nged.
The Frenchmen were congratulating themselves that their cruise was
so nearly over, and that it had been so successful a one. From time
to time a sailor was sent up into the cross trees, and scanned the
horizon to the north and west. In the afternoon he reported that he
could make out the upper sails of a large ship going south. The
captain went up to look at her.

"I think she is an English ship of war," he said, when he descended
to the deck, "but she is a long way off. With this light wind we
could run away from her. She will not trouble herself about us. She
would know well enough that she could not get within ten miles of
us, before it got dark."

This turned out to be the case, for the lookout from time to time
reported that the distant sail was keeping on her course, and the
slight feeling of hope that had been felt by Terence and Ryan faded
away. They were placed in the same watch, and were below when, as
daylight broke, they heard sudden exclamations, tramping of feet
overhead, and a moment later the watch was summoned on deck.

"I hope that they have had the same luck that we had, and have run
into the arms of one of our cruisers," Terence whispered in
Portuguese to Ryan, as they ran up on deck together.

As he reached the deck the boom of a cannon was heard, and at the
same instant a ball passed through the mainsail. Half a mile away
was a British sloop of war. She had evidently made out the lugger
before the watch on board the latter had seen her. The captain was
foaming with rage, and shouting orders which the crew hurried to
execute. On the deck near the foremast lay the man who had been on
the lookout, and who had been felled with a handspike by the
captain when he ran out on deck, at the first alarm. Although at
first flurried and alarmed, the crew speedily recovered themselves,
and executed with promptitude the orders which were given.

There was a haze on the water, but a light wind was stirring, and
the vessel was moving through the water at some three knots an
hour. As soon as her course had been changed, so as to bring the
wind forward of the beam, which was her best point of sailing, the
men were sent to the guns; the first mate placing himself at a long
eighteen pounder, which was mounted as a pivot gun aft, a similar
weapon being in her bows. All this took but four or five minutes,
and shot after shot from the sloop hummed overhead.

The firing now ceased, as the change of course of