e your word for it. Pray what ship
may have had the misfortune of losing such a credit to the service?"

"Why, I belong to the _Snapper_ cutter," replied the young lad; "I was
taken in a prixe, which the commanding officer had given in my charge to
take to Gibraltar: but they won't believe that I'm an officer. I have
applied for officer's allowance and rations, and they won't give them to
me."

"Well, but they know that we are officers," replied O'Brien; "why do
they shove us in here, with the common seamen!"

"I suppose you are only put in here for the present," replied the
cutter's midshipman; "but why I cannot tell."

Nor could we, until afterwards, when we found out, as our narrative will
show, that the officer who received us from the cuirassiers had once
quarrelled with Colonel O'Brien, who first pulled his nose, and
afterwards ran him through the body. Being told by the cuirassiers that
we were much esteemed by Colonel O'Brien, he resolved to annoy us as
much as he could; and when he sent up the document announcing our
arrival, he left out the word "Officers," and put us in confinement with
the common seamen.

Fortunately we were not destined to remain long in this detestable hole.
After a night of misery, during which we remained sitting on our
bundles, and sleeping how we could, leaning with our backs against the
damp wall, we were roused at daybreak by the unbarring of the prison
doors, followed up with an order to go into the prison yard. We were
huddled out like a flock of sheep, by a file of soldiers with loaded
muskets; and, as we went into the yard, were ranged two and two. The
same officer who ordered us into prison, commanded the detachment of
soldiers who had us in charge. O'Brien stepped out of the ranks, and
addressing them, stated that we are officers, and had no right to be
treated like common sailors. The French officer replied that he had
better information, and that we wore coats which did not belong to us;
upon which O'Brien was in a great rage, calling the officer a liar, and
demanded satisfaction for the insult, appealing to the French soldiers,
and stating that Colonel O'Brien, who was at Cette, was his countryman,
and had received him for two months into his house upon parole, which
was quite sufficient to establish his being an officer. The French
soldiers appeared to side with O'Brien after they had heard this
explanation, stating that no common English sailor could speak suc