in his previous conviction that he had missed his proper
vocation.

The rising moon had just cleared the horizon and was flooding the
weltering waters with her silvery light when, the saloon party being
once more assembled on the top of the deck-house for the better
enjoyment of the grateful coolness of the night air, a large steamer,
which could be none other than the _James B. Potter_, was seen to come
out of Mulata Bay and head for the passage, steaming thence out to sea
and away to the eastward at a rapid pace, though not so fast but that
Villacampa, unconsciously biting his finger nails to the quick in the
excess of his mortification, felt convinced that the yacht could have
caught her, had that vessel only been under way at the moment. She was
not, however, and it was not until the American craft had sunk beyond
the eastern horizon a good hour and a half that Macintyre came up on
deck to report that he had completed his repairs and was ready to once
more start his engines. Whereupon the sea anchor was got inboard and,
since there was nothing else to be done, the yacht returned to Havana
harbour at a speed of fourteen knots--her engines working as smoothly as
though they had never broken down--arriving at her former berth and
picking up her buoy at about two o'clock a.m. Captain Morillo, who had
been anxiously awaiting her return, promptly made his appearance
alongside in the cruiser's cutter, for the purpose of taking off his men
and learning the result of the expedition; and great was his wrath and
disgust on hearing that it had failed, after all, in consequence of a
breakdown of the yacht's engines. He was most searching and minute in
his enquiries as to the nature and cause of the accident, which, he
eventually agreed with Jack, had undoubtedly been brought about by the
miscreants who were responsible for the disablement of the Spanish
warships, and who, it was perfectly evident, had determined to ensure
the success of the American undertaking by tampering with the machinery
of every vessel in the harbour which could by any possibility be
employed to frustrate it. Ere taking his leave he ventured to express
the hope that Jack and Captain Milsom would do him the favour to
accompany him when he went ashore, a few hours later, to report to the
Capitan-General the failure of the expedition, as it would be his duty
to do: but Jack courteously yet very firmly declined to do anything of
the kind, pointing out t