, he could ascertain nothing with certainty. So
far as he could learn, she had only put into three ports, although
the coasters he boarded came from some twenty different localities.

"I fancy that it is as I expected," Frank said. "They have one
regular headquarters to which they return frequently. It may be
some very secluded spot. It may be up one of these small rivers
marked on the chart--there are a score of them between Cape la Move
and here. She does not seem to have been seen as far east as this.
Of course, she has not put in here, because there are some eight or
ten foreign ships here now. Every one of these twenty rivers has
plenty of water for vessels of her draught for some miles up. I
fancy our best chance will be to meet her cruising."

"The worst of that would be, Major," George Lechmere said, "that
she would know us, and if she sails as well as she used to do, we
should not catch her before night came on--if she had seven or
eight miles' start--especially if we both had the wind aft."

"That is just what I am afraid of. I have no doubt that we could
beat her easily working to windward in her present rig, but I am by
no means certain that she could not run away from us if we were
both free; and if she once recognised us there is no saying where
she might go to after she had shaken us off. Certainly she would
not stay in these waters.

"The question is, how can we disguise ourselves? If we took down
our mizzen and dirtied the rest of our sails, it would not be much
of a disguise. Nothing but a yacht carries anything like as big a
mainsail as ours, and our big jib and foresail, and the straight
bowsprit would tell the tale. Of course, we could fasten some
wooden battens along her side, and stretch canvas over them, and
paint it black, and so raise her side three feet, but even then the
narrowness of her hull, seen end on as it would be, in comparison
to the height of the mast and spread of canvas, would strike
Carthew at once."

"We could follow his example, sir, and make her into a brig. I dare
say we could get it done in a week."

"That might spoil her sailing, and as soon as he found that we were
in chase of him, he would at once suspect that something was wrong.
That would, of all things, be the worst, especially if he
found--which would be just as likely as not--that he had the legs
of us.

"I believe the most certain way of all would be to search for her
in the boats. If we were to paint the