-ship was expected off the coast. It was not till nearly
an hour had elapsed that the stranger bore up and made sail to escape.
This left no doubt as to her character, and every one looked forward to
the capture of an important prize. The frigate sailed remarkably well,
but a stern chase is a long chase, and several hours more passed before
the topsails of the stranger were seen above the horizon. Jack and
Terence could scarcely tear themselves from the deck even to go below to
dinner.

"I say, Paddy," observed the former, "I wonder whether you or I shall be
sent away in her when we take her. Will Hemming go in command, or will
one of the mates?--Lee or Weedon, perhaps."

"Let us catch our hare before we eat her," said Adair. "I tell you what
I do wish; that we were in a smaller craft, and then you and I would
have a chance of getting sent away together. Wouldn't that be fun?"
Jack agreed that it would, but both of them began to look very blank
when darkness closed in on them, and the chase was still several miles
ahead. When the frigate first made out the chase she was standing to
the eastward, and was about a hundred miles off Cape Palmas. She was
then running towards the Bight of Biafra. Captain Lascelles kept the
frigate on nearly the same course, edging slightly in towards the land,
for he suspected that the ship was bound in for one of the harbours on
the Gold or Slave-Coast, and would probably stand in towards the land
during the night. Neither of the midshipmen turned in that night. The
thought that they were about to take their first prize kept, indeed,
many others out of their hammocks, and sharp eyes were on the watch for
her in every direction during the night. In spite of their sharpness,
however, not a sign of the chase could be discovered. Yet as she was
not seen on either hand, the probabilities were that she was still
ahead.

"Do you know, Terence, this reminds me of the time when we chased the
Turkish frigate which had you on board off the Egyptian coast," said
Jack. "I only hope that we may be more fortunate, and catch her before
she gets on shore and blows up."

"I shall be glad if we can catch her on the water, or earth, or sky,"
answered Terence. "These slavers are slippery fellows, and it is no
easy matter to get hold of them."

The night wore on. When the morning at length broke the mast-heads were
crowded with visitors. They rubbed their eyes and their telescopes, and
then