"I intend to send you in charge of the prize, Mr Nettleship," he said, "and these two youngsters can accompany you. Fifteen men are all I can spare you, so you must make the most of them. All the prisoners will be removed, with the exception of about a dozen, who may volunteer to assist in working the ship, so that you'll easily look after them." "Thank you, sir, for the confidence you place in me," said Nettleship, who would gladly have accepted the command, even if he had had but half a dozen men. Tom and I promised to do our best, and hurried below to get our traps ready. I took care to apply for Larry, and to remind him to bring his riddle with him, but I didn't hear what other men were selected to form the prize crew. Ten of the Frenchmen only could be induced to promise their assistance. Tom and I, without loss of time, accompanied Nettleship on board. As soon as the dead were put overboard, the decks washed down, and the damages the prize had received were repaired, the men who had come from the frigate to assist us returned to her. She stood to the southward, and we made sail for Port Royal. Among the first men on whom my eyes fell was Dan Hoolan, looking as sulky and morose as ever, though he was going about his work with more activity than he generally displayed. As I caught sight of the rest of the crew, I found that three more of the Irishmen pressed with him were among them. "I hope that by this time they are content with their lot, and will do their duty like men," I thought to myself; "still I would rather have had any others." "We are terribly short-handed, I must confess," said Nettleship, as he and I were seated at dinner in the captain's cabin, while Tom Pim was acting as officer of the watch. "I know I can trust you two fellows, however, and we must make the most of the men we've got. There are many of them about the worst on board; but if we have fine weather, they won't have much to do, and we may hope not to catch a Tartar on the way. We must take to our heels if we see a suspicious stranger, and the _Soleil_ appears to have a fast pair, at all events, so we may hope to escape. Though I would rather be in a condition to fight than have to run away." "The Frenchmen only promised to assist in navigating the ship. We mustn't trust them to man the guns," I said. "We'll see what our own men can do without them, then," said Nettleship in a cheery tone.