t, with the vessel rolling like this."

"You certainly will not be able to sit down to it--nothing would stay
on the table a minute. There will be no regular breakfast today. You
must get the steward to cut you a chunk of cold meat, put it between
two slices of bread, and make a sandwich of it. As to tea, ask him to
give you a bottle and to pour your tea into that; then, if you wedge
yourself into a corner, you will find that you are able to manage your
breakfast comfortably, and can amuse yourself watching people trying
to balance a cup of tea in their hand."

Not more than half a dozen passengers ventured on deck, for the next
two days, but at the end of that time the force of the wind gradually
abated, and on the following morning the Madras had all her sails set,
to a light but still favourable breeze. Madeira had been passed, to
Dick's disappointment; but, except for a fresh supply of vegetables,
there was no occasion to put in there, and the captain grudged the
loss of a day, while so favourable a wind was taking them along.

"Do you think we shall see anything of that brig again, doctor?" Dick
asked, as, for the first time since the wind sprang up, the passengers
sat down to a comfortable breakfast.

"There is no saying, Dick. If we gained two knots an hour during the
blow (and I don't suppose we gained more than one and a half), they
must be a hundred and twenty miles or so astern of us; after all, that
is only half a day's run. I think they are pretty sure to follow us
for a bit, for they will know that, in light winds, they travel faster
than we do; and if we get becalmed, while they still hold the breeze,
they will come up hand over hand. It is likely enough that, in another
three days or so, we may get a sight of them behind us."

This was evidently the captain's opinion also, for during the day the
guns were overhauled, and their carriages examined, and the muskets
brought up on deck and cleaned. On the following day the men were
practised at the guns, and then had pike and cutlass exercise.

None of the passengers particularly noticed these proceedings, for
Dick had been warned by the captain to say nothing about the brig; and
as he was the only passenger on deck at the time, no whisper of the
privateers had come to the ears of the others.

The party were just going down to lunch, on the third day, when a
lookout in the maintop hailed the deck:

"A sail astern."

"How does she bear?"

"She is d