rom the brig, followed by the flash and report of a gun,
the ball from which struck the water some distance from us.

"'It is of no use our attempting to escape, Rogers!' said the captain;
'he is gaining upon us fast. We will not fire a gun till he is close
aboard of us, and till every shot will tell.'

"The guns were all loaded with grape, the fire-arms placed in readiness
on deck, and the men ordered to lie down at their quarters, and not to
fire a shot till the order was given. Meantime, the pirate rapidly
approached, and her shot began to tell upon our rigging and sails. The
Delight kept steadily on her course; but her yards, which had been
nearly square, were drawn quietly forward, one by one, to port. The
pirate was sweeping up at some little distance on our quarter, and had
hailed us to heave to directly, or she would sink us. 'Now, my lads,'
said our captain, 'be cool and steady. I'm going to cross his hawse: as
soon as the guns bear upon him, blaze away.'

"The helm was put a-starboard, and, as we crossed the bows, we poured
our grape into him. The fire was not such a _raking_ one as we expected;
for he was too quick for us, and sheered to port almost as soon as
ourselves; but it was evident that we had almost sickened him, for he
widened his distance, and before night was almost hull-down to windward
of us.

"'I hope we have got rid of our troublesome customer, sir,' said Rogers
to the captain.

"'Don't halloo till you're through the wood,' replied he; 'we haven't
done with him yet, I'm afraid. I'm much mistaken if he is not trying to
play a game at humbug with us; as soon as it is dark, he will edge down
upon us, and endeavour to take us by surprise. We will keep the men at
quarters all night, and haul close to the wind, on the starboard tack,
when darkness comes on.'

"At nightfall strict orders were given that all the lights should be put
out, except that in the binnacle; and the ship's course was altered. We
were in great hopes that by these means we should elude the pursuit of
the pirate; for, though the breeze was still light, the night was dark
and cloudy, and the mate, after sweeping the horizon with his
night-glass, said, in a joyous tone, to the captain--

"'I think we have outwitted him, sir; I see no signs of him now.'

"'Let _me_ look,' said the captain. 'Holloa! What is that dark body to
the northward? That infernal brig, I'll be bound. How could he have seen
us?'

"As he spoke, his ey