sed. Her sails had been allowed to hang loosely, her
customary smartness was hidden, and the carpenter had been over the bows
with a pot of white paint, and painted big letters and a couple of
figures on each side, to give the _Kestrel_ the appearance of a
fishing-boat. This done, the jollyboat was allowed to swing by her
painter behind, and thus they waited for night.

As the darkness came on, in place of hoisting the lights they were kept
under shelter of the bulwarks, and then, in spite of the preparations,
Hilary saw and said that their work would be in vain, for the night
would be too dark for them to see anything unless it came within a
cable's length.

It was not likely; and the young officer, as he leaned over the side,
after some hours' watching, talking in a low voice to the gunner, who
was with him, began to think how pleasant it would be to follow the
lieutenant's example and go below and have a good sleep, when he
suddenly started.

"What's that, Billy?" he whispered.

"Don't hear nothing, sir," said the gunner. "Yes, I do. It's a ship of
some kind, and not very far-off. I can hear the water under her bows."

"Far-off?--no. Look!" cried Hilary, in a hoarse whisper. "Down with
the helm! hard down!" he cried. "Hoist a light!"

But as he gave the orders he felt that they were in vain, for they had
so well chosen their place to intercept the French vessel they hoped to
meet, that it was coming, as it were, out of a bank of darkness not
fifty yards away; and in another minute Hilary, as he saw the size and
the cloud of sail, knew that the _Kestrel_ would be either cut down to
the water's edge or sunk by the coming craft.

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.

WITHOUT LIGHTS.

In those moments of peril Hilary hardly knew how it all happened, but
fortunately the men with him were men-of-war's men, and accustomed to
prompt obedience. The helm was put down hard as the strange vessel came
swiftly on, seeming to the young officer like his fate, and in an
instant his instinct of self-preservation suggested to him that he had
better run forward, and, as the stranger struck the _Kestrel_, leap from
the low bulwark and catch at one of the stays. His activity, he knew,
would do the rest.

Then discipline set in and reminded him that he was in charge of the
deck, and that his duty was to think of the safety of his men and the
cutter--last of all, of himself.

The stranger showed no lights, a suspicious fact which