Page:Memoirs of Vidocq, Volume 1.djvu/167

 went there too; for I frequented the cook's kitchen, on whom I also constantly levied contributions.

"There was on board a friend of mine, a cooper, who, having staid the time of his sentence, was returning like me to England. I had let him into my confidence, and he served me greatly in my thefts on the cook; for instance, he drew him on one side and occupied him whilst I was carrying off something of everything that came to hand. Besides the cooper, there was a sailor on board who was also in the secret, but who, as it will appear in the sequel, was a confidant too many.

"One Sunday, after we had been a month at sea, the cooper and the sailor were talking together in the forecastle, when a dispute arose about some trifle. I was at the moment trying to open a chest to get some provisions from it, when the sailor, who had left the cooper, came up to me. Deceived by the darkness of the night, for it was about nightfall, and taking me for some other person, he struck me on the shoulder, saying, 'Where is the captain?' I answered him, and on recognizing me, he ran into the captain's cabin crying with all his might, 'Murder! murder! we are all lost! The ship will be taken; there are ten men concealed in the hold, and so and so (meaning me and the cooper) are in the plot; they want to murder us and make off with the ship!'

"The captain, immediately calling his mate, went with him on deck, and ordered all hands to assemble there. When we had all met, the sailor again pointed out me and the cooper as the principals in the plot, asserting that there were ten men in the hold. They went down with lights, but returned without discovering anything, so well had my men concealed themselves. At length, the captain not liking to be defeated, determined on filling the hold with smoke, and the poor devils were compelled to come out for fear of being choked. On getting on deck they cut a most miserable figure, for since their departure from Sydney