Greville Drake had a pocket compass, which showed us that the vessel was heading eastward. Our captors had taken good care that we should not fall into the hands of our friends: we were on our way to Holland and captivity. How the engagement would end we knew not, but our spirits were greatly depressed with our misfortunes, and one and all, having seen that the courage and fortitude of our enemies had been unduly depreciated by our leaders, were far from sanguine as to the prospects of a victory of our hitherto redoubtable fleet. Our reveries were cut short by the appearance of a stolid Dutchman, who brought us a liberal supply of food that, compared with our hard fare of the last month, was a bounteous feast. We plied him with eager questions, but his only reply was an expressionless shake of his massive head, and for the time being vague surmises had to suffice. At length, worn out with bodily fatigue, we threw ourselves down on our rough and hard pallets, and slept soundly till we were awakened by the unmistakable sounds that accompany the action of a ship taking in sail. We had arrived in the land of our captivity. CHAPTER XVI--I Meet an Old Enemy Directly our prison ship was moored alongside a quay we were summoned on deck, where an escort of soldiers was in waiting to convey us to a place of confinement on shore. Some of our officers immediately recognized the port as Rotterdam, which to me appeared a city of lofty buildings beset with canals and waterways. It was soon evident that we were to be separated, and seeing this to be the case I kept close to Drake and another young lieutenant, Hubert Felgate by name, who had been slightly wounded in the right arm during the first day’s engagement. He was of a somewhat taciturn disposition, though, when properly understood, he was a good-hearted and reliable friend. To our great satisfaction the three of us were taken to a magistrate’s office. As none of us could speak their language, a Dutchman was called in to act as interpreter, but so quaint was his attempt at speaking English that it was with the greatest difficulty that we could understand what was required of us. At length we discovered that if we gave our parole we should be allowed comparative freedom within the city; if not, well--a meaning shrug of the shoulders completed the unspoken sentence. We were permitted to reason the proposition out among ourselves, which we did in an undertone. Young and hot-headed, the idea of a possible exchange of prisoners never entered our heads, but on the other hand the excitement of an attempt at escape held out an inducement to refuse our parole. We quickly decided on the latter course. The magistrate closed a book in front of him in a manner that denoted a feeling of disappointment, then, signing to our guards, he motioned us to be removed.