nce astern, and, playfully skipping along, sank beneath the surface
near the weather quarter. Captain Moncrieff said not a word, but looked
amazingly sober. Campbell, who cared little for his life, but had great
fear of being robbed, and who regarded all privateers as neither more
nor less than thieves and pirates, coolly remarked, "O, he may fire away
as much as he likes; he cannot hit us at that distance."

"I don't know that," replied captain Moncrieff, much agitated. "I
believe he is gaining on us. The next shot may take away one of the
masts."

"He is NOT gaining on us," said Campbell. "If he should hit one of the
masts we should be COMPELLED to heave to; it would no longer be a matter
of choice. But I don't believe he can do it"

At this moment the schooner yawed, and gave us another gun. The ball
came whizzing along, passed just over the mast-head, and fell in the
water a couple of lengths off on the starboard bow.

"I'll bet a beaver hat," said Campbell, "he can't do that again."

"This will never do," exclaimed the captain, greatly alarmed, and pale
as a ghost. "He will hull us next time, and send us all to 'Davy's
locker.' Haul the foresheet to windward!"

This was done; and the pilot-boat lay like a log on the water, waiting
the approach of our pursuer.

"Now," said Campbell, with a scowl of disappointment, "I will go below
and take care of 'number one.' And Hawser," continued he, "I know those
chaps better than you do. They glory in robbing a sailor's chest when
there is anything in it worth taking. I advise you to do as I mean to do
clothe yourself in two or three suits of your best garments; for I never
knew them strip the clothing from a man's back."

"I thank you for your counsel, sir," said I; "but if they overhaul MY
chest in expectation of a prize, they will be woefully disappointed."

Mr. Campbell went below a slight-built, thin-looking man, bearing a
closer resemblance to Shakespeare's portrait of Prince Hal than to that
of Falstaff. When, fifteen minutes afterwards, he appeared on deck,
staggering under the load of three pairs of trousers, an equal number
of vests, covering half a dozen shirts, with two or three silk kerchiefs
around his neck, he looked, from his chin downwards, more like the
"fat knight" than Prince Hal; and his thin face, peaked nose, and chin
showing itself above such a portly corporation and huge limbs, gave
him an unnatural appearance ludicrous in the extreme. He told