shly, by any means. He told the second lieutenant to come about and
pursue the schooner, and then sprang down from the rail, saying:

"Did you ever see such luck? Did I make any mistake, Jackson?"

"No, indeed. You handled the yacht all right, but see, the pirate has
longer legs than we have. Isn't she a trotter? She can run away from us,
and not half try."

"I believe she can," replied the first lieutenant, who felt considerably
crest-fallen over his defeat, and did not care to say much. "We will
keep as close as possible to Tom, and be ready to take advantage of his
next mistake. He'll be sure to make one presently."

Harry stood on his quarter-deck watching the pirate, and not more than
ten minutes elapsed before he began to think that he knew what he was
talking about when he predicted that her skipper would soon commit
another blunder. Both vessels had by this time passed the shoals--the
Sweepstakes being so far ahead that Harry could but just make her out
through the darkness; but, instead of holding up the harbor and keeping
far enough away from the bluffs to feel the full force of the wind, Tom
rounded the shoals, and shaped the schooner's course toward the island.
The first lieutenant was quite as much astonished as delighted at this
apparent want of foresight on the part of the pirate captain, but he
made no remark. He held on his way until the schooner was out of sight
in the darkness, and then he tacked and ran toward the island.

"What do you think, Jackson," asked Harry, whose spirits were now as
exalted as they had before been depressed; "hasn't he run into a nice
trap? We've got him this time."

"Yes, he's caught easy enough now. He has no chance for escape that I
can see. The shoals are on one side of him, and we all know that he
can't cross them; the island is in front of him, and I am quite sure he
can't get over that; we are behind him, and if he tries to come out we
can cut him off. He's caught, sir."

Harry was certain of it. He ordered the crew to their stations once
more, and went forward with his glass to watch for the schooner. The
Storm King was headed toward the point where the shoals joined the
island, and the first lieutenant was sure that when Tom became alarmed,
and tried to run out, he could not pass by on either side without being
discovered and cut off. He could not imagine what made him go in there.
If he was trying to dodge the yacht, he was certainly going about it in
a very