“There is no great use in being in a hurry,” said the Pilot; “the more haste the less speed, you know.”

“True; but might not these bars have been sawn through before?  If this had been done, our flight would have been, at least, less precipitate.”

“You forget, Mr. Wolston,” said the captain, “that we did not know till nine o’clock the affair was to come off to-night.”

“And I could not come any sooner to tell you,” remarked the Pilot; “I had the greatest difficulty in the world to get in here; the maritime commissary would not take me into custody.”

“I forgot to ask you how you contrived to get incarcerated,” observed the captain; “you were not a prisoner, and could not plead your parole.”

“No; and consequently I had to plead something else.”

“Willis,” said the missionary, “the work you are engaged in must be very fatiguing, let me exercise my strength upon the bars for a short time.”

“If you like, minister, but keep the file well oiled.”

“What, motive, then, did you urge, Willis?” inquired Captain Littlestone.

“‘Mr. Commissary,’ said I, ’one of your frigates captured the English cutter Nelson some time ago, but the capture was not complete.’

“‘How so?’ inquired the commissary.

“‘Because, Mr. Commissary,’ said I, ’you did not capture the boatswain, and a British ship without a boatswain is no good; it is like a body without a soul.’

“‘Is that all you have to tell me?’ said the commissary, looking glum.

“‘No,’ said I, ’to make the capture complete, you have still to arrest the boatswain, and here he is standing before you—­I am the man; but having been detained by family affairs in the Pacific Ocean, I could not surrender myself any sooner.’

“‘And what do you want me to do with you?’ said he.

“’Why, what you would have done with me had I been on board the Nelson, to be sure.’

“‘What! take you prisoner?’

“‘Yes, commissary.’

“‘You wish me to do so?’

“‘Yes, certainly,’

“‘Is it possible?’

“‘Then you refuse to take me into custody, Mr. Commissary?’ said I.

“‘Yes, positively,’ said he; ’we take prisoners, but we do not accept them when offered.’

“‘Then you will not allow me to join my captain in his adversity?’

“‘Your captain is as great a fool as yourself,’ said he; ’he need not have gone to prison unless he liked.’

“’That was a matter of taste on his part, Mr. Commissary, but is a matter of duty on mine,’”

“This bar is nearly through,” whispered the missionary.

“There is no time to be lost,” said the captain; “the warder will be round in a quarter of an hour.”

“Well,” continued Willis, “the commissary began to get angry, he rose up, and was about to leave the room, when I placed myself resolutely before him.