r weather beam, now, sir."

"The devil!" ejaculated Lieutenant Dabchick, in his flurry using a
stronger expression than he would probably have done had `old Hankey
Pankey' been on the quarter-deck, rushing into the chart-house on the
bridge and snatching up a telescope, which he brought to bear on the
horizon in the direction indicated by Adams in the foretop above, whose
point of vantage, of course, gave him a wider range of view. "On our
weather beam, you say?"

"Ay, ay, sir," roared back the lookout; "they're right abreast of our
forrud funnel now, sir."

Mr Dabchick's hand shook so much from excitement that he could not hold
the glass steady; so, propping it up athwart the stanchion at the
weather end of the bridge, and sprawling out his legs to give him a good
purchase, he worked the telescope about till he at last spotted the
objects Adams had seen.

"By the Lord Harry!" exclaimed the lieutenant, "you are right, Adams. I
must send down and tell the captain at once."

With that, he hailed the midshipman of the watch and despatched him with
the news to Captain Hankey's cabin aft; while at the same time he rang
the engine-room gong, and shouted down through the voice-tube to tell
them below to `stand by,' as probably we would want steam up in a very
short time; directing also the coxswains of the boats alongside to make
ready, as well as passing the word forward for the boatswain's mates and
the drummer and bugler to be handy when wanted.

This done, all his orders having been issued and executed in less time
than I take to tell of it, Mr Dabchick resumed his interrupted, if
monotonous, task of walking up and down the bridge; stopping whenever he
had to slew round, at the end of his promenade, to take another squint
at the dhows, and warning Adams, though that worthy needed no such
injunction, to `keep his eye on them.'

Mr Dabchick had just sung out this for the second time on getting back
to the weather end of the bridge, when Captain Hankey, accompanied by
Mr Gresham and a lot of the other officers, rushed on deck, some of
them half dressed and buckling on their gear as they came hurrying
along.

`Old Hankey Pankey' made straight for the bridge, the first lieutenant
close at his heels.

"Ha, Mr Dabchick," cried the captain, as he skated up the iron ladder
leading from the deck below to the chart-house, taking three steps at
each bound, "so you've sighted those beggars at last, eh?"

"Yes, sir," said