ger peculiar to the
land, while at sea you might sail from set of sun till dawn: yet it
was essential to get out of sight of the sea for if anyone knew they
were there they'd have cavalry after them. And he had sent back
Smerdrak (a young lieutenant of pirates) to cover their tracks where
they came up from the sea. And the merry men vigorously nodded their
heads though they did not dare to cheer, and presently Smerdrak came
running up and they threw him a rope by the stern. And when they had
done fifteen knots they anchored, and Captain Shard gathered his men
about him and, standing by the land-wheel in the bows, under the large
and clear Algerian stars, he explained his system of steering. There
was not much to be said for it, he had with considerable ingenuity
detached and pivoted the portion of the keel that held the leading
axle and could move it by chains which were controlled from the
land-wheel, thus the front pair of wheels could be deflected at will,
but only very slightly, and they afterwards found that in a hundred
yards they could only turn their ship four yards from her course. But
let not captains of comfortable battleships, or owners even of yachts,
criticise too harshly a man who was not of their time and who knew not
modern contrivances; it should be remembered also that Shard was no
longer at sea. His steering may have been clumsy but he did what he
could.

When the use and limitations of his land-wheel had been made clear to
his men, Shard bade them all turn in except those on watch. Long
before dawn he woke them and by the very first gleam of light they got
their ship under way, so that when those two fleets that had made so
sure of Shard closed in like a great crescent on the Algerian coast
there was no sign to see of the Desperate Lark either on sea or land;
and the flags of the Admiral's ship broke out into a hearty English
oath.

The gale blew for three days and, Shard using more sail by daylight,
they scudded over the sands at little less than ten knots, though on
the report of rough water ahead (as the lookout man called rocks, low
hills or uneven surface before he adapted himself to his new
surroundings) the rate was much decreased. Those were long summer days
and Shard who was anxious while the wind held good to outpace the
rumour of his own appearance sailed for nineteen hours a day, lying to
at ten in the evening and hoisting sail again at three a.m. when it
first began to be light.

I