ful in other respects. Through him I made a
polite speech to the captain, and told him that I was sorry to turn him
out of his ship, but that I was obeying orders. He shrugged his
shoulders, observing that it was the fortune of war, when, bowing, he
followed his men over the side. I wasn't sorry to get rid of the
Frenchmen, for it would have been a hard matter to keep them in order
and navigate the ship with the few hands I had.

"As soon as we had transferred the prisoners, the prizes were ordered to
make sail, and together we stood out of the bay. A very pretty sight we
presented as we ran on under all sail, keeping, according to orders,
close to the _Augusta_. Our prizes were richly laden, and the admiral,
as may be supposed, was highly pleased when we sighted him off Cape
Tiberon and Captain Forrest told him what we had done, as his share of
the prize would be something considerable. Mine, as a midshipman, would
be a couple of hundred pounds; Mr Foley, as a lieutenant, will get two
or three thousand; so you may fancy what the shares of the captain and
admiral will be.

"Pierre was, I found, an excellent cook as well as steward. I now
called him Peter, by-the-by, at his own request, for as he observed,
`Now, massa, I come among Englishmen I take English name, please;' and
so Peter he is now always called. He was especially fond of keeping his
tongue wagging; he seemed not at all sorry to have changed masters, and
to have got on board a man-of-war instead of a merchantman. He said
that on their voyage out, when coming through the Windward Passage, the
_Flora_ and another vessel, the _Cerf_, of smaller size, carrying only
eight guns, had been attacked by a piratical craft. They fought for
some time, when the _Flora_ made off, leaving the _Cerf_ to her fate--
that the pirates boarded her, and that he had seen her go down--that the
pirate ship then made chase after the _Flora_, but by carrying all sail,
and night coming on, she escaped. By Peter's account, I suspect that
she must be the same craft which attacked the _Ouzel Galley_. Peter
says she has a crew of a hundred men and carries twenty guns. She is
known to have captured several merchantmen; some she sends to the
bottom, and others she takes into one of the numerous keys among the
Bahamas, where they are hidden away as securely as they would be among
the unknown islands of the Pacific or Indian Ocean. From various things
which Peter said, I had an i