we wait
until she gets fairly past us, it will be a point in our favour, because
if she stands on we can gradually edge down upon her."

"She seems to be moving through the water very fast, light as is the
wind," remarked the first lieutenant. "Ten minutes ago she was broad on
our weather-bow, while now she is almost abeam. I expect we shall find
that she is quite as fast as ourselves."

CHAPTER NINE.

THE PIRATE BRIGANTINE.

We watched the stranger as she was revealed at uncertain but decreasing
intervals by the silent sheet-lightning, which was now flickering up all
round the horizon, affording us momentary glimpses of the great lowering
cloud-masses that overhung our mastheads as though ready to fall and
crush us, the shining undulations of the swell, with the small
overrunning ripples caused by the faint breathing of the breeze, the
distant land, and the brigantine sliding furtively along within its
shadow. When at length she had drawn to a bearing two points abaft our
beam, the Captain gave the word to tack; and when, three minutes later,
we were fairly round, the yards braced up, sheets hauled aft, and the
frigate gathering way on the starboard tack, the stranger lay straight
ahead of us.

Of course, we had taken the precaution to wait until immediately after a
lightning flash before putting our helm down, and, as it happened, the
next gleam did not occur until several minutes after we had tacked; the
probability, therefore, was that the stranger would know nothing about
our manoeuvre until the scene was again illuminated. The question that
now interested us was--how would her people act when they made the
discovery that we had shifted our helm and were standing in their
direction? There were three alternatives open to them. First, they
might follow our example--tack, and endeavour to escape to windward if
they believed their vessel speedy enough to succeed. Secondly, they
might haul their wind and enter the Gulf of Venezuela, along the shores
of which there are two or three shallow inlets, in one or the other of
which they might take refuge and anchor, in the hope of being able to
defend their ship successfully against a boat attack. And, thirdly, if
they were perfectly honest--of which we had our doubts--they might
proceed steadily on their way, taking no notice of us and our movements.
When we next got a sight of them the third alternative seemed to be
their intention, for, so far as we could