ht, Bob," I replied, glancing at the compass; "he is more
than a point farther aft than he was a quarter of an hour ago; but is it
not possible that we are giving ourselves needless uneasiness? That
craft certainly has a look of the _Albatross_; but we are not sure that
it is her after all."

"D'ye notice his main-topmast-staysail, Harry?" returned he; "cut like a
trysail, and set on a stay that leads down just clear of his fore-top
and into the slings of his fore-yard. How many vessels will ye see with
a sail shaped like that? Yet I noticed that _his_ was, the other day.
And there's the red ribbon round him too; in fact, it's the _Albatross_
all over," concluded he, with the glass once more at his eye.

It was but too evident that Bob was right. I had been hoping that the
general resemblance of the brig in sight to the _Albatross_ was purely
accidental; but she was now within less than three miles of us; and,
even without the aid of the telescope, certain features, if I may so
term them, were recognisable, which identified her beyond all question
as the pirate-brig.

"What shall we do about answering his signal, Bob?" said I.

"Let it fly as it is, unanswered," he replied composedly. "Look where
we're dropping him to; in another quarter of an hour we shall have him
fairly on our lee-beam, and that too out of gun-shot, unless, as is most
likely the case, he's got a long gun; but if he _has_, we're a small
mark to fire at, and we'll soon slip out of range even of that."

It was by this time perfectly manifest that whatever he might be able to
do in a breeze, he had no chance with us in a light air like the
present; and I entertained strong hopes of being able to slip past him
unscathed, when I felt sanguine of our ability to get fairly away from
him in a chase dead to windward.

But he evidently had no notion of letting us have our own way in this
matter, without a pretty vigorous protest on his part; for as we were
still watching him, we saw the brig slowly luff into the wind; his fore-
sheet was raised for a moment, a flash of flame and a puff of white
smoke darted suddenly from his forecastle, and then we saw the jets
spouting up where the shot struck the water, as it came ricocheting
towards us. He had aimed apparently so as to throw the shot across our
fore-foot; but it fell short by about fifty feet.

"Do that again, you lubber!" exclaimed Bob, contemptuously
apostrophising the brig. "Three more such