for Austrian naval discipline,
though it was not an enterprise Zappa had any great reason to boast of,
either."

"If the account I heard is true, he acted, however, the part of a
magnanimous conqueror; for, after he had rifled the brig, and taken
everything he wanted out of her, he allowed her and her officers and
crew to go free, without murdering a soul of them, which, at all events,
speaks in his favour," said Linton.

"Well, if that is his vessel, we shall soon know more about him and
her," observed Saltwell. "We are nearing her fast. I shall go aloft,
and try if I can make out what her hull is like."

They drew nearer and nearer the stranger, who still continued her course
to the northward under the same easy sail.

At last, her hull was visible from the deck.

Mr Saltwell had his glass fixed on her, as had Captain Fleetwood.

"What do you make her out to be, Mr Saltwell?" said the captain.

"She is polacca rigged, with raking masts, and has a long, low, dark
hull," answered the first lieutenant.

"The very description of the _Sea Hawk_," exclaimed Linton. "I hope to
goodness it may be her."

"I trust it may," said Captain Fleetwood, drawing in his breath, and
compressing his lips, to conceal his agitation.

The excitement on board now increased, as there appeared a greater
probability of the stranger proving to be the pirate.

Anxiously beat the heart of Captain Fleetwood. What might be the
consequence, supposing the prisoners were on board, and his Ada among
them? Would the pirate hold them as hostages? Zappa, he was aware,
well knew, from what he had learned at the ball at Malta, how dear Ada
Garden was to him, and what, in consequence, might be the pirate's
conduct?

His orders were to burn, sink, or destroy the rover, wherever he should
find him; and he resolved to do his duty.

As he walked the deck in silence, he glanced his eye aloft more
frequently than usual to see how the sails stood. They were never
better set. Every brace and bowline was taut to a nicety. Then he
would look over the bulwarks to judge of the rate at which they were
slipping through the water, by the appearance of the sparkling bubbles,
as they darted off from the side, and circled in eddies under the
counter, and many an earnest gaze did he cast at the chase to assure
himself that he was still coming up with her. It is a saying, that when
a hare runs, the dogs will follow--it is equally true at sea, even when