me box. Fire away and let's have
the yarn."

"Eh, bien," said the little man, sitting up. "I leave my beloved France
six months ago, and sail for to fight ze perfide Russian. Then after ze
battle for Balaclava,--monsieur, what horsemen terrible are yours--I get
ze malade; ze--what you call 'im--ah, ze water and ze cold do catch me
here;" and placing his hands on his stomach, he rolled his eyes till the
whites alone showed, and groaned dismally. "Ze officer say, `mon pauvre
garcon!'" he continued, "and send me on the ship _Henri Cinq_."

"What! you don't mean to say that that fine boat has gone down?"
interrupted Phil.

"Alas, monsieur, it is true!" the Frenchman answered, lifting his hands.
"Behold, all is peace; ze sun 'e shine so brightly. Then ze tempest
come, ze ship fight bravely, and then rush on the land. `Sauve qui
peut', ze captain shout, and I tie myself here. Then I think of my
country, and all is dark. I wake, and you are here, mon cher. Aha!
what does he matter? Mais--ah, monsieur, mes pauvres camarades!" and
once more the little man relapsed into tears.

Meanwhile the wreckage had been rapidly drifting, and as the darkness
lifted it became perfectly evident that the harbour into which the gale
had swept them was indeed that on the shore of which Sebastopol was
built. Soon sentries noticed the wreckage, and before long boats had
put off to secure it, for wood was of value for fires. To offer any
opposition was hopeless; the three were lifted into one of the boats,
and were rowed swiftly into the inner harbour, where they were handed
over to a guard.

"Our second visit to this place," said Tony disgustedly. "Blow'd if it
ain't the hardest luck as ever was. But I sha'n't grumble no more.
We've come safe through when other lads have gone to their last. I say
we was saved by a miracle."

"Yes, indeed," agreed Phil. "We have much to be thankful for."

"Then you have been prisonaire before?" asked the Frenchman, astonished.

"We only escaped a matter of three weeks ago," answered Phil.

"You make ze escape, monsieur?" the little man repeated, lifting his
eyebrows in his amazement. "Truly, you Englishmen are brave. Ha, ha!"
he went on, clapping his hands, "what need I, Pierre Moutard, fear? We
will make ze escape with each others, and we will snap ze fingers at our
perfide enemy;" and, putting his arms akimbo and throwing his chin
proudly in the air, he frowned at the nearest sentry as