clump of trees which rose like islands out
of the silvery mist, and as I looked I saw that the spars were moving,
gliding slowly and almost imperceptibly past the trees toward the river.
_The brig was adrift_. I listened intently for quite five minutes
without hearing the faintest sound from the craft, and during that time
she had neared us almost a cable's length. In another minute or two she
would be abreast of and within a couple of ships' lengths of us. What
could it mean? She could not by any possibility have struck adrift
accidentally. And if her berth was being intentionally shifted for any
reason, why was the operation carried out under cover of the fog and in
such profound silence? There had been no sound of lifting the anchor;
nor could I hear anything to indicate that they were running out warps;
it looked very much as though they had slipped their cable, and were
allowing the tide to carry them silently out to sea. And where was Mr
Austin during this stealthy movement? Was he aware of it? Why, if my
suspicions were correct, had they invited the officers of the _Daphne_
on board to dinner? Was it merely a blind, a temporary resort to the
usual courtesies adopted for the purpose of giving colour to their
assumed character of a French man-o'-war, or was it a diabolical scheme
to get us all into their power and so deprive a formidable antagonist of
its head, so to speak, and thus cripple it?

All these surmises and many others equally wild flashed through my
bewildered brain as I stood there on the crosstrees watching the
stealthy phantom-like movement of the brig's upper spars; and the
conclusion to which I finally came was that Captain Vernon ought to be
informed forthwith of what was going on. I accordingly descended to the
deck and once more sought out the third lieutenant.

"Mr Armitage," said I, in a low cautious tone of voice, "the brig is
adrift, and driving down past us with the tide in the direction of the
river."

"The brig adrift!" he repeated incredulously. "Nonsense, Mr Hawkesley,
you must be dreaming!"

"Indeed I am not, sir, I assure you," I replied earnestly. "I have this
moment come from aloft, and I saw her topgallant-masts most distinctly
over the top of the mist. She is away over in that direction, and
scarcely a cable's length distant from us."

"Are you _quite sure_?" he asked, aroused at last by my earnest manner
to something like interest. "I can hear no sound of her.