y and her attendant were held in durance
vile by the pirates, which he justly calculated would excite all the
chivalric feelings of his brother-captains, for which the British navy
are so justly celebrated.

He, meantime, cruised in the neighbourhood of the island, in the hope,
should she attempt to make her escape, of falling in with and capturing
the _Sea Hawk_.

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.

Captain Fleetwood once more trod the deck of the _Ione_; and though his
cheek was pale, and his step had not regained its usual firmness, nor
his voice its strength, his health was almost re-established, and grief,
more than any other cause, prevented him from entirely recovering.
Linton had also returned to his duty, and had produced several poetical
effusions on the subject of the fate he had anticipated for himself,
productions which he threatened to inflict on his brother-officers; but,
as they earnestly entreated him to keep them fresh for those who could
better appreciate them, he locked the papers up again in his desk--the
purser, however, who did not intend to pay him a compliment at the
expense of the rest, assuring him that it would be like casting pearls
before swine.

The officers had just come up on deck from breakfast, and the captain
was pacing the poop with his first-lieutenant by his side, the sea was
smooth, with a light air from the westward, and the brig, under her
topsails, was standing to the northward--in which direction lay the
pirates' island, appearing in the distant horizon like a blue hillock
rising out of the water.

"Sail, ho!" was the welcome sound which reached the deck from the
mast-head.

The usual question of "Where away?" was put by Mr Saltwell, in return.

"On the larboard quarter, sir," was the answer.

"What does she look like?"

"A ship right before the wind, sir."

"I trust she is a friend come to our assistance," said Captain
Fleetwood. "We'll stand down to meet her. Put the ship about, Mr
Saltwell."

The brig having tacked, now stood under the same easy sail as before, to
the southward, so as to cut off the stranger; a bright look-out being
still kept astern, lest the _Sea Hawk_, or either of her tenders, should
appear on the northern board.

It may easily be supposed how anxiously Captain Fleetwood had been
expecting the arrival of some other cruiser to assist him in making the
attack he contemplated on the island. Had he consulted his own
inclinations, he would, as soon