But come in, and tell me what brings you hither." "Good news, general." "Bah! Has Lambert sent us word that he will fight to-morrow ?" "No; but we have just captured a fishing-boat conveying fish to Newcastle." "And you have done very wrong, my friends.

These gentlemen from London are delicate, must have their first course; you will put them sadly out of humor this evening, and to-morrow they will be pitiless.

It would really be in good taste to send back to Lambert both his fish and his fishermen, unless--" and the general reflected an instant.
"Tell me," continued he, "what are these fishermen, if you please ?" "Some Picard seamen who were fishing on the coasts of France or Holland, and who have been thrown upon ours by a gale of wind." "Do any among them speak our language ?" "The leader spoke some few words of English." The mistrust of the general was awakened in proportion as fresh information reached him.

"That is well," said he.

"I wish to see these men; bring them to me." An officer immediately went to fetch them.
"How many are there of them ?" continued Monk; "and what is their vessel ?" "There are ten or twelve of them, general, and they were aboard of a kind of _chasse-maree_, as it is called--Dutch-built, apparently." "And you say they were carrying fish to Lambert's camp ?" "Yes, general, and they seem to have had good luck in their fishing." "Humph! We shall see that," said Monk.
At this moment the officer returned, bringing the leader of the fishermen with him.