The top- sails were taken in and stowed, the men stood by the sheets and halyards, and the captain gazed anxiously at the breeze which was now rushing towards us like a sheet of dark blue.

In a few seconds it struck us.

The schooner trembled as if in surprise at the sudden onset, while she fell away, then bending gracefully to the wind, as though in acknowledgment of her subjection, she cut through the waves with her sharp prow like a dolphin, while Bill directed her course towards the strange sail.
In half an hour we neared her sufficiently to make out that she was a schooner, and, from the clumsy appearance of her masts and sails we judged her to be a trader.

She evidently did not like our appearance, for, the instant the breeze reached her, she crowded all sail and showed us her stern.

As the breeze had moderated a little our top-sails were again shaken out, and it soon became evident,--despite the proverb, "A stern chase is a long one," that we doubled her speed and would overhaul her speedily.