triumph.
We were eighteen hundred prisoners in all; though not very well off for
officers. About fifty of us entered into the plan, at first; nor did we
let in any recruits for something like six weeks. A Mr. Crowninshield, of
Salem, was the head man among as, he having been an officer in a
privateer. There were a good many privateer officers in the prison, but
they were berthed over-head, and were intended to be separated from us at
night. The floor was lifted between us, however, and we held our
communications by these means. The officers came down at night, and lent
us a hand with the work.

The scheme was very simple, though I do not think it was at all difficult
of execution. The black-hole cells were beneath the prison, and we broke
through the floor,in, and sailed again, for the Texel, in three weeks. Our passage
to Europe was two hundred and eleven days, but we met with no accident. At
the Texel I found two letters from New York, one being from Sarah, and the
other from a female friend. Sarah was married to the very silversmith who
had engraven our names on the thimble! This man saw her for the first
time, when she carried that miserable thimble to him, fell in love with
her, and, being in good circumstances, her friends prevailed on her to
have him. Her letter to me admitted her error, and confessed her
unhappiness; but there was no remedy. I did not like the idea of returning
to New York, under the circumstances, and resolved to quit the ship. I
got my discharge, therefore, from