s all
right, and with it he snatched up the glass and levied it at the Inlet,
which to his great delight he could plainly see straight ahead.

"Mind what you are about, Captain," said he, as soon as he could induce
the man to stand still and listen to him. "That first buoy is a black
one, and you want to leave it to port. If you keep on as you are holding
now you will leave it to starboard, and that will run you hard and fast
aground."

"Don't make much odds which way we go," whined Beardsley, holding fast
to his elbow with one hand and to his shoulder with the other. "Just
look what them Yankees is a doing!"

The captain became utterly disheartened when he saw that his plan for
sinking the launch and making good his escape into the Inlet was going
to end in failure, and Marcy did not blame him for it. The officer in
command of the small boat, whoever he might be, was a determined and
active fellow; his crew were picked men; his little craft was a
"trotter," and he knew how to handle both of them. He had been sent out
by one of the blockading squadron to patrol the coast and watch for just
such vessels as the _Hattie_ was, and although he had steam up all the
while, he used his twenty-four muffled oars, twelve on a side, as his
motive power; and this enabled him to slip along the coast without
making the least sound to betray his presence. As luck would have it, he
had not discovered Crooked Inlet. If he had, he would have lifted the
buoys, and it might have led to extra watchfulness on the part of the
blockading fleet. But he had discovered the _Hattie_ and his actions
proved that he did not mean to let her escape if he could help it.

CHAPTER VII.

THE MATE'S LUCKY SHOT.

"Just look what them Yankees is a doing now," repeated Captain
Beardsley; and when Marcy turned his eyes from the warning buoy to the
launch, he saw that the latter was scuttling rapidly out of harm's way;
that her bow was swinging around so that she would pass by within less
than a hundred feet of the schooner; that the oars had been dropped
overboard, and were dragging alongside by the lanyards that were
fastened to them; that some of the crew had arisen to their feet and
stood facing the _Hattie_; and that the rest were busy with the howitzer
in the bow.

"Heave to, or we'll cut you all to pieces!" shouted the officer in
command; and Marcy could see him plainly now, for he stood e