ss his course, and
that the other was a square-rigged vessel, probably a brig, under easy
sail, standing in the same direction that he was. Now, although under
ordinary circumstances, he would not have given the two vessels a second
thought; yet coupling the events of the previous day, and the mysterious
warning they had received, he could not help thinking that one was the
speronara; the other the brig with which she was in communication, and
which she wished to persuade them was an Austrian man-of-war. Bowse
took two or three turns on deck, every now and then casting a glance
eastward, expressive of no very amiable feelings.

"Oh! confound the rascals," he muttered, stamping his foot on the deck.
"If it wasn't for that sweet young lady below, who should not have her
eyes shocked with scenes of blood and fighting, I wish they would both
of them come on at once, and have it out, if they want to rob us,
instead of sneaking round, and bothering us in this way. If I do get
alongside them, I will give it them; but we shall have something else to
do before that, I suspect."

He took another turn or so, and then stopped, looking to the northward.
He had, at first, intended again setting all the sail the ship would
carry before the wind; but on more critically examining the clouds in
that quarter, he determined, for the present, to make no change. The
clouds, he observed, were increasing in number, and banking up thickly
together, and the first freshness of the morning had given way to an
oppressive and heavy air, which seemed to weigh down their spirits. The
wind, which had hitherto been so steady, though varying in strength, now
dropped considerably, and began to veer about, so as to require the
hands constantly at the braces. Bowse fully felt the responsibility of
the command intrusted to him, and that the safety and lives of his crew
and passengers would depend very much on his forethought, judgment, and
coolness. He was glad to be alone, to think over what was best to be
done under the circumstances; that a gale was brewing, he felt pretty
sure, and that it would come from the southward and east; but whether it
would be of long duration, or whether one of those sudden gusts, those
short-lived tempests, which occur frequently during summer in the
Mediterranean, he could not determine, though he was inclined to think
it would be the latter; then, that some vessel, with no good motive, was
looking out for the brig, h