“He must have been a good sort of fellow,” the captain said; “though I wish we had caught him for all that.  Well, good-by, and a pleasant voyage home.”

Ralph put up at a quiet boarding-house, kept by a Mulatto woman.  He and Jacques got a fresh rig-out of clothes at once, and went down to the port to inquire about ships.  Ralph was greatly amused at the aspect of the streets crowded with chattering negroes and negresses, in gaudy colors.  The outlay of a few pence purchased an almost unlimited supply of fruit, and Ralph and his companion sat down on a log of wood by the wharves and enjoyed a feast of pine apples, bananas, and custard apples.  Then they set about their work.  In an hour both were suited.  Jacques Clery shipped as a foremast hand on board an American trading schooner, which was about to return to New York; while Ralph obtained a berth before the mast in a fine bark that would sail for England in a few days.

Next morning they said good-by to each other, for Jacques had to go on board after breakfast.  They made many promises to see each other again when the war came to an end.

“I shall never forget your kindness, Jacques; and if I am still at Dover when peace is proclaimed I will run over to Dunkirk by the very first vessel that sails.”

“As for the kindness, it is nothing,” Jacques replied; “and beside that, you saved my life from that snake.  I dream sometimes of the beast still.  And it was really owing to you that I am here now, and that I shall get a round sum coming to me when I return home.  If it hadn’t been for you I should not have been chosen to stop behind and get three shares instead of one of the prize money.  And in the next place it is your doing that I am free to start at once, and to make my way back as soon as I can, instead of spending four or five years, it may be, in an English prison.  Why, my Louise will be ready to jump for joy when she sees me arrive, instead of having to wait another two years for me, with the chance of my never coming back at all; and she will hardly believe me when I tell her that I shall be able to afford to buy that fishing boat and set up in a house of our own at once; and she will be most surprised of all when I tell her that it is all owing to an English boy I fished on board on a dark night in the channel.”

“Well, Jacques, we won’t dispute as to which owes the other most.  Anyhow, except for my mother, I am not sorry I have made the trip in the Belle Maire.  I have seen a lot of life, and have had a rare adventure; and I have learned so much of sailor’s work, that if I am ever driven to it I can work my way anywhere before the mast in future.”

Ralph went on board his own ship as soon as he had seen Jacques off, and was soon hard at work assisting to hoist on board hogsheads of sugar and other produce.  He was startled by the sound of a heavy gun.  It was answered presently by all the ships of war in the harbor and by the forts on shore, and for five minutes the heavy cannonade continued.  The captain, who had been on shore, crossed the gangway on to the ship as the crew were gazing in surprise at the cannonade, exchanging guesses as to its cause.