"No," he replied; "but I wish we were once more on the high seas together, for I have a little debt of gratitude to pay off." "Well," I replied, "you may have; and I should not be sorry to give you an opportunity, if it were possible." "May I inquire whether you intend to go home as a cartel, and carry your flag of truce to Liverpool?" "No, Sir," I replied; "I shall haul down my flag of truce as soon as I am out of gun-shot of your batteries I understand what you mean, Sir. It is very true that your vessel carries nearly double the number of guns that mine does, but nevertheless I shall haul down my flag of truce, as I say I will." "Not if I follow you down the river, I presume?" he said with a sort of sneer. "Follow me if you dare," I cried; "you will meet with your master, depend upon it." "Sacre!" replied he, in a passion, "I will blow you out of the water; and if I take you I will hang you for a pirate." "Not the last, certainly," I said coolly. "Look you, Sir," he cried, shutting his fist upon the palm of his other hand, "if I take you I will hang you; and if you take me, you may serve me in the same way. Is it a bargain, or are you a coward?" "Gentlemen," I said to the officers present, "you must feel that your countryman is not behaving well. He has insulted me grossly. I will, however, consent to his terms on one condition, which is, that he will permit one of you, after he has sailed, to make known the conditions upon which we fight to his wife; and that one of you will pledge me his honour that he will impart these conditions as soon as we are gone." "Agree to do so--pledge yourself to do so, Xavier," cried the French captain to one of the officers present. "Since you wish it, certainly," he said. "You pledge yourself to make the conditions known to Madam, as soon as we have sailed?" "I do, upon the honour of an officer and a gentleman," replied he, "painful as it will be to me." "Then, captain," I replied, "I agree to your conditions, and one or the other of us shall hang." You may suppose, Madam, that I must have been in a state of great irritation to have consented to such terms. I was so, and could not brook such insult in the presence of the French officers. Moreover, as you will observe, in my conversation I did not commit myself in any way. There was nothing dishonourable. I told him that I should haul down my flag of truce, and I also told him that he would meet with his master, which was true enough, as he would meet with the Arrow, commanded by Captain Levee, as well as with my vessel; while he thought that he would have to fight with my inferior vessel alone, and, making sure of conquest, he purposely insulted me, to make me accept such conditions as would administer to the revenge of his wife, who had evidently worked him up to act in such a manner; and I accepted them, because I hoped the fate would be his if Captain Levee joined me, and if not, I was determined that I never would be taken alive.