were put on board the _Henrietta_ to complete her crew. Cyril was
standing on the poop watching them come on board, when he started as
his eye fell on two of their number. One was Robert Ashford; the
other was Black Dick. They had doubtless returned from Holland when
war was declared. Robert Ashford had assumed the dress of a sailor
the better to disguise himself, and the two had been carried off
together from some haunt of sailors at Wapping. He pointed them out
to his friend Sydney.

"So those are the two scamps? The big one looks a truculent ruffian.
Well, they can do you no harm here, Cyril. I should let them stay and
do their share of the fighting, and then, when the voyage is over, if
they have not met with a better death than they deserve at the hands
of the Dutch, you can, if you like, denounce them, and have them
handed over to the City authorities."

"That I will do, as far as the big ruffian they call Black Dick is
concerned. He is a desperate villain, and for aught I know may have
committed many a murder, and if allowed to go free might commit many
more. Besides, I shall never feel quite safe as long as he is at
large. As to Robert Ashford, he is a knave, but I know no worse of
him, and will therefore let him go his way."

In the evening the other ships from Chatham came up, and the captain
told them later that the Earl of Sandwich, who was in command, would
weigh anchor in the morning, as the contingent from London, Chatham,
and Sheerness was now complete. Cyril thought that he had never seen
a prettier sight, as the Fleet, consisting of fifty men-of-war, of
various sizes, and eight merchant vessels that had been bought and
converted into fire-ships, got under way and sailed down the river.