aracteristic of his nation, was a source of continual
reminiscence and regret. They had been four days on their voyage,
making little progress with the light and baffling winds, when they were
shrouded in one of those thick fogs which prevail in the latitude of the
Cape de Verds, and which was rendered more disagreeable by a mizzling
rain.

On the sixth day, about twelve o'clock, the horizon cleared to the
northward, and the fog in that quarter was rolled away by a strong
breeze which rippled along the water. Newton, who was on deck, observed
the direction of the wind to be precisely the reverse of the little
breeze to which their sails had been trimmed; and the yards of the
Windsor Castle were braced round to meet it. The gust was strong, and
the ship, laden as she was, careened over to the sudden force of it, as
the top-gallant sheets and halyards were let fly by the directions of
the officer of the watch. The fog, which had still continued thick to
leeward, now began to clear away; and, as the bank dispersed, the
Marquis de Fontanges, who was standing on the poop by the side of
Newton, cried out "_Voila un batiment_!" Newton looked in the direction
pointed out, and discovered the hull of a vessel looming through the
fog, about a quarter of a mile to leeward of the Windsor Castle. One
minute's scrutiny convinced him that it was the pirate, who, not having
been expeditious in trimming his sails, _laid in irons_, as seamen term
it, heeling over to the blast. The Windsor Castle was then running
free, at the rate of four miles an hour.

"Starboard the helm--all hands to board--steady so. Be smart, my lads--
it's the pirate--port a little. Hurrah! my lads--be quick, and she's
all our own. Quartermaster, my sword--quick!"

The crew, who were all on deck, snatched their cutlasses from the
capstern-head, in which they were inserted, and before three minutes
elapsed, during which the pirate had not time to extricate himself from
his difficulty, were all ready for the service. They were joined by the
Flemish sailors belonging to the neutral vessel, who very deliberately
put their hands in their breeches-pockets and pulled out their knives,
about as long as a carpenter's two-foot rule, preferring this weapon to
any thing else.

Monsieur de Fontanges, bursting with impatience, stood with Newton at
the head of the men. When the collision of the two vessels took place,
the Windsor Castle, conned so as not to run dow