your breath out for the Russian damsel,"
answered Desmond; "I am sure of that." It was the first time he had
ventured to touch on the delicate subject.

"What, have you heard about my little affair?" asked Tom; "I suppose,
then, the whole fleet have been talking about it?"

"Don't trouble yourself as to that," whispered Desmond; they were both
speaking in a low voice, so that neither their own men nor the enemy
could hear them; "however, it is time, unless we want to be discovered,
to clap a stopper on our jaw-tackles."

"You are right," said Tom; "we shall soon be up to the fort." They
pulled on till they came under the walls, which rose sheer out of the
water. Landing on one side, and leaving a couple of hands in the boat,
they carried the scaling-ladder to a wall which offered a fair prospect
of their being able to mount to the top. Tom claimed the post of honour
for himself, the rest of the party being prepared to mount as soon as he
should summon them. The instant after the ladder was placed he was on
the top of it. On looking down, not a human being could he see, either
awake or asleep. Making the signal to his companions, they speedily
followed him, and dropped down noiselessly into the fort.

Their first care, as ordered, was to secure the gate; and then, lighting
their lanterns, they began to search the various chambers in the fort.
They had not gone far when they heard voices from what appeared to be a
guard-house. "At all events, we shall have no great difficulty in
securing them," said Tom. As they opened the door, they found four
soldiers, a flagon of vodka before them, and their heads resting on the
table.

They were excessively astonished to find their arms seized by a party of
Englishmen, who signified by their gestures that the less noise they
made the better. They were then lashed to their seats, and almost
immediately afterwards dropped off to sleep again.

"At all events, we are not likely to meet with much opposition," said
Tom; "though, if we had had some fighting, we might have gained more
credit."

No other persons being found in the fort, they immediately set to work
to unship the guns and to lower them down into the boat, which was
brought under the wall for the purpose. They were of brass, and not
very heavy considering their size, but it was soon found that three were
as many as the gig could carry. Having secured these, they pulled back
to the _Flash_, which now stood in