hip of war. The great object of
the pirates was to cripple her, as was that of the Americans to bring
down some of the schooner's spars. Had the latter found out the trick
sooner which had been played them by the pirate, the probabilities are
that some of our rigging would have been cut through, and we should have
been overtaken; now there appeared every chance that we should effect
our escape. Still, several of the shot which came from the corvette
struck us, or went through our sails; but the damage was instantly
repaired. The crew had got up from below a store of spare ropes, and
sails, and spars, so that even should we receive any severe injury, it
could, we saw, be speedily put to rights. As I before said, our
prospects of getting our throats cut, or our brains blown or knocked
out, were pretty well balanced against those of our being made free,
should the corvette come up with us; so we scarcely knew what to wish
for. Every time a shot came near the vessel, the pirates cast such
angry glances at us, as if we had had something to do with the matter,
that we half expected some of them would let fly their pistols and put
an end to our lives.

Hour after hour thus passed away. A stern chase is a long chase, as
everybody knows, and so the Americans must have thought it. The wind
continued much as at first for some time. This was all in favour of the
schooner, which sailed in a light wind proportionably better than the
corvette. Towards evening, however, clouds began to gather in the
eastern horizon. The bank rose higher and higher in the sky. Now one
mass darted forward--now another--and light bodies flew rapidly across
the blue expanse overhead. First the surface of the ocean was crisped
over with a sparkling ripple, and then wavelets appeared, and soon they
increased to waves with frothy crests; and the schooner sprung forward,
the canvas swelling, the braces tautening, and the masts and spars
cracking with the additional strain put on them. For some time, though
she still continued to fire, scarcely a shot from the man-of-war had
come up to us, as we had still further increased our distance from her.
She, however, now felt the advantage of the stronger breeze, and our
pace became more equal. Still the breeze increased. The captain stood
aft, his eye apparently watching earnestly every spar and rope aloft, to
see how they stood the increasing strain. Away we now flew, the water
hissing under our bows