about
them when business of more importance demanded his attention. After a
careful examination of the prisoners' bonds he went on deck with the
captain, and found that the schooner was on the point of entering the
bay, and that she had left the creek just in time to escape being
blockaded. The yacht was in plain sight.

"There's them spooneys again, cap'n," said Xury.

"Let them come," replied Tom, indifferently. "Show them our heels, Mr.
Mate."

In obedience to the order Xury turned the Sweepstakes down the bay, the
sheets were let out, and then began a race which did not end in one
hour, nor two, but continued all night, and was carried on in the face
of a tempest, which, although by no means as terrible as the one the
Storm King had weathered on another memorable occasion, was still severe
enough to test the sea-going qualities of the little vessels, and the
skill and judgment of their respective commanders. The cloud that had
been hanging in the horizon all the afternoon gradually overspread the
sky, shutting out the light of the stars, and shrouding the bay in
intense darkness; the lightning flashed, the peals of thunder were
almost incessant, the wind blew a gale, and at midnight both pursuers
and pursued wished themselves safe in some snug harbor, out of reach of
the storm. Captain Steele and his executive knew the bay as well as they
knew their Latin grammars, and it made little difference to them whether
it was midnight or noon, so long as the wind was fair and the sea
smooth. If the first lieutenant had been in command of the yacht, she
never would have been caught out in that gale. Harry would have found a
safe harbor in the creek, and remained there until the storm was over,
but the captain thought he was as skillful a sailor as Tom Newcombe or
any other member of the band, and when he saw the Sweepstakes standing
boldly out to sea he filled away in pursuit of her. The light canvas was
taken in, every thing made snug on board, two trusty men sent to the
wheel, and, under a close-reefed jib and mainsail, the yacht dashed over
the waves after the pirate. The hatches were battened down, all hands
kept on deck, and the young commander, in his pea-jacket and tarpaulin,
and with his speaking trumpet in his hand, stood on the quarter-deck,
alert and watchful. Every flash of lightning revealed the Sweepstakes
laboring heavily, and making but poor headway under the management of
her ignorant and unskillful crew.