then added sternly: "Be
assured of one thing, Mr. Duff, I will not forget your part in this
affair."

"Aye, aye, sir," replied the second mate, as the captain walked off.

CHAPTER XV.

Boarded by a Cruiser.

Ralph was borne up into the men's quarters and placed in one of the
most comfortable bunks.

Pretty soon down came Neb with a steaming dish of stewed chicken, and a
good supply of broth. This, with a ship's biscuit and a cup of coffee,
were fed slowly to the lad by one of the sailors, until he was strong
enough to help himself.

"That's cabin grub, lad," remarked the sailor. "Second mate ordered it
himself."

Ralph, with the horror of those three days of darkness, and pitching,
and churning seas still upon him, thanked his stars that he seemed to
have one friend on board.

Meanwhile, on deck all hands were watching the approach of a large
steamship that was bearing down upon the Curlew to windward. The
schooner was sailing with the wind abeam.

Presently the captain, who was examining the stranger through a glass,
ordered the helmsman to "ease away a bit."

The Curlew fell off more before the wind, when it was seen that the
steamer slightly changed her course so as to meet the altered movements
of the schooner.

Gary and Rucker now put their heads together, then the first mate,
summoning the boatswain, disappeared below.

"Hold her up a little, Mr. Duff," said the captain to the second
officer, who was once more at his post. "She is a man of war, I think,
and though I have no love for their prying ways, we must not seem to
want to avoid her, now that she evidently intends to speak us."

So the schooner's head was put to windward, and the two vessels rapidly
drew near each other.

It could soon be seen that the stranger was an armored cruiser, of
great power and speed.

"Run up the Stars and Stripes," said Gary. "Let him see what we are.
Perhaps he'll be satisfied and pass on."

This was done, but evoked no response from the cruiser, now less than a
mile away. Suddenly the warship swung gracefully around, showing along
her dull gray side a row of guns, while over bow and stern loomed two
immense cannon of a caliber sufficient to sink the Curlew at a single
discharge.

Several little flags followed one another up to the cruiser's mastheads.

"Get out the code, Mr. Duff," ordered the captain. "He's signaling.
What in the mischief can he want?"

Duff plunged into the cabin, reapp