t smile lit up each
weather-beaten countenance within the sound of the merry music.

"Well, I think so myself, though I wouldn't like Mrs. Horton to hear
me say it, or I should have a rougher breeze to encounter than I ever
met round Cape Horn--ha! ha! ha! You must excuse me, Miss Julia, but I
feel in fine spirits this morning, not a sail in sight."

"Sail ho!" shouted the look-out from the main cross-trees.

"Ah!--where away?"

"Right astern."

"Can it be that they have got in our wake again. I'll mount to the
mast-head and see myself."

Seizing the glass the captain ascended to the cross-trees, where he
remained for a long time, watching the distant sail. At length he
returned to the deck.

"They've got our bearings again somehow, confound the cunning rascals;
and, by the way they are overhauling us, I judge they can beat us as
well afore the wind as on a tack."

"Well, Captain Horton, we must be resigned to our fate then. It
matters not so much for me, but it is hard, my daughter, that you
should be torn from your peaceful home in England to fall a prey to
these fiends."

"They are a long way from us yet, father; let us hope something may
happen for our relief, and not give up till we are taken."

"That's the right feeling, Miss Julia," said the captain. "I will do
all I can to prolong the chase, and we will trust in God for the
result."

Every device which skillful seamanship could practice was put in
immediate operation to increase the speed of the brig. There was but a
solitary hope remaining, that they might fall in with some national
vessel able to protect them from the pirate. The sails were frequently
wet, the halyards drawn taut, and the captain himself took the helm.
When all this was done, each sailor stood gazing upon the pirate as if
to calculate the speed of his approach by the lifting of his sails
above the water. The greater part of his top-sails were already in
sight, and soon the heads of her courses appeared above the wave,
seeming to sweep up like the long, white wings of a lazy bird, whose
flight clung to the breast of the sea, as if seeking a resting-place.

By the middle of the day the pirate was within three miles of the
merchantman, and had already opened upon her with his long gun.
Captain Horton pressed onward without noticing the balls, which as yet
had not injured hull or sail. But as the chase approached nearer and
nearer, the shots began to take effect--a heavy ball made