he brigantine forging slowly
ahead as the ship to which they belonged fell off, and my heart stood
still and my blood froze with horror, for it became apparent that the
two craft were sheering inward toward each other, and that nothing short
of a miracle could prevent the brigantine from falling foul of and
destroying us. For as her spars rose higher into view I saw that her
people, too, had set their fore-staysail, and that the two craft,
impelled by their additional spread of sail, were rushing headlong
toward each other.

A Middy in Command--by Harry Collingwood

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

SOME VICISSITUDES OF FORTUNE.

"Hard up with your helm," I shouted, "hard over with it; we must take
our chance of being swamped. Better that than that both craft should be
destroyed." And, dashing aft, I lent my assistance to the man who was
tending the helm.

Then ensued a breathless, hair-raising fifteen seconds, during which it
seemed impossible for the schooner and the brigantine to avoid a
collision--in which case they must have sunk each other out of hand.
Then, when the two craft were not more than fifteen feet apart, the
schooner's head fell off, she turned broadside-on to the sea, and, our
people smartly hauling down our fore-staysail, the brigantine drew
slowly ahead and clear of us, our bowsprit-end missing her mainboom by
the merest hairbreadth, and the danger was over. But during that minute
or so of frightful suspense, which the stranger's crew had spent in
rushing madly and aimlessly about the decks, execrating us in voluble
Spanish, an opportunity had been afforded us to ascertain that the
brigantine was named the _San Antonio_, and that she was beyond all
question a slaver, with a cargo on board.

We contrived to avoid her without shipping so much as a drop of water,
thanks mainly to the fact that the brigantine had served, at the
critical moment, as a floating breakwater for us. Putting our helm down
again the moment that we were clear of her, we came safely to the wind
again on her weather quarter. Had we allowed matters to remain as they
were before our narrow escape, the _San Antonio_ would soon have parted
company with us, for, as I said before, she was driving to leeward much
more rapidly than we were. Now that would not suit me at all, for since
I had made certain that she was a slaver, I was determined to capture
her as soon as the weather should moderate sufficiently to allow us to
do so. There