We followed him down the stairs, gained the church, and trod over the still burning embers; as soon as we were clear of the walls we turned to the right in our way down to the harbor, keeping in the gloom as much as possible.  We arrived safely at the pier, for there was not a soul stirring; all our fear was that we should find some one keeping watch on board of the vessels, which we must pass after we had possession of one of the fishing-boats, as they laid inside of them.  But fortune favored us every way:  the boat we selected had her sails bent, and was not fastened with a chain; we were, therefore, in the stream in a moment; the tide was also running out strong, and we passed the vessels without having occasion to use our oars.  The battery at the entrance of the harbor was also without its usual sentry, for the men had been called up to guard the prisoners.  In half an hour we were clear of the harbor, and steering with a fine breeze for the English coast; and when daylight broke the French land was but just perceptible.

“Well,” said Bramble, “praised be Heaven for all things.  I expected to have lost my precious liberty for years, and I have only lost two shirts, one pair of trousers, and three pair of worsted stockings.”

We had nothing to eat or drink, but that we cared little for, as the wind was fair.  About ten o’clock that night we landed at Cawsand Bay near Plymouth, where we sat down to a hearty supper; and when we went to bed, I did not forget to thank Providence for my unexpected escape.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

     Another Escape, more fortunate than the one recorded in the
     preceding Chapter.

From the time that I had passed my examination, and worked as a pilot on my own account, until the period of our escape, which I have narrated in the preceding chapter, I had continued to live in the cottage with Bramble, without contributing any share to the expenses.  I had at first proposed it, but Bramble would not listen to any such arrangement; he considered me, he said, as his son, and who knew, he added, but that the cottage would be mine after he was gone.  The fact was that Bramble ardently wished that Bessy and I should be united.  He continually hinted at it, joked with Bessy about me; and I believe that, in consequence, Bessy’s feelings toward me had taken the same bent.  She was prepared for the issue; the regard naturally felt for me from her long intimacy, now that the indulgence of it was so openly sanctioned by him whom she considered as her father, was not checked on her part; indeed, there was no doubt but that it had ripened into love.  She showed it in every little way that her maiden modesty did not interfere with, and old Bramble would at times throw out such strong hints of our eventual union as to make me feel very uncomfortable.  They neither of them had any idea of my heart having been pre-engaged, and the strangeness of my manner was ascribed by Bramble