to examine the vessel through his glass, and came
back to Harry with the information that the pirate was in plain sight.

During the next quarter of an hour the first lieutenant stood on the
forecastle, watching the movements of the schooner, and turning over in
his mind various plans for her capture. When he saw her stop to pick up
the yawl and the burglars, he called his crew to quarters, and made
every preparation for boarding her. "If Tom knows any thing," said he to
Jackson, "he will come back and go down on this side of the island; and
if he tries that, we may be able to cut him off."

"But he's not going to try it, sir," said the second lieutenant, who was
watching the schooner through his glass. "He is standing down the other
side."

"Is he?" exclaimed Harry, eagerly; "so much the better. I was sure he
could not take that vessel far, without making some mistake. We will go
down on this side of the island and meet him. We shall reach the foot
before he does, for he will have to go a long distance out of his way
to avoid the shoals. If we can only catch him in the narrows, between
the foot of the island and the main shore, he is our prize. We'll board
him, and have a regular hand-to-hand fight with him."

Harry, highly elated at the prospect of a conflict with the pirates,
held on his course until the schooner was out of sight behind the trees
on the island, and then put the Storm King before the wind, and stood
down for the narrows. The crew all understood the meaning of this
maneuver, and, although nothing was said to indicate the fact, Harry
knew that they were intensely excited. He was quite as badly off as the
rest in this respect, and it required the exercise of all his
self-control to maintain his dignity. The first lieutenant thought the
island must have grown immensely since he last sailed around it. The
mile that lay between him and the narrows seemed to have lengthened into
five. The yacht appeared to him to be on her bad behavior also, but that
was only Harry's imagination, for she was doing splendidly, although she
did not move more than half fast enough to suit her eager and impatient
crew. The minutes flew by, and at last the Storm King rounded the foot
of the island. A half a dozen glasses were instantly brought into
requisition, and to the immense relief of the crew, nothing could be
seen of the schooner. The yacht flew along the edge of the shoals, and
in ten minutes more entered the narrows