en on shore, she
begged to accompany him, and the midshipmen said they would go too. Of
course I went with them.

"The brig and schooners in the meantime had run higher up the harbour.
The boats were at once manned, the fat officer, who was, I have a
notion, the first lieutenant of the corvette, took charge of the young
lady and us. She begged so hard that the colonel might come in the same
boat, that our friend, who wasn't a bad sort of chap after all, said he
would speak to the commodore: he pressed the point, and the colonel was
placed in our boat. He didn't speak much; in truth, I suspect he had
but little to say that was likely to comfort his daughter, while he knew
that the officer was listening all the time. She asked him in a
trembling voice if he thought that his life was in danger, and said that
she would go and plead for him with General Carmona, who commanded the
troops in the city.

"`On no account,' answered the colonel, `it would be useless, and you
would only be exposing yourself to insult.'

"Speaking very low, so that he could not be overheard, he told her to
get one of the midshipmen to escape if possible to the British Consul,
as he would be better able than any one else to help him.

"As soon as we landed we were marched up together to the prison, the
young lady being compelled to walk with the midshipmen and me alongside
her; the colonel and skippers followed, and then came the crew, while
the people rushed out of their houses and gathered in the streets to
stare at us, some shouting and abusing us, and calling us pirates and
all sorts of names in their lingo. I didn't care what they said, but
walked along with my head upright, looking on every side as if I was
there for my own pleasure.

"The prison was a dirty tumbled-down-looking sort of a place, and says
I, `I hope they are not going to put the young lady in there;' but they
were, though they allowed her a room to herself, with one close to it
for the midshipmen and me. I was allowed to be with them, because they
said I was their attendant and that they required my services, though
not exactly as the Spaniard fancied. The colonel, though they saw he
was a thorough gentleman, was thrust in with the skippers and the crew
into a low dirty room paved with stone, with stout iron bars to the
small windows. There were already a score or more of rough-looking
ruffians in it; this we saw as we passed by before we were taken to our
own room