We are only a mile from the shore, and as it is coming down from the hills you may not see it on the water until it is quite close to you." The boats were lowered, and the men, armed with musket and cutlass, took their places.

Frank and George Lechmere each had a cutlass and a revolver buckled to the waist.
"Now give way, lads," Frank said.

"She is about two miles ahead of us, and we ought to overtake her in half an hour." It was now getting dusk, the light fading out suddenly as the clouds spread over the sky.

Frank's last orders to the skipper before leaving were: "Edge her in, Hawkins, until you are dead astern of the brigantine.
Then if the squall comes down before we reach her, we shall be right in your track." "I have put a lighted lantern into the stern sheets of each boat, sir, and have thrown a bit of sail cloth over them, so that if she leaves you behind, and you hold it up, there won't be any fear of our missing you." The men rowed hard, but the gig had to stop frequently to let the dinghy come up.

They gained, however, fast upon the brig, and in half an hour were but a few hundred yards astern.