apple-pie order. At this
very moment a burly officer upon her quarter-deck was roaring, angrily,
in response to some information which had been given him:

"What's that? A British ship chased by a Yankee cruiser? Lieutenant, I
think the _Falcon_'ll take a look at that. These Yankees are getting too
bumptious altogether. It's as if they thought they owned the gulf! Put
her head two points north'ard. Humph! It's about time they had a
lesson."

There had been some temporary trouble with the flag of the _Falcon_, but
it had now been cleared of its tangle, and was swinging out free. It was
of larger size than the British bunting displayed by the Goshawk. It was
only a few minutes, therefore, before Captain Kemp had a fresh trouble
on his mind, for his telescope had told him the meaning of that flag.

"Worse than ever!" he exclaimed. "She'd make us heave to and show our
papers. Then she'd hand us right over, and no help for it. No, sir! Our
only way is to scud from both of them. Some of our English frigates are
slow goers, and this may be one of that kind."

He was in less immediate peril, perhaps, because of the determination of
the angry British captain to speak to the Yankee first, and demand an
explanation of this extraordinary affair. This it was his plain duty to
do, and the attempt to do it would shortly put him and all his guns
between the _Portsmouth_ and the _Goshhawk_. This operation was going on
at the end of another hour, when Captain Kemp's lookout shouted down to
him:

"Sail ho, sir! 'Bout a mile ahead o' the British frigate. Can't quite
make her out yet, sir."

"I declare!" groaned the captain. "This 'ere's getting kind o' thick!"

The weather also was getting thicker, and all three of the racers were
shortly under a prudent necessity for reducing their excessive spreads
of canvas. The first mate of the _Goshhawk_ had even been compelled to
expostulate with his overexcited skipper.

"Some of it's got to come down, sir," he asserted. "If we was to lose a
spar, we're gone, sure as guns!"

"In with it, then," said the captain. "I wish both of 'em 'd knock out a
stick or two. It'd be a good thing for us."

At all events, a lame horse is not likely to win a race, and the
_Goshhawk_ was doing as well as were either of the others.

Under such circumstances, it was not long before the _Falcon_ and the
_Portsmouth_ were within speaking-trumpet distance of each other, both
of them losing half a mile to the