er, the _Tiger_ glided over the calm sea, and
everything went smoothly.

"Really, from the appearance of things, I should not have supposed that
we were aboard a piratical craft," observed Stephen, "for truly they are
a very gentlemanly set of cut-throats, and I doubt if Prince Rupert's
men behaved half as well."

"It may be not, but they did not knock all their prisoners on the head,
or make them walk the plank, as these fellows are said to do; we as yet
have only seen them in their good behaviour," observed Roger.

Hamet insisted on their carrying the _Tiger_ northward till they were
about in the latitude of the rock of Lisbon. Not a ship had been
sighted which they could venture to attack. They had passed in the
distance squadrons of three or more large ships, but Hamet deemed it
prudent to stand away from them, though he discussed the possibility of
cutting off the sternmost during the night-time, but old Sam dissuaded
him from making the attempt. The sun had just risen on the top-mast
canvas of a ship of some size coming down before a fresh breeze from the
northward, the wind about north-east. Hamet possessed a telescope, and
pointing the stranger out to Roger, bade him go aloft with the
telescope, and on his return report to him what he thought she was.
Roger, slinging the telescope over his shoulders, climbed up the
rigging, and took a steady look at the stranger. She appeared to him to
be a large ship--a man-of-war--carrying probably forty guns or more,
with which the _Tiger_ would be utterly unable to cope. On coming down
he told Hamet his opinion.

"If she is a merchantman, the larger her size the better prize she will
prove," he observed.

"But should she be a man-of-war, you may find that instead of taking her
you are taken yourself," said Roger.

The Captain, who seldom did anything without consulting his officers,
had a talk with them on the subject. Some were inclined to run
alongside the stranger and try to capture her, but others thought such a
proceeding would be dangerous. The two vessels approached nearer and
nearer.

"These are bold fellows to think of attacking a ship of that size,"
observed Roger. "I am nearly certain that she is an English man-of-war,
and if so, the _Tiger_ will be taken, and if we are not killed, we may
hope to gain our liberty."

"One good thing is, we need not fight," said Stephen. "The most prudent
thing we can do is to stow ourselves away as soon as we ar