lves, and the _Astarte_; and just as I reached the deck
the order was given to make sail, the two frigates having been
instructed to chase the strangers, and for us, in addition, to pursue
and recapture the large ship which had by this time vanished altogether
in the south-eastern board.

We at once hauled our wind and, acknowledging the signal from the
commodore, crowded sail, standing to the southward upon the port tack.
We set everything to our royals, although the moment that the ship was
brought upon a wind, and the yards braced sharp up, we became conscious
of the fact that the Trades were blowing quite strong enough to justify
us, under ordinary circumstances, in keeping our topgallantsails stowed.
But this was no time for prudence; valuable property was being stolen
under our very noses--ay, and murder being committed, too, for aught
that we could tell to the contrary--and the marauders must be caught and
punished; we therefore cracked on, pressing the beautiful frigate to the
utmost limit of her endurance.

And, oh, what a joyous, exhilarating sensation it was to feel the ship
alive once more, as it were, heeling steeply over to the shrill piping
of the strong salt breeze, bounding from wave to wave, plunging her
sharp stem deep into the heart of each oncoming surge, and cleaving its
indigo crest asunder in a perfect storm of sparkling foam above which
played a miniature rainbow, after being compelled for weeks to moderate
our paces to those of the sluggish merchantmen!

Our shift of helm brought that portion of the convoy, in the midst of
which the big brigantine was pursuing her nefarious trade, square upon
our weather-beam, but as we were now going off practically at right
angles to the course steered by the convoy, and as both they and we were
sailing at a good rate, our relative positions very quickly altered; and
as the brigantine had not yet seen fit to haul out from among the
merchantmen, we were beginning to hope that she was too busily employed
to notice our movements, and that, before she did so and took the alarm,
we should gain the weather-gage of her. But no, they were not going to
be quite so easily caught as all that! It happened, however, that at
the precise moment when we hauled out from the main body she had run
alongside a large transport, carrying troops out to the West Indies; and
the officers on board her, having got timely notice of what was
happening, had prepared for her visit by t