the schooner, which always stood out in the distance
faint and misty, as if some thing of shadow instead of real, a spar was
got out from where it was lashed below the thwarts, and run out over the
bows, a bolt or two holding it in its place, while the stays were made
fast to the masthead and the sides of the boat. Then a large red sail
was drawn out of the locker forward, bent on, run up, and the boat
heeled over more and more.

"Don't capsize us," said Gunson. "Can she bear all that sail?"

"Ay, and more too. If we capsized yew we should capsize ourselves too,
and what's more, our missuses at home, and that wouldn't do. We won't
capsize yew. Only sit well up to the side, and don't mind a sprinkle of
water now and then. I'm going to make the old girl fly."

He chuckled as he saw the difference the fresh spread of canvas had made
in the boat's progress, and, taking the tiller now himself, he seemed to
send the light craft skimming over the sea, and leaving an ever-widening
path of foam glittering in the moonlight behind.

"That's different, my lads, eh?" the master said, with a fresh chuckle.
"Yew see yew were only kind o' passengers before--so many dollar
passengers; now yew're kind o' friends as we wants to oblige, while
we're cutting yonder skipper's comb for him. Say, do yew know what they
do in Cornwall in England? I'll tell yew. When they want to make a
skipper wild who's precious proud of his craft, they hystes up a bit
more sail, runs by him, and then goes aft and holds out a rope's end,
and asks him if they shall give him a tow. That's what I'm going to do
to the schooner's skipper, so don't you fret no more. You hold tight,
and you shall be aboard some time."

"I hope we shall," said Gunson quietly; but I could feel that there was
doubt in his tones, and as I looked at the shadowy image away there in
the offing, the case seemed very hopeless indeed.

We had been sailing for some time now, but the distance from the city
was not very great, the wind not having been favourable. Consequently
our course had been a series of tacks to and fro, like the zigzags of a
mountain road. Still we had this on our side--the schooner had to shape
her course in the same way, and suffer from the constant little
succession of calms as we did.

The confident tone of our skipper was encouraging, but we could not feel
very sure when we saw from time to time that the schooner was evidently
leaving us behind. But w