and snatch a
mouthful of food. After the first two or three hours he had felt no fear
whatever as to the ability of the craft to weather the gale, but it was a
long strain, and he was deeply thankful when the wind abated sufficiently
for him to be able to hoist the reefed mainsail again and to lie to
comfortably. As soon as this was done he went below, and slept for twelve
hours. The sun was shining brightly when he awoke, a light breeze was
blowing, and save for a long swell the sea had gone down. He indulged in a
hearty breakfast before proceeding on his way. Then he shook out the reefs
in the mainsail, hoisted it, got up the foresail, slacked off the weather
sheet of the jib, and again headed east.

One morning ten days later he saw the sun rise behind a broken outline
instead of the line of the horizon, and knew that this could be nothing
but the hills of the mainland. Lofty as these were he might be still a
hundred and fifty miles from them, but the weather was fair, the wind
fresh, the boat travelling at six knots an hour, and by mid-day to-morrow
he would be close to land. Whether it was Chili or Peru that lay ahead of
him he had no means of knowing, but he believed it was the former, for he
had headed rather to the south of east and felt sure that he should strike
the coast somewhere on the long seaboard of Chili. He was the more
convinced of this as two days before he had seen an island far to the
north of him and guessed it to be either San Felix or San Ambrose, and had
shaped his course rather more to the south in consequence. That night he
was too excited to turn in as usual, but held on his course. By morning
the land lay little more than twenty miles away, and he recognized at once
the outline of the hills that he had passed when sailing north, and knew
where Valparaiso lay, some fifty miles further south. He changed his
course accordingly, and at four o'clock in the afternoon dropped his stone
anchor a hundred yards off the quay of the Chilian port.

CHAPTER XIII.

PRIZE-MONEY.

Stephen busied himself in stowing away his sails. By the time he had done
so a small crowd had collected on the quay looking with surprise and
wonder at the little craft with its unpainted sides and rough appearance.
In a short time a boat with a port official rowed alongside, and stepping
on deck the officer looked round, in surprise at seeing only one per