cr own readers

94 A THREE DAYS' CHASE.
denly bore up and set oft' once more righ t before th e
wind . At th e heigh t of the squall we tota lly lost
sight of our prize ; and such a hu bbub I hardly
recollect to ha ve heard in my life before.
" Where is she? Who was lookin g out? Where
did you see her last ?" and a hundred similar questions
were poured out in abundance. Sail was made
at once, and oft' we dashed into th e thick of th e squall
in search of our lost treasure.
4. For about a quarter of an hour a dead silence
reign ed over th e wh ole ship, and every eye was
st rained to th e utmost, for no one kn ew exactly
where to look. There was, indeed, no certain ty of
our not actually running past th e privateer, and it
would not have sur prised us much when the squall
cleared up had we seen him a mile or two to windward
, far beyond our reach. Th ese fears were pu t
an end to by th e sharp-eyed captain of th e foretop,
who had perch ed himself on th e jib-boom end, calling
out with a voice of th e great est glee,-
"There he goes ! th ere he goes ! right ahead! und er
his topsails and foresail !"
5. Sure enough th ere we saw him, springing along
from wave to wave, his masts bending lik e reeds
under th e pressure of the sails. In a very few
minu tes we were aga in alongside of him. Nothing
daunted, however, by the style in which we bore
down upon him, th e gallant command er of thi s
pretty little egg-shell of a vessel placed himself on
th e weather-quarter, and with a speaking-trumpet in
his hand, indi cated a wish to be heard.
6. " I have been compelled to bear up ," he called out
in French ; "otherwise th e brig must have gone to the