ow whether he had observed the capture of the
_Conquistador_--we hoped and believed not; but, however that may have
been, it was certain that he had been keeping his eyes sufficiently open
to promptly become aware of the fact that the schooner had altered her
course and was standing after him under a very heavy press of sail, and
if our surmises as to his character were anywhere near the truth, that
circumstance alone would be quite sufficient to fully arouse his
easily-awakened apprehensions and to urge him to keep us at arm's-length
at all risks. Be that as it may, we had just made it noon when the
quarter-master called our attention to the fact that the barque's people
had loosed their main-topgallant-sail and were sheeting it home over the
double-reefed topsail. It was an imprudent thing to do, however, for
the sail had scarcely been set ten minutes when the topgallant-mast went
over the side, snapped short off by the cap. Her skipper instantly
availed himself of the pretext afforded by this accident to bear away
three or four points while clearing the wreck, his object doubtless
being to determine beyond all question whether we really were after him
or not; and if this was his purpose, we did not leave him long in doubt
upon the point, our own helm being put up the instant that we saw what
he was about. Realising, by this move on our part, the true state of
affairs, he now squared dead away before the wind, shook out all his
reefs, and set his fore-topgallant-sail, as well as topmast and lower
studding-sails. This was piling on the canvas with a vengeance, but
Ryan was not the man to be bluffed by any such move as that; every glass
we had was now levelled at the barque, and no sooner were her people
seen in the rigging than away went our own, and so much smarter were our
people than those belonging to the barque, that our own studding-sails
were set and dragging like cart-horses while theirs were still being
sent aloft. This experiment was tried for about half-an-hour, by which
time it became evident that the schooner was fully as good off the wind
as was the barque, if not a trifle better; she seemed to fairly _fly_,
while at times, when the breeze happened to freshen a trifle, it really
seemed as though she would be lifted out of the water altogether; and I
am quite persuaded that but for the preventers we had rigged for the
purpose of relieving the masts when she was rolling so heavily during
the preceding c