The Fishguard Invasion by the French in 1797

er Nancy. How she could have guessed that it was now near dawn-as in our corner it was still pitch-dark-was a mystery to me; but probably the ha

could only move with difficulty, and every bone made its particular position known with great accurac

e were no sheep or cattle to be seen, their lawful owners or the invaders having driven them off to securer quarters or to sudden death, as the case might be. The church itself, after the late uproa

es looked warily from the interior into the porch, to see if haply some blue-coated soldier might have been left there on guard. But if this had been the case he had certainly dec

pied us-the roof of the church, where he had been stationed as a sentinel. He sat astride on the ridge, which could be easily gained by means of a flight of steps, made on the outside of the roof, as a look-out place from which to signal to those at sea; but never designed for such a purpose as the present. The discipline had not been so lax as we hoped. For a moment we were stupefied, wishing only that one of the graves would open and take us in. Then we took to our heels. Down came the Frenchman clattering over the roof of the church, from the edge of which he dropped to the ground, only a distance of eight or nine feet; then he came full cry after us. His shouts had attracted the attention of a couple of his fellows, who were strolling along the cliffs in search of what they could devour, or, still better, drink. They joined the chase instantly, and all three came full tear after Nancy and myself, who had headed straight for the cliffs, as one of our own foxes would have done, though what we were to do when we gained them save plunge into the sea we knew not

d, "I am glad to see you this

ked as if she coul

rest?" asked Davy Jones, abruptly, his voice rough and angr

everything-and the silver spo

th this carcase?" And he pointed to the unconscious Frenchman.

l have the whole lot after us in a minute; they're

do; but I had some of them after me a little while ago, and I landed here to get rid of them, a

you see him? Is he safe?" ask

; I'll tell you in the

sed with steep pieces of cliff. We jumped, slid, and tumbled down, clutching hold of gras

ity of constant practice-that Nan and I quite failed

, and give a

noiselessly along under the great cliffs, where darkness still dwelt. But the sky over our heads grew lighter every moment, and we ruefully perceived t

" in a horror-stru

leasing to behold, sodden with water,

man's hands. The ruffians had burnt his cottage, with his old mother in it; he caug

, to divert his remorseful thoughts,

night as neat as could be-we had a bit of a scrimmage

ou shouldn't

after us. They'd some man who knew the coast among them, that I'll swear; any stranger must have found out the sharpness of our rocks; but not a bit of it. On they came quite comfortable, and close behind us they were as we got to the mouth of the cave. Levi Mathias stood up in the bow of the boat

to leave Levi," s

er, and they didn't shoot me through the head, like they did a farmer that they made help to roll up their casks of ammunition, w

he chief?" I a

ulm for Llanstinan-they didn't care for culm, and were cross to him, and a mortal fright he was in, but had sense enough left to tell them a lot of lies. Then I saw Llewelyn, and had a word on the sly with

m, succeeded by a lo

are again. Why-ever couldn't

nt for arguing. We bent to the oars with a will and in silence, till my hands were bli

leant

for a spell, D

was like a nightmare. We came in very close to the cliffs now, and Davy took both oars. In bet

y. "Please Providence, they may

gratefully at

s, and seemed to close us in on every side; but as we came round another corner we saw before us a low archway. Through this we shot, and we found ourselves as it we

e said. "Don't be afraid; i

rawing myself up to be out of Davy's way, who came with a mighty rush-at the same time spinnin

d Davy. "If they see this slit, the

cts extremely like kegs, also bales and packages of all sorts. Outside we heard the cries and screams of the Frenchmen, baulked of their prey; for (probably fortunately for themselves)

ant to stay," he continued; "but perhaps we may