"Well, sir, arter you was down we got our monkeys up. ’Twas all over in half a minute. Turley and Mudge and a dozen more went at ’em ’longside o’ me; we drove ’em back; Mudge tumbled the captain over, and the rest hauled down their colors and cried for quarter. Then me and some more jumped down the gangway and cleared the lower deck, where some mounseers was scrambling round the arm-chest. Bless you! it didn’t last long. They did their best, to be sure, but we did better; and the end of it was they all flung down their pikes and cutlasses and gave in. Then we brought you down here into the captain’s cabin; I put the ship about, and cast off the _Fury_ with ten men in her; she’s following in our wake now, sir." "Capital! And what of the prisoners?" "Tied up, sir. There’s a hundred and forty, sir, all told, and being such a terrible lot more than us I couldn’t leave ’em loose. They’re sitting on the lower deck, side by side, twenty of them slung on to one rope, and for every twenty there’s a man with a musket. They don’t understand plain English, sir, but they understand a loaded musket, and every man of ’em knows that if he tries any tricks ’tis good-by." "Well, I’m only sorry I was bowled over. You’ve done splendidly. How long have I been here?" "Somewheres about half an hour, sir. We couldn’t do much for you, not having no surgeon aboard; but we tied up your head as well as we could." "Oh, I’m all right. Just a little dizzy. Help me on deck; the fresh air will do me good." He had lost a good deal of blood, and could scarcely have reached the deck unassisted. The Englishmen gave a cheer when they saw their young officer—a somewhat muffled cheer, for their mouths were full of the food prepared for the Frenchmen’s breakfast. It was so long since they had had a square meal that they were making the most of their opportunity, and the prisoners sat glum and hungry, watching the disappearance of the soup intended for themselves. "Find the cook and cast him loose," said Jack. "He can get something ready for them. Let ’em eat, forty at a time. Where’s the captain?" "Getting over his temper for’ard, sir." Jack found the captain, and learned from him that the vessel, named the _Glorieuse_, had been cruising off Ushant, and three days before had captured an English merchantman, which she had sent to Brest with a prize crew. The _Glorieuse_ was bound for Boulogne, and the _Fury_ had been taken for a French despatch-boat bringing orders. By midday the _Glorieuse_ came within sight of Selsey Bill, and beating up against a westerly breeze made a slow passage to Spithead. It was almost dark before she ran into Portsmouth Harbor. Her signals had already informed the port officers that she was a prize, and she had hardly hove-to when a boat came alongside to make inquiries. "I’ll have to go and see the admiral and report," said Jack to Babbage. "Probably I shall not be back to-night. We’ll see about the prisoners in the morning."