id Ludlow, in an under tone, the
excitement of the chase growing with the hopes of success. "I ask but one
half-hour, and then shift at your pleasure!"

"Blow, good devil, and you shall have the cook!" muttered Trysail, quoting
a very different author. "Another glass will bring us within hail."

"The squall is leaving us!" interrupted the captain. "Pack on the ship,
again, Mr. Luff, from her trucks to her ridge-ropes!"

The whistle of the boatswain was again heard at the hatchways, and the
hoarse summons of 'all hands make sail, ahoy!' once more called the people
to their stations. The sails were set, with a rapidity which nearly
equalled the speed with which they had been taken in; and the violence of
the breeze was scarcely off the ship, before its complicated volumes of
canvas were spread, to catch what remained. On the other hand, the chase,
even more hardy than the cruiser, did not wait for the end of the squall;
but, profiting by the notice given by the latter, the 'Skimmer of the
Seas' began to sway his yards aloft, while the sea was still white with
foam.

"The quick-sighted rogue knows we are done with it," said Trysail; "and he
is getting ready for his own turn. We gain but little of him,
notwithstanding our muster of hands."

The fact was too true to be denied, for the brigand tine was again under
all her canvas, before the ship had sensibly profited by her superior
physical force. It was at this moment, when, perhaps, in consequence of
the swell on the water, the Coquette might have possessed some small
advantage, that the wind suddenly failed. The squall had been its expiring
effort; and, within an hour after the two vessels had again made sail, the
canvas was flapping against the masts, in a manner to throw back, in
eddies, a force as great as that it received. The sea fell fast, and ere
the end of the last or forenoon watch, the surface of the ocean was
agitated only by those long undulating swells, that seldom leave it
entirely without motion. For some little time, there were fickle currents
of air playing in various directions about the ship, but always in
sufficient force to urge her slowly through the water; and then, when the
equilibrium of the element seemed established, there was a total calm.
During the half-hour of the baffling winds, the brigantine had been a
gainer, though not enough to carry her entirely beyond the reach of the
cruiser's guns.

"Haul up the courses!" said Ludlow, when th