almost
directly away from us, they were also rapidly widening the distance
between each other, and it would therefore be very necessary for the
skipper to make up his mind quickly which of the two craft he would
pursue--for it was clear that, by this manoeuvre on their part, they had
rendered it impossible for us to chase them both.

I was in the act of reporting this matter to the skipper and the second
lieutenant, who were walking the quarter-deck together, when Mr
Fawcett--who, with the captain, had come to a halt at my hail--suddenly
reeled, staggered, and fell prone upon the deck with a crash. The
skipper instantly sprang to his assistance, as did young Christy, a
fellow mid of mine, who was pacing fore and aft on the opposite side of
the deck, and three or four men who were at work about some job in the
wake of the main rigging; and between them they raised the poor fellow
up and carried him below. I subsequently learned--when I eventually
descended from aloft--that the surgeon had reported him to be suffering
from sunstroke, which was complicated by an injury to the skull
sustained by his having struck his head upon a ring-bolt in the deck as
he fell.

Meanwhile, during the temporary confusion that ensued on deck in
consequence of this untoward incident, I employed myself in the careful
measurement of the angle made by the mast-heads of the two strange sail
with the now sharply defined horizon, and noting the result upon the
back of an envelope which I happened to have in my jacket pocket. I had
scarcely done this when the skipper hailed me, asking whether we seemed
to be gaining anything upon the strangers, or whether I thought that
they were running away from us. I replied that the breeze had reached
them too recently to enable me to judge, but that I hoped to be in a
position to let him know definitely in the course of the next half-hour.
I then explained to him what I had done, and he was pleased to express
his approval. Meanwhile we continued to steer a course about midway
between that of the two strangers, by which means it was hoped that we
should be able to keep both in sight, in readiness to haul up for that
one upon which we seemed to be most decidedly gaining.

The breeze still continued to freshen upon us, to such an extent that
when my watch told me it was time to re-measure my angle, we were
bowling along at the rate of nearly twelve knots, and the sea was
beginning to rise, while our lighte