ving
out the wine. It only made Bambrick turn round and say:

"All right, Mr Governor, you shall have some more, old boy."

He took care, at all events, that the old gentleman should have enough,
for he gave him the greater portion of the contents of a jug.

We waited till nearly all the men were served, and then Grey pulled out
the spile, and a good deal ran out. He had to put it in before the men
returned for their last supply. Still, for fear that too much might
remain, he kicked away the block of wood which kept it in its place, and
then rolling over the cask, it was emptied of its remaining contents. I
must do our fellows the justice to say that they treated the prisoners
as they would like to have been treated themselves, and gave them as
much wine as they would drink. The only difference was that they would
have drunk five times as much as the Frenchmen, and not have been the
worse for it.

They were rather inclined to grumble when they found that there was no
more. I saw that it was time to exert my authority.

"You've done very well, lads," I exclaimed. "But suppose you were all
to get drunk, what would the Frenchmen do with us, I should like to
know? Shall I tell you? They would manage to wriggle themselves free,
and heave us all overboard. If we don't want to disgrace ourselves, let
us keep what we've got. Not another drop of liquor does anyone have
aboard here till we fall in with the frigate."

My speech appeared to have some effect, and I took care to give all
hands ample employment, that they might not think of the liquor. As it
was, by the springy way in which they moved about the deck, and the
harangues uttered by Ned Bambrick on every trivial occasion, I saw that
they had already had quite enough for our safety. Night was now
approaching, but still the frigate was nowhere to be seen. Grey went
aloft, and took an anxious look round.

"Not a sign of her," he said, as he returned on deck.

Darkness came on. All hands were naturally feeling very sleepy, but
with so many prisoners to guard, even though their hands were lashed
behind them, it was necessary for us to keep awake. However, Grey and I
agreed that--if we were rested and brisk we could do more than if we
were worn out--it would be best for us to take a little sleep at
intervals, and allow one or two of the men to sleep at the same time.
One man was at the helm, and two others kept walking up and down the
deck, with pistols