, "We are prisoners! we are prisoners!"
Some would scarcely believe it, and the officers and many of the men
hurried aft in a body to ascertain the fact. Mr Webley had remained
forward, and before we had been able to haul on the warp she had laid
out, he promptly recalled the launch, and ordered the people out of her
up the side. The boatswain was standing near him.

"See," he exclaimed, "there's a flaw of wind just come down the harbour.
If it holds, the Frenchmen, even should this report be true, need not
be quite so sure as they think that they have caught us."

Saying this, he hurried aft to the captain, while the boatswain, not to
lose time, made all the necessary preparations for making sail and
cutting the cable.

"I believe, sir, that we shall be able to fetch out, if we can get her
under sail," said the lieutenant in the captain's ear. The words made
him start, and restored vigour to his heart.

"Thank you, Webley, thank you," exclaimed the captain, when the third
lieutenant told him that the wind had come ahead. "We'll make the
attempt, and may Heaven prosper it!"

Without a moment's delay, the first lieutenant issued the order to make
sail, while Mr Webley hurried forward to see the cable cut, as she
tended the right way. Like larks we sprang aloft to loose the topsails,
and all was done so silently and so rapidly, that the Frenchmen could
not make out what was occurring.

"Gentlemen," said the captain, politely addressing the officers, "I must
trouble you to step below. We have duty in this ship to carry on which
will not require your presence."

"But," exclaimed the Frenchmen, uttering all the oaths in their ample
vocabulary, "you are our prisoners. We do not choose to obey your
orders."

"You mistake; you are ours! Englishmen do not yield unless to greatly
superior force," exclaimed our captain. "Gentlemen, you must go below."

The Frenchmen laughed scornfully. "Treason! mutiny!" they exclaimed,
drawing their sabres, and attempting to make a rush to the gangway; but
as they turned, they found themselves confronted by a file of marines,
with fixed bayonets presented at them!

Rage, and fury, and disappointed revenge were in the tones of their
voices, as they gave vent to their feelings in oaths and execrations
while they were being handed below. Not a man of their boat's crew
escaped, for all had come on board to witness the capture, as they
supposed, of a British frigate.

During t