In prison, and out again.
The order to march was given. The two officers went first, followed by Brown and Tom supporting Jack, and the gendarmes marched on either side of them with their bayonets fixed.
Rayner and Oliver took the bearings of the house and remarked the country as they went along. They found that they were proceeding inland, and on inquiring of the sergeant he said that they were going to a place called Le Trou, where other English prisoners were confined.
“Are there many of them?” inquired Rayner.
“Yes,” answered the Frenchman, “some hundreds, I believe; for one of our frigates captured a ship of yours not long ago, and most of the officers and men who escaped death were sent there.”
Rayner in vain endeavoured to ascertain what English ship was spoken of, for he had heard of none taken by the French of late years. The sergeant, however, was positive, though he did not know either the name of the ship or the exact time of the capture.
“I suspect he has heard some old story, and he repeats it for the sake of annoying us,” observed Oliver.
“We must not let him suppose that we are cast down. We’ll try to learn how far off this Le Trou is.”
Rayner questioned the sergeant.
“He says it is three days’ journey. We shall have to stop at different houses on the road. That he must first take us to the mayor, or some official, who may perhaps send us to the governor at Leogane, by whom we shall be examined, and if found to be spies, we shall be shot.”