A bit of assistance, if you can.
Does anyone recall a scene from the Hornblower books in which pressed seamen or prisoners are kept from escaping by the simple expedience of cutting the waist band of their trousers or breeches? I thought I remembered it from Ship of the Line, but now that I'm nearly done with the book, I don't recall coming across it. I was thinking that it was nearer the beginning, when Hornblower is worried about obtaining a full crew for Sutherland.
Or am I barking up the spine of the wrong book? Perhaps am I even confusing the matter with something in a book by another writer? Anyway, the cutting of waist bands is something I have my character do in my book, and I'd like to be able to reference it to a specific book (hopefully a Hornblower book) when I ask permission of the estate.
Thanks,
Dave