But in half a minute she had gathered sufficient way, her helm was put down, and she came round as easily and as gracefully as the bird turns on his wing.

Not so with the heavier frigate.

She had hauled in her starboard head-braces and had to get the foretopsail aback, and to pay well off with her head to leeward, in order to swing her yards and fill her sails, while le Feu-Follet was slipping through the water, going seemingly into the wind's eye.

By this single evolution the lugger gained more than a cable's length on her enemy, and five minutes more would have put her beyond all immediate danger.

But Captain Cuffe knew this as well as his competitor, and had made his preparations accordingly.