the
westwards, the black cloud that had previously covered the sky had
partly cleared away, leaving only a few fleecy flying masses in its
stead.

Between them the moon fitfully shone occasionally and an odd star or two
peeped out here and there; while our good ship was bowling along under
her topgallants, which had been set again by the commander over the
double-reefed topsails, with her courses and jib and spanker, and the
foretopmast staysail, continuing under the same canvas during the night,
without hauling a sheet or tautening a brace, the wind hardly shifting
half-a-point all the while.

We made such progress, too, towards the spot where the French ship
reported having passed the wreck of which we were in search, that, at
Six Bells in the morning watch, the lookout man forward, who had been
specially ordered to keep a good watch to windward, hailed the deck.

"Sail in sight, sir!" he sang out, just as the hands were in the middle
of their breakfast. "She's hull down on the weather bow!"

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

ON THE DECK OF THE DERELICT.

"Where away, my man?" shouted Commander Nesbitt, who, at the same
moment, came up on the poop and was scanning the horizon on his own
account. "How does she bear, eh?"

"Two points off the weather bow, sir," replied the lookout from the
foretopsail yard. "We're rising her now, sir; and I can see one of her
masts, though the rest of her spars seem to have gone by the board."

"All right, my man, keep her in your eye," sang back the commander, who
then turned to the helmsman. "Give her more lee helm, quartermaster;
and see if you can't luff her up a couple of points! Watch, trim sails!
Head lee braces! Brace up your head yards!"

With this, we hauled our wind; and, by bracing the yards sharp up and
keeping her full and bye, we were able to bring the ship's head a bit
more to the westward than we had been previously sailing, steering now
south-west by south instead of sou'-sou'-west as before, which was as
near as we could get her to proceed in the direction where the lookout
man had reported the vessel.

By Eight Bells, we could make out the derelict clearly from the deck;
and, shortly after breakfast when we had closed her within half-a-mile,
we could see that somehow or other she had got terribly knocked about,
her bulwarks having been carried away, as well as most of her spars and
rigging, only the stump of her mainmast being left still standing, with
the y