his they did not at all like. O'Grady was for pushing on in spite of
their first resolutions; Paul wished to remain patiently till the
evening. No one had come to remove the wood, so that they were not
likely to be disturbed. As they were hungry they ate some dinner,
emptying their bottle of wine, and then tried to go to sleep again--not
a difficult task for midshipmen.

Paul, after some time, was awoke by hearing some one singing. He
touched O'Grady's arm. They listened. The words were English, and they
both had an idea that they knew the voice. The singer appeared to be
near, and employed in removing the logs of wood. Paul slowly lifted up
his head. A shout and an expression indicative of astonishment escaped
from the singer, who stood, like one transfixed, gazing at Paul. The
shout made O'Grady lift up his head, and they had ample time to
contemplate the strange figure before them. His dress was of the most
extraordinary patchwork, though blue and white predominated. On his
head, instead of a hat, he wore a wisp of straw, secured by a
handkerchief; his feet were also protected by wisps of straw, and round
his waist he wore a belt with an axe stuck in it. Altogether, he did
not look like a man possessed with much of this world's wealth. The
midshipmen looked at him, and he looked at the midshipmen, for a minute
or more without speaking.

"It is--no it isn't--yes it is!" exclaimed the man at length. "Why,
young gentlemen, is it really you? you looks so transmogrified, I for
one shouldn't have known you!"

"What, Reuben Cole, is it really you? I may ask," cried Paul, springing
out of his lair, and shaking him by the hand, followed by O'Grady.
"This is a fortunate meeting."

"Why, that's as it may turn out; but how did you come to look like
that?"

Paul told him, and then put the same question to him.

"Why, do ye see, when I got away from our Jennydams, I found a hole in
the hillside close under where I jumped off the road. Thinks I to
myself, if I tumbles in here, they'll all go pelting away down the hill
through the wood, leaving me snug; and so they did. I heard them
halloing, and cursing, and swearing at one another, and I all the time
felt just like an old fox in his cover till they'd gone away on their
road wondering where I'd gone. I then started up and ran down the hill
just in time to see a cart driven by a man in white. I shouted, but he
didn't hear me, and so I hoped it would be all