mainsail.

"Ah!" sighed Fitz. "We are beginning to move."

As he spoke the man at the wheel began to run the spokes quickly through
his hands, with the result that to all appearance the men in the dinghy,
and the buoy, appeared to be coming close under their quarter. Then
there was a splash, the dinghy grated against the side, and one of its
occupants climbed aboard with the painter, closely followed by the
other, the first man running aft with the rope, to make it fast to the
ring-bolt astern, while the stops of the capstan rattled as the cast-off
cable began to come inboard.

"Oh, it will be dark directly," said Poole excitedly, "and I don't
believe they can see us now."

The enemy would have required keen eyes and good glasses on board the
gunboat to have made them out, for as the sails filled, the schooner
careened over and began to glide slowly along the shore as if making for
the fort, which she passed and left about a quarter of a mile behind,
before she was thrown up into the wind to go upon the other tack,
spreading more and more canvas and increasing her speed, as the gunboat,
now invisible save for a couple of lights which were hoisted up, came
dead on for the town, nearing them fast, and calling for all the mate's
seamanship to get the schooner during one of her tacks well out of the
heavy craft's course, and leaving her to glide by; though as the
darkness increased and they were evidently unseen, this became
comparatively easy, for the war-vessel's two lights shone out brighter
and brighter at every one of the schooner's tacks.

But they were anxious times, and Fitz's heart beat fast during the most
vital reach, when it seemed to him as they were gliding by the gunboat's
bows that they must be seen, even as he could now make out a few sparks
rising from time to time from the great funnel, to be smothered in the
rolling smoke.

But the next minute they were far away, and as they tacked it was this
time so that they passed well abaft under the enemy's stern.

"Ah," said a voice close to them; and as they looked round sharply it
was to see the skipper close at hand. "There, boys," he said, "that was
running it pretty close. They can't have been keeping a very good
look-out aboard that craft. It was much nearer than I liked.--Ah, I
wonder how poor Don Ramon will get on."

That finished the excitement for the night, for the next hours were
passed in a monotonous tacking to and fro, making longer a