“No, sir; I am sorry to say I haven't; but it's just the sort of position I have always wanted. Of course you would have to tell me just about everything at the start, but not more than once, I hope, sir.”
This is the right sort of spirit, thought the Colonel, beginning to run through some papers on a letter-file, for, as usual, he had a very busy day before him.
“How long ago did you enlist on the privateer?” making a little memorandum of some other matters on a sheet of paper as he spoke.
“Nearly two years ago.”
“How long were you aboard of her?”
“Only a month, sir.”
“And where were you the remainder of the time?”
“On the 'Jersey,' sir.”
There was no dividing of attention now, and the Colonel laid aside the quill pen he had just filled with ink.
“Do you mean to say you were a prisoner aboard of her?”