, with the exception of McAllister, who had been
the last to give in. His spirit and moral courage had supported him,
till at length his physical powers yielded to his sufferings.

We carried on the breeze till we sighted Jamaica. Of course Perigal was
very much vexed at hearing of the loss of the prize, but he did not
blame McAllister, though, as he observed, it would have been wiser had
we not placed so much confidence in our agreeable and plausible
prisoner. The Espoir had lost sight of us in the hurricane from the
first, and apprehensions for our safety had till now been entertained,
and so our friends looked upon us as happily restored to them from the
dead, and were not inclined to find undue fault with us. We found that
they had been placed in even greater danger than we had, and had
suffered more damage, but finally they were enabled to take shelter
under an island more to the south than the one we gained. Here they
remained for some time to refit, and thus were brought to our rescue
just in time to preserve us from destruction. We were all tolerably
recovered and presentable by the time we entered Port Royal harbour.
Here we found the frigate almost ready for sea, and, to our
satisfaction, Spellman with our first prize had arrived safely. Among
those who most cordially welcomed me was Mr Johnson, the boatswain.

"We felt that hurricane even here, Mr Merry; and, thinking you might
feel it too, I was anything but happy about you," he observed, shaking
me by the hand. "I was once out in just such another--only it blew a
precious deal harder. Some of our hands had their pigtails carried
away, and two or three fellows who kept their mouths open had their
teeth blown down their throats. It was the gale when the Thunderer and
so many others of His Majesty's ships went down. You've heard of it, I
dare say?"

I told him that I had read about it in a naval history we had on board,
but that the account of the pigtails and teeth was not given.

"No, I dare say not; historians seldom enter as they ought into
particulars," he answered, laughing.

Grey received an equally friendly welcome from Mr Johnson, with whom he
was as great a favourite as I was. He made us give him an account of
all our adventures, and amused himself with quizzing me, without
ceasing, at having been so tricked by the French lieutenant. I
believed, and do to this day, that Preville was civil and light-hearted
from nature, and that it w