g appearance of
thickness and greasiness in the western quarter, carefully studying its
aspect for a full minute or more; then he turned to me again.

"I don't like the look of it at all, Mr Delamere," he said. "There's
bad weather brewin' yonder--I'm sure of it--but how long it'll be before
it comes no man can say; it may be hours, or it may be on us within the
next half-hour or so. What does the barometer say?"

We both stepped to the open skylight and peered down through it at the
barometer, which hung in gimbals from the fore transom. The mercury was
falling rather rapidly.

"Yes," Pearce continued, "I don't like the look of it, sir, and I
shouldn't like to take the responsibility of advisin' of you to send the
boats away. For, ye see, Mr--"

"Yes," I interrupted, cutting ruthlessly in upon the man's speech, "I
see quite clearly, boatswain, that you and I are of one mind upon that
point, therefore there is no need to discuss it further, and we will at
once proceed to action. Call all hands if you please, Mr Pearce."

The next moment the shrill chirruping of Pearce's pipe and his gruff
bellow of "All hands ahoy!" resounded throughout the little vessel, and
our decks at once became a scene of animation. The galley fire was
extinguished, although the cook was by this time busy upon the
preparation of the men's dinner; screens were fastened up round the
hatchways, the magazine was opened, powder and shot were passed up on
deck, and the guns were cast loose and loaded, the men dancing about the
decks with the glee and activity of schoolboys preparing for a day's
amusement. Then, as soon as we were all ready for action, the heavy
sweeps were rigged out, four men to each sweep, and the schooner's bows
were pointed straight for the stranger. To overcome the inertia of the
little vessel, and get way upon her, was laborious work, and the men,
stripped to their waists, were soon streaming with perspiration; but
after the first five minutes' toil, during which we worked up a speed of
about three knots, it proved a comparatively easy matter to keep her
going.

It soon became evident that a keen watch upon our movements was being
maintained by the pirates; for no sooner had it been made apparent that
we intended to close with the strangers than all attempts at further
concealment were abandoned, the ship's courses were clewed up, her yards
were squared; to facilitate the hoisting out of cargo, additional
tackles we