I sat looking at her the light grew, her
outline sharpened and became clear and distinct, and my heart gave a
great bound of delight as the conviction forced itself upon me that I
knew her. Yes, that long low hull, with its abnormal length of counter,
and its bold sheer forward, the high, dominating bow with its excessive
rake of stem, and the peculiar steeve of the bowsprit were all familiar
to me. I had seen and noted them before while in Sierra Leone harbour,
and I was convinced that the craft was none other than the British man-
o'-war schooner _Gadfly_, armed with eight 12-pound carronades and a
long 32-pound pivot-gun on her forecastle, with a crew of eighty men
under the command of Lieutenant Peters, than whom there was not a more
dashing and enterprising officer on the Coast.

I had just arrived at the above conclusion when I heard one of the
barque's crew hailing the poop; I could not distinguish what was said,
but I presumed that it had reference to the schooner, for immediately
upon the hail I heard the creaking of the basket-chair on the poop, as
though Marcel was just hoisting himself out of it, and presently his
reply came floating down through the skylight, "Ay, ay; I see her."
Then I heard the soft shuffling of his footsteps overhead and guessed
that he was getting hold of the telescope wherewith to examine the
schooner.

Ten minutes later, perhaps, I heard the second mate leave the poop and
enter the cabin, and I concluded that he had come down to report the
schooner to Leroy; but, to my surprise, instead of doing that, he came
straight to my cabin door and knocked softly. I at once guessed that he
wished to question me about the stranger, but it was no part of my
policy to let him know that I had already seen and made up my mind about
her, I therefore feigned to be sound asleep, and did not reply. Then he
knocked a second time more sharply, whereupon I started up and responded
in a drowsy tone of voice, "Hillo! who is it? What's the matter?"

"Monsieur Fortescue," Marcel responded, murmuring through the slats in
the upper panel of the door, "I want you on deck, quick!"

"Oh, indeed," I replied, still affecting drowsiness; "what for? Is
there anything wrong?"

"Please come up at once, monsieur," he returned, with a note of
impatience in his voice. "When you come on deck you will understand why
I want you."

"Very well," I grumbled, "I will be up in a brace of shakes;" whereupon
my disturb