clothes in the ship, and most of the
prisoners had more than one suit; these we instantly set to work to fill
with straw, and in a short time we had manufactured a crew of forty men
at least. We rigged out some as officers, and put spy-glasses in their
hands, and, knocking out the flints of some of the muskets, we put them
into the hands of others, and stuck them about the ship. We then loaded
all the guns and ran them out, and got ready also all the remainder of
the firearms.

"Had the _Nautile_ stuck by us we might have put a very good face on the
matter, whatever craft we might have fallen in with, if she had done as
we have," Mr Randolph observed to me as I stood at the helm.

"It is a pity, sir; but I hope we may still run the gauntlet of our
enemies and get safe into port," I answered; and earnestly, indeed, did
I pray that such might be our lot.

As I drew nearer home, still more intense had become my anxiety to
ascertain the fate of my beloved wife. I will not here dwell on the
subject. Sometimes the thought of all she must have suffered on my
account and on her own became almost insupportable. I felt that it was
wiser not to dwell on it, and yet I could not cast it from me. My only,
my great resource was prayer--great and supporting it was. Let any one,
placed as I was, try it, and they will find that I in no way overrate
it. Whenever I felt the miserable depressing feeling coming on, I fled
instantly to that great source of comfort, of all true happiness, and it
never failed me.

However, as I say, I will not dwell on that subject now. I may be
inclined thus to write, but all who read may not be in a proper frame of
mind to reflect on the matter, and thus I may perchance do more harm
than good.

As I was saying, we had been keeping a bright look-out, even before we
struck soundings, both day and night. If the wind should hold fair, in
two or three days we might hope to be in Plymouth Sound.

All hands were talking of home, of those they expected to meet, and of
the delights of a run on shore. The night was very fine, but towards
morning a thin mist settled down over the sea, and though it did not
obscure the bright stars which glittered overhead, it prevented us from
seeing to any great distance around. However, we every now and then
hove the lead, and we were convinced that we were in the fairway up
Channel.

At length, when daylight slowly broke, the mist assumed a white, silvery
appear