I saw, away a mile on the starboard bow, a spectacle which brought a
great flush upon my face, and let me hear the sound of my own heart
beating.

CHAPTER IX.

I FALL IN WITH THE NAMELESS SHIP.

There were two great ships abreast of each other, and they were
steaming with so great a pressure of steam that the dark green water
was cleaved into two huge waves of foam before their bows; and the
spray ran right over their fo'castles and fell in tons upon their
decks.

The more distant of the two ships was long in shape and dark in colour;
she had four masts upon which topsails and staysails were set, and two
funnels painted white, but marked with the anchor which clearly set her
down to be one of the famous Black Anchor fleet. My powerful spyglass
gave me a full view of her decks, which I saw to be dark with the
figures of passengers and crew all crowding to the port side, wherefrom
the other ship was approaching her.

Yet was it this other ship which drew our gaze rather than the great
steamer which seemed to be pursued. Almost of the same length as the
passenger steamer, which she now approached obliquely, she rode the
long swell with perfect grace, and many of her deck-houses and part of
her prow shone with the brightness of pure gold. Full the sun fell
upon her in a sheen of shimmering splendour, throwing great reflected
lights which dazzled the eye so that it could scarce hold any continued
gaze upon her. And, indeed, every ornament on her seemed to be made of
the precious metal, now glowing to exceeding brilliance in the full
power of the sunlight.

She was a very big ship, as I have said, and she had all the shape of a
ship of war, while the turrets fore and aft of her capacious funnel
showed the muzzles of two big guns. I could see by my glass a whole
wealth of armament in the foretop of her short mast forward; and high
points in her fo'castle marked the spot where many other machine guns
were ready for action. At her towering and lofty prow there was
indicated clearly the curve of the ram which now ploughed the dark
water and curdled it into the fountains of foam which fell upon her
decks; while amidships, the outline of a conning-tower showed more
clearly for what aggressive purpose she had been designed. There was at
this spot, too, a great deck erection, with a gallery and a bridge for
navigation; but no men showed upon the platform, and, for the matter of
that, no soul trod her decks, so far as