en-sail-booms
bent and cracked again, they held on bravely. Our great hope was, that
we might be able to keep well ahead of the stranger till night came on;
and then that, by hauling our wind, he might pass us in the dark. We
had already got as much wind as the brig could stagger under, and thus
one of the greatest dangers we had to apprehend was from carrying away
any of our spars. Over and over again the captain looked up at the
mast-head, and exclaimed, "Hold on, good sticks, hold on, and serve us a
good turn!"

A stern chase is a long chase; and though this was not quite a stern
chase, by-the-by, it was nearly one, and we hoped it might prove so long
as to have no end. Still our pursuer kept after us. As he drew nearer,
we had less and less doubt that he was the very Salee Rover we had
before so much to do with. At the same time, our hopes of escaping him
decreased. Peter had set himself down on the heel of the bowsprit to
rest. I brought him his dinner there, for he had not left the deck for
a moment since the morning. He did not look up for some time till I
begged him to eat. Still he did not answer. At last I asked him what
he was thinking about.

"Why, Jack, how we may manage to escape from the pirate," he answered
after some time. "A very curious idea has struck me, and if the captain
will listen to me, we'll put it into execution. It can do no harm, and
if our pursuer comes up with us, I think it will make him haul his wind
in a pretty considerable hurry."

I asked Peter to tell me his plan, wondering what it could possibly be.

"I take it, you see, that the brig out there is the very same which
attacked this vessel, and her crew, of course, know that there was not a
living soul left on board, but that there were six heads in the cabin,"
he answered, speaking very slow. "Now, in my wild young days, I was
once for some time behind the scenes of a theatre, and if I had been a
scholar I might have become a play-actor. When there, I saw what
wonders a little paint, and canvas, and pasteboard could work. As there
are six of us, I propose to put a false neck over each of our heads, and
I'll manage to paint in a quarter less than no time, six as ugly faces
as you ever saw, on as many balls of canvas, which I'll stuff with
oakum. So each of us will have a head to hold in his hand. Unless some
accident happens, we certainly can manage to keep ahead of the rover
till nightfall. Then we'll just mix