were proceeding to stump our prisoners off
to the boat, when, with the innate deviltry that I have inherited, I
know not how, but the original sin of which has more than once nearly
cost me my life, I said, without addressing my superior officer, or any
one else directly, "I should like now to scale my pistol through that
coffin. If I miss, I can't hurt the old woman; and an eyelet hole in
the coffin itself will only be an act of civility to the worms."

I looked towards my superior officer, who answered me with a knowing
shake of the head. I advanced, while all was silent as death--the
sharp click of the pistol lock now struck acutely on my own ear. I
presented, when--crash--the lid of the coffin, old woman and all, was
dashed off in an instant, the corpse flying up in the air, and then
falling heavily on the floor, rolling over and over, while a tall
handsome fellow, in his striped flannel shirt and blue trousers, with
the sweat pouring down over his face in streams, sat up in the shell.

"All right," said Mr. Treenail; "help him out of his berth."

He was pinioned like the rest, and forthwith we walked them all off to
the beach. By this time there was an unusual bustle in the Holy
Ground, and we could hear many an anathema--curses not loud but
deep--ejaculated from many a half-opened door as we passed along. We
reached the boat, and time it was we did, for a number of stout
fellows, who had followed us in a gradually increasing crowd until they
amounted to forty at the fewest, now nearly surrounded us, and kept
closing in. As the last of us jumped into the boat, they made a rush,
so that if we had not shoved off with the speed of light, I think it
very likely that we should have been overpowered. However, we reached
the ship in safety, and the day following we weighed, and stood out to
sea with our convoy.

It was a very large fleet, nearly three hundred sail of merchant
vessels--and a noble sight truly.

A line-of-battle ship led, and two frigates and three sloops of our
class were stationed on the outskirts of the fleet, whipping them in,
as it were. We made Madeira in fourteen days, looked in, but did not
anchor; superb island--magnificent mountains--white town,--and all very
fine, but nothing particular happened for three weeks. One fine
evening (we had by this time progressed into the trades, and were
within three hundred miles of Barbadoes) the sun had set bright and
clear, after a most beautiful