"No--to the captain himself, or to no one."

He looked at me critically and said curtly, "B'en, mon gars, we will see!"
which might mean anything--threat or promise. But my thoughts during the
night only confirmed me in my way.

Next morning after breakfast the same man came seeking me.

"Come then," he said, "and say your say," and he led me along to the
quarterdeck, where the captain stood with some of his officers. He was a
tall, good-looking man, very handsomely dressed. I came to know him later
as Captain Charles Duchâtel.

"This is the man, M. le capitaine," said my guide, pushing me to the front.

"Well, my man," said the captain, pleasantly enough, "what is the important
information you have to give me?"

"M. le capitaine will perhaps permit me to explain, in the first place,
that I am an Englishman," said I, with a bow.

"Truly you speak like one, mon gars," he laughed.

"That is because I am of the Norman Isles, monsieur. I am from Sercq, by
Guernsey."

"Well!" he nodded.

"And therefore monsieur will see that it is not possible for me to fight