king close in under the land
about breakfast-time on the day following her departure from London. At
2 p.m., being at the time rather nearer to the French than to the
English coast, George tacked again, in order to close the English shore
toward nightfall.

At 9 p.m., being abreast of Littlehampton, and about eight miles off the
shore, the _Aurora_ went about once more, and stood over towards France,
close-hauled on the starboard tack.

The weather had cleared somewhat, the sun breaking through the clouds as
the afternoon wore on, and flooding the whole western sky with splendour
as he sank to rest. One by one, as the golden glory of the west faded
into sober grey, the stars shone out, peeping shyly down upon the world
from the softly dappled sky, and there was every prospect of its being a
fine night in the Channel. George accordingly gave instructions for the
ship to continue on the same tack until midnight, when she was to be
hove about once more. Then, cautioning the second mate--who was in
charge of the deck--to maintain a strict lookout and to call him in the
event of a change of weather or the appearance of a suspicious-looking
sail in their neighbourhood, he went below to snatch an hour or two of
sleep, having had none so far from the moment of the vessel's sailing.

Flinging off his clothes, he threw himself into his swinging cot, and
instantly sank into a sound and dreamless slumber; to be awakened again
with a start, and almost instantly, as it seemed to him, by the flapping
of the ship's canvas in the wind.

Starting up into a sitting posture, he heard the voice of the chief mate
on deck giving the necessary orders for tacking ship.

"Hillo!" he thought, "what is the meaning of this? Nothing wrong, I
hope. No, that cannot be, or they would surely have called me. Perhaps
it is a change of wind; I hope it is. Well, being awake, I may as well
slip on deck and satisfy myself as to the meaning of it."

He accordingly sprang out of his cot, and began to dress himself; the
sounds on deck having meanwhile ceased, save for the monotonous tread
overhead of the officer of the watch, and the occasional clank of the
wheel-chains. The ship was heeling over to starboard, showing that she
was on the port tack, and the rushing sound of the water along her sides
seemed to indicate that she was moving pretty rapidly through it.

As he opened his state-room door to pass into the main cabin, a heavy
step was hear