for a man-of-war corvette, and on this came to
the conclusion that prudence was the best part of valour. There could
be little doubt, however, that he would soon discover that our guns were
of no great size; and then possibly he might turn on us, and give us
more of his quality than would be desirable. Still we kept on peppering
away at him as fast as we could, in the hopes of bringing down one of
his masts, and enabling the frigate to come up. The lights of the
convoy were, however, by this time almost lost sight of. In vain we
looked out for a signal of the approach of the frigate. No gun was
heard, no light was seen. We were afraid of losing the convoy
altogether, and certainly it would have been against the spirit of our
instructions to have attempted to deal single-handed with our opponent.
Giving the enemy a parting shot most reluctantly, Captain Hassall
therefore ordered the helm to be put up, and we ran back in the
direction in which we expected to find the convoy.

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Note 1. This ordinary watch consists of four hours, and the bell is
struck every half-hour. As the first watch commences at eight, it was
then eleven. There are two dog-watches from four to six and from six to
eight p.m., in order that the same men may not be on duty at the same
hours each day.

CHAPTER THREE.

"GOOD-BYE" TO THE CONVOY.

"Hillo! who have we here?" I heard one of the mates exclaim, as I was
taking a last look of our receding antagonist. "Is this a dead man?"

"No, not entirely, as yet," said a voice which proceeded, I found, from
a person lying on the deck.

I remembered my prisoner, and ran to lift him up. He recognised my
voice. "If it hadn't been for you I should have been dead enough by
this time," he said, getting on his feet.

"Who are you?" I asked, "a friend or a foe?"

"A friend; or I wouldn't be here at all," he answered, in a tone which
made me feel certain that he spoke the truth.

"Well, come into the cabin, and tell me all about the matter," I said;
for though he spoke broad Irish, I saw by his manner that he was above
the rank of a common seaman. His appearance when he came into the light
justified me in my opinion.

"It's just this; I was first mate of a fine brig, the _Kathleen_. We
had been down in the eastern seas, and away into the Pacific, over to
America, trading for some time with the natives, and bringing