ur."

He spoke the truth. The Frenchman, as soon as she caught sight of the
English frigate, altered her course abruptly, and instead of being the
hunter became the hunted. So, for an hour or more, each of us held her
own way, the Englishman closing on the Frenchman, and the _Arrow_
sailing clear of both. Towards afternoon, the distant sound of a gun
behind us told us the battle had already begun, and before nightfall the
two were no doubt at it broadside to broadside.

After that, we gave the land a wide berth, and met nothing we need fear,
till at last, with the French flag flying, we sailed merrily into Brest
Harbour, safe and sound, without a scratch on our hull or a hole in our
canvas.

But here Captain Cochin's good luck suddenly deserted him; for no sooner
was he berthed, with sails stowed and anchors out, than he discovered
that the French merchantman next him was none other than a vessel which
on his last voyage out he had attempted to board in mid-channel, and,
but for a sudden squall, would have captured and plundered. The captain
of the merchantman had already reported his wrongs to the authorities;
and now, finding himself cheek by jowl with the offender, lost not a
moment in taking his revenge.

So, just as we were about to lower our boat for a jaunt on shore, to
refresh us after our voyage, the port-admiral sent off a galley to board
us, and summon us to attend on shore in irons, and show cause why we
should not, each one of us, be hanged by the neck.

It was a pretty end to our jaunt, and so suddenly done that there was
nothing for it but to surrender and follow where we were bidden. No
doubt a smart craft like the _Arrow_, with a cargo of guns, was a good
enough excuse for the French admiral, quite apart from our
delinquencies; and at a time like this, when France lived under a reign
of terror, the only excuse needed for any act, just or unjust, was the
force to perform it.

You may imagine, out of all the hang-dog prisoners who marched that day
through the streets of Brest, I felt myself the most ill-used; for I had
sailed in the _Arrow_ by no will of my own, and had taken part in no act
of violence against any Frenchman, dead or alive. And yet, because I
chanced to be among the crew, I was to be hung by the neck! I knew well
enough, from what I had heard of French justice, that any excuses would
be but breath wasted. Indeed, as one of the few English of the party, I
should probably be s