iage. Two long ropes were then passed
round the puncheon, the ends being carried a little way up the hill. This
formed a parbuckle, and when the men hauled upon the upper lengths of the
ropes the cask easily rolled up to the ends of the lower lengths. This
operation was repeated again and again, and gradually the cask moved up
the rock. At places it had to be hauled up lengthways, boards being placed
underneath it to give it a smooth surface over which to glide instead of
the rough rock, and men encouraging it from behind with levers. While they
were at work Nelson came up and stood watching them for some minutes
without speaking.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" he said to Will at last.

"I heard of it at the siege of St. Pierre, sir."

"Well, you profited by your lesson. It is a pleasure to see a young fellow
use his wits in that way. But for your sharpness I question whether we
should ever have got the guns up there. I was looking at it myself
yesterday, and I doubted then whether it was at all practicable. You have
settled the question for me, and I'll not forget you. What is your name,
sir?"

"Gilmore of the _Tartar_."

Nelson made a note of it and walked away.

The work took two days of tremendous labour, the seamen being relieved
three times a day. Will was constantly on the spot directing and
superintending the operations, and had the satisfaction at last of seeing
six guns placed on the summit of the rock.

Next morning the besieged were astonished when the guns opened fire upon
them from the rock, for, the path being at the back, they had not seen
what was going on. As they could obtain no shelter from this attack, and
there was no possibility of silencing the guns, they hastily abandoned the
post and retreated on San Fiorenzo. The battery on the rock, however, also
commanded the town, which, accordingly, had to be abandoned on the
following day, the garrison retiring to the adjoining ridge of ground and
to Bastia, which was considered the strongest place in the island.

The capture of San Fiorenzo was the more valuable, inasmuch as in the
harbour were two frigates, the _Minerve_ and _La Fortunee_, both of which
became our prizes. The _Minerve_, thirty-eight guns, was sunk by the
French, but was weighed by our men and taken into the service, when she
was renamed the _San Fiorenzo_.

Nelson was immensely pleased with the manner in which the operation of
getting the guns up the rock had been perf