officer to launch his gun overboard, to lift the bows a little, and to
shift all his movable weight as far aft as possible. I then returned to
the schooner, and procured a thin sheet of lead, a dozen nails, and a
hammer, and with these I contrived, with some difficulty, to pretty well
stop the leak, although I was careful not to stop it too effectually,
lest the officer should decide to take the risk of making his way to
windward instead of to the nearest land. But I do not think I had any
real ground for apprehension, for I could see that the poor fellow was
thoroughly frightened; and when I had patched up the hole, and had told
him that there would be no need to use the sails, save to help him to
reach Porto Bello as quickly as possible, he was overpoweringly profuse
in his expressions of gratitude for my help and what he was pleased to
term my "generosity."

It was drawing well on toward noon when at length the galley was once
more in a condition to get under weigh, which she did forthwith, heading
to the southward under oars and sails; and inexpressibly thankful was I
to see the last of her, and still more so to think that I had contrived
to get rid of her without sending her and all her company to the bottom.
Before parting I contrived to elicit from her commander that two of his
consorts had proceeded to search for us in the Gulf of Darien, while
three more had made the best of their way to Point Gallinas, to
intercept us there in the event of our trying to make our way to the
eastward.

Having thus successfully shaken off our formidable foe, I crowded sail
upon the schooner in pursuit of the galleon--which all this while had,
in pursuance of my orders, been running off the wind to leeward,--and
when at length we overtook her, the galley had long vanished in the
south-eastern board. We consequently hauled up to the northward once
more, and shaped a course for Jamaica, where,--not to make the story too
long,--we arrived without further adventure on the fourth morning after
our encounter with the galley.

As may be supposed, I lost no time in waiting upon my very good friend,
the Admiral; whom I found up to the eyes in business in his office at
Port Royal. Nevertheless, busy though he was, he gave orders for me to
be admitted, and shook hands with me heartily as I presented myself.

"Good morning, Mr Bowen," said he. "I won't ask you to sit down, for I
am so busy this morning that I positively don't know wh