ght; and shall, I hope, be well down towards the bay of
Avranches by nightfall. There is no fear of a British cruiser till
we get out towards Ushant. They do not care about coming inside the
islands; what with the fogs, the rocks, and the currents, it is
safer outside than in. Besides, there is little to be picked up
except coasters like ourselves, and fishing boats. There is hardly
any foreign trade between Havre and Brest. It is from there down to
the mouth of the Gironde that their cruisers are so thick. From
Ushant to Boulogne there are plenty of them, but these are chiefly
occupied in guarding their ships going up and down the Channel from
our privateers, which run out from every port: Dieppe and Havre,
Granville, Avranches, and Saint Malo."

The skipper had by no means over praised his cook, who turned them
out a better dinner than any that they had eaten since the troubles
began, with the exception only of those they had had at Arthenay.

"He takes a pride in it," the captain said, "and you will never get
good work done in any line, unless by a man who does so. A sailor
who is careless about the appearance of his ship is sure to be
careless about the keeping of the watch, and is not to be trusted
in matters of navigation. When you see a craft with every rope in
its place, everything spotlessly clean, the brass work polished up,
and the paint carefully attended to, you may be sure that the
skipper is as particular in more important matters. It is just so
with our man. It is a little bit of a galley, but his saucepans
shine like gold, everything is clean and in its place. He grumbles
if we run short of anything, and is a good deal more particular
about my dinner being just what it should be than I am myself.

"Sometimes when we have rough weather I say to him, 'Make me a soup
today, Leon. I shall be well content with that, and it is not
weather for turning out a regular dinner.'

"He always replies gravely, 'Monsieur, anyone can cook when the sea
is calm. It is on an occasion like this that one who knows his
business is required. Monsieur will dine as usual.'

"And up comes dinner, with three or four courses, cooked to
perfection. For myself, I would rather snatch a few mouthfuls and
go up on deck again; but this would hurt Leon's feelings if he saw
it, and he might even consider that he must seek another employer,
for that his talents were wasted upon me; so I go through it all
with exemplary patience. I wou