r her speed, and the rigging of the
_Ypsilante_ was much cut up, but her commanding officer was a gallant
fellow, and crippled as he was, determined, if he could, not to lose
sight of the enemy; and was soon after her, firing his bow-chasers with
little or no effect, as the _Sea Hawk_ was rapidly running from them,
firing her stern guns in return.

Meantime the _Sea Hawk_ winged her rapid flight over the foaming waters.
She had received but slight damage from the cannonade, opened on her by
the _Ypsilante_, during the storming of the fort, and none after she got
outside the harbour, so that the pirates were able to laugh at the
efforts of her pursuer.

Zappa having run the _Ypsilante_ out of sight, shaped as northerly a
course as the wind would allow him, towards that part of the Archipelago
where the islands cluster the thickest, that, among their many intricate
and dangerous channels, well known to him and his crew, he might have a
greater chance of avoiding his enemies; and would be certain to find
friends ready to assist him. The two misticos, not being able to look
up so well to the gale, had to run before it till it moderated, and they
then hauled up in the same direction. From their rig and appearance
being that of the ordinary craft of the Mediterranean, they ran less
risk of recognition than the brig, or of detection, from being able to
conceal themselves in any nook or bay, or behind any reef which might
offer itself, so that an enemy might pass close to them, without their
being seen.

The gale continued blowing with undiminished fury till daylight, when it
gave signs of abating. It had been the means of saving Zappa and his
comrades, and he wished it to continue rather longer to carry him
entirely clear of his pursuers. Men with sharp eyes were sent aloft to
look out on every side, to discover if any vessels were in sight. They
reported one hull down in the northern board, the heads of her topsails
only seen, which was, doubtless, the _Ypsilante_, and two on the
larboard quarter, which seemed like the two misticos. As the sun rose,
his beams seemed to calm the rage of the tempest, the wind fell, the
clouds dispersed, and the sea went down, and Zappa no longer felt the
anxiety he had at first experienced for the fate of his vessel. He now
mustered his crew, and found that some of his bravest and best men had
fallen when attempting to defend the fort against the first attack of
the English; the remai