s prizes; and we
accordingly continued to steer to the eastward all that night. The next
morning at daybreak I turned to the hands and went to work to complete
the jury-rig that the Frenchmen had so well begun; and, as the _Manilla_
happened to be well provided with spare spars, we contrived, after two
days' hard work, to get her back to something like her former
appearance, and to so greatly increase her sailing powers that the
brigantine and the schooner could shake the reefs out of their topsails
without running away from us. Meanwhile the wind had gradually hauled
round until we had got it well over our starboard quarter, and were
booming along at a speed of eight knots, with studding-sails set.

The officer who had been put in charge of the _Manilla_ when she fell
into the hands of the French privateersmen was a very fine young fellow
named Dumaresq; a smart seaman, high-spirited, and as brave as a lion.
We early took a fancy to each other, especially after I had offered him
his parole, and we soon became exceedingly friendly. He possessed a
rich fund of amusing anecdote, together with the art of telling a story
well; he was refined in manner, excellently educated, and an
accomplished pianist; he was, therefore, quite an acquisition to the
cuddy, and now that the ship was no longer in his possession, was
heartily welcomed there by Captain Chesney and his passengers. I
scarcely ever turned in until after midnight, and by and by young
Dumaresq contracted the habit of joining me on the poop and smoking a
cigar with me after the passengers had retired for the night; and upon
one of these occasions our conversation turned upon the clever capture
of the ship by himself and his countrymen. This aroused my curiosity
afresh, and after he had been talking for some time about it, I said:

"But how in the world did you manage to get aboard in such terrific
weather? That is what puzzles me!"

"No doubt, _mon cher_," he answered with a laugh. "And how to manage it
was just what puzzled us for a time also. We knew that our only chance
was to do it during the height of the gale; for if we had waited until
the weather moderated, we should have had some of your men-o'-war
looking after us and instituting unpleasant inquiries which we should
have found it exceedingly difficult to answer. So, after considerable
cogitation, poor Captain Lefevre--whose brains I understand you were
unkind enough to beat out with a handspike--h