that?"

"Yes," Will said.

Accordingly he settled down to the work of a fisherman, and gave great
satisfaction. His mates were indeed astonished at the rapidity with which
he learned his work, and congratulated themselves upon the acquisition of
so promising a recruit.

A month after he had joined the smack a ship-of-war was seen sailing along
three miles from shore. The fishermen were half-way between her and the
land, and paid no great attention to her, knowing that British men-of-war
did not condescend to meddle with small fishing-boats. Will waited until
the captain and one of the men were below; then, suddenly pushing the
hatch to and throwing a coil of rope over it, he produced from his pockets
a brace of pistols which he had bought at Dunkirk out of the stock of
money he had had in his pocket when he was captured, and ordered the man
at the helm to steer for the frigate. The man let go the tiller at once,
and he and his companion prepared to make a rush upon Will. But the sight
of the levelled pistols checked them.

[Illustration: "HE ORDERED THE MAN AT THE HELM TO STEER FOR THE
FRIGATE"]

"You will come to no harm," Will said. "You have but to put me on board,
and I warrant you shall be allowed to depart unmolested. I am an English
officer. Now, down with the helm without hesitation, or I will put a
bullet through your head; and do you, Jacques, sit down by his side."

Sullenly the men obeyed his orders, and the boat went dancing through the
water in a direction which, Will calculated, would enable him to cut off
the frigate. In the meantime the captain and his companion, unable to
understand what was going on, were thumping at the hatchway. Will,
however, paid no attention to them, but stood on it, keeping his eye upon
the men in the stern. Twenty minutes brought them close to the frigate,
which, on seeing a small boat making for her, threw her sails aback to
wait for it. As they came close a rope was thrown; Will grasped it and
swung himself up the side, leaving the boat to drift away. The sailors
stood looking in surprise at him, but Will went straight up to the first
lieutenant.

"I beg to report myself as having come on board, sir. I am, or rather was,
a midshipman on board the _Tartar_. I have just escaped from Verdun."

"Do you really mean it?" the lieutenant said. "I thought only one or two
English prisoners had ever made their escape from there."

"That is so, sir, and I am one of the for