ept her bunting well out of sight; she was unmistakably French
all over, from keel to truck. And though she was an enemy I could not
help admiring the beautiful order and neatness which characterised her
appearance: two qualities which were rarely to be witnessed on board
French ships at that period. I was rather surprised that she had not
pitched a shot across our fore-foot before this, as a delicate
intimation that the time had arrived for us to heave-to; but as she had
not, I began to entertain a faint glimmer of hope that she was engaged
upon some special service of such importance that she could not spare
time to interfere with us.

It was evident that she had no intention of rounding-to, for there still
stood her studding-sails without a sign of any preparation for taking
them in. Our attention was now of course, for the moment, given
exclusively to her; our curiosity being strongly roused as to her
intentions. In another moment she swept magnificently across our stern,
so closely that a bold leap would have carried a man from her weather
cat-head down upon our deck; and as she did so we became aware of sundry
tanned and bearded faces, some of which seemed familiar to me, peering
curiously down upon us through her open half-ports. At the same moment
a dapper young fellow in the uniform of a British midshipman sprang into
the main-rigging, speaking-trumpet in hand, and hailed us somewhat in
the following fashion,--

"Cutter ahoy! who are you, and whither bound? and what is that
piratical-looking craft down to leeward? If he is interfering with you,
you had better bear up and follow in my wake; I'll take care that--
hilloa! if that isn't Chester may I never--ahoy! Chester, old boy!
don't you know _me_?--Bob Summers, you know. Up helm, old fellow; the
`Juno' is in there, and--"

The rest was unintelligible, the brig being by this time too far away to
allow of further conversation. Of course I bore up at once, for the
brig being in English hands, I had no further occasion for anxiety with
regard to the "Vigilant." That craft, true to her name, had evidently
been on the watch to see what would come of the meeting which had just
taken place, and had already arrived at the conclusion that what had
passed boded her no good, for the moment we bore up, she did the same,
wearing short round upon her heel, and shaping a course, as nearly as we
could judge, for Calvi. Bob, however, who was evidently burning to
di