“‘The stranger held straight on. He either did not or would not understand. But a round shot across his bow brought him to. As we drew nearer he called out in the best of English:
“‘By what right do you stop a French vessel?’
“‘Go to the pit with your French vessel. You were a British vessel last night. Stand by till we send a boat on board.’
“‘Two cutters were manned, and under charge of Lieutenant Bright, dispatched to the schooner. Her papers were examined and her character as a British vessel by an American firm was positively established.
“The slaver’s crew were put in irons, but left on board their own vessel. An unusually large prize crew was told off, and, to our surprise, Lieutenant Bright was put in charge of it. He was a favourite with the captain, and we had expected the third or fourth luff would go.
“But the truth was, the captain was a trifle nervous about the affair after it was over with, and he was particular about the prize. The schooner’s captain had made a good deal of talk about the matter, swearing that the vessel was not English, and that his government would right the matter for him.
“Before Mr. Bright left us for the last time to go on board his new command the captain took him below and had a long talk with him. Then the two came up together, shook hands affectionately, and Mr. Bright went over the side with a farewell nod to us all. Before night the schooner was out of sight to windward.
“A year after, the ‘Excellent’ having by that time been ordered home, I learned that Bright took the slaver in all right, but reported that her officers and entire crew had, by some ingenious plan, escaped in the long boat before he got away from the African coast.
“Very little had been said about the matter, however, at the navy department, and shortly afterwards Bright had received his promotion. I thought that altogether the thing looked rather strange and I straightway elaborated a theory of my own about the matter.
“By Captain Hodge’s orders Bright had probably put the schooner’s company on shore before going to sea. The captain thought, I suppose, that they would be less likely to give any trouble about our ‘violation of the British flag,’ if left in Africa.