ou hand me down the volume of services under the
letter G. Ah! here it is."

He glanced at it cursorily at first, and then read it carefully.

"You were right, Mr. Gilmore, in entertaining such a hope. I see that you
have been highly spoken of by the various officers under whom you have
served; that you were most strongly recommended by the admirals both at
Malta and in the West Indies for your singular services, and also by Lord
Hood for your conduct in Corsica. You were in command of a small craft for
nearly a year, and in that capacity you not only took a number of prizes,
some of them valuable, but actually captured, in one hard-fought action,
two pirates, each of which was stronger than yourself. You have,
therefore, well shown your capacity to command. Captain Purfleet, have any
appointments been made yet to the _Jason_?"

"No, sir."

"Very well, then appoint Mr. Gilmore to be second lieutenant of her. You
need not thank me, sir; you owe your commission to your own gallantry and
good conduct. I don't know that I have at any time seen such strong
testimonials and so good a record for any officer of your age and
standing. I am quite sure that you will do full justice to the appointment
that I have made. As the _Jason_ will not be ready for two months I can
grant you six weeks leave."

No sooner was this matter settled than Will took the coach to Fairham.
Thence he drove to the village of Porchester, where Marie's fiance was
confined. Here he put up at a little inn. He had, before starting from
London, bought and put on the disguise of a countryman, as he could hardly
have stayed in the village as a gentleman without exciting remark or
suspicion. He had, however, brought other clothes with him, so that if
necessary he could resume them, and appear either as a naval officer or as
a civilian. His first step was to make a tour of the great wall which
enclosed the castle and the huts in which the prisoners were confined. He
saw at once that any attempt to scale the wall would be useless. At the
inn he gave out that by the death of a relative he had just come into a
few pounds and meant to enjoy himself.

The inn he had selected was scarcely more than a tavern, and he had chosen
it because he thought it probable that it would be frequented by the
soldiers whose camp stood near the walls, and who supplied the guards in
the castle. This expectation was fulfilled a short time after his arrival
by four or five soldiers