a hostile movement of
weapons, to which Butters responded by roaring out in broad, plain
English--

"Ay, ay, sir! All right! Clumsy lubber! Break his head."

As he spoke he moved slowly to the wheel, seized the spokes, rammed them
down as if confused, and then hurriedly turned them the other way, with
the result that the schooner still kept gliding slowly on, with the
cutter at the same distance astern.

"That'll do," said the skipper; "drop it now," and trembling with
excitement as he grasped the manoeuvres being played Fitz made a grab at
Poole's arm, while Poole made a grab at his, and they stood as one,
waiting for the result.

In obedience to his orders, the boatswain now turned and held the
schooner well up in the wind, her forward motion gradually ceasing, and
the gunboat's cutter now gaining upon them fast.

"Why, the sun's gone down," whispered Fitz excitedly.

"Yes," said Poole, "and the stars are beginning to show."

"In another five minutes," said Fitz, "it will be getting dusk."

"And in another ten," whispered Poole hoarsely, "it will be dark. Oh,
dad, now I can see through your game."

"So can I," whispered Fitz, though the words were not addressed to him.
"Why, Poole, he means to fight!"

"Does he? For a penny he doesn't mean to let them come on board. Why,
look at Butters; he's lying down on the deck."

"Yes," whispered Fitz; "to be in shelter if they fire while he's working
the spokes. Look, the sails are filling once again."

"It's too soon," whispered Poole hoarsely. "They'll see from the
gunboat and fire, and if they do--"

"They will miss us, my boy," said the skipper, who had approached
unseen. "Lie down, my lads--every one on deck."

"And you too, father," whispered Poole. "They may hit you with a
bullet."

"Obey orders," said the skipper sternly. "The captain must take his
chance."

_Crack, crack, crack_, and _whizz, whizz, whizz_!

The officer of the cutter saw through the manoeuvre at last, and fired
at the retreating schooner's skipper, while a minute later, as the
_Silver Teal_ was gliding rapidly into a bank of gloom that seemed to
come like so much solid blackness down the vale, there was a bright
flash as of lightning, a deep boom as of thunder, which shook the very
air, and a roar of echoes dying right away, while the great stars
overhead now stood out rapidly one by one in the purple velvet arch
overhead.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

BY THE SKIN OF THEI