He called to the pilot, spoke a few words to him in a whisper, pointed me out with a glance, and the pilot nodded in sign of acquiescence.
"There," said the captain, "that matter is fixed up all right!"
Then, addressing the sailors who had been heaving the anchor apeak, he said—
"Up aloft with you and let go the top-sails and the courses, the jibs and the spanker!"
"Ah, captain," I said, "do not go and serve me the trick that Bougainville did to his friend the curé of Boulogne!"
"Oh, no fear of that! Besides, I am not going all round the world!"[1]
Lastly, turning to his men, he shouted—
"Get ready to hoist and haul in the top-sails!"
The story of Bougainville and the curé of Boulogne is a popular one in the French navy, and, as you see, the captain answered me just as a communicant answers a question on the Catechism. Now, as it is quite possible that my reader may not be a sailor, and that ladies, in particular, may be quite unacquainted with the legend to which I have just referred, I will tell in as few words as possible the story of Bougainville and the curé of Boulogne. Then we will return to our two Paulines.