ther with about half a biscuit, and felt very much the better
for it. By and by the watch was called. I heard the men swarming up
from the 'tween-decks abaft the forecastle; and presently my pock-marked
friend of the repulsive countenance but kindly eye, descended into the
forecastle to the relief of the surly dog who had handed me the soup. I
thought this would be a good opportunity to learn something with regard
to the character of the craft on board which I found myself, and also to
obtain an insight into the circumstances under which we were picked up.
I therefore proceeded to put a few questions to the new-comer, by means
of which I elicited the following information from him.

The vessel which had picked us up was the privateer schooner _Jean
Bart_, of Morlaix, commanded by Captain Henri Renouf, an exceptionally
brave and skilful seaman, it would appear, if the story of his
successes, as told by Rene Ollivier, was to be believed. Indeed, if I
understood the guileless Rene aright, it was chiefly, if not wholly due
to these successes, or rather one result of them, the extreme short-
handedness of the _Jean Bart_, caused by the losses sustained in her
recent engagements, that Captain Henri Renouf had troubled himself to
rescue us in the first place, and afterwards to issue orders that every
effort should be made to restore us to health and strength; it being his
intention to make good some of his losses by enrolling us as members of
his crew. A little further questioning on my part resulted in the
discovery that we had been picked up some four hours previously to my
return to consciousness; our boat having been sighted right ahead at
daybreak after the springing up of the breeze that had followed a period
of calm of unprecedented duration in the experience of those on board
the _Jean Bart_. Eight of us had been found in the boat, of whom six
still exhibited some faint signs of life, and these six had been
domiciled in the schooner's forecastle, and simply placed in charge of
two of the crew--the vessel not carrying a surgeon--to recover or not as
fate might decide. Upon learning from my friend Rene the date upon
which we had been picked up, I made a little calculation, by which I
arrived at the conclusion that I must have lain absolutely unconscious
in the boat something like thirty hours, during which one of our number
had mysteriously disappeared, probably by jumping overboard in a fit of
delirium.

During