o the stern saying:

"Now look out! lay low, ye lubbers! the blackguard's goin' to shoot!"

The officer raised his musket, and a moment later a puff of smoke issued
from the muzzle.

"Down!" cried Terrence. All laid low, and the next second the report of
a musket came on the air, and a bullet dropped in the water, a little to
the larboard.

"They are coming agin," cried Terrence.

"Haven't you sweeps which we could work?" asked Fernando.

There was a pair of sweeps in the craft, and Terrence and Fernando
manned them. Though Fernando was a little awkward at first, he soon came
to use the sweep quite effectively and helped the little craft along.

"Do we gain on them?" asked Fernando.

"Not much, if any;" the helmsman answered.

At this moment, three or four muskets were fired from the boat, and the
balls whistled among the sails or spattered in the water. Should they
meet with one of those sudden calms which frequently overtook vessels
off the bay, they knew they would be lost. The British marines were
laying to their oars right lustily, and the boat flew over the waves.

"Have you no arms in the boat?" asked Fernando.

"Nothin' but a fowlin' piece and some goose shot."

"Just the thing for me!" declared Sukey. "I was always good at killin'
geese on the wing."

Sukey hunted up the gun and loaded both barrels heavily with shot and
slugs. Then he took up his post in the stern, ready to rake the long
boat fore and aft, should it come within range of his formidable gun.
The officer and three or four marines continued to load and fire, until
the boat was out of the harbor, when a strong breeze struck her sails
and sent her spinning over the water.

"Huzzah! huzzah! we are gainin' on' em now!" cried Sukey, flourishing
his gun in the air.

The British fired half a dozen more shots at the fleeing boat; but the
bullets began dropping behind. They were out of reach of their longest
range muskets.

"There ain't no danger now," declared Sukey. "They are not in the game."

The breeze continued strong, and the little craft boldly cleft the
waters, as it sped forward over the bounding waves.

"It's no use to be wearing ourselves out, Fernando," said Terrence. "The
good breeze is doin' more for us than a hundred oars could do."

They put in their sweeps and, mounting the rail aft, clung to rigging,
and shouted derision and defiance at their pursuers.

Although the Britons had little hope or expectation of overtak