I eventually wheedled the
admiral into consenting that the schooner should remain absolutely
untouched above the deck, the only alterations made in her consisting in
an extension of the cabin and forecastle accommodation, the enlargement
of the magazine, and the substitution of iron ballast for the stones
which the Frenchmen had considered good enough to keep the little hooker
on her feet. I had some difficulty in gaining my patron's consent to
the retention of the low, light bulwarks with which the craft was
fitted, the admiral being strongly of opinion that they ought to be high
enough and stout enough to shelter us from musketry fire. Moreover, I
think he considered that we looked altogether too rakish and piratical
as we then were; but I represented to him that under certain conditions
this might be advantageous rather than otherwise, and in the end the
kind-hearted old fellow indulgently let me have my way. The result of
this was that within a fortnight of our arrival we were at sea again,
with the little ship--rechristened by the name of the _Tern_--smelling
outrageously of fresh paint, to the unmitigated disgust of the thirty-
six stout fellows who were quartered in her forecastle. Young Lindsay,
with many apologies to Captain Harrison, elected to unite his fortunes
with mine, rather than turn over to the _Minerva_; and I was also given
another lad--a very quiet, lady-like young fellow named Christie--to
bear us both company and do duty as master. Black Peter, also came to
the conclusion that there would be more scope for his talents aboard the
schooner than in the frigate, and without asking anybody's leave,
installed himself, unceremoniously and as a matter of course, in the
position of cabin servant.

We weighed about five o'clock in the evening, with the last of the sea
breeze,--a very smart, handsome privateer schooner named the _Coquette_
being in company,--and just managed to sneak through the narrow channel
between Gun and Rackum Cays, when the wind dropped dead, and left us in
the East Channel in the midst of a glassy calm, rolling our rails under
to the furious swell that came sweeping along past Plum Point. The
_Coquette_ was within biscuit-toss of us, and she too was rolling and
tumbling about to such an extent that I every minute expected to see her
roll her sticks away. This lasted for close upon two hours, during
which the sun went down in a blaze of splendour and lavish magnificence
of col