the man who was steering, giving him instructions to "send Bill
Bateman aft."

I found young Keene in high feather at the prospect of a tussle with so
formidable an opponent as the brigantine promised to be, and we
dispatched our breakfast in double-quick time, after which my
lighthearted companion got out his pistols and proceeded to clean and
load them carefully in anticipation of the moment when they might be
needed. And when this was done he went forward to supervise personally
the sharpening of his sword by the armourer. Meanwhile I took my
sextant on deck, and had another squint through it at the chase. It was
satisfactory to find that we were overhauling her rapidly. Then, having
secured an observation of the sun for the determination of our
longitude, I gave orders to clear for action, an operation which, in the
case of so small a hooker as the _Francesca_, was a very simple matter.
We had just completed all our preparations comfortably when Jones called
my attention to the fact that the commodore was in stays, and presently
she was round on the other tack and heading well up for us. But so far
had we gained on her that, when at length we crossed her hawse, there
was quite two miles of clear water between us. I commented upon this
singular fact to Jones, remembering that when we parted company with the
_Shark_ the _Dona Inez_ was distinctly the better sailer of the two,
while now we were beating her in her own weather.

"It's not very difficult to understand, sir," answered Jones. "The fact
is that then we didn't know this here little beauty, and how to get the
best out of her, while now we does. That's all that there is about it."

And, as I could not otherwise understand the phenomenon, I was obliged
to accept that explanation, and be satisfied with it.

Six bells arrived, by which time the commodore was once more in our
wake, having tacked again, while we had clawed out about half a mile to
windward of the chase, and drawn so close to her that I determined to
try the effect of another shot from the long eighteen upon her. The gun
was accordingly reloaded, carefully trained, and the schooner luffed
sufficiently to bring the gun to bear clear of our head gear. At the
proper moment the gunner, who was squinting along the sights, gave the
order to fire. The linstock was applied, the gun exploded, shaking the
little vessel to her keel, and as the helm was put up to keep her away
again, all eyes were