erved the
coxswain, the oldest man in the boat.

"Well, Grey, suppose we just pull up to her and ascertain what she is,"
said I.

"With all my heart," he answered; "it's a pity, now we have got the
muskets and ammunition, if we have the chance, that we should not make
use of them."

I fully agreed with him. My only fear was that the schooner might after
all not prove an enemy. The wind was dropping gradually--there was
little doubt that we should get up to her.

"I suppose that the captain won't mind much if she is an enemy and we
attack her," continued Grey. "He'll suspect, though, that we disobeyed
orders, and had arms in the boat."

"Not if we take her," I answered. "He'll not ask questions. If we fail
we shall get into a terrible row--we may count on that; but we must take
her, and it will stick a feather in our caps, and put some dollars in
our pockets too."

We were pulling steadily on all this time. We got the muskets up, and
ascertained that they were dry, and, loading them, placed them on the
thwarts ready for use. The schooner held her course. There was just
wind enough to fill her sails and no more. I felt convinced that she
was French. I asked the coxswain, Ned Dawlish, his opinion. He agreed
with me, and thought that she was a privateer.

"If so, she must be armed," said I. "We will keep in her wake, and as
in a short time she will not have steerage way, she will be unable to
bring her guns to bear on us."

The men were all highly delighted with our proposal. They must have
anticipated some such chance when they smuggled the arms into the boat.
Ned Dawlish took another look at the chase. "She's a French craft, and
a privateer, I'll bet any money," he exclaimed, sitting down again to
his oar.

The crew now gave way with a will. The sooner we were up to her the
better, because, of course, we knew that we must by this time be seen,
and our intentions suspected.

"She carries three or, maybe, four guns on a side," observed Ned,
looking over his shoulder. "But that's no odds, they can't reach us."

His eagerness and courage animated the rest of the crew. How many men
the chase carried we could not tell; indeed, we did not consider. Not
one of us entertained a doubt that we should take her. Our proposed
plan of proceeding was very simple. We were to pull up alongside, jump
on board, and, cutlass in hand, drive the enemy down the hatches, or
into the sea if they would not yield.