and main sail were set, and
everything was in readiness for a departure. Colonel Passford, after
repeating some of his admonition to the captain, shook hands with him,
and stepped down upon the wharf. Lonley gave the order to stand by the
jib, and cast off the fasts. The two principal sails filled on the
starboard tack, the jib went up in the twinkling of an eye under the
direction of Flint, and the schooner began to gather headway. The
captain was at the helm, for he would trust no other there, and Christy
went forward.

"Set the fore topmast staysail," said the mate; but he was willing the
crew should execute the order in their own way, for he called the
master's mate to him. "The biggest job is yet to be done," he added,
in a low tone.

"What is that?" asked Flint.

"To get possession of the vessel," replied Christy, impressively.

"That will be an easy matter, with nothing but niggers on board," added
Flint.

They talked together for a few minutes, and the plan was arranged. Flint
saw that the fore topmast staysail was properly set and trimmed. The two
Unionists on board did not even know the name of the schooner, but she
gathered headway as she approached the mouth of the creek, and went
along at a very satisfactory rate. The mate of the vessel and his fellow
fugitive then went aft to be ready for the decisive action in which they
were to engage. But they had hardly reached the quarter-deck before the
schooner was hailed by a boat.

"Schooner, ahoy! On board the Judith!" shouted a man.

"In the boat!" replied the captain. "Who's there?"

"Fetters!" responded the boatman.

"Fetters!" exclaimed Captain Lonley, apparently bewildered by the reply.
"It seems to me that Fetterses are plenty to-night."

But this was all he was permitted to say, for the stroke of a handspike,
in the hands of Flint, fell upon his head at this instant, and he
dropped upon the quarter-deck like a log. At the same moment, Christy
sprang to the wheel, and the schooner was not allowed to broach to. She
dashed on her course, increasing her speed every moment, without heeding
the boat that had hailed her. In the darkness, the genuine Fetters, as
doubtless he was in the boat, could not have seen in what manner Captain
Lonley had been disposed of, and all the crew were forward, so that they
were no wiser.

"Judith, ahoy!" repeated the genuine and only true Fetters, at the top
of his lungs, as the schooner hurried off on her course. "I