was absent on board a prize.

Thus forced to take charge of a privateer without a moment's warning,
I submitted with the best grace, and, calling for charts and
instruments, I shaped my way for the destined port. All day we steered
west-north-west, but at sunset, as we had run along smartly, I
ordered the schooner to be "laid to" for the night. The wind and
weather were both charmingly fair, and objections were of course made
to my command. But, as the most difficult part of our navigation was
to be encountered during the night, if I kept on my course, I resolved
to persist to the last in my resolution, and I was fortunate enough to
carry my point.

"D--n you," said Lasquetti, as the vessel was brought to the wind and
made snug for the night, "d--n you, Master Teodore; this laying-to
shall give _you_ no rest, at least, if you thought to dodge work, and
get into a hammock by means of it! You shall march the deck all night
to see that we don't drift on a reef, if I have to sit up, or stand up
till day-dawn to watch you!"

Obedience, alas! had been the order of the day with me for a long
while; so I promenaded the lee quarter till nearly midnight, when,
utterly exhausted by fatigue, I sat down on a long brass chaser, and
almost instantly fell asleep.

I know not how long I rested, but a tremendous shock knocked me from
the cannon and laid me flat on the deck, bleeding from mouth, nose and
ears. Lasquetti stood beside me, cigar in hand, laughing immoderately,
blaspheming like a demon, and kicking me in the ribs with his rough
wet-weather boots. He had detected me asleep, and touched off the gun
with his _havanna_!

The explosion aroused all hands, and brought the commander on deck. My
blood flowed, but it did not pour fast enough to relieve my agonizing
rage. As soon as I recovered consciousness, I seized the first heavy
implement I could grasp, and rushed at my aggressor, whose skull was
saved from the blow by descending beneath the combings of the
hatchway, which, the instant after, were shivered by the descent of my
heavy weapon. Lamine was a man of some sensibility, and, though
selfish, as usual with his set, could not avoid at once reprimanding
Lasquetti with uncommon severity in presence of his men.

That afternoon, I was fortunate enough, by the aid of a good chart,
and a sort of _navigating instinct_, to anchor the "Cara-bobo" in the
narrow harbor of Key West. When Lamine went ashore, he ordered me not
to le