hat we
should be able to carry it through, we nevertheless took immediate steps
to further its accomplishment. It was not much that we could do just
then; all that was possible for us was to assume extreme pleasure at
being allowed to steer the little craft; and we so managed affairs that
in the course of a few days it came to be an understood thing among the
hands that whenever either of them happened to be too lazy to take his
"trick" at the tiller he could always get relief by appealing to one or
the other of us--if we happened to be on deck at the time.

The breeze continued to hold from the eastward; but as we drew over
toward the coast of Saint Domingo it softened down a trifle; so that, on
our arrival off Cape Irois, we found ourselves just about twelve hours
behind the time reckoned on by Carera. That, however, was a matter of
no very great moment, being rather an advantage than otherwise, since it
enabled us to slip across the Windward Channel with less risk of being
sighted and overhauled by a British cruiser, an incident which--now that
Courtenay and I had quite made up our minds to go through with the
adventure--we were folly as anxious as any of the _Pinta's_ regular crew
to avoid. We were fortunate enough to make the passage without
molestation, though not wholly without an alarm, for a large ship was
made out, about the end of the middle watch, coming down before the wind
and heading right for us, with a whole cloud of flying kites aloft and
studding-sails set on both sides. She proved, however, to be a
merchantman, apparently British; and, from the course she was steering,
we judged her to be bound to Kingston. She swept magnificently across
our stern at a distance of about a couple of miles; and in little more
than an hour from the time of our first sighting her she was hull-down
again upon our larboard quarter.

With sunrise we found ourselves hauling in under the high land about
Cape Maysi; and here we ran into the calm belt dividing the land and
sea-breezes, and lay for an hour rolling gunwale under, our great sail
flapping noisily and sending the dew pattering down on deck in regular
showers with every roll of the little vessel, whilst the huge yard
swayed and creaked aloft, tugging at the stumpy mast and tautening out
the standing rigging alternately to port and starboard with such
violence that I momentarily expected to see the whole affair go toppling
over the side. "Hold on, good rope-yar