you," answered the first luff,
stretching out his hand and lightly touching the skipper's arm. "Yes,"
he continued, "it certainly _is_ dark, unusually so; so dark that I am
in hopes of keeping our presence a secret from the fellow out yonder
until you shall have decided what is to be done."

"Mr Fortescue tells me that you have not seen anything of him thus
far," remarked the captain. "Whereabout is he, and how far off, do you
reckon?"

"Somewhere away in that direction," indicated the lieutenant, with a
flourish of his arm. "As to the distance--well, that is rather
difficult to judge. Sound travels far on such a night as this; but I
should say that the craft is not more than half a mile distant, or
three-quarters, at the utmost."

"Um!" commented the captain meditatively. "I suppose it is not, by any
chance, the craft which we are after, which has slipped out of the river
in the darkness, eh?"

"I should scarcely think so, sir," answered Perry. "A man would
literally have to be able to find his way about blindfolded to attempt
to run out of the river on such a night as this. No, I am inclined to
think that it is some inward-bound craft, becalmed like ourselves. We
caught the sound of some order spoken on board her when we first became
aware of her presence, and Mr Fortescue here was of opinion that the
words used were Spanish, although the distance was too great to enable
us to distinguish just what was said."

"Ay," responded the skipper; "two out of every three slavers doing
business on this coast are either Spaniards or Portuguese. Now, the
question is, What are we to do with regard to our unknown friend out
yonder? Either she is, or is not, the craft that we are on the look-out
for. If she _is_, we must take her, by hook or by crook, before the
sea-breeze sets in and gives her the chance to run away from us; and
that means a jaunt in the boats. On the other hand, if she is not the
craft that we are after, she is still in all probability a slaver, and
in any case will doubtless pay for an overhaul, which again means a boat
trip. Therefore, Mr Perry, be good enough to have the hands called,
and the boats got into the water as silently as possible. If the men
are quick we may be able to get away, and perhaps alongside her, before
the dawn breaks. I will take charge of this little pleasure-party
myself, and you can stay here and keep house during my absence."

"Ay, ay, sir," answered Perry, in to