anked him very much, and assured him that nothing would give me
greater pleasure than being once more able to play the host to him.

Before we sailed, however, six more hands, whom he had asked for, were
sent on board to strengthen his crew; but Hoolan and the other mutineers
were allowed to remain, for which I was sorry. Perhaps they would
rather have gone on shore, for if the brig were recaptured, they would,
to a certainty, have to grace her yard-arms before many days had passed
over their heads.

We had to beat out of the harbour, but rounding Cape Tiburon we got a
fair wind, and stood away for Guadaloupe.

We had a long passage before us, and I was continually thinking of what
the fortune of war might bring about. My fear was that we might fall in
with a French cruiser, to which Lieutenant Dubois might consider it his
duty to deliver up his despatches, that they might be conveyed more
speedily to their destination, and that we might have to return to Saint
Domingo. Still I did my utmost to look at the bright side of the
picture; and I fancied how pleasant it would be to find the brig under
the guns of an English frigate,--perhaps the _Liffy_ herself.

I had another secret source of satisfaction: I had given my word to La
Touche simply not to interfere with the discipline of the ship, and I
had made myself answerable that Larry would not; although I had said
nothing about not attempting to make my escape, should an opportunity
occur, though that was very remote indeed. In a French port it would be
useless, as I should only tumble out of the frying-pan into the fire, or
find myself among enemies. I could not speak French well enough to pass
for a Frenchmen, and Larry's tongue would at once have betrayed him.
Still hope kept me up, although what to hope for was indistinct and
uncertain.

Larry, having somewhat got over his unpleasant suspicions of Hoolan's
intentions, was as merry as usual, and in the evening kept his fiddle
going, and the Frenchman and blacks dancing to their heart's content.
He, however, was disinclined to remain forward after dark, and came back
to his hiding-place under the companion ladder, where he was allowed to
sleep under the supposition that he was there to attend on me.

I should have said that when the officer from the shore had delivered
his despatches to Lieutenant Dubois, the latter, instead of locking them
up in his own berth, put them into a drawer in the cabin table. Of
t