t they had got
near enough to make themselves heard; for though the gloom of night had
come on, the cutter's phantom-like form could now be seen as she glided
onwards over the smooth sea.

"Now, lads, I will give the word and we will shout together," cried
Adam; and he and his crew, with Headland and Harry joining their voices,
sent a loud shout across the ocean.

Directly afterwards the cutter was seen to haul up towards them.

"They have heard us! they have heard us!" he exclaimed. "Wait a bit,
lads, we will give them another."

After the second shout the cutter was hove to, and the _Nancy_ was soon
alongside.

"What is it you want, my men?" asked the commander, looking down into
the boat.

Harry explained what had happened.

"I shall be glad to lay hands on the lugger, you may depend on that, for
she has given me more trouble than any other craft on this coast," he
answered. "We have two of our boats away, and are short handed, though
we would tackle the fellow as we are. It would be better if some of
your men would come on board, and if we can overtake the lugger, they
will be able to identify the lad you are in search of."

"I will willingly accompany you," said Harry, who, knowing how anxious
May was about Jacob, wished to do what he thought she would desire.

"If the captain will take charge of the _Nancy_, I will go also with two
of my lads," said Adam. "I would take more, but must not leave the
craft with fewer hands on board."

Headland was well pleased with the arrangement, and undertook to escort
Julia back to Texford, if she had not already gone, when he arrived at
Downside.

There was no time to consider the matter further, as not a moment was to
be lost, or there would be no prospect of overtaking the lugger.

"I hope that you will be back to-morrow, Harry, and I will ride over to
Hurlston to meet you," said Headland, as he stepped into the boat.

The cutter immediately kept away in the direction the lugger had last
been seen, while the _Nancy_, hauling her wind, prepared to beat back to
the shore.

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.

SIR RALPH'S ARRIVAL.

The _Nancy_, close-hauled, stood for the shore.

"Two or three tacks will do it, sir, I hope," said Ned Brown, who, since
Adam had been deprived of Ben's services, had acted as his mate. "The
_Nancy_ knows her way into the harbour."

"The oars will help her along though, I think," observed Headland.

The men got them out, and the _Nan