"Give yourself no more trouble on my account, your excellency," said Barron, "I am, as you know, an old soldier and have no relatives to speak of. I find myself just as much at home in a strange bed, be it ever so comfortable, as in any other." "Not a bad idea, Captain," answered Dunmore, "not a bad idea, sir; but before we think of turning in, Captain Foy and Graham here would not be adverse to opening a bottle or two more with you. Steward! You may clear the table and bring some of that stuff captured yesterday. It may strike you as strange, gentlemen," he continued, "but that beggar who lives near Jamestown keeps most remarkable liquor. May the Lord pickle me, if it isn't equal to any I have ever tasted at home." "And a most remarkable man he was, too," put in Captain Foy. "He did show more or less nerve of a peculiar order," said Graham. "How was that?" asked Will. "Well, you see," said Captain Graham, "we went ashore on the island to reconnoitre, as we had heard of the large gathering at Williamsburg. The first thing that greeted us on landing was a couple of rifle shots. These appeared to come from the bushes near Jacquelin's house, and one of them struck poor Billings in the pit of the stomach and passed through him, poor fellow. We finally made a landing a little farther up stream, where there was more cover, and the first thing we encountered on getting ashore was a motely crowd of farmers, armed and ready to fight us. There was one fellow, I believe they called him 'Bullet,' who is a fierce rebel, and another mounted on a powerful bay mare, who rode with his left arm in a sling and had a strangely attired negro servant to carry a couple of rifles for him. These were the only dangerous men in the crowd, for the rest had no organization and appeared to obey no commander, so they quickly broke and fled at the first fire. Four of them remained, however, and these two I have just described were the ones who cut their way through our men with their swords and escaped. The other two were captured, for they refused either to run or cease fighting. One was Jacquelin, who owns the house, and the other a man named Horn. Fordyce was coming up just then and I turned them over to him. He tried to get some information about Mr. Henry's mob out of both of them. Jacquelin had his fingers punched with a belt punch without so much as saying a word, and the fellow, Horn, was seated on a hot stove until the breeches and skin were burnt off his buttocks, but all he did during that time was to curse His Majesty most heartily. Fordyce started to keel-haul him, and had the line made fast to his hands passed under the schooner's bottom, but somehow the line fouled just as he was drawn under the bilge, and by the time they cleared it and pulled him aboard again he was as dead as a mackerel. After Jacquelin had his turn, he offered to lead us to Williamsburg, or anywhere else we wished to go,