e again brought his
glass to bear on the speronara, and, while so doing, his eye was
attracted to a sail which appeared in the horizon, and which he at once
knew to be a square-rigged vessel. From its height, too, above the
water, and its faint outline, he judged her to be a ship or a brig of
some size. He had, indeed, remarked her some time before, and it now
occurred to him that she had not altered her position since first seen.
It would therefore appear that she was standing the same course as the
_Zodiac_; but as they neared her rapidly, such could scarcely be the
case, and he, now seeing that her head was turned towards them, could
only come to the conclusion that she was hove to. He calculated, also,
that the speronara, supposing that she had, for some time, steered the
same course she was now on, must have passed close to her.

The idea came into the master's head more as a matter of speculation
than because any further suspicions occurred to him, for the probability
of those he still entertained being correct, he thought so very slight,
that he was almost vexed with himself for acting on them; and had it not
been for his promise to Captain Fleetwood, he most likely would have
done so. That the speronara, now to leeward of him, was the self-same
craft he had seen in Malta harbour, he could, however, no longer
entertain a doubt. He had noted her long, low hull, with overhanging
stern and high bow, the great length of her tapering yards, and the way
her immense lateen sails stood; there was also a peculiar dark mark on
the cloth next to the outer leech of her foresail, near the head of the
yard, which was unmistakable, and when he could clearly see that her
identity would be proved. As he now brought his glass again to bear on
the speronara, he saw that as the _Zodiac_ was brought on a wind, she
was immediately hauled close on it, so that, notwithstanding the change
he had made in his course, she might still pass, if she liked, even to
windward of him, unless she also chose to hug the wind as he had done.
On seeing this, the spirit of the British sailor was roused within him.

"Oh, hang it," he muttered. "I'm not going to be altering my course for
fear of a rascally Italian piccaroon, if such that fellow should be. If
he chooses to come near us, he must take the consequences. We'll show
him that we've got some bulldogs on board who can bark pretty well if
they like. But I forgot the young lady, and the li