He then gave an account of their object in approaching the coast and the way in which they had been so unwillingly compelled to land.
“I am inclined to believe you, monsieur,” said Captain Dupuis, more politely than at first. “But my duty is to convey you to Port Louis, where my regiment is stationed, and the colonel will decide on your case. We will march directly.”
Captain Dupuis appeared not to be ill-disposed, for he ordered some breakfast to be brought to them in the hall.
“Thank you for your kindness, monsieur,” said Rayner. “With your permission we will put on our proper dresses, which are contained in these bundles.”
“Assuredly you have my leave. It will show the people that we have two English officers in captivity, as well as some of their men, and probably the report will be spread that an English frigate and her crew have been taken,” observed the captain, laughing.
“Well, I do feel more like myself now,” exclaimed Brown, as he put on his shirt and jacket, and tied his black handkerchief in a lover’s knot round his throat.
Rayner and Oliver, though they did not say so, felt very much as their men did, thankful to throw off their disguises.
As soon as they had finished breakfast, the soldiers fell in, the prisoners being placed in the centre, and with the captain at their head they commenced their march to the southward.
It was not until late in the evening that they arrived at their destination. There were three old-fashioned forts, one intended to support the other, commanding the entrance of the bay.
Rayner and Oliver, as they approached, took note of their position, and they remarked that the water appeared to be deep close up to the heights on which the forts were situated. In the largest were several buildings, the residence of the commandant, the barracks, and a small edifice with strongly-barred windows, which they soon discovered to be a prison.