gale was breaking also.

By the time that breakfast was over there was a sensible diminution in
the force of the wind, and by noon it cleared away sufficiently overhead
to enable me to get an observation, not a particularly good one
certainly--the sea was running far too high for that; but it enabled me
to ascertain that we were at least sixty miles to the southward of
Staten.

About four p.m. I got a very much better observation for my longitude,
and I found by it that our drift had not been anything like so great as
I had calculated it would be. This I thought might possibly arise from
our being in a weather-setting current.

There was still rather too much of both wind and sea to make us disposed
to get under way that night, but we managed to get the craft up to the
buoy of our floating-anchor, which we weighed and let go again with five
fathoms of buoy-rope.

This was to prevent as much as possible any further drift to leeward,
and to take full advantage of the current, the existence of which we
suspected.

Next morning, however, the weather had so far moderated that, tired of
our long inaction, we resolved to make a start once more, so shaking the
reefs out of the trysail, and rigging our bowsprit out far enough to set
a small jib, we got our floating-anchor in, and stood away to the
southward and westward, with the wind out from about west-nor'-west.

CHAPTER TEN.

CHASED BY PIRATES.

The weather now rapidly became finer, and the ocean, no longer lashed
into fury by the breath of the tempest, subsided once more into long
regular undulations. The wind hauled gradually more round from the
northward too, and blew warm and balmy; a most welcome change after the
raw and chilly weather we had lately experienced.

We once more cracked on sail upon the little _Water Lily_; and on the
morning following that upon which we filled away upon our course,
finding by observation that we were well clear of the Cape, and that we
had plenty of room even should the wind once more back round from the
westward, we hauled close-up, and stood away on a nor'-west-and-by-
westerly course.

Nothing of importance occurred for more than a week. The weather
continued settled, and the glass stood high; the wind was out at about
north, and sufficiently moderate to permit of our carrying our jib-
headed topsail; and day after day we flew forward upon our course,
seldom making less than ten knots in the hour, and occasionally