light it, sir, and only blow at it so as to make the smoke show
now and again. Have a lighted lanthorn under the bulwarks, and shove
the end in now and then. It'll make it all look so quiet and safe
aboard that they'll walk right into the trap."

Mark did as he was requested, but with a good deal of discomfort; and
then waited with a throbbing heart, and a strong desire to cough and
sneeze from time to time as he marched about the deck, stopping to use
his glass, and making out a tall, thin man similarly armed with a glass,
and wearing a Panama hat as well.

But there was no sign of a black on board. Some half-dozen
ordinary-looking sailors lounged about the deck, and save that it was
such a smartly-built heavily-rigged craft, there was not a trace of her
being anything but an ordinary trader.

Matters went exactly as Mark desired, the stranger schooner gliding
nearer and nearer, while the midshipman's heart beat faster, and he
trembled lest a glimpse should be caught of the armed boat hanging from
the davits, with her keel just dipping into the water from time to time.

But by clever steering it was kept out of sight, and when the right
moment came a turn or two of the wheel sent the schooner a little way
ahead, and then another turn, and she swept round a little, her sails
shivered, and she lost way, while the stranger hailed them as she came
closer, and was thrown up head to wind.

By this time the two schooners were not above fifty yards apart, and a
hail came in decidedly American tones,--

"I'll send a boat aboard."

There was a little movement, and Mark lay waiting for his time, for this
action on the part of the stranger was thoroughly playing into his
hands.

The American's boat was lowered down on the side farthest from them,
with the skipper sitting aft with four men to row; and as her head
appeared round the stern, Mark dropped over into his own boat. The
falls were cast off as she dropped into the water, and bidding the men
give way, she shot off round the schooner's bows, the Panama hat gave
place to the naval cap, the jacket was hurried on, and away they went
for the stranger, whose crew on board stared in astonishment over the
bulwarks at the man-of-war's men, while a horrible thought struck the
young officer.

He was going to seize the stranger vessel, but he had left his own
almost unprotected, and the Yankee skipper was being rowed to her.

"I'm playing dog and the shadow, after all, T