CAPTAIN COLQUHOUN GRANT. 75 



double dealing, and the expressed design to take away his life, 

 as equivalent to a discharge of his parole, which was moreover 

 only given with respect to Spain. When he arrived at Paris he 

 took leave of Souham, opened an intercourse with the Parisian 

 agent, from whom he obtained money, and by his advice avoided 

 appearing before the police to have his passport examined. He 

 took a lodging in a very public street, frequented the coffee-houses, 

 and even visited the theatres without fear, because the secret 

 agent, who had been long established and was intimately connec- 

 ted with the police, had ascertained that no inquiry about his 

 escape had been set on foot. 



In this manner he passed several weeks, at the end of which 

 the agent informed him that a passport was ready for one Jona- 

 than Buck, an American, who had died suddenly, on the very 

 day it was to have been claimed. Seizing this occasion. Grant 

 boldly demanded the passport, with which he instantly departed 

 for the mouth of the Loire, because certain reasons, not necessary 

 to mention, led him to expect more assistance there than at any 

 other port. However, new difficulties awaited him and were 

 overcome by fresh exertions of his surprising talents, which 

 fortune seemed to delight in aiding. 



He first took a passage for America in a ship of that nation, 

 but its departure being unexpectedly delayed, he frankly explain- 

 ed his true situation to the captain, who desired him to assume 

 the character of a discontented seaman, and giving him a sailor's 

 dress and forty dollars, sent him to lodge the money in the 

 American consul's hands, as a pledge that he would prosecute 

 the captain for ill usage when he reached the United States ; this 

 being the custom on such occasions the consul gave him a certi- 

 ficate which enabled him to pass from port to port as a discharged 

 sailor seeking a ship. 



Thus provided, after waiting some days, Grant prevailed upon 

 a boatman, by a promise of ten Napoleons, to row him in the 

 night towards a small island, where, by usage, the English vessels 

 watered unmolested, and in return permitted the few inhabitants 

 to fish and traffic without interruption. In the night the boat 

 sailed, the masts of the British ships were dimly seen on the other 

 side of the island, and the termination of his toils appeared at 

 hand, when the boatman, either from fear or malice, suddenly 

 put about and returned to port. In such a situation, some men 

 would have striven in desperation to force fortune, and so have 

 perished ; the spirits of others would have sunk in despair, for 



