themselves how it could be that an Englishman could speak French as freely
as they did themselves.

I had no cause to complain of my treatment on board the _Joséphine_ after
that. The life was far less rigorous than on our own ships, and the living
far more ample. If only I could have sent word of my welfare to those at
home, who must by this time, I knew, be full of fears for me, I could have
been fairly content. The future, indeed, was full of uncertainty, but it is
that at best, and my heart was set on escape the moment the chance offered.

I went about my work with the rest, and took a certain pride in showing
them how a British seaman could do his duty. Our curious introduction had
given Captain Duchâtel an interest in me. I often caught his eye upon me,
and now and again he dropped me a word which was generally a cheerful
challenge as to my resolution, and I always replied in kind. Recollections
of those days crowd my mind as I look back on them, but they are not what I
set out to tell, and greater matters lay just ahead.

With wonderful luck, and perhaps by taking a very outside course, we
escaped the British cruisers, and arrived safely in Martinique, and there
we lay for close on four months, with little to do but be in readiness for
attacks which never came.

The living was good. Fresh meat and fruit were abundant, and we were
allowed ashore in batches. And so the time passed pleasantly enough, but
for the fact that one was an exile, and that those at home must be in
sorrow and suspense, and had probably long since given up all hope of
seeing their wanderer again. For this time was not as the last. They would
expect news of us within a few weeks of our sailing, and the utter
disappearance of the _Swallow_ could hardly leave them ground for hope.