t is a woman," he exclaimed. Something familiar in the
appearance made his heart give a sudden throb, but he put away the idea
which came to him as preposterous; and then stepping forward to the
break of the poop, he called out,--

"My lads, there is a woman on yon ship, on the poop, way aft. We don't
fight with women; have a care, therefore, that none of you take
deliberate aim at her, and spare that part of the deck where she stands
in the fight, if you can. Pass the word along."

"Well, I 'm blessed," said one old gun captain, _sotto voce_, "be they
come out against us with wimmen!"

The Randolph had the weather-gage of the Yarmouth by this time; and
Seymour shifted his helm slightly, rounded in his braces a little, and
ran down with the wind a little free and on a line parallel to the
course of his enemy, but going in a different direction. He lifted the
glass again to his eye, and looked long and earnestly at the woman's
figure half hidden by the rail on the ship. Was it--could it
be--indeed she? Was fate bringing them into opposition again? It was
not possible. Trembling violently, he lifted the glass for a further
investigation, when an officer, trumpet in hand, sprang upon the rail
of the Yarmouth forward and hailed.

CHAPTER XXXVI

_The Last of the Randolph_

"Pass the word quietly," said Seymour, rapidly, to one of his young
aids, "that when I say, 'Stand by to back the maintopsail,' the guns
are to be fired. Bid the gun captains to train on the port-holes of
the second tier of guns. Mind, no order to fire will be given except
the words, 'Stand by to back the maintopsail.' The men are to fire at
the word 'topsail.' Do you understand? Tell the division officers to
hold up their hands, as a sign that they understand, as you pass along,
so that I can see them. Lively now! Quartermaster, standby to haul
down that flag and show our colors at the first shot."

The frigate was now rapidly drawing near the ship of the line, until,
at the moment the officer hailed, the two ships were nearly alongside
of each other. The awful disparity between their sizes was now
painfully apparent.

"Ship ahoy! Ahoy the frigate!" came down a second time in long hollow
tones through the trumpet from the officer balancing himself on the
Yarmouth's rail by holding on to a back-stay. "Why don't you answer?"

"Ahoy the ship!" replied Seymour at last through his own trumpet.
"What ship is that?"

"His Bri