our own vessel had suffered but
little, we were able to bestow all our strength upon her. Both Perigal
and McAllister were very anxious to continue the cruise together. The
objection to this was the number of our prisoners. Still, as McAllister
argued, the commander of the prize, Lieutenant Preville was a very quiet
sort of fellow, and the men left on board were orderly and well-behaved,
so that he should have no difficulty in keeping them under.

"But, remember, McAllister, that crews have sometimes risen against
their captors, and retaken their vessels. It will be necessary to be
very careful," observed Perigal.

"Oh, never fear, my old fellow; I should think that we seven Englishmen
could keep a dozen or more Frenchmen in order," answered McAllister,
with a somewhat scornful laugh. "If we go into action, we will clap
them under hatches, and they will be quiet enough, depend on that."

At length Perigal yielded, and the Audacieuse's mast-head having been
fished, and all other damages made good, we continued our cruise
together. Lieutenant Preville was a gentleman, and really a very
pleasant fellow; and, to show our appreciation of his good qualities, we
invited him to live in his own cabin and to partake of the delicacies
which he had laid in for his own especial use, which was generous on our
part; and which conduct he did not fail to acknowledge by doing ample
justice to the viands. He frequently, too, would tuck up his sleeves,
and, going into the galley, would cook dishes, which I doubt that any
Parisian chef could have surpassed.

"Ah, ma foi," he observed in French, when we complimented him on his
success, "in my opinion a man has no right to claim the character of a
civilised being, much less of a chef, unless he can produce a complete
dinner from an old tom-cat and a bundle of nettle-tops. He should
depend on the fire and the sources managed by his own skill. The rest
of the materials are nothing. The fire brings everything to the same
condition." Certainly Lieutenant Preville managed to give us an
infinite variety of dishes, to all appearance, the foundation of which,
to the best of my belief, was salt pork, and beef of a very tough and
dry nature. Of course, such a man would soon win his way into the good
graces of far more stoical beings than English midshipmen are apt to be
at present, or were in those good old days.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

"Well, Marmaduke, my boy, we are having a jolly cr