that before
darkness set in I should succeed in getting such a view of the stranger
as would enable me to form a tolerably accurate opinion as to her
nationality and intentions.

Of course I kept my eye glued almost uninterruptedly to the eye-piece of
the instrument, merely withdrawing it for a minute or so occasionally to
give the visual organ a rest. And gradually, as I watched, the wavering
motion of the white and dark blots decreased, they grew less blot-like
and more defined in their outlines, and finally I succeeded in detecting
the fact that the craft sported a broad white ribbon along her sides.
Then I made out that she carried a white figure-head under the heel of
her bowsprit; next, that her boats were painted black to their water-
lines and white below, and so one detail after another emerged into
clear definition until the entire craft stood distinctly revealed in the
field of the instrument. By this time I was all a-quiver with
excitement, for as the approaching ship showed with ever-increasing
distinctness, a growing conviction forced itself upon me that many of
her details were familiar to me. Finally, just as the sun was hovering
for a moment like a great ball of fire upon the extreme verge of the
purple horizon, the stranger tacked. The smartness with which she was
manoeuvred was alone almost sufficient to proclaim her as English, but
the point was definitely settled by my catching a momentary glimpse of
Saint George's ensign fluttering at her peak as it gleamed in the last
rays of the setting sun. In another moment she glided gracefully across
the golden track of the sinking luminary, her every spar and rope
clearly defined and black as ebony, her sharply outlined sails a deep
rich purple against the gold, and the broad white ribbon round her
shapely hull just distinguishable. The sun vanished, and though the
western horizon immediately in his wake was all aglow with gold and
crimson, the light at once began to fade rapidly away. I looked again
at the ship: she was already a mass of pearly grey, with a row of little
dark grey dots along her side, indicating the position of her ports. I
took advantage of the last gleam of twilight to count these dots twice
over. There were fourteen of them along her starboard broadside,
indicating that she was a 28-gun ship; she was ship-rigged, and this, in
conjunction with several little peculiarities which I had recognised
connected with her spars and riggi