arrived than a
frigate with a flag of truce came to meet us, bringing intelligence that
the corsair princes had left the river, and that the king of Portugal
had sent an ambassador to England to sue for peace.

The admiral's work in the Tagus being accomplished, we prepared for
returning home. I mentioned that Lancelot and Dick had received letters
from Lyme. Lancelot's was from his father's head factor, the other from
Mr Harvey. They both gave us the same alarming intelligence which
affected Lancelot as well as me. They told us that Mr Kerridge and his
daughter, accompanied by Audrey and Mistress Margaret, her waiting-maid,
had sailed in a hoy bound for Plymouth, at which place, to their dismay,
they found she had not arrived. Some hours after leaving Lyme, a heavy
gale had arisen, but it was calculated that the hoy might by that time
have got into Plymouth, or run back for Lyme, or found shelter in some
other harbour. Whether she had foundered, or run on the Eddystone or on
some other rock, or had been captured by an enemy, no one could surmise,
but that some sad disaster had happened to her there could be no doubt.

The news of course caused Lancelot and me great grief, in which our
friend Dick heartily sympathised, as did Lieutenant Blake, who had when
at Lyme been well acquainted with Mr Kerridge and Cicely and my sweet
sister Audrey.

"Should the hoy have foundered, we must submit to God's decrees; but
should she, as is possible, have been captured, we will, as soon as we
are at liberty, search the world over to discover the missing ones," he
said, as he wrung our hands, and told us how sincerely he entered into
our feelings.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

FURTHER SUCCESSES.

The hopes of those who expected to return home were destined to be
disappointed. We were still at sea, keeping a look-out for the fleet of
the royal corsairs, when a shout from the mast-head announced the
approach of several ships from the northward, and as they got nearer the
white flag with the red-cross flying from their peaks told us that they
were friends.

The leading ship proved to be the _Fairfax_, of fifty-two guns and two
hundred and fifty men, carrying the flag of Vice-Admiral Penn.
Following her came the _Centurion_, Captain Lawson, the _Adventure_,
Captain Ball, and two others commanded by Captains Howett and Jordan,
with the _Assurance_, Captain Benjamin Blake, the younger brother of the
admiral.

Directly afterwards Vic