eeing him; and then we tacked, on the chance, should he also have
tacked, as he probably would do, of overhauling him on the other board.
We now more earnestly than ever wished the fog to clear away to give us
a wider view; but yet minute after minute passed away, and still it
would pertinaciously hang down over us like a thick canopy, shutting out
the surrounding world. My uncle and Hanks, who both had seen much of
gun-shot wounds, did their best to doctor the poor fellows who had been
hit; the bodies of the two men who were killed, were placed side by side
abaft the mast, and covered up with a union jack; and we then piped to
breakfast. I had not recovered my appetite, which the scenes I had
witnessed during the morning had taken away. Hanks rallied me on my
sensibility. "Why, my boy, you should get over all those sort of
feelings at a leap, or you'll never be fit for the service. I remember
once upon a time having some of the queer sensations you talk of; but
now, whatever happens, I never let it interfere with my meals, provided
I can get the food to make them of." Instigated by his example and
remarks, I took a little tea, and then a slice of beef and bread; and I
confess that in a few minutes I began to experience my usual
midshipman-like state of perfect health, with perhaps a little weight
about the region of the heart, as if some calamity had happened to me,
but that very soon wore off. We were speedily on deck again, looking
out for the chase; while in the meantime the carpenter and most of the
crew were busily employed in repairing damages. The sun as he rose
higher in the sky, was every instant gaining power, and in almost an
hour after we lost sight of the smuggler, he victoriously darted through
the mass of vapour which in thick wreaths rolled away before it, our
hitherto confined horizon every instant increasing, while the bright
beams of the luminary struck down on our blood-stained deck. No vessel,
however, appeared in the direction we expected; but as Hanks was
glancing round the horizon, his eye fell on a sail, hull down to the
eastward. "There she is," he exclaimed; "I should know her among a
hundred other craft. D'Arcy, run below and tell the Commander that to
my belief the _Kitty_ is in sight down to leeward."

My uncle had gone to take his breakfast. I descended to the cabin. I
found him sitting with his face resting on his hands on the table. He
did not notice my entrance. I heard h