ns, there is!
Look on our lee beam. I see one now. Well, she must be a capital
sailor at all events: look there, a point abaft the beam. Mercy on me!
how stiff she must be to carry such a press of canvas!"

Philip had already seen her. It was a large ship on a wind, and on the
same tack as they were. In a gale in which no vessel could carry the
topsails, the _Vrow Katerina_ being under close-reefed foresails and
staysails, the ship seen to leeward was standing under a press of
sail--top-gallant-sail, royals, flying-jib, and every stitch of canvas
which could be set in a light breeze. The waves were running mountains
high, bearing each minute the _Vrow Katerina_ down to the gunwale: and
the ship seen appeared not to be affected by the tumultuous waters,
but sailed steadily and smoothly on an even keel. At once Philip knew
it must be the Phantom Ship, in which his father's doom was being
fulfilled.

"Very odd, is it not?" observed Mynheer Barentz.

Philip felt such an oppression on his chest that he could not reply.
As he held on with one hand, he covered up his eyes with the other.

But the seamen had now seen the vessel, and the legend was too well
known. Many of the troops had climbed on deck when the report was
circulated, and all eyes were now fixed upon the supernatural vessel;
when a heavy squall burst over the _Vrow Katerina_, accompanied with
peals of thunder and heavy rain, rendering it so thick that nothing
could be seen. In a quarter of an hour it cleared away, and, when they
looked to leeward, the stranger was no longer in sight.

"Merciful Heaven! she must have been upset, and has gone down in the
squall," said Mynheer Barentz. "I thought as much, carrying such a
press of sail. There never was a ship that could carry more than the
_Vrow Katerina_. It was madness on the part of the captain of that
vessel; but I suppose he wished to keep up with us. Heh, Mynheer
Vanderdecken?"

Philip did not reply to these remarks, which fully proved the madness
of his captain. He felt that his ship was doomed, and when he thought
of the numbers on board who might be sacrificed, he shuddered. After a
pause, he said--

"Mynheer Barentz, this gale is likely to continue, and the best ship
that ever was built cannot, in my opinion, stand such weather. I
should advise that we bear up, and run back to Table Bay to refit.
Depend upon it, we shall find the whole fleet there before us."

"Never fear for the good ship, _Vrow