pantaloons of two more men. I was overcome with astonishment. They, too, started off at a run. Their tunics flapped unbuttoned and they were bare-headed. One of them panted out to the other, &lsquo;Straight on, straight on!&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;Where on earth did they spring from, I wondered. Slowly I walked down the short pier. I saw the woman&rsquo;s form shaken by sobs and heard her moaning more and more distinctly, &lsquo;Oh, my man! my poor man! my poor man!&rsquo; I stole on quietly. She could neither hear nor see anything. She had thrown her apron over her head and was rocking herself to and fro in her grief. But I remarked a small boat fastened to the end of the pier. </p> <p> &ldquo;Those two men&mdash;they looked like sous-officiers&mdash;must have come in it, after being too late, I suppose, for the galley. It is incredible that they should have thus broken the regulations from a sense of duty. And it was a stupid thing to do. I could not believe my eyes in the very moment I was stepping into that boat. </p> <p> &ldquo;I pulled along the shore slowly. A black cloud hung over the Iles de Salut. I heard firing, shouts. Another hunt had begun&mdash;the convict-hunt. The oars were too long to pull comfortably. I managed them with difficulty, though the boat herself was light. But when I got round to the other side of the island the squall broke in rain and wind. I was unable to make head against it. I let the boat drift ashore and secured her. </p> <p> &ldquo;I knew the spot. There was a tumbledown old hovel standing near the water. Cowering in there I heard through the noises of the wind and the falling downpour some people tearing through the bushes. They came out on the strand. Soldiers perhaps. A flash of lightning threw everything near me into violent relief. Two convicts! </p> <p> &ldquo;And directly an amazed voice exclaimed. &lsquo;It&rsquo;s a miracle!&rsquo; It was the voice of Simon, otherwise Biscuit. </p> <p> &ldquo;And another voice growled, &lsquo;What&rsquo;s a miracle?&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;Why, there&rsquo;s a boat lying here!&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;You must be mad, Simon! But there is, after all. . . . A boat.&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;They seemed awed into complete silence. The other man was Mafile. He spoke again, cautiously. </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;It is fastened up. There must be somebody here.&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;I spoke to them from within the hovel: &lsquo;I am here.&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;They came in then, and soon gave me to understand that the boat was theirs, not mine. &lsquo;There are two of us,&rsquo; said Mafile, &lsquo;against you alone.&rsquo; </p> <p>