strained to note the effect of the shot. It struck
the water fair and true close astern of the chase, but without doing any
damage, so far as we could see. But it was soon apparent that it had
fallen too close to her to be pleasant, for the next moment her fore-
rigging was alive with men, who swarmed up on to her yards as she put
her helm up and kept away upon a south-westerly course, with the wind
well over her port quarter. And that her skipper was a taut hand, who
kept his men well up to the mark, was immediately afterwards evidenced
by the wonderful man-o'-war-like rapidity with which they rigged out
their studding-sail booms, and set a whole cloud of studding-sails on
their port side.

"Up helm and keep her away!" I shouted as I saw what the brigantine was
at. "Away aloft there and out booms--get the larboard stu'n'sails upon
her as quick as you please, lads. Steady as you go," to the man at the
helm. "How's her head?"

"Sou'-west and by west, half west, sir," answered the man.

"Keep her at that," said I. The course which we were then steering was
about half a point higher than that of the brigantine, and by following
this I hoped to drop into her wake again in due time without losing any
ground.

We were now once more running off the wind, and the quick, jerky motions
of the schooner had given place to a series of long, easy, buoyant,
floating movements, much more conducive to accurate shooting than those
which had preceded them. I therefore resolved to try the effect of at
least one more shot from the long gun, especially as it became apparent
that the brig had at last found herself upon her best point of sailing,
and was gradually creeping up to us, while I was anxious to have to
myself the honour and glory of bringing the brigantine to action without
the assistance of the commodore. I therefore gave orders to reload the
forecastle gun, and to aim high, with the object of disabling the chase
aloft, and so clipping her wings. The gun was accordingly made ready
and, at the proper moment, fired, the gunner waiting until a surge had
swept under the little vessel and she was just settling into the trough
in the rear of it, with her stern down in the hollow and her bows
pointing skyward. Again came the flash, the jarring concussion, the jet
of white smoke; and a moment later young Keene, who, in his excitement,
had scrambled half-way up the fore-rigging, to note the effect of the
shot better, gave a