lease it," said Paul, carelessly. "If you are too good
a fellow to care for money, there's three naps for the poor of the
village; mayhap there may be an old sailor amongst them."

A murmur of satisfaction at their comrade's conduct ran round the
circle, as the host disappeared for the fresh supply of wine. In an
instant he was back again, carrying a second basket under his arm, which
he placed carefully on the table, saying, "Pomard of '87, gentlemen; I
wish it were Chambertin for your sakes."

"_Tete bleue!_that's what I call wine," said one, smacking his lips, as
he tasted the generous liquor.

"Yes," said Paul, "that's better than drinking the pink water they serve
us out on service. _Morbleu!_ how we 'd fight, if they'd tap an aume of
that when they beat to quarters."

The bottle now passed freely from hand to hand; and Paul, leaning
back in his chair, crossed his arms before him, as, with his eyes
half closed, he seemed to be occupied in remembering some long passed
occurrence.

"Ay, Comrades," said he, after a long pause, "the landlord was not so
far out as you may think him. I might have been, if not an admiral of
the fleet, at least a captain or a commodore by this time, if I only
wished it, but I wouldn't."

"You wouldn't, Paul?" cried three or four in a breath. "How do you mean,
you wouldn't? Is it that you didn't like it?"

"That's it: I didn't like it," replied he, glaring around him as he
spoke, with a look which had repressed any tendency to mirth, if such
an inclination existed in the party. "Mayhap there are some here don't
believe this," he continued, as if anxious to extort a contradiction
from any one bold enough to adventure it; but none seemed disposed to
meet his wishes. He resumed. "The way of it was this:--

"We sailed from Brest, seven sail and two frigates, on a cruise, in the
Messidor of the year '13, (it was the time of the Republic then), and
our orders were to keep together, and afford protection to all vessels
of our flag; and wherever an opportunity offered to engage the enemy, to
do so, if we had a fair chance of success. There was one heavy sailer
of the fleet, the 'Old Torch,' and by good luck I was in her; and so,
before we were eight days out, it came on to blow a hurricane from the
northeast, with a great sea that threatened to poop us at every stroke.
How the others weathered it I can't say; we rolled so badly that we
carried away our mainmast and half our bulwarks, and w