e Englishman, at the rate of quite ten
knots in the hour. This lasted fully forty minutes, and all hands of us
fancied we had at last given the cruiser the slip. Jokes and chuckling
flew about among the men, as usual, and everybody began to feel as happy
as success could make us, when the dark veil lifted at the south-west; the
sun was seen struggling through the clouds, the vapour dispersed, and
gradually the whole curtain which had concealed the ocean throughout that
morning arose, extending the view around the ship, little by little,
until nothing limited it but the natural horizon.

The anxiety with which we watched this slow rising of the curtain need
scarcely be described. Every eye was turned eagerly in the direction in
which its owner expected to find the frigate, and great was our
satisfaction as mile after mile opened in the circle around us, without
bringing her beautiful proportions within its range. But this could not
last for ever, there not being sufficient time to carry so large a vessel
over the curvature of the ocean's surface. As usual, Marble saw her first.
She had fairly passed to leeward of us, and was quite two leagues distant,
driving ahead with the speed of a race-horse. With a clear horizon, an
open ocean, a stiff breeze, and hours of daylight, it was hopeless to
attempt escape from as fast a vessel as the stranger, and I now determined
to put the Dawn on her true course, and trust altogether to the goodness
of my cause: heels being out of the question. The reader who will do me
the favour to peruse the succeeding chapter, will learn the result of this
resolution.

Chapter XIII.

"Whom have we here? Buckingham, to disturb
The King hath sent him, sure: I must dissemble."

_King Henry VI_.

At first, the frigate took single reefs in her top-sails, set
topgallant-sails over them, and hauled up on taut bow-lines. But seeing no
signs of our studding-sails coming down, she shook out her reefs, squared
her yards, set top-mast studding-sails, and kept off to a course that would
be certain to intercept us. She was up on our line of sailing some little
time before we got down to her, and she kept standing off and on, hauling
up her courses, and furling her topgallant-sails and hauling down all of
her light sails, the jib excepted As for the Dawn, she kept steadily on,
carrying everything she could bear. We had top-mast and lower
studding-sails, and not a tack or sheet had been touche