oats touched, Bob laid in his oar, and with the dinghy's
painter in one hand and his drawn cutlass in the other, leaped on board
the stranger, treading as he did so upon a mass of fish which lay
writhing and flapping feebly in the bottom of the boat, and instantly
assuming, quite unintentionally on his part, you may be sure, a sitting
position amongst the thickest of the slimy, scaly cargo. As he boarded
forward, I did so aft, and presenting a pistol in each hand, as sternly
as I could, while struggling to suppress my laughter at Bob's exploit,
ordered the fishermen to surrender, and to keep perfect silence, upon
pain of instant death as the penalty of disobedience.

The poor fellows were taken completely by surprise, and seemed to have
no idea of resistance. They meekly cast off that portion of their lines
which still remained overboard, and taking to their oars, pulled quietly
away in the direction which I ordered, or towards the "Mouette," the
dinghy being in tow astern.

As we, or rather they, rowed off to the cutter I questioned the men as
to their reason for running so great a risk for the sake of a few fish,
and in reply gained the information that the garrison, though still in
possession of a moderate supply of food, foresaw that a time of scarcity
was rapidly approaching; and the general had, accordingly, a few days
previously taken the remaining provisions under his own control, issuing
to each inhabitant a daily ration upon a very reduced scale. Under
these circumstances, the fishermen of the place thought they saw their
way to a good market for any fish they could contrive to capture, and a
few of them had accordingly ventured out at night with their hooks and
lines.

This was most valuable information, _if true_, but coming from the enemy
I thought it scarcely reliable--though the men spoke with the utmost
freedom, and apparently in perfectly good faith. I therefore
determined, while slightly modifying my original plan, still to carry it
out.

On our arrival on board the "Mouette," I invited our two prisoners down
into the cabin, and pouring them out a stiff "nor'wester" each, to cheer
them up a little and loosen their tongues, I told them frankly that it
was necessary I should make my way into Bastia, and intimated to them,
that as they would be retained as hostages until my safe return, and
liberated immediately afterwards, it would obviously be to their
interest to give me all the information and