putting
out to sea. Sometimes these boats are away for days, sometimes even
for weeks; and an African river is a dreadful place for British
sailors, Snorro: the night air is loaded with fever, the days are
terrible with a scorching sun."

"I can believe that; but what of Jan?"

"One morning Jan, with a four-oared gig, chased a slave brig. They had
been at the river mouth all night watching for her. Thou knows,
Snorro, what a fine shot our Jan is. When she came in sight he picked
off five of her crew, and compelled her to run on shore to avoid being
boarded. Then her crew abandoned her, in order to save their own
lives, and 'The Retribution' hove her off. She proved to be a vessel
of two hundred tons, and she carried one thousand slaves. She was
taken as a prize into Sierra Leone, and sold, and then Jan got his
share of her."

"But why did not the slavers fight?"

"Bad men are not always brave men; and sometimes they fly when no man
pursues them. Portuguese slavers are proverbial cowards, yet sometimes
Jan did have a hard fight with the villains."

"I am right glad of that."

"About a year ago, he heard of a brigantine of great size and speed
lying in the old Calabar river with a cargo of slaves destined for
Cuba. She carried five eighteen-pounder guns, and a crew of eighty
men; and her captain had vowed vengeance upon 'The Retribution' and
upon Jan, for the slavers he had already taken. Jan went down to the
old Calabar, but he could not enter it, so he kept out of sight,
waiting for the slaver to put to sea.

"At length she was seen coming down the river under all sail. Then
'The Retribution' lowered her canvas in order to keep out of sight as
long as possible. When she hoisted it again, the slaver in spite of
her boasts endeavored to escape, and then Jan, setting all the canvas
his schooner could carry, stood after her in chase. The slaver was the
faster of the two, and Jan feared he would lose her; but fortunately a
calm came on and both vessels got out their sweeps. Jan's vessel,
being the smaller, had now the advantage, and his men sent her flying
through the water.

"All night they kept up the chase, and the next morning Jan got within
range."

"Oh," cried Snorro, "if I had only been there! Why did no one tell me
there was such work for strong men to do?"

"Now I will tell thee a grand thing that our Jan did. Though the
slaver was cutting his rigging to pieces with her shot, Jan would not
fire till