follow me aft,
where we consulted together, touching our future proceedings. I confess I
was disposed to shorten sail, and let the cruiser come alongside; but
Marble, as usual, was for holding on.

"We are bound to Hamburg," said the mate, "which lies, hereaway, on our
lee-beam, and no man has a right to complain of our steering our course.
The mist has shut the frigate in again, and, it being very certain he will
overhaul us on a bow-line, I advise you, Miles, to lay the yards perfectly
square, edge away two points more, and set the weather stun'-sails. If we
do not open John very soon again, we may be off three or four miles to
leeward before he learns where we are, and then, you know, a
'starn-chase' is always a 'long-chase.'"

This was good advice, and I determined to follow it. It blew rather fresh
at the instant, and the Dawn began to plunge through the seas at a famous
rate as soon as she felt the drag of the studding-sails. We were now
running on a course that made an obtuse angle with that of the frigate,
and there was the possibility of so far increasing our distance as to get
beyond the range of the openings of the mist, ere our expedient were
discovered. So long did the density of the atmosphere continue, indeed,
that my hopes were beginning to be strong, just as one of our people
called out "the frigate!" This time she was seen directly astern of us,
and nearly two miles distant! Such had been our gain, that ten minutes
longer would have carried us clear. As we now saw her, I felt certain she
would soon see us, eyes being on the look-out on board her, beyond a
question. Nevertheless, the cruiser was still on a bow-line, standing on
the course on which we had been last seen.

This lasted but a moment, however. Presently the Englishman's bow fell
off, and by the time he was dead before the wind, we could see his
studding-sails flapping in the air, as they were in the act of being
distended, by means of halyards, tacks and sheets, all going at once. The
mist shut in the ship again before all this could be executed. What was to
be done next? Marble said, as we were not on our precise course, it might
serve a good turn to bring the wind on our starboard quarter, set all the
studding-sails we could carry on the same side, and run off
east-north-east: I inclined to this opinion, and the necessary changes
were made forthwith. The wind and mist increased, and away we went, on a
diverging line from the course of th