to beat out of the bay; consequently, she was
able to spread more canvas than if she had been forced to tack, or had
to be steered by her sails.

Nor was Captain Brown satisfied with top-gallants alone; for, quickly,
the order came to set the royals and flying jib before the men could
climb down the ratlins; and, soon, the vessel was under a cloud of sail
alow and aloft, taking advantage of every breath of air. Towards the
afternoon, the north-westerly breeze still lasting, the ship cleared
Narraganset Bay, running before the wind; when, shaping a course between
the treacherous Martha's Vineyard on the one hand and Gardiner's Island
on the other, she was steered out into the open Atlantic.

No sooner had they got to sea than Captain Brown called all hands aft,
mustering the crew--who numbered some twenty in all, including the cook
and a couple of boys. He then gave them a short speech from the poop.

Some of the men had been with him before, he said, so they knew what he
was; but, as for those who didn't, he would tell them that, as long as
they did their duty manfully, they would find him always considerate
towards them. If they "turned rusty," however, why then "they'd better
look out for squalls," for they would discover, should they try on any
of their notions, that he was "a hard row to hoe!"

The men were next divided into watches and dismissed to their several
duties; after which the _Pilot's Bride_ settled down steadily to her
voyage.

At first, Fritz found the life on board very enjoyable. The motion of
the ship was so slight, as she slipped through the water with the wind
on her quarter, that there was no rolling; and the difference of her
arrangements, with clean cabins and the absence of that sickening smell
of the engine-room which had permeated the steamer in which he had made
the passage from Bremen to New York--his only previous acquaintance with
the ocean-made him fancy that he could spend all his days on the deep
without discomfort. But, after a time, the routine grew very
monotonous; and long ere the _Pilot's Bride_ had reached tropical
latitudes, Fritz would have been glad if she had reached their appointed
destination.

Truth to say, the vessel was not that smart sailer which a stranger
would have imagined from all the skipper had said about her. It was
nearly three weeks before she ran into the north-east trades; and three
more weeks, after she got within these favouring winds, before