"Ought not? Why, I only regretted that we were not near enough to the side so that he would have fallen into the water." "Hush!" "You are not to have anything to drink, nor anything to eat, but hang me if I'm going to see you starve, so here, stow this into your mouth and suck like mad." The kind-hearted sergeant pushed a piece of hard boiled beef into Allen's mouth. Allen was too good a hunter not to know that the beef was prepared in such a way that, though tasteless, it nourished, and by sucking on it the saliva was promoted and thirst quenched. After Eben had been served in the same way the sergeant laughed. "I didn't give you aught to drink, nor aught to eat, but you'll get there all the same, and I ain't broken the rule." "If ever I get the chance to remember your kindness, my memory will serve me." "That's all right. I expect you'll get hanged, but blow me if I could see a dog starve, and you're a trump anyway, though you be a rebel." CHAPTER XXIX. ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. Three days after his capture, Ethan Allen heard an extraordinary noise on the upper deck, and he knew that the _Gaspee_ was about to sail. But its destination he did not know. After the first day the prisoners were allowed to have one meal a day, for, as Prescott told Allen, he did not want to cheat the gallows. The _Gaspee_ was bound for Quebec, and the prisoners were overjoyed at the prospect of a change. "It cannot be for the worse," said one of the Americans to Allen; "therefore we shall be the gainers." "I wish they would hang us right away," answered the hero of Ticonderoga, "for I am tired of this life." "We shall all be free----" "Yes, when in our graves." "Do not get downhearted, colonel; we have pulled through many a hard row before now." There was a consolation in having company, and the prisoners from the other ships had been crowded on the _Gaspee_. "March out the rebels." All heard the order given, and each looked at his fellow with anxious glance. It might be a farewell to them. Who could tell? The leg irons were unlocked and the prisoners marched up the companionway to the upper deck. As they reached the deck the fresh air was almost overwhelming, for they had not breathed any for several days. They were marshaled in line and awaited their doom. Soon a bedecked officer appeared on deck accompanied by one of the most villainous-looking seamen that ever stepped upon a deck. "Are these all?" asked the English officer. "Yes, general." "Which is Ethan Allen?" Allen was pointed out, and the gold-laced, red-coated officer raised his pince-nez and looked at Allen as he would at any curiosity. "Which is Eben Pike?" The young scout was pointed out by the officer in charge, and he had to undergo a similar inspection.