e she looked on me with
wondrous kindness.

And when she was gone I could not forbear heaving a monstrous sigh
at the thought that she was now a lady of great property, whereas I
was but a second lieutenant, poor on eighty pounds a year.

Chapter 30: The Six Days' Battle.

My wound kept me laid up for a fortnight, and hobbling for another,
so that I was unluckily prevented from accompanying my captain in a
little expedition in which he gained much credit and a goodly
portion of prize money. The Falmouth was sent by Admiral Benbow,
with the Ruby and the Experiment, to cruise off the Petit Guavas.
'Twas the middle of May when they returned (with four prizes, one a
very rich ship), and meanwhile things had happened which mitigated
my disappointment.

We learned in April from Rear Admiral Whetstone, who had joined the
vice admiral, of the death of King William and the accession of the
Princess Anne, and knowing how much the new queen was under the
influence of the Earl of Marlborough's lady, we had little doubt
that England would soon be at war with France. A few days before my
ship returned to port we had advice of the rupture between the two
countries, and when Captain Vincent informed the admiral that
Monsieur Chateau-Renaud was at the Havana, with six and twenty
men-of-war, waiting for the great treasure fleet from Santa Cruz,
we looked forward with lively anticipation to the imminent
conflict.

And it chancing that one of the second lieutenants of the flagship
was sick, Mr. Benbow with great kindness appointed me, being now
perfectly recovered, to fill his room. I parted with regret from
Captain Vincent, whom I esteemed a better commander than Captain
Fogg, of the Breda, but I was greatly delighted at the prospect of
serving under Mr. Benbow's eye, and in hardly less degree at being
on the same ship as Joe Punchard, who had returned to his duty as
the admiral's servant.

It was nigh two months before the vice admiral hoisted his flag and
set sail. In the interim he had despatched Rear Admiral Whetstone
to intercept Monsieur du Casse, who, as he was informed, was
expected at Port Louis, at the west end of Hispaniola, with four
men-of-war, to destroy our trade for negroes. At length sailing
orders were given to the fleet, and on the evening before we
departed we attended a grand entertainment given by the new
governor, Brigadier General Selwyn, who had arrived towards the
latter end of January.

All the