d, by dint of hard work, we contrived to get three
spars on end,--securely lashed to the stumps of the masts, and well
stayed,--by dinner-time, and by four bells that same afternoon we had
the lugger under her own canvas once more, when we cast adrift from the
_Dolphin_, it being found that, even under jury-masts, the _Belle
Jeannette_ was quite capable of holding her own with the Indiaman in the
moderate weather then prevailing. Long before this, however, I had
found an opportunity to go below and have a look at the treasure-chest,
which I had found in the position indicated by the French skipper. It
was an unexpectedly bulky affair; so much so, indeed, that I thought the
safest place for it would be down in the _Dolphin's_ run, and there it
was soon safely stowed, after I had gone on board the schooner to report
to Captain Winter the great value of our prize. It afterwards turned
out that this chest contained no less than thirty thousand pounds in
specie; so I was right in considering it worth taking care of.

CHAPTER FOUR.

ANOTHER FIGHT, AND ANOTHER PRIZE.

The weather had been clearing all day, and when, about six bells that
afternoon, we made the high land of Portland, the sky was without a
cloud, the atmosphere clear and bright, and the sun was shining as
brilliantly as though it had been midsummer, quite taking the keen edge
off the frosty air. There was not a vessel in sight in any direction,
which was rather a relief to us; for, situated as we were then, it would
have been difficult to say whether the sight of a friend or of an enemy
would have excited the most uneasiness in our breasts. A friend would
almost certainly have been a man-o'-war; and although our papers were
nominally a protection of our crew against impressment, we were fully
aware that, as a matter of fact, they were nothing of the sort, the
captains of our men-o'-war impressing almost as freely from a privateer
as from an ordinary merchantman. Now, our men were, so far as we had
had an opportunity of proving them, first-rate fellows, with scarcely a
single exception, we were therefore most anxious not to lose any of
them; and were consequently the reverse of desirous to meet with one of
our own ships of war. On the other hand, we were by this time so close
in with the English coast that, if we happened to encounter an enemy, it
would certainly be a prowling privateer--like ourselves--heavily enough
armed and manned to admit of thei