vered
us, fired a gun as a signal to her concert.

"So you've found us out at last, have you?" said Bob Cross--"at all
events, we keep a better look-out than you do, old fellow."

Shortly after the gun was fired, both vessels hauled to the wind on the
larboard tack, and we did the same: being about four miles to windward
of the schooner and five or five and a half of the brig, we could now
examine our adversaries. The schooner was, apparently, about the same
tonnage as the Firefly, a very beautiful vessel with her masts raking
over her stern. She was painted black, and we could not ascertain, at
first, how many guns she carried, as her ports were shut; but after a
short time she knocked out her half ports to prepare for action, and
then we discovered that she carried twelve guns, but not a long gun on a
swivel like the one on board of the Firefly. I observed this to Cross,
who replied, "Then, sir, all we have to do now is to try our rate of
sailing with them, and if we are faster than they are we have not much
to fear--unless we lose a spar, indeed; but luck's all, Mr Keene. The
schooner has more sail on her than we have; shall we set exactly the
same?"

"No, Cross, for I think we have fore-reached upon her already, and, if
we can beat her with less sail set, it will do just as well. I think
that the breeze is steady; if anything, we shall have more than less of
it."

For an hour we continued running on the same tack with them, by which
time we found that we had not only brought the schooner one point abaft
our beam, but had weathered her at least half a mile. We therefore were
fully satisfied that we had sailed better than the schooner. With the
brig it was not so. Although we had brought the schooner two points
abaft our beam, the brig was much in her former position, being still
half a point abaft our beam, and moreover had come in much closer to the
schooner, proving that we had neither weathered her, nor fore-reached
upon her. As near as we could judge, our sailing with the brig was much
upon a par. Having ascertained this point more satisfactorily by
allowing another hour of trial, I desired the men to get their
breakfasts, while I and the officers did the same, and as soon as that
was done, I ordered the Firefly to be kept away--edging down till within
good range of our long brass thirty-two-pound gun--that is, about one
mile and a half--when we again hauled our wind and hoisted the English
colours