"Poor Ben's in for it," he said. "He was just slipping down the side when the master-at-arms laid hands on him, and I'm afraid he's in limbo and very little chance of getting out of it until the ship goes to sea. Whether or not he thought something of the sort might happen, I don't know, but he gave me these ten guineas which he wants you to take to his wife. It won't do, however, for you to stay longer here, unless you wish to go back and be flogged to a certainty for attempting to desert. I'd advise you to cut and run this very night. Now, lad, fair play's a jewel. I am helping you off, and I expect to be paid for what I'm doing, as well as for the clothes I got for you. A five-pound note will satisfy me, though it wouldn't if you were not a chum of my old shipmate Ben." Dick paid the money without hesitation, for he knew that old Purkiss might have fleeced him, had he been so disposed, of every sixpence in his pocket. "Now we are clear," said the old man, who prided himself on his honesty, "and I want to give you a piece of advice, which mind you stick to. Don't show your cash to any one, or you'll be robbed and murdered maybe. I'll give you change for a guinea in sixpences and coppers; don't show too many of them either; better by far pay in coppers for the food you want, and sleep under haystacks or in barns until you reach home. You may get a lift in a cart or waggon, but don't let anybody know you've been on board a man-of-war. Just say you've been down to see an old friend, Peter Purkiss, and that's true for the most part, and that you are going home again to your father and mother. Now, lad, it's time to be off. I'll put you in the way out of the town, and when once you are in the country strike away north-east. You've got Dartmoor to cross, and as it's a wildish tract, I'd advise you to get a lift if you can until you are over it. If you can't get a lift, don't attempt to cross it at night, or you may lose yourself." Peter, who was a good-natured old fellow, though his morality was not of the strictest order, gave Dick a hearty supper, then, taking a thick stick in hand, started off with him, walking at a rapid pace until they reached the confines of Plymouth--a much smaller town in those days than it is at present. Dick then, having received directions from the old man as to the road he was to take, commenced what he had made up his mind would be a long tramp homewards.