of those little great men who find
it necessary to keep up their authority by a show of reserve and
pompousness, but feeling that confidence in himself which would
enable him to rely upon his actions as the proofs of his greatness,
he despised the arts of inferior minds.

And now there happened an event, not only singular in itself, but
interesting to me as bringing me back the company of an old friend
whom I had never looked to see again. In the evening of this same day,
while the soldiers were at supper, a party of sailors were landed from
the ships, being the force I have already mentioned, to be ready to
take part in the assault the next day. Thinking it possible that some
of my old comrades from the _Talisman_ might be among them, about
eight o'clock I strolled down to their quarters, where I found them
all drinking together, without much appearance of discipline.

I walked past several groups without recognising any face that I knew,
and was about to give up the quest, when I noticed a group of half a
dozen who were straying in the direction of the silent fort. This
seemed to me a very dangerous proceeding, and as I could see none of
their officers near, I determined to follow and remonstrate with them.
Accordingly I hastened after them as fast as I could go. By the way in
which they walked, or rather staggered along, I saw they had been
drinking pretty freely. Presently they set off at a run, paying no
heed to my shouts, and I was obliged to follow till they stopped on
the very edge of the ditch which went round the fort. Here I caught up
with them, greatly surprised that the garrison had shown no signs of
life. But before I could speak, or even distinctly see their faces,
the tallest of the party, a man of great frame, began rolling down
into the ditch, which was nearly dry.

I dared not call out for fear of drawing the attention of those in the
fort, and watched him breathlessly as he plunged through the mud at
the bottom of the ditch and scrambled up the opposite side.

"What is he doing?" I demanded in a whisper of the man who appeared
to be the most sober of the group.

"It's a bet," he answered; "we bet him a quart of rum he wouldn't get
to the top of the wall."

I stared at the fellow, hardly able to believe in such recklessness.
Then I turned my eyes to the huge seaman on the opposite side of the
ditch. He had just made good his footing on the top of the bank, and
now he began climbing up the maso