O’Brien, the senior midshipman and master’s mate, who had been very kind to me, came to me on the seventh, morning and said that if I did not exert myself I never should get well; that he had taken me under his protection, and to prove his regard would give me a good basting, which was a sovereign remedy for sea-sickness.  He suited the action to the word, and drubbed me on the ribs without mercy until I thought the breath was out of my body; but I obeyed his orders to go on deck immediately, and somehow or other did contrive to crawl up the ladder to the main deck, where I sat down and cried bitterly.  What would I have given to have been at home again!  It was not my fault that I was the greatest fool of the family, yet how was I punished for it!  But, by degrees, I recovered myself, and certainly that night I slept very soundly.

The next morning O’Brien came to me again.

“It’s a nasty slow fever, that sea-sickness, my Peter, and we must drive it out of you.”

And then he commenced a repetition of yesterday’s remedy until I was almost a jelly.  Whether the fear of being thrashed drove away my sickness, I do not know, but this is certain, that I felt no more of it after the second beating, and the next morning when I awoke I was very hungry.

II.—­I am Taken Prisoner

One morning at daybreak we found ourselves about four miles from the town of Cette, and a large convoy of vessels coming round a point.  We made all sail in chase, and they anchored close in shore under a battery, which we did not discover until it opened fire upon us.  The captain tacked the ship, and stood out again, until the boats were hoisted out, and all ready to pull on shore and storm the battery.  O’Brien, who was the officer commanding the first cutter on service, was in his boat, and I obtained permission from him to smuggle myself into it.

We ran ashore, amidst the fire of the gunboats which protected the convoy, by which we lost three men, and made for the battery, which we took without opposition, the French artillerymen running out as we ran in.  The directions of the captain were very positive not to remain in the battery a minute after it was taken, but to board the gunboats, leaving only one of the small boats, with the armourer, to spike the guns, for the captain was aware that there were troops stationed along the coast who might come down upon us and beat us off.

The first lieutenant, who commanded, desired O’Brien to remain with the first cutter, and after the armourer had spiked the guns, as officer of the boat he was to shove off immediately.  O’Brien and I remained in the battery with the armourer, the boat’s crew being ordered down to the boat to keep her afloat and ready to shove off at a moment’s warning.  We had spiked all the guns but one, when all of a sudden a volley of musketry was poured upon us, which killed the armourer, and wounded me in the leg above the knee.  I fell down by O’Brien, who cried out, “By the powers, here they are, and one gun not spiked!” He jumped down, wrenched the hammer from the armourer’s hand, and seizing a nail from the bag, in a few moments he had spiked the gun.