uld now bring to bear being her bow-chasers, and although the next
three or four shot came unpleasantly near to us, those that succeeded
fell short, and by the time that we were abreast of the most northerly
stragglers of the convoy we were practically safe, provided that none of
our gear carried away. Of this, however, we had but little fear, as our
rigging was all new and of the very best. Fortunately for us, none of
the big men-o'-war condescended to take part in the chase, or, from the
weatherly position which they occupied, there is very little doubt that
they would have cut us off. As it was, the brigs maintained the pursuit
for a distance of some sixteen miles altogether, when they were recalled
by signal from the commodore.

We were greatly elated at this escape, for although the utmost that we
had to fear was the loss, by impressment, of some of our men, the
maintenance of our crew intact was an important matter with us, the more
so now that we were bound upon what might prove to be a lengthened
cruise, during the progress of which many vacancies might be expected to
occur,--either by the necessity to send away prize crews or otherwise,--
which we should have little or no chance to fill up. But, over and
above this, our adventure with the gun-brigs had afforded us a brief but
sufficient opportunity to thoroughly test the powers of the schooner
under circumstances of about as adverse a character as could well be
imagined, and the triumphant manner in which she had more than justified
our most sanguine anticipations gave us unbounded confidence in her.

By noon that day the wind had moderated sufficiently to permit of our
shaking out another reef, and when the sun went down out of a clear sky,
shooting his last rays in a long trail of burning gold athwart the
tumbling waste of still tumultuous waters, the _Dolphin_ was once more
under all plain sail, and speeding to the westward in the direction that
we surmised had been taken by the brigantine and the ship. During the
night the wind dropped still further, and the following morning found
us, with our sails barely filled, creeping lazily along over a long, low
swell that had already begun to wear that streaky, oily appearance which
sometimes heralds the approach of a stark calm. Our calculations had
led us to hope that with the appearance of daylight on this particular
morning we should sight the brigantine and her prize, as we had grown to
consider the disa