stranger. A
quarter of an hour or twenty minutes might have passed, when, after
taking a longer scrutiny than before, he suddenly turned round, and
walked to where his commander was standing.

"I know her, sir," he exclaimed. "She is no other than the craft which
nearly ran foul of us yesterday, and which went out of harbour this
morning. She had two outlandish-looking chaps as passengers; and one of
them came on board in the evening to talk about taking a passage to
Greece. I remember him well, sir, though I did not say anything to
you."

"You are right, Mr Timmins, it's her, there's no doubt," said Bowse.
"We'll give her a wide berth, for there seems to be something suspicious
about her," and he mentioned what Captain Fleetwood had said to him. "I
don't think the chap would dare to attack us; but, with females on
board, it's as well to be cautious. We'll haul up a little by degrees,
not to make it remarkable, so as to pass to windward of him, and have
the guns loaded and run out, just as a matter of course, in the
Mediterranean, tell the people. I don't want to have any talking about
it, you know; for it will all be moonshine, I suspect. Look you, too,
have the small arms and cutlasses up on deck, just to overhaul them, as
it were. The studden-sails must come in, at all events; it won't do to
be carrying on at night as if we had fifty hands in a watch instead of
five. Now let the people knock off work."

"Ay, ay, sir," answered the mate, and, without the slightest appearance
of hurry, he set to work to obey his commander's orders.

The crew, who had been employed beyond the usual hour in getting the
ship to right, finished stowing away everything that was loose, and got
the hatches on over the cargo. One after another the studden-sails,
which had been extended beyond the yard-arms came flying down like huge
white birds from their lofty perches, the moment the halyards and sheets
were let go, and, as they bulged out, they looked as if they were about
to sail off before the wind ahead of the vessel. As all hands were
wanted for the work, Bowse clapped on himself, petting a rope into even
Mitchell's hands, and in a short time the _Zodiac_, stripped of her
wings, was brought under more easy-working canvas. The lee-braces were
then flattened in a little, and the helm being put a few strokes to
starboard, she headed up towards the north. While the mate was
following the other directions he had given, Bows