suddenly he
+remembered what his mother often had told him, that in all troubles and
+difficulties he should pray; and so he hid his face in the pillow, and
+prayed that his countrymen might come off victorious, and that the lives
+of his friends might be preserved.  By the time he had ceased his fears
+had vanished; his spirits rose.  He had done all he could do, and the
+result he knew was in the hands of Him who rules the world.  Still the
+battle raged.  He heard remarks made by the wounded, by which he guessed
+that the enemy was indeed vastly superior, and that many a man, if not
+possessed of an indomitable spirit, would have yielded long ago; but
+that their captain would fight on till the ship sunk beneath his feet,
+or till not a man remained to work the guns.  Several officers were
+among the badly wounded, and many were reported to be killed.  At length
+there was a cry of grief, and their brave captain himself was brought
+below.  Still the first-lieutenant remained to fight the ship, and his
+captain's last order to him was never to yield while the remotest hope
+of victory remained.
+
+"Am I likely to survive?" asked the captain of the surgeon, after his
+wound had been examined.
+
+"It is possible, sir; but I will not disguise from you that your wound
+is dangerous," was the answer.
+
+"I should be resigned," said the captain, "could I know that the victory
+would be ours."
+
+At that instant the sound of cheering came down into the cockpit.  The
+captain heard it, and lifted up his head with a look of intense
+eagerness.  Directly afterwards an officer appeared.  His head was bound
+up, and his coat at the shoulder was torn and bloody.  It was Devereux.
+
+"The enemy has sheered off, sir, and is making all sail to the
+southward," he exclaimed, in a hurried tone.  "We are unable to follow,
+for our fore-top-mast and main-mast are gone, and the fore-mast and
+mizen-mast, until they are fished, cannot carry sail."
+
+"Thank heaven! thank heaven!" whispered the captain, falling back.  The
+surgeon, whom he had sent to attend to others worse wounded than
+himself, as he thought, hurried back to him with a restorative cordial;
+but he shook his head as he vainly put it to his mouth: it was too late.
+In the moment of victory the gallant spirit of the captain had
+departed.  The enemy with which the _Proserpine_ had for so long thus
+nobly sustained this fierce engagement, was a 74-gun ship, more than
+half as large again as she was, and having on board nearly twice as many
+men.  The sea was fortunately calm, and the masts being fished, sail was
+made, and in two days the frigate reached Portsmouth.  As she had
+suffered much in the action, she required extensive repairs; and the
+sick and wounded were sent on shore to the hospital.  In the list of the
+former was Paul; in the latter, Devereux.  Paul still continued very
+weak and ill.  Devereux was not dangerously hurt; but the surgeons would
+not allow him to travel to go to his friends, and they showed no
+disposition to come to him.  Paul was too weak to write home himself,
+but he had got Devereux to do so for him, making, however, as light as
+he could of his illness.
+
+Two days had scarcely elapsed, when they were told that a young lady was
+below, waiting to see Mr Gerrard.
+
+"It must be my dear sister Mary," whispered Paul.  "Oh, do go and see
+her before she comes here, Devereux, and tell her how ill I am, and
+prepare her for the sort of place she is to come to."
+
+Hospitals in those days, especially in the war time, were very
+differently arranged to what they are now, when every attention is paid
+to the comfort and convenience of the patients.  At that time, even in
+the best regulated, were sights, smells, and sounds, trying to the
+sensibilities even of ordinary persons, but especially so to those of a
+young lady brought up in the quiet and retirement of a rural village;
+but Mary Gerrard, who now entered the Portsmouth hospital, escorted by
+Devereux, had at that moment but one feeling, one thought--an earnest
+desire to reach the bedside of her brave young brother, who she thought
+was dying.  After the first greetings were over, Paul, seeing her look
+very sad, entreated her not to grieve, as he was sure that he should get
+well and go home and see them all.
+
+She prayed he might, and so did Devereux, though from what the doctor
+said, there could be little doubt that he was very ill.  Mary did not
+tell him that his dear mother was very ill also, being sure that the
+knowledge of this would agitate him, and retard, if it did not prevent,
+his recovery.  She entreated that she might remain night and day with
+her brother; but this was not allowed, and so she was obliged to take
+lodgings near at hand, where she remained at night when turned out of
+the hospital.  Devereux, however, comforted her by promising that he
+would sit up as long as he was allowed with his friend, while O'Grady
+and Reuben Cole came on shore and assisted in nursing him; so that Paul
+was not so badly off after all.  The consequence was, that in spite of
+the doctor's prognostications, Paul rapidly improved.  As soon as he was
+in a fit condition to be moved, he was conveyed to some nice airy
+lodgings Mary had engaged; and here Devereux, who was also recovering
+from his wounds, and allowed to go out, was a constant visitor, that is
+to say, he came early in the morning, and stayed all day.  He came at
+first for Paul's sake; but it might have been suspected that he now came
+for the sake of somebody else.  He was no longer a midshipman, for he
+had received his commission as lieutenant soon after landing,
+provisionally on his passing the usual examination, in consequence of
+the action in which he had taken part, when he had acted as second in
+command, all the other officers being killed or wounded.  Mary could not
+fail to like him, and although she knew the whole history of the
+disastrous lawsuit between her father and the Devereux family, she had
+never supposed that he belonged to them in any way.
+
+It did not occur to Paul that his friend and his sister were becoming
+sincerely and deeply attached to each other.  He asked Devereux one day
+why, now that he was strong enough, he did not go home to see his
+friends.
+
+"Do you wish me gone?" asked Devereux.
+
+"No, indeed, I do not," answered Paul; "but it surprised me that you
+should not be anxious to go and see them."
+
+"Did they show any anxiety to come and see me, when they supposed I was
+wounded and ill, and perhaps dying?" he asked, in an animated tone.
+"No, Paul; but there is one who did come to see my best friend, who
+saved my life, and watched over me with more than the tenderness of a
+brother when I was sick, and for that person I have conceived an
+affection which I believe will only end with my life."
+
+"Who can you mean, Devereux?" asked Paul, in a tone of surprise.
+
+"Why, who but your sister Mary!" exclaimed Devereux.  "Do you think that
+I could have spent so many days with her, and seen her tending on you
+like an angel of light, as she is, and not love her with all my heart?"
+
+"Oh, my dear Devereux, I cannot tell you how I feel about it," said
+Paul, warmly taking his hand; "though I am sure Mary does not know that
+you belong to that family we all fancy have treated us so ill; yet, when
+she does come to know it, as she ought to know, still I do not think
+that it will bias her in her sentiments towards you.  When she knows
+that you love her, I am sure that she must love you."
+
+"Thank you, Paul; thank you, my dear fellow, for saying that.  Then I
+will tell her at once," said Devereux.
+
+And so he did; and Mary confessed that Paul was not far wrong in his
+conjectures.
+
+It had, curiously enough, never occurred to her to what family Devereux
+belonged, and when she heard, she naturally hesitated about allying
+herself to people who, if they could not despise, would assuredly
+dislike her.  Devereux, however, overcame all her scruples, which is not
+surprising, considering that he was scarcely twenty-one, and she was
+only nineteen.
+
+When Paddy O'Grady heard of the arrangement he was delighted.
+
+"All right, my dear fellow," he exclaimed.  "When you marry Mary
+Gerrard, I'll run over to France and pop the question to little Rosalie
+Montauban, and bring her back to live in some snug box of a cottage I'll
+take near you.  Won't it be charming?"
+
+Midshipmen, when they think of marrying, always think of living in a
+snug little box of a cottage, just big enough for themselves, forgetting
+that they may wish for servants, and may some day expand somewhat in
+various ways.
+
+Devereux ventured to suggest that Miss Rosalie might not be as willing
+to come away as O'Grady supposed, at which Paddy became very irate, the
+more so, that some such idea might possibly have been lurking within his
+own bosom.  However, as the war was not over, and might not be for some
+time, he could not go just: then.
+
+Paul was now sufficiently recovered to be moved, and Devereux got leave
+to help Mary in taking him home.  They were also accompanied by Reuben
+Cole.  Mrs Gerrard had begun to recover from the day that she heard
+Paul was out of all danger.  She joyfully and proudly received them at
+her neat and pretty, though small cottage; and from the day of his
+arrival Devereux found himself treated as a son.  Devereux had admired
+Mary watching over her sick brother.  He admired her still more when
+affectionately tending on her mother, and surrounded by her younger
+brothers and sisters.  Paul was made so much of that he ran a great
+chance of being spoilt.  He had to put on his uniform, and exhibit
+himself to all the neighbourhood as the lad who had gone away as a poor
+ship-boy, and come back home as a full-blown midshipman.  At last, one
+day Devereux received a letter from his home, suggesting that as he was
+in England he might possibly be disposed to pay them a visit.  He went,
+though very reluctantly.  He was greatly missed, not only by Paul and
+Mary, but by all the younger Gerrards.  Not ten days had elapsed when he
+again made his appearance.
+
+"They have had enough of me," he said, as he entered laughing.  "But,
+Mary, dear," he added, after he had gone the round of handshaking, and,
+it may be, with a kiss or two from the lady part of the family, "the
+best news I have to tell you is that they will not oppose our marriage,
+if we will wait till I am made a commander, and then my father promises
+me three hundred a year, which, with my pay, will be a great deal more
+than we shall want.  To be sure, I had to undertake to give up some
+thousands which might some day come to me; but it would not be for a
+long time, at all events, and, in my opinion, perhaps never; and I was
+determined not to risk the danger of losing you for money, or any other
+cause."
+
+"Oh, my dear Gilbert! and have you sacrificed your fortune and your
+future prospects for my sake?" said Mary, her eye's filling with tears;
+and yet not looking, after all, as if she was very sorry.
+
+"No, no! not in the slightest degree.  I have laid them out, as a
+merchant would say, to the very best advantage, by securing what I know
+will tend to my very great and continued happiness," answered Gilbert
+Devereux, adding--
+
+But never mind what he said or did after that.  Certain it is, Mary made
+no further objections, and Mary and he were regularly betrothed, which
+is a very pleasant state of existence, provided people may hope to marry
+before very long, and expect, when they do marry, to have something to
+live on.
+
+Soon after this Gilbert Devereux went to Portsmouth to pass his
+examination, and came back a full-blown lieutenant, with an epaulette on
+his left shoulder, which, when he put on his uniform, was very much
+admired.
+
+Paul awoke very early the morning after Devereux had returned, in the
+same little room in which he slept before he went to sea, and which he
+had so often pictured to his mind's eye as he lay in his hammock tossed
+by the stormy sea.  A stout sea-chest stood open in the room, and over
+it was hung a new uniform with brass buttons; a bright quadrant, and
+spy-glass, and dirk, and gold-laced hat, lay on the table, and the chest
+seemed filled to overflowing with the articles of a wardrobe, and a
+variety of little comforts which his fond mother and sisters, he was
+sure, had prepared for him.  He turned round in his bed and gazed at the
+scene.
+
+"I have dreamed this dream before," he said to himself.  "It was vivid
+then--it is vivid now; but I will not be deceived as I was then!--oh,
+how bitterly--No, no, it is a dream.  I fear that it is all a dream!"
+
+But when the bright sunbeams came in and glittered on the quadrant and
+buttons, and the brass of the telescope, and on the gold lace, and the
+handle of the dirk, and the birds sang cheerily to greet the glorious
+sun, and the lowing of cows and the bleating of sheep was heard, and the
+crack of a carter's whip, and his "gee up" sounded not far away from
+under the window, Paul rubbed his eyes again and again, and, with a
+shout of joy and thankfulness, exclaimed--
+
+"It is true! it is true!  I really am a midshipman!"
+
+And when he knelt down to say his prayers, as all true honest Christian
+boys do, he thanked God fervently for having preserved him from so many
+dangers and granted him fully the utmost desire of his young heart.
+When Paul appeared at breakfast, did not his mother and brothers and
+sisters admire him, even more than they did Gilbert Devereux, except,
+perhaps, Mary; and she certainly did not say that she admired Paul less.
+They were a very happy party, and only wished that to-morrow would not
+come.  But such happiness to the brave men who fight Old England's
+battles, whether by sea or land, must, in war time at all events, be of
+brief duration.  A long official-looking letter arrived for Devereux,
+and another of a less imposing character, from the first-lieutenant of
+the _Proserpine_, ordering Paul, if recovered, to join forthwith, as the
+ship was ready for sea.  The letter for Devereux contained his
+appointment to the same ship, which was a great satisfaction to all
+concerned.
+
+We will not describe what poor Mary felt or said.  She well knew that
+the event was inevitable, and, like a true sensible girl, she nerved
+herself to endure it, though we dare say she did not fail to let Gilbert
+understand, to his satisfaction, how sorry she was to lose him.  It is,
+indeed, cruel kindness to friends to let them suppose when parting from
+them that you do not care about them.
+
+Reuben Cole, who had spent his holiday in the village with his old
+mother, and left her this time cash enough to make her comfortable,
+according to her notions, for many a day, came to the cottage to say
+that his time was up.  The three old shipmates therefore set off
+together for Portsmouth.  On their arrival they found that Mr Order,
+who had been made a commander in the West Indies, and had lately
+received his post rank, was appointed to command the _Proserpine_.  The
+_Cerberus_ had arrived some time before, and several of her officers and
+men had, in consequence of their regard for Captain Order, joined the
+_Proserpine_.  Among them were Peter Bruff, still a mate, Tilly Blake,
+and old Croxton.  The midshipmen's berth contained a merry party, some
+youngsters who had come to sea for the first time, full of life and
+hope, and some oldsters who were well-nigh sick of it and of everything
+else in the world, and longed to have a leg or an arm shot away that
+they might obtain a berth at Greenwich, and have done with it.  At that
+time, however, there were not many of the latter sort.
+
+At first it was supposed that their destination was foreign; but whether
+they were to be sent to the North American station, to the
+Mediterranean, to the Pacific, or to India, they could not ascertain; so
+that it rather puzzled them to know what sort of stores they should lay
+in, or with what style of garments they should provide themselves.
+However, on the morning they were to sail Captain Order received a
+dispatch directing him to join the Channel fleet.
+
+"Do you know what that means?" asked Peter Bruff of the assembled mess.
+"Why, I will tell you, boys, that we shall be attached to the blockading
+squadron off Brest, and that month after month, blow high or blow low,
+we shall have to kick our heels there till we have kicked holes in
+them."
+
+Those present expressed great dissatisfaction at the prospect in view;
+but Devereux, when the subject was discussed in the gun-room, was
+secretly very glad, because he hoped thus to hear more frequently from
+Mary, and to be able to write to her.  His brother officers took up the
+idea that he was an author, from the sheets upon sheets of paper which
+he covered; but, as may be supposed, nothing could induce him to exhibit
+the result of his labours.  While others were weary; discontented, and
+grumbling, he was always happy in the belief that Mary was always
+thinking of him, as he was of her.
+
+Blockading is always disagreeable work, as there must be an ever
+watchful look-out, night and day, and ships are often kept till all
+their provisions are expended, or the ships themselves can stand the
+wear and tear no longer.  The _Proserpine_ had, as was expected, plenty
+to do.  Paul, though not finding it pleasant more than the rest, was
+satisfied that it was calculated to give him ample experience in
+seamanship, and to make him the good officer he aspired to become.
+
+However, as disagreeable as well as agreeable times must come to an end
+some time, if we will but wait that time, the _Proserpine_ was relieved
+at length, and returned to Portsmouth.  She was not allowed to remain
+there long, for as soon as she could be refitted, and had taken in a
+fresh supply of provisions, wood, and water, she again put to sea to
+join a squadron in the North Seas.  Winter came on, and as she lay in
+Yarmouth Roads, directions were sent to Captain Order to prepare for the
+reception of an ambassador, or some other great man, who was to be
+conveyed to the Elbe, and landed at Cuxhaven, or any other place where
+he could be put on shore and make his way to his destination.
+
+It was early in February, but the weather was unusually fine, and off
+the compact little island of Heligoland a signal was made for a pilot,
+who came on board and assured the captain that there was not the
+slightest difficulty in getting up the Elbe to Cuxhaven, if he would but
+proceed at between half-flood and half-ebb, when he could see the sand
+on either hand.  All the buoys in the river had, however, been carried
+away, he observed, to prevent the enemy from getting up.  With a
+favourable breeze the frigate stood up the river, guided by the
+experienced pilot.  While the weather continued fine, the task was one
+of no great difficulty, though with a wintry wind blowing and the
+thermometer far down below the freezing-point, it was anything but a
+pleasant one.
+
+"Faith, I'd rather be back stewing away among the niggers in the West
+Indies, would not you, Gerrard?" exclaimed Paddy O'Grady, beating his
+hands against his sides to keep them warm.
+
+"I should not mind it for a change, if it was not to last long; but I
+confess I don't wish it to be colder," said Paul.
+
+"Why, lads, this is nothing to what I have had to go through in the
+North Seas," remarked Bruff.  "I've known it so cold that every drop of
+spray which came on board froze, and I've seen the whole deck, and every
+spar and rope one mass of ice, so that there was no getting the ropes to
+run through the sheaves of the blocks, and as to furling sails, which
+were mere sheets of ice, that was next to an impossibility.  I warn you,
+if you don't like what we have got now, you'll like still less what is
+coming.  There are some heavy snow-clouds driving up, and we shall have
+a shift of wind soon."
+
+The frigate had now got up to within four miles of Cuxhaven, when, at
+about four o'clock, as the winter's day was closing in, it, as Bruff had
+anticipated, came on to snow so thickly that the pilot could no longer
+see the marks, and it accordingly became necessary to anchor.  Later in
+the evening, when darkness had already set in, the wind shifted to the
+southward of east, and the snow fell with a density scarcely ever
+surpassed, as if the whole cloud mass of snow were descending bodily to
+the earth.  Added to this, the high wind drove the ice, which had
+hitherto remained fixed to the shore, high up, directly down on the
+ship, threatening every instant to cut her cables, when she must have
+been driven on shore and lost.
+
+"All hands on deck!" turned many a sleeper out of his hammock, where, if
+not warm, he was not so cold as elsewhere.  All night long the crew were
+on deck, fending off the ice, which in huge masses came drifting down on
+them.
+
+"What do you think of this, Paddy?" asked Bruff.
+
+"Why, by my faith, that when a thing is bad we have good reason to be
+thankful that it's no worse," answered O'Grady.  "Can anything be worse
+than this?"
+
+"Yes, indeed, a great deal worse," said Bruff.
+
+The morning broke at length, and as it was evident that the ambassador
+could not be landed at Cuxhaven, it was necessary to get out of the Elbe
+without delay, that he might be put on shore on the coast of Holstein,
+if possible.
+
+The wind blew as strong as ever--a severe gale; but, the snow ceasing
+partially, the pilot was enabled to see the land.  The ship stood on
+under one sail only--the utmost she could carry--a fore-topmast
+stay-sail.
+
+"Hurrah! we shall soon be out of this trap, and once more in the open
+sea," exclaimed O'Grady.  "So the pilot says."
+
+"Are we well clear of the outer bank?" asked the captain.
+
+The answer was in the affirmative; but it was scarcely given when the
+ship struck heavily, and, her keel cutting the sand, she thus became, as
+it seemed, firmly fixed.  Then arose the cry from many mouths--
+
+"We are lost! we are lost!"
+
+"Silence!" exclaimed Captain Order; "until every effort has been made to
+get her off, let no one under my command say that."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+When a captain finds his ship on shore, even though he is in no way to
+blame, he feels as did Captain Order, that a great misfortune has
+happened to him.  No sooner was the _Proserpine's_ way stopped, than the
+ice drifting down the river began to collect round her.  Still the
+captain did not despair of getting her off.  The boats were hoisted out
+for the purpose of carrying out an anchor to heave her off; but the ice
+came down so thickly with the ebb, which had begun to make, that they
+were again hoisted in, and all hands were employed in shoring up the
+ship to prevent her falling over on her side.  Scarcely was this done
+when huge masses of ice came drifting down with fearful force directly
+on the ship, carrying away the shores as if they were so many reeds, and
+tearing off large sheets of the copper from her counter.
+
+"I told you that matters might be worse.  What do you think of the state
+of things?" said Bruff to Paul.
+
+"That they are very bad; but I heard the captain say just now that he
+still hopes to get off," answered Paul.  "I suppose that he is right on
+the principle Mr Devereux always advocates, `Never to give in while the
+tenth part of a chance remains.'"
+
+"Oh, Devereux is a fortunate man.  He is a lieutenant, and will be a
+commander before long, and so looks on the bright side of everything,
+while I am still a wretched old mate, and have a right to expect the
+worst," answered Bruff, with some little bitterness in his tone.  "I
+ought to have been promoted for that cutting-out affair."
+
+So he ought.  Poor Bruff, once the most joyous and uncomplaining in the
+mess, was becoming slightly acidulated by disappointment.  He had good
+reason on this occasion for taking a gloomy view of the state of
+affairs.
+
+The ice drove down in increasingly larger masses every instant.  One
+mass struck the rudder, and, though it was as strong as wood and iron
+could make it, cut it in two, the lower part being thrown up by the
+concussion on to the surface of the floe, where it lay under the stern,
+the floe itself remaining fixed in that position by the other masses
+which had collected round the ship.
+
+The ambassador and members of his suite looked uncomfortable, and made
+inquiries as to the best means of leaving the ship; but she was Captain
+Order's first command, and he had no idea of giving her up without
+making a great effort for her preservation.  At length came an order
+which showed that matters were considered bad in the extreme:
+
+"Heave overboard the guns!"
+
+Rapidly the guns were run out, and, aided by crowbars, were forced
+through the ports; but so strong was the ice that they failed to break
+it, and lay on its surface round the ship.  Mr Trunnion, the gunner,
+hurried about, assisting in the operation; but as each gun went
+overboard he gave a groan, and made a face as if, one by one, his own
+teeth were being drawn.
+
+"Never mind, mate, the good ship holds together, and we'll get her off,
+I hope," observed the carpenter.
+
+"The ship!  What's the value of her compared to the guns?" exclaimed the
+gunner, turning on his heel.
+
+The stores (to the purser's infinite grief) and water followed.  Anchors
+and cables were now carried out, and the ice astern with infinite labour
+was broken away; but the efforts of the crew were in vain, and the ship
+still remained firmly fixed in her icy prison when night drew on.
+
+What a night was that!  Down came the snow thicker than ever, the fierce
+wind howled and shrieked through the rigging, and when the ebb tide
+made, the ice in huge masses came down, crashing with fearful force
+against the sides of the frigate, mass rising above mass, till it seemed
+as if it were about to entomb her in a frozen mountain.  The science and
+experience of the oldest officers were set at nought, all the exertions
+of the crew were unavailing; the wind increased, the snow fell thicker,
+and the ice accumulated more and more.  The cold, too, was intense, and
+with difficulty the men could face the freezing blast.
+
+Paul thought of how often he had heard people complaining of the heat of
+the West Indies, and now how glad would they have been to have obtained
+some of that caloric they were then so anxious to be rid of.  Already
+the masses of ice reached up to the cabin windows.  A loud crack was
+heard.  It came from the after part of the ship.  The carpenter and his
+mates descended to ascertain the mischief.  He soon returned with a long
+face and a look of alarm on his countenance, and, touching his hat to
+the captain, reported that the stern port was broken in two, and parts
+of the stern stove in, so that there was small chance of the ship
+floating, even should she be got off.
+
+"Well, well, Auger, keep up your spirits, man," observed Mr Grummit,
+the boatswain, to his brother warrant officer; "the masts are standing,
+and in spite of the gale the spars are uninjured, and you may manage,
+after all, to copper up the old barkie to get her out of this."
+
+"Ah, that's just like the way of the world, Grummit," said Trunnion.
+"As long as your masts are standing, you don't care how much harm
+happens to the hull under Auger's charge; and while the hull was
+undamaged, Auger didn't care for my guns; but just let's see your masts
+going over the side, and we should have you singing out as loudly as any
+one--that we should, I know; and just you look out, they'll be going
+before long."
+
+The indignant gunner turned away.  It seemed very probable that his
+prognostications would prove true, for already in all directions the
+gallant ship cracked and groaned as the ice pressed in from every
+quarter on her stout timbers.
+
+Paul met Devereux, and asked him what he thought was going to happen.
+
+"One of two things, my dear Gerrard," answered the young lieutenant; "we
+must either try to get on shore, or we must be ready to go down with the
+ship, should the wind drift her out of her present position.  I know
+that you will be prepared for whatever we are called to encounter; but
+whatever occurs, keep near me.  I shall not be happy if we are
+separated."
+
+As Paul was in Devereux's watch, this he could easily promise to do.
+Hour after hour wore on.  The cold increased.  The weather gave no signs
+of mending.  Death, in a form, though not the most terrible, yet
+calculated to produce intense suffering, stared them in the face.  The
+men looked at each other, and asked what was next to happen.  The
+captain and most of his officers, and the ambassador, were in
+consultation in the cabin.  Many of the men believed that the ship
+herself could not much longer resist the violent pressure to which she
+was exposed, and expected every instant that her sides would be crushed
+together.
+
+The calmest, as usual, was old Croxton, who had been actively going
+about his duty without making any demonstration.
+
+"Lads, just listen to me," he observed.  "Some of you are proposing one
+thing, and some another; but let me advise you to go on steadily doing
+your duty, smartly obeying our officers, and leaving all the rest in the
+hands of Providence.  It is the business of the officers to plan and
+command, and, depend on it, they'll order us to do what they believe to
+be best."
+
+A few minutes afterwards the drum beat for divisions, and as soon as the
+men were mustered, the captain addressed them, and told them that, at
+the desire of the ambassador, it had been resolved to abandon the ship.
+
+"At the same time, my lads, you will remember that while she holds
+together, you still belong to her," he added.  "While, for your own
+sakes, you will maintain that strict discipline which has done you so
+much credit ever since I have had the satisfaction of commanding you."
+
+A hearty cheer was the answer to this address.
+
+The men were then directed to provide themselves each with a change of
+clothing, and a supply of provisions for two days.  All knew that the
+undertaking was perilous in the extreme.  The nearest inhabited part of
+the small island of Newark was upwards of six miles distant.  No one
+knew exactly the direction.  The snow continued to fall thickly, the
+cold was intense, and the wind blew fiercely, while it was possible that
+the ice might break away and carry them with it before they could gain
+the land.
+
+They were to march in subdivisions, each under their respective
+officers.  With heavy hearts the officers and crew went down the side of
+the ship, and formed on the ice under her lee.  The sick--fortunately
+there were very few--were supported by their comrades.  There were some
+women and children; for them it was truly fearful work.  The captain,
+having ascertained that no man was left on board, was the last to quit
+the ship.  He could not speak as he came down the side and took his
+place in the van.  The order to advance was given.  Slowly, with heads
+bent down against the freezing blast, the party worked their way.  In
+some places the tide or the wind had forced the water over the ice, and
+pools of half-frozen slush had been formed, through which they were
+compelled to wade.  In others they had to climb over the huge slabs of
+ice which had been thrown up in wild confusion.  On they toiled,
+however, those who kept close together assisting each other; but some,
+alas! in the thick snow separated by the inequalities of the surface
+over which they travelled, sunk unseen, and not, in many cases, till
+their comrades had advanced too far to render assistance, was their
+absence discovered.  A poor boy--who, though somewhat weak and sickly,
+was a favourite with the men--was one of the first missed.  He had been
+complaining of the cold, but had been encouraged to proceed by those
+near him.
+
+"Oh, let me just lie down and rest for a few moments, I am so weary, I
+will come on with the others," he murmured.
+
+"You will get no rest to do you good," was the answer.  "Cheer up, cheer
+up, lad!"
+
+A friendly hand was stretched out to help him.  For some way he
+struggled on.  Then there arose a huge pile of ice slabs, and he escaped
+from the friendly hand which held him.
+
+"Ah, now I will rest quietly," he thought, as he laid himself down on a
+crevice of the ice filled with snow.
+
+From that sleep he never awoke.
+
+Among the women, one toiled on with a child in her arms.  Many of the
+seamen offered to carry it; but she would not part with her treasure.
+On and on she moved.  Her words became wandering, then scarcely
+articulate.  She ceased at length to speak.  Still she advanced.  The
+snow fell thicker.  The road became more uneven.  Each person had to
+exert himself to the utmost to preserve his own life.  They thought not
+of the poor woman and her child till they discovered that she was not
+among them.  But not only did the weak sink down.  Strong men in the
+same way disappeared from among their comrades.  No one at the time
+exactly knew how.  No one saw them fall.  They were by the side of those
+who still walked on alive one moment, and the next they were gone.
+
+Paul kept near Devereux.  They conversed together as much as they could,
+and often addressed words of encouragement to the men, who, though often
+sinking, it appeared, with fatigue and cold, were revived, it seemed,
+and proceeded with as much spirit as at first.
+
+Paul himself at length began to grow very weary, and to long to lie down
+and rest.
+
+"If I could stop back for three minutes, I could easily run on and catch
+them up," he thought to himself; yet he did not like to make the
+proposal to Devereux, who, he still had sense enough to believe, would
+not agree to it.
+
+Poor Paul, was this to be the termination of all your aspirations for
+naval glory, to sink down and die on a frozen sand-bank, within a few
+miles of a spot where you may obtain food, shelter, and warmth?
+
+"I can stand it no longer, I must rest," he said to himself.  "There is
+a snug spot between two slabs of ice, quite an arm-chair.  I must sit in
+it, if only for two minutes."
+
+Devereux must have divined his thoughts, or probably observed the
+irregular and faltering steps he was making, for, seizing him by the
+arm, he exclaimed, with judicious roughness--
+
+"Come, rouse up, Paul, my dear fellow!  We must have none of this folly.
+I did not expect it from you."
+
+The words had their due effect.  By a powerful effort Paul threw off his
+lethargy, and once more sprang on with the rest, continuing to talk and
+encourage his companions.
+
+Still no one could tell whether or not they should ever reach their
+destination.  The snow fell thicker than ever, and not a windmill, a
+spire, or a willow, or any of the objects which adorn the shores of the
+Elbe, could be seen to indicate that they were approaching the haunts of
+men.  It was too evident that many of their number had passed from among
+them since they began their march, and no one could say who might
+follow.  Many were complaining bitterly of the cold, and others had
+ceased to complain, as if no longer conscious of the effect it was
+producing.
+
+Suddenly there was a shout from those in advance.  The rear ranks
+hurried on.  A house was seen, then another, and another.  They were in
+the middle of a village.  Kind people came out of their houses to
+inquire what had occurred; and at once there was no lack of hearty
+invitations, and the whole party were soon enjoying warmth, hot drinks,
+and dry clothing, which soon revived the greater number, though some who
+had been frost-bitten required considerable attention before they were
+set to rights.
+
+The next day the storm raged as furiously as before, and so it continued
+for nearly a week, and all had reason to be thankful that they had
+reached a place of safety.  At length, the weather moderating, and
+provisions on the island growing very scarce, the ambassador and his
+suite, and half of the ship's company, proceeded on, though not without
+great difficulty and hazard, to Cuxhaven, while the rest remained on the
+island, in the hope of saving some of the ship's stores.
+
+Among the latter were Devereux, Paul, and O'Grady, with Reuben Cole.
+The next day they, with a party of men, volunteered to visit the wreck,
+to report on her condition, and to bring back some bread, of which they
+stood greatly in need.  They succeeded in getting on board, and found
+the ship in even a worse condition than they had expected.  She was on
+her beam ends, with upwards of seven feet of water in her, apparently
+broken asunder, the quarter-deck separated six feet from the gangway,
+and only kept together by the ice frozen round her.  Their task
+accomplished, with a few articles of value and a supply of bread, they
+returned to the shore.
+
+Considering that the risk was very great, the captain decided that no
+further visits should be paid to the ship.
+
+However, one morning, the weather becoming very fine, it being
+understood that the captain had not actually prohibited a visit to the
+ship, Devereux, Paul, and O'Grady, with Cole and another man, set off to
+pay, as they said, the old barkie a farewell visit.  The captain, who
+was ill in bed, only heard of their departure too late to recall them.
+The frost was so severe that the ice was well frozen, and thus they must
+have got on board; but it was supposed that they had remained on board
+till the tide changing made their return impossible.  They were
+looked-for anxiously during the evening, but no tidings came of them.
+At night the wind again got up, and their shipmates, as they sat by the
+fires of their hospitable host, trembled for their safety.  As soon as
+daylight returned the greater number were on foot.  Not a vestige of her
+could be seen.  The tide and wind rising together must have carried down
+the masses of ice with terrific force, and completely swept her decks.
+
+When Captain Order heard of this, his feelings gave way.  "To have lost
+my ship was bad enough," he exclaimed; "but to lose so many fine young
+fellows on a useless expedition is more than I can bear.  It will be the
+cause of my death."
+
+The few officers who remained with the captain could offer no
+consolation.  The pilots and other people belonging to the place were
+consulted.  They declared that from the condition of the ship when last
+visited, it was impossible that she could withstand the numerous masses
+of ice which during the past night must have, with terrific violence,
+been driven against her, that she had probably been cut down by degrees
+to the water's edge, and that thus the ice must have swept over her.
+They said that if even those on board had been able to launch a boat, no
+boat could have lived amid the floating ice; and that even, had she
+escaped from the ice, she must have foundered in the chopping sea
+running at the mouth of the river.  Probably, when the weather moderated
+in the spring, portions of the wreck would be found thrown up on the
+shore, and that was all that would ever be known of her fate.  The
+captain, after waiting some days, and nothing being heard of the frigate
+or the lost officers and men, being sufficiently recovered, proceeded
+with the remainder of the crew to Cuxhaven.
+
+Devereux, Paul and O'Grady were general favourites, and their loss
+caused great sorrow among their surviving shipmates; but sailors,
+especially in those busy, stirring days, had little time for mourning
+for those who had gone where they knew that they themselves might soon
+be called on to follow.  Some honest tears were shed to their memory,
+and the captain with a heavy heart wrote his despatches, giving an
+account of the loss of his ship, and of the subsequent misfortune by
+which the service had been deprived of so many gallant and promising
+young officers.  The ambassador and his suite had for some time before
+taken their departure, as the French were known to be advancing
+eastward, and might have, had they delayed, intercepted them.  For the
+same reason Captain Order and his officers and crew anxiously looked
+forward to the arrival of a ship of war to take them away, as they did
+not fancy finishing off their adventures by being made prisoners and
+marched off to Verdun, or some other unpleasant place, where the French
+at that time shut up their captives.  At length a sloop of war arrived,
+and they reached England in safety.  Captain Order and his officers had
+to undergo a court-martial for the loss of the frigate, when they were
+not only honourably acquitted, but were complimented on the admirable
+discipline which had been maintained, and were at once turned over to
+another frigate, the _Dido_, lately launched, and fitting with all
+possible dispatch for sea.
+
+But there were sad hearts and weeping eyes in one humble home, where the
+loss of two deeply loved ones was mourned; and even in the paternal hall
+of O'Grady, and in the pretentious mansion of Devereux, sorrow was
+expressed, and some tears were shed for those who had thus early been
+cut off in their career of glory.  We will not attempt to pry into the
+grief which existed in Gerrard's home.  It did not show itself by loud
+cries and lamentations, but it was very evident that from one heart
+there all joyousness had for ever flown.  Still Mary bore up
+wonderfully.  All her attention seemed to be occupied in attending to
+her mother, who, already delicate, felt Paul's loss dreadfully.  Her
+young brothers and sisters, too, required her care.  As usual, she
+taught them their lessons, made and mended their clothes, helped to cook
+their dinners, and attended them at their meals.  None of these things
+did she for a day leave undone, and even Sarah and John, whispering
+together, agreed that Mary could not have cared so very much for
+Gilbert, and still less for poor Paul.
+
+Some weeks passed on, when one day, when Mary was out marketing, Mrs
+Gerrard received a letter curiously marked over--not very clean, and
+with a high postage.  Fortunately she had just enough to pay for it.
+She read it more than once.  "Poor, dear, sweet, good Mary!" she
+exclaimed; "I almost fear to tell her; the revulsion may be too great.
+I know how much she has suffered, though others don't."
+
+A writer has a great advantage in being able to shift the scene, and to
+go backwards or forwards in time as he may find necessary.  We must go
+back to that fine, bright, but bitterly cold morning when Lieutenant
+Devereux and his companions set off to visit the frigate.  They were
+strong and hardy, had thick coats, and, besides, the exercise kept them
+warm.  The way was difficult, often through deep snow, into which they
+sank up to their middles.  They looked in vain for trace of any of their
+lost shipmates.  They were already entombed beneath the glittering snow,
+not to be again seen till the warm sun of the spring should expose them
+to the gaze of passers by.  They at length reached the ship, and climbed
+up through a main-deck port.  How silent and melancholy seemed the
+deserted ship, lately crowded with active busy human beings never more
+again destined to people its decks.
+
+They looked into the cabins and selected a few articles they had before
+forgotten, taking some articles from the cabins of their messmates which
+they thought might be valued.  On the main-deck the injuries which the
+ship had received were not so apparent.
+
+"Would it be possible to save her?" exclaimed Devereux.  "If she could
+be buoyed up with empty casks and got off into deep water, we might
+patch her up sufficiently to run her over to Yarmouth Roads.  I would
+rather see her bones left there than here."
+
+"Anything you like I am ready for," said O'Grady, and Paul repeated the
+sentiment.
+
+"I do not mean to say that we can do it by ourselves; but if we can form
+a good plan to place before the captain, perhaps he will let us have the
+rest of the people to carry it out," said Devereux.  "However, before we
+begin, let us have some food.  I am very hungry after our walk, and I
+daresay you all are."
+
+All hands agreed to this; there was no lack of provisions.  Some time
+was occupied in the meal, and then they set to work to make their
+survey.  As they wished to be exact, and to ascertain the number of
+casks on which they could depend for floating the ship, the business
+occupied a longer time than they had expected.  They had nearly
+completed their plans when Paul, looking through one of the ports, saw
+the water rushing by with great rapidity, carrying with it large blocks
+of ice capable of overwhelming anybody they might have struck.  The tide
+had turned, it was too evident, some time, and their retreat to the
+shore was cut off.  Paul reported the circumstance to Devereux.  There
+was no doubt about the matter.  They stood at the gangway gazing at the
+roaring torrent, full of masses of ice leaping over and grinding against
+each other.  No one but a madman would have ventured to cross it.  It
+seemed doubtful if even a boat could live in such a turmoil of waters.
+If the flood ran up thus strong, what might be the effects of the ebb?
+It would not be low water again till past midnight, and it would then be
+very dangerous, if not altogether impracticable, to get on shore.  They
+must, therefore, make up their minds to remain on board till the
+following day.
+
+"The old ship is not going to tumble to pieces just yet," said Devereux.
+"We might have had worse quarters than she can still afford, so we
+shall have to turn into our berths and wait till the sun rises again."
+
+Whether the young lieutenant felt as confident as he expressed himself
+might have been doubted; but he was one of those wise people who always
+make the best of everything, carrying out practically the proverb "What
+cannot be cured must be endured."  As they had plenty to do, and were
+able to light a fire in the cabin stove and another in the galley to
+cook their supper, they passed their time not unpleasantly.  Their
+habits of naval discipline would not allow them to dispense with a
+watch, so, while the rest turned in, one officer and one man at a time
+walked the deck, though, as O'Grady remarked, "We are not likely to run
+foul of anything, seeing that we are hard and fast aground, and nothing
+will purposely run foul of us; and if anything does, it may, for we
+can't get out of its way."  Devereux took the dog watch, O'Grady was to
+take the first, and Paul the middle.  Paul was not sorry to turn in, for
+he was very tired.  He had not slept, as he thought, when he felt
+O'Grady's hand on his shoulder, telling him that it was time to turn
+out.
+
+He was on deck in a minute, where he found O'Grady, who was waiting his
+coming.  Just as O'Grady was going down, a loud, grating, crushing noise
+assailed their ears.  It was blowing very strong, and freezing extremely
+hard.  The night also was very dark, and occasionally heavy falls of
+snow came on, making the obscurity greater.  The rushing noise
+increased.  The tide they knew must have turned, and was now coming down
+with terrific force.
+
+"I say, Gerrard, I doubt if Devereux's plan will succeed, if the ice
+continues to come down in this fashion; more likely to cut the old
+barkie to pieces," observed O'Grady.
+
+"I am afraid so," said Paul; "I'll ask Cole what he thinks of the state
+of affairs."
+
+Reuben was found, and confessed that he did not like them.  The wind had
+increased to a fearful gale, which howled and whistled through the
+shrouds, and between the intervals of these gusts the roar of the
+distant ocean could be heard, as the seas met together, or dashed in
+heavy rollers on the coast.
+
+While the midshipmen and Reuben were talking, they became conscious that
+the ship was moving; her deck rose and fell very slowly certainly, but
+they felt the sensation of which perhaps only seamen could have been
+aware that they were standing on a floating body.  They instantly called
+Devereux, and he was convinced of the awful fact that the frigate was
+moving.  In her present condition she could not float long, and though
+they might lower a boat, it was impossible that a boat could live among
+the masses of ice rushing by.  Perhaps the frigate might ground again.
+They sounded the well; she had not made much water since they came on
+board, so she might float for some time longer.  Perhaps she was still
+in shallow water, and just gliding over the bottom.  A lead was found
+and hove for soundings; but instead of striking the water, it came upon
+hard ice.  The mystery was explained.  The whole floe in which the ship
+was embedded was floating away.  There could be little doubt about that.
+But where was it driving to?  That was the question.  It might drive
+out to sea, and becoming broken by the force of the waves, allow the
+ship to sink between its fragments.  Still even then they might possibly
+be able to escape in a boat.  One was therefore cleared and got ready
+for landing, and a supply of provisions, a compass, and water, were
+placed in her, with some spare cloaks and blankets to afford them a
+slight shield and protection from the inclemency of the weather.  After
+this they could do no more than pray that warning might be given them of
+the ship's sinking, and wait patiently for day.
+
+The cold was so intense that they would have been almost frozen to death
+had they not been able to keep up a fire in the cabin stove, round which
+officers and men now clustered.  It might possibly be their last meeting
+on this side a watery grave, and yet they had all, young and old, been
+so accustomed to face death, that they did not allow the anticipation of
+it altogether to quench their spirits.  They talked of the past and even
+of the future, although fully aware that that future on earth might not
+be for them.
+
+Day came at last, cold and grey.  They looked out; they were, as they
+had conjectured, surrounded by a solid floe of ice--so thick that there
+seemed little danger of its immediately breaking up.  Beyond it was the
+leaden sea foaming and hissing--but, in spite of the gale, not breaking
+heavily, owing to the floes of ice floating about and the direction of
+the wind; while in the distance to the south, and on either hand, was a
+low line of coast, with islands here and there scattered now and then.
+
+The prospect was uninviting.  The ship was driving out to sea, and could
+not then long hold together.  O'Grady proposed making an attempt to gain
+the shore in the boat; but Devereux pointed out the difficulty there
+would be in making headway against the furious gale then blowing, in
+addition to the risk of having the boat stove in by the ice.
+
+"No, no; let us stick to the ship as long as she keeps above water," he
+added.
+
+Of course all agreed that his decision was right.  They were not idle,
+however.  Paul suggested that if a boat could not live, a strong raft
+might; and as soon as breakfast was over, they set to work to build one.
+As they had plenty of time and materials, they made it big enough and
+strong enough to carry fifty men, and in the centre built a store-house
+to hold provisions for several days.  Fortunately the ice did not move
+very fast; and before they had drifted far off the coast, the wind
+shifted, and drove them along it at the same rate as before.  Still it
+continued freezing hard.  A rapid thaw they had most to fear, as it
+would melt away the supporting floe, and let the ship sink.  But then
+they might take to their boat.  Had it not been for the anxiety they
+felt as to what might happen, they had no great cause to complain, as
+they had shelter and firing, and were amply supplied with provisions,
+besides, as O'Grady observed, enjoying the advantage, when the raft was
+finished, of having nothing to do.  The third night they had spent on
+board came to a close.  They kept a very strict watch, that should any
+change occur, they might not be taken unawares.  On looking out they
+found the land much nearer than before.  This was accounted for, as the
+wind had shifted, and now blew almost directly on shore.
+
+"Our voyage will come to an end sooner than we expected last night,"
+observed O'Grady.  "For my part I am almost sorry; it's very good fun."
+
+"It will be no laughing matter, if the wind increases, and a heavy surf
+breaks on the shore," said Devereux, who overheard the remark.
+
+The ship, still surrounded by its mass of ice, to which it acted as a
+sail, drifted slowly, but steadily, towards the shore.  The rate of
+progress was increased, however, before long by the rising wind, and the
+deck of the ship, hitherto only gently undulating, began to be tossed
+about with a motion more rapid than pleasant.  As they drove on, the
+land opened out, and appeared on either hand; so that they found that
+they were at the entrance of an estuary, or the mouth of a wide river.
+But the sea rolled in very heavily, and they feared, if it increased,
+that the ice round the ship would break up.  Still there would be ample
+warning given, and they dreaded no immediate danger.  The raft and boat
+were both got ready.  Should the ship sink, the former would in all
+probability float, and afford them a refuge should the boat be unable to
+live.
+
+"And now all our preparations are made, we'll pipe to dinner," said
+Devereux.
+
+And the whole party sat down to a not unsubstantial meal round the cabin
+stove.  Dinner was over.  It had been somewhat prolonged, for there was
+nothing to do, and they had been talking of by-gone days, and fighting
+their battles over again.  It was time, however, to look out to see what
+progress they had been of late making.  It was O'Grady's watch, and when
+he opened the cabin door to go out, he saw a mass of smoke eddying round
+in the fore-part of the deck.  His companions soon joined him to
+ascertain beyond a doubt that the ship was on fire.  It might still be
+overcome.  But the fresh water had been started; there was only ice
+alongside, and the pumps were choked.  The party made a rush towards the
+fire, in the hopes of beating it out; but they were soon convinced that
+it had gained hold of the ship, and that no efforts they could make to
+extinguish it would avail.  How it had originated there was no time to
+consider.  Probably some coal jerked out of the galley-fire had found
+its way below, and had ignited some of the stores.  The flames now burst
+forth, and spread rapidly--bursting through the hatchways and ports, and
+soon enveloping the whole of the fore-part of the ship.  The party were
+now exposed to even a more terrible danger than any they had
+anticipated.  Their raft would no longer avail them.  Their entire
+dependence must be on their frail boat.  Still till the last moment they
+were unwilling to leave the once stout ship which had so long been their
+home.
+
+"We must go, my lads," exclaimed Devereux, with a sigh, as the flames,
+fanned by the wind, rapidly approached the quarter-deck.  "One good
+thing is, that should she drive on shore, and the French be in the
+neighbourhood, they will not benefit by her."
+
+"Hurrah! one cheer for the old barkie before we leave her!" cried Reuben
+Cole, as they launched the boat on to the ice.  "Another good is, that
+not another mortal man will set his foot on her deck after us."
+
+"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" they shouted, as they ran the boat over the
+ice.
+
+They did not leave the ship a moment too soon, for scarcely had they got
+their boat into the water to the leeward of the floe, than the
+fore-mast, already a pyramid of fire, fell with a loud crash on the ice.
+
+"There is something more coming, and the further off we are, the
+better," cried Devereux.  "I should have thought of that before.  Give
+way, lads; the fire will soon reach the magazine."
+
+So long as the boat was under the lee of the floe she made tolerably
+fine weather of it; but as she increased her distance, the seas came
+rolling up after her, threatening every instant to engulph her.  A mast
+had been stepped, and a sail got ready for hoisting.  This was now run
+up, and assisted her greatly.  Devereux steered, and even he could
+scarcely keep his eyes from the burning ship.  A cry from his companions
+made him for an instant turn his head.  There was a thundering deep
+report; and as he looked for an instant, the whole ship seemed, with her
+remaining masts and spars one mass of flame, to be lifted bodily up out
+of her icy cradle into the air.  Up, up it went, and then, splitting
+into ten thousand fragments, down it came hissing and crashing, some
+into the foaming sea, and others on to the ice, where they continued to
+burn brilliantly.  There was no cheering this time.  Paul felt more
+inclined to cry, as he witnessed the fate of the gallant frigate.
+
+"If the wreckers on shore were expecting a prize, they'll be mistaken,"
+observed Reuben, when all had been silent for some time.
+
+They had enough to do to look after their own safety.  It was already
+dusk.  Masses of ice were floating about, not very thickly, but thick
+enough to make it a matter of difficulty to avoid them.  The land was
+flat, and they were nearer to it than they supposed.  A point appeared
+on the right.  If they could get round it without being swamped, they
+would be in smooth water.  They gave the point a sufficient berth.  A
+heavy sea came rolling by them; luffing up, they ran in, and in another
+minute found themselves standing up a river of some size in perfectly
+smooth water.  The weather was very cold, and they were anxious to get
+on shore as soon as possible.  The further up they went, however, the
+more likely they were, they thought, to find satisfactory shelter, for
+as yet no houses of any sort could be seen.  Shelter, however, must, if
+possible, be found, for although they had provisions, the weather was
+too cold to allow them to remain out, if it could be helped.  They stood
+on for nearly half an hour, when a light was seen glimmering on the
+opposite shore.  They steered towards it, fortunately lowering the sail
+when at some distance from it, for before the boat had lost way, her
+stem struck against the ice which fringed the bank, and very nearly
+stove in her bow.  Searching about, however, they at length found a
+landing-place, and with hearts thankful for their escape sprang on
+shore.  That they might not be a burden to the people whose hospitality
+they intended to seek, they loaded themselves, not only with the
+valuables they had rescued from the wreck, but with a good supply of
+provisions.  They proceeded, therefore, boldly along a tolerable road in
+the direction of the light, or rather lights, for several appeared as
+they advanced.
+
+"Oh, depend on it we shall have a cordial reception," said O'Grady.
+"Very likely that is some fat old Burgomaster's country residence, and
+he is giving a ball, or an entertainment of some sort, for which we
+shall come in."
+
+"As likely it is a flour-mill, and those lights we see are from its
+windows," remarked Devereux.
+
+"We shall soon settle the point, for we shall be up to the place
+directly," said Paul.  "The lights are lower than I at first thought,
+and appear to be in the windows of several houses.  Hark!  I hear the
+tramp of horses coming along the road."
+
+"Qui va la?" shouted a voice, in sharp, stern accents.  "Stand and
+declare yourselves!"
+
+"We are in for it," whispered O'Grady.  "What can the fellows be?"
+
+"French dragoons, I am afraid," answered Paul, "There is no use
+attempting to deceive them.  They ask who we are."
+
+"Gerrard, you speak French better than I do; tell them," said Devereux.
+
+"Naval officers who have lost their ship, and are seeking for shelter
+this bitter cold night," shouted Paul.
+
+"Come then with us," exclaimed the sergeant in command of the patrol,
+riding up.  "Your story, friends, may or may not be true.  If you are
+spies, the consequences may be unpleasant."
+
+Escorted by the horsemen, they were conducted to the building they had
+seen.  It appeared to be a large country house.  All the outhouses and
+lower rooms were converted into stables, little trouble having been
+taken to remove rich Brussels carpets or valuable furniture.  They were
+led upstairs to a large room, where several officers were seated at
+supper, and were announced as prisoners just captured on the road,
+reporting themselves as naval officers.
+
+"A likely story," observed the commanding officer--a general apparently
+by his uniform.  "What have you to say for yourselves?"
+
+"That our tale is true," answered Devereux.  "Any person on the coast
+must have seen our ship burning.  If you will send, you can ascertain
+the truth of that part of our account."
+
+"It is a considerable distance from the coast, and we cannot spare men
+to send," said the general, gruffly.
+
+"The boat by which we landed will be found at the bank of the river,"
+observed Paul, quietly.
+
+"Very likely, but that will only prove that you landed from some ship
+off the coast," exclaimed the general, in an angry tone.  "You were
+found prowling about my head-quarters, the act of spies, and as spies
+you will be treated.  If your story is not authenticated, you will be
+shot at sunrise."
+
+"Say, rather, brutally murdered!" said Devereux, indignantly.  "I call
+all here to witness that I state that I am a British officer, that these
+are my subordinates, that all I have said is true, and that we landed
+here not knowing that the French were occupying the country."
+
+The general, once well known for his atrocious cruelties, had made a
+signal to the guard to lead away the prisoners, when a young man entered
+the room dressed in the uniform of an hussar.  Paul looked at him very
+hard, struck by his strong likeness to Alphonse Montauban.
+
+"What!" exclaimed the new comer, springing forward, and taking Paul's
+hand, "Is it possible?"
+
+His voice made Devereux and O'Grady turn their heads; and in spite of
+the astonished and angry looks of the general and some of his officers,
+he grasped their hands; then turning to the general, he cried out--
+
+"What have these officers done?  They appear to be treated as criminals.
+I know them well.  They are old friends, who, when I was their
+prisoner, treated me with kindness, sympathy, and generosity.  I will
+answer for it that whatever account they have given of themselves is the
+true one."
+
+"That alters the case, my dear Count," said the general, in a blander
+tone than he had as yet used.  "If they really have been wrecked,
+although we must consider them as prisoners, they shall receive all
+courtesy at our hands, and be exchanged as soon as possible."
+
+Of course Devereux again gave an account of their adventures, on the
+truth of which Alphonse staked his honour.
+
+"Very well; then if they will pass their parole, they shall be committed
+to your charge, Count," said the general, with a more courteous glance
+at the English officers than he had hitherto bestowed.
+
+All arrangements having been made, the prisoners accompanied Alphonse to
+his quarters, where, with the aid of the provisions they had brought, an
+ample repast was soon spread before them.  Of course they were all eager
+to know how Alphonse had happened so opportunely to make his appearance.
+He briefly told them that his father, who was no other than the old
+gentleman in the chateau whom Paul and O'Grady had known as _Mon Oncle_,
+was the Count de Montauban, and that his title having been restored by
+the Emperor, he had, on his death, succeeded to it; that having left the
+marine, of which his experiences had made him heartily sick, he had
+entered the army, and had rapidly risen to the command of a troop in a
+light cavalry regiment.  His corps belonged to a division of the army
+which for some strategical object had been pushed forward, but was
+expected quickly to retreat, when he thought it very possible that the
+general would set them at liberty.
+
+The old friends spent a very pleasant evening, much pleasanter, O'Grady
+remarked, for his part, than if he had expected to be taken out to be
+shot the next morning as a spy.  He asked, not without a blush,
+increased when he saw Paul's laughing eye fixed on him, after Rosalie.
+
+"Oh, my dear cousin is well, and merry as ever, if I may judge by her
+letters, for she writes constantly to me; indeed, I may confess that our
+parents have arranged an affair between us which we neither of us shall
+be loath to carry out.  When I saw her, she laughed a great deal at the
+attempts of my young Irish friend, as she called you, O'Grady, to learn
+French, and said that she was afraid she would have had to give you up
+as a hopeless case."
+
+Poor Paddy made an hysterical attempt to join the laugh of his
+companions against himself, and it was observed that he never again, at
+least not for some years, spoke about his dear little Rosalie.
+
+After a detention of some weeks, the whole party were, as Alphonse had
+anticipated they would be, released, and having ample funds which the
+young Count pressed on them, they made their way without difficulty to
+Cuxhaven, which place of course the captain and officers and crew of the
+lost frigate had long since left.  They succeeded, however, without much
+delay in getting over to England.  Mary recovered her health, and on
+Devereux becoming a commander, they were married.  O'Grady married one
+of her younger sisters a few years afterwards, and when peace came, paid
+a very pleasant visit to his old friends the Count and Countess
+Montauban.
+
+Paul rose to the top of his profession, and used to take great delight
+in narrating to his grandchildren his adventures when he was a
+cabin-boy.  To one of these grandchildren I am indebted for this
+history.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Paul Gerrard, by W.H.G. Kingston
+
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