leather for the coins to lie side by
side. Half an hour sufficed for this.

The coins were put in. Mike had, in the meantime, obtained a
handful of pitch and melted it at the galley fire. This he ran in
over the gold, and then replaced the pieces of lining with hot
pitch.

"There, your honours," he said, when he had finished. "I call that
a neat job, and it would be hard, indeed, if the spalpeens find
that there is anything amiss. And, with these heavy boots, the
extra weight won't betray that there is anything hidden.

"Don't put them on till the last moment. Give them time to cool,
for if any of it oozes out, you will stick your stockings so tight
to it that you won't get your foot out without laving them
behind."

Leaving their high boots in the cabin, the three young men went on
deck. The leading vessel of the British fleet was not more than a
mile astern, while the French fleet was three miles ahead, having
gained more than a mile since the chase began. Mike had been given
four louis, which he said he could hide in his mouth.

Five minutes later, there was a puff of smoke from their pursuer's
bow. The ball struck the water close to them.

"Shall I hold on, Colonel?" the captain of the ship asked Colonel
Wauchop.

"There is no use in your doing so. That ship will be alongside in
an hour, and it might only cause a useless loss of life were we to
keep on. If she were alone I should say, let her come alongside,
and with your crew and our officers and men we might, if we had
luck, take her by boarding; but, with the whole fleet close behind
us, it would be madness to think of such a thing, as we have but
twelve guns, and those of small weight."

Accordingly, the topsails were run down, and the courses brailed
up, and the ship lay motionless till the English frigate came up.
Signals had been exchanged between the English vessels, and as
they came along six of them dropped boats, each with some twenty
men in it. While these rowed towards the prize, the fleet pressed
on, under all canvas, in pursuit of the French squadron.

The English officer in command of the boats received the swords of
the French officers, and the noncommissioned officers were all
sent below into the hold. All sail was at once got on to the
vessel again, and she followed in the wake of the fleet. The
English lieutenant then took the names of the prisoners.

"You are all Irish," he said, seriously. "I am sorry, gentlemen,
that this should