d McElvina to the first-mate. "We had better
be off now, for our guns will be sure to bring down some of the
cruisers; and if she surrendered, I could not take possession of her.
Let's give her a parting broadside, and three cheers."

McElvina's orders were obeyed; but not one gun was returned by the
cutter--"Starboard a little; keep her away now, and we'll close and
stand ahead of her, that she may read our name on the stern. It's a
pity they should not know to whom they are indebted. They'll not forget
_La Belle Susanne_."

The cutter had not been left a mile astern before the breeze freshened,
and the fog began rapidly to disperse; and Phillips, who continued at
the conn, perceived, through the haze, a large vessel bearing down
towards them.

"High time that we were off; indeed, captain; for there's a cruiser, if
I mistake not. A gun here is the same to the cruiser, as a splash in
the water is to the ground sharks at Antigua; up they all come to see
what's to be had. We shall have a dozen of them above the horizon
before two hours are above our heads."

McElvina, who had his glass fixed upon the vessel, soon made her out to
be a frigate, coming down under a press of sail, attracted, as Phillips
had remarked, by the reports of the guns. What made the affair more
serious was, that she was evidently bringing down a strong breeze, which
the lugger, although steering large, had not yet obtained. Moreover,
the fog had dispersed in all directions, and the frigate neared them
fast.

"Blast the cutter!" said the first-mate: "we shall pay dearly for our
`lark'."

"This is confoundedly unlucky," replied McElvina; "she brings the wind
down with her, and won't part with a breath of it. However `faint heart
never won fair lady.' Keep her away two points more. Clap everything
on her. We'll _weather_ her yet."

The breeze that ran along the water in advance of the frigate now began
to be felt by the lugger, who again dashed the foaming water from her
bows, as she darted through the wave; but it was a point of sailing at
which a frigate has always an advantage over a small vessel; and
McElvina having gradually edged away, so as to bring the three masts of
his pursuer apparently into one, perceived that the frigate was rapidly
closing with him.

The crew of the lugger, who had been all merriment at the successful
termination of the late combat (for not one man had been killed or
severely wounded), now paced the d