the allied armies and navies of France and
Spain; and having two or three royal princes down here, to grace
the victory; you don't suppose they are going to acknowledge to the
world that they are beaten. I should have thought you would have
known human nature better than that, doctor.

"You will see De Crillon will send a pompous report of the affair;
saying that the battering ships were found, owing to faults in
their construction, to be of far less utility than had been
expected and that, therefore, they had been burned. They had,
however, inflicted enormous loss upon the garrison and defences;
and the siege would now be taken up by the army and fleet, and
vigorously pushed to a successful termination.

"That will be the sort of thing, I would bet a month's pay. The
last thing a Spanish commander will confess is that he is beaten;
and I think it likely enough that they will carry on the siege for
months, yet, so as to keep up appearances. In fact, committed as
they are to it, I don't see how they can give it up, without making
themselves the laughingstock of Europe. But, now that they find
they have no chance of getting the object for which they went to
war, I fancy you will see, before very long, they will begin to
negotiate for peace."

The major's anticipations were verified. For some time the siege
was carried on with considerable vigour--from a thousand to twelve
hundred shots being fired, daily, into the fortress. Their works on
the neutral ground were pushed forward; and an attempt was made, at
night, to blow out a portion of the face of the Rock, by placing
powder in a cave--but the attempt was detected.

The position of the garrison became more comfortable after a
British fleet arrived, with two more regiments and a large convoy
of merchantmen; but nothing of any importance took place till, on
the 2d of February, 1782, the Duc de Crillon sent in to say that
the preliminaries of a general peace had been signed, by Great
Britain, France, and Spain and, three days later, the blockade at
sea was discontinued, and the port of Gibraltar again open.

Bob Repton, however, was not present at the concluding scenes of
the great drama. Satisfied, after the failure of the bombardment,
that there would be no more serious fighting, and that the interest
of the siege was at an end; he took advantage of the arrival of the
Antelope in the bay, a few days after the engagement, to return in
her to England. He had now been