But he said nothing of this to Bolt. He only observed that the character of the French Government was changed and that the minds of the royalist people in the farmhouse might have changed too, since they had got back the exercise of their religion. Bolt’s answer was that he had had a lot to do with royalists, in his time, on board Lord Howe’s fleet, both before and after Toulon was evacuated. All sorts, men and women, barbers and noblemen, sailors and tradesmen; almost every kind of royalist one could think of; and his opinion was that a royalist never changed. As to the place itself, he only wished the captain had seen it. It was the sort of spot that nothing could change. He made bold to say that it would be just the same a hundred years hence. The earnestness of his officer caused Captain Vincent to look hard at him. He was a man of about his own age, but while Vincent was a comparatively young captain, Bolt was an old master’s mate. Each understood the other perfectly. Captain Vincent fidgeted for a while and then observed abstractedly that he was not a man to put a noose round a dog’s neck, let alone a good seaman’s. This cryptic pronouncement caused no wonder to appear in Bolt’s attentive gaze. He only became a little thoughtful before he said in the same abstracted tone that an officer in uniform was not likely to be hanged for a spy. The service was risky, of course. It was necessary, for its success, that, assuming the same people were there, it should be undertaken by a man well known to the inhabitants. Then he added that he was certain of being recognized. And while he enlarged on the extremely good terms he had been on with the owners of the farm, especially the farmer’s wife, a comely motherly woman, who had been very kind to him, and had all her wits about her, Captain Vincent, looking at the master’s mate’s bushy whiskers, thought that these in themselves were enough to ensure recognition. This impression was so strong that he had asked point-blank: “You haven’t altered the growth of the hair on your face, Mr. Bolt, since then?” There was just a touch of indignation in Bolt’s negative reply; for he was proud of his whiskers. He declared he was ready to take the most desperate chances for the service of his king and his country.