n her, and ten minutes' careful scrutiny sufficed
to satisfy him that, though her spars were heavier, and she now showed a
wider spread of canvas than of old, she was undoubtedly, as he had
suspected, his own old ship, the _Aurora_. He further noted that she
was not very deep in the water, being in fact just in her very best
sailing-trim; and, remembering her former capabilities, he was not long
in making up his mind that, if her present crew happened to become
suspicious of the character of the _Virginie_, and shunned an
engagement, it would be a very difficult matter to bring the _Aurora_ to
action.

But if those in possession of the barque entertained any misgivings,
they certainly gave no visible indication of them: on the contrary, they
came sweeping down upon the _Virginie_ under a perfect cloud of canvas,
and in a manner so obviously threatening, that, in order to maintain the
illusion to the last, George thought it advisable to exhibit some slight
signs of uneasiness, and he accordingly ordered the royals to be loosed
and set, and edged away a point or two off his course, at the same time,
however, checking his weather braces to such an extent that the brig's
speed was not very greatly improved by the manoeuvre. In the meantime
the decks had been cleared, the guns loaded, and the crew fully armed
with cutlass, pike, and pistol. The port-lids however, were kept
carefully closed, so that the presence of the guns on board might not be
revealed until an action should have become inevitable.

Mr Bowen had, in the midst of all his work, been watching the approach
of the _Aurora_ with grim satisfaction, gradually developing into a
condition of supreme exhilaration. He rubbed his hands gleefully,
laughed softly to himself, and exhibited, in short, all the outward
characteristics of a thoroughly gratified man. Then he would draw a
pistol from his belt, and carefully inspect the priming, pass his thumb
meditatively along the edge of his cutlass, or casually test with his
finger the sharpness of a pike-head, and at these times the expression
of his countenance boded no good to the approaching enemy.

The _Virginie's_ crew were kept carefully out of sight, except some
three or four hands, who were ostentatiously posted on the forecastle,
with orders to assume an appearance of deep interest in the approach of
the barque; but Bowen had carefully placed each man exactly where he
wanted him, and as the _Aurora_ came swee