ours--they appear to me to be green--she must
be a Turk. Another gun--and devilish well aimed; it has hit the boats."

"Yes, they are all in confusion: we will have her now, if we can only
get a trifle of wind. That is a breeze coming up in the offing. Trim
the sails, Mr Sawbridge."

The yards were squared, and the _Harpy_ soon had steerage way. In the
meantime Jack and his few men had kept up a steady, well-directed,
although slow, fire with their larboard guns upon the Spanish corvette;
and two of her boats had been disabled. The _Harpy_ brought the breeze
up with her, and was soon within range; she steered to cut off the
corvette, firing only her bow-chasers.

"We ab her now," cried Mesty, "fire away--men take good aim. Breeze
come now; one man go to helm. By de power, what dat?"

The exclamation of Mesty was occasioned by a shot hulling the ship on
the starboard side. Jack and he ran over, and perceived that three
Spanish gun-boats had just made their appearance round the point, and
had attacked them. The fact was, that on the other side of the cape was
the port and town of Carthagena, and these gun-boats had been sent out
to the assistance of the corvette. The ship had now caught the breeze,
fortunately for Jack, or he would probably have been taken into
Carthagena; and the corvette, finding herself cut off by both the
_Harpy_ and Jack's vessel, as soon as the breeze came up to her, put her
head the other way, and tried to escape by running westward along the
coast close in shore. Another shot, and then another, pierced the hull
of the ship, and wounded two of Jack's men; but as the corvette had
turned, and the _Harpy_ followed her, of course Jack did the same, and
in ten minutes he was clear of the gun-boats, which did not venture to
make sail and stand after him. The wind now freshened fast, and blew
out the green petticoat, but the _Harpy_ was exchanging broadsides with
the corvette, and too busy to look after Jack's ensign. The Spaniard
defended himself well, and had the assistance of the batteries as he
passed, but there was no anchorage until he had run many miles farther.
About noon the wind died away, and at one o'clock it again fell nearly
calm; but the _Harpy_ had neared her distance, and was now within three
cables' length of her antagonist, engaging her and a battery of four
guns. Jack came up again, for he had the last of the breeze, and was
about half a mile from the corvette when it