ges
they passed on their way were in ruins, and their former inhabitants were
standing listlessly gazing at the destruction. Mr. Palethorpe had placed
in the carriage two gallon jars of spirits and a large quantity of bread,
and these he had distributed among the forlorn inhabitants while his men
were chopping a road through the trees.

When they arrived in the town they beheld a terrible scene of devastation.
The streets occupied by the dwellings of well-to-do inhabitants had, for
the most part, escaped, but in the suburbs, where the poorer part of the
population dwelt, the havoc was something terrible. Parties of soldiers
and sailors were hard at work here, clearing the ruins away and bringing
out the dead and injured. Will, after saying good-bye to his friends at
their door, joined one of these parties, and until late at night laboured
by torchlight. At midnight he went to Mr. Palethorpe's house, to which he
had promised to return, and slept till morning. Two long days were
occupied in this work, and even then there was much to be done in the way
of clearing the streets of the debris and restoring order. Not until this
was finished did Will cease from his labours. He then drove up with Mr.
Palethorpe to his estate. They found that a great deal of progress had
been made there, and that a gang of workmen were already engaged in
preparing to replace the roof and to restore the house to its former
condition. The slaves were still in their temporary homes, but with their
usual light-heartedness had already recovered from the effects of their
shock and losses, and seemed as merry and happy as usual.

On his return to Port Royal, Will was the object of the greatest
attentions on the part of the other passengers of the _Northumberland_,
and received so many invitations to dinner that he was obliged to ask the
admiral to allow him to give up his leave and to take another short cruise
in _L'Agile_, promising that if he did so he would take good care not to
capture any more prizes. The admiral consented, and in a few days the
cutter set sail once more.

After they had been out a month Will found it necessary to put in to get
water. He chose a spot where a little stream could be seen coming down
from the mountains and losing itself in the shingle, and he rowed ashore
and set some of his men to fill the barrels. When he saw the work fairly
under weigh he started to walk along the shore with Dimchurch and Tom.
They had gone but