Bob was on board the Antelope a quarter of an hour before gunfire.  No movement was made until after sunset, for some of the gunboats over at Algeciras might have put out, had they seen any preparations for making sail; but as soon as it became dark the anchor was hove, the sails dropped and sheeted home, and the brig began to move slowly through the water.  As she breasted Europa Point, her course was altered to east by north, and the Rock faded from sight in the darkness.

The first mate was on watch, and Bob walked up and down the deck with him.

“There is no occasion for you to keep up,” Joe Lockett said.  “You may just as well turn.”

“Oh no, I mean to keep the watch with you!” Bob said.  “The captain said that I was to be in your watch, and I want you to treat me just the same way as if I were a midshipman under you.”

“Well, if you were a midshipman, there wouldn’t be anything for you to do, now:  still, if you like to keep up, of course you can do so.  I shall be glad of your company, and you will help keep a sharp lookout for ships.”

“There is no chance of our coming across any Spanish traders tonight, I suppose, Joe?”

“Not in the least.  They would keep a deal farther out than we shall, if they were bound either for Algeciras or through the Straits.  We are not likely to meet anything, till we get near Malaga.  After that, of course, we shall be in the line of coasters.  There are Almeria, and Cartagena, and Alicante, and a score of small ports between Alicante and Valencia.”

“We don’t seem to be going through the water very fast, Joe.”

“No, not more than two or two and a half knots an hour.  However, we are in no hurry.  With a light wind like this, we don’t want to get too close to the shore, or we might have some of their gunboats coming out after us.  I expect that in the morning, if the wind holds light, the captain will take in our upper sails, and just drift along.  Then, after it gets dark, he will clap on everything; and run in so as to strike the coast a few miles above Malaga.  Then we will take in sail, and anchor as close in as we dare.  Anything coming along, then, will take us for a craft that has come out from Malaga.”

At midnight the second mate, whose name was Crofts, came up to relieve watch; and Bob, who was beginning to feel very sleepy, was by no means sorry to turn in.  It hardly seemed to him that he had closed an eye, when he was aroused by a knocking at the cabin door.

“It’s two bells, sir, and Mr. Lockett says you are to turn out.”

Bob hurried on his things and went up, knowing that he was an hour late.

“I thought you wanted to keep watch, Bob.  You ought to have been on deck at eight bells.”

“So I should have been, if I had been woke,” Bob said, indignantly.  “I am not accustomed to wake up, just after I go to sleep.  It doesn’t seem to me that I have been in bed five minutes.  If you wake me, tomorrow morning, you will see I will be up, sharp enough.

“There is hardly any wind.”

“No, we have been only crawling along all night.  There is Gib, you see, behind us.”

“Why, it doesn’t look ten miles off,” Bob said, in surprise.

“It is twice that.  It is two or three and twenty, I should say.

“Now, the best thing you can do is to go down to the waist, slip off your togs, and have a few buckets of water poured over you.  That will wake you up, and you will feel ever so much more comfortable, afterwards.  I have just told the steward to make us a couple of cups of coffee.  They will be ready by the time you have had your wash.”

Bob followed the advice and, after a bath, a cup of coffee, and a biscuit, he no longer felt the effects from the shortness of the night.  The sun had already risen, and there was not a cloud upon the sky.

“What are those, over there?” he asked, pointing to the southeast.  “They look like sails.”

“They are sails.  They are the upper sails of the Spanish fleet.  I expect they are trying to work back into the bay again, but they won’t do it, unless they get more wind.  You see, I have taken the topgallant sails off the brig, so as not to be seen.

“There is the Spanish coast, you see, twelve or fourteen miles away, to port.  If you like, you can take the glass and go up into the maintop, and see if you can make anything out on shore.”

Bob came down in half an hour.

“There are some fishing boats,” he said, “at least, they look like fishing boats, close inshore, just abreast of us.”

“Yes, there are two or three little rivers on this side of Malaga.  There is not water in them for craft of any size, but the fishing boats use them.  There is a heavy swell sets in here, when the wind is from the east with a bit south in it, and they run up there for shelter.”

Captain Lockett now came up on deck.

“Good morning, Bob!  I did not see you here, when watch was changed.”

“No, sir, I wasn’t woke; but I mean to be up another morning.”

“That is right, Bob.  Joe and I agreed to give you an extra hour, this morning.  Four hours are very short measure, to one who is not accustomed to it; but you will soon find that you can turn in and get a sleep, when your watch is over, whatever the time of day.”

“It seems to me that this watch has the worst of it, Captain Lockett.  We had from eight to twelve, and now from four to eight; and the other had only four hours on deck.”

“Yours is considered the best watch, Bob.  The middle watch, as the one that comes on at twelve o’clock is called, is always the most disliked.  You see, at eight bells you go off and have your breakfast comfortably, and can then turn in till twelve o’clock; and you can get another caulk, from five or six till eight in the evening.  Of course, if there is anything to do, bad weather or anything of that sort, both watches are on deck, all day.”

“Well, I am almost sure I should like the other watch best,” Bob said.

“You are wrong, lad, especially in summer.  You see, it is not fairly dark till nine, and you wouldn’t turn in till ten, anyhow; so that, really, you are only kept two hours out of your bunk, at that watch.  It is getting light when you come up, at four; and at five we begin to wash decks, and there is plenty to occupy you, so that it doesn’t seem long till eight bells.  The others have to turn out at twelve o’clock, just when they are most sleepy; and to be on watch for the four dark hours, and then go down just as it is getting light.

“On a cold night in winter, in the channel, I think perhaps the advantage is the other way.  But, in fact, men get so accustomed to the four hours in, and the four hours out, that it makes very little difference to them how it goes.”

All day the brig kept on the same course, moving very slowly through the water, and passing the coast as much by aid of the current as by that of her sails.

“We are pretty well off Malaga,” Captain Lockett said, in the afternoon.  “If there had been any wind, we should have had a chance of picking up something making from there to the Straits; but there is no chance of that, today.  People like making quick voyages, when there is a risk of falling in with an enemy; and they won’t be putting out from port until there is some change in the weather.  However, it looks to me as if there is a chance of a little breeze, from the south, when the sun goes down.  I have seen a flaw or two on the water, that way.”

“Yes, it seems to me darker over there,” the mate said.  “I will go up and have a look round.

“Yes, sir, there is certainly a breeze stirring, down to the south,” he shouted, from aloft.

“That will just suit us,” the captain said.  “We must be twenty miles off the coast at least and, even if they had noticed us from above the town, we are too far off for them to make us out, at all; so it will be safe for us to run in to the land.

“We shall rely upon you, Bob, if we are hailed.”

“I will do my best to throw dust in their eyes, captain.  You must tell me, beforehand, all particulars; so that I can have the story pat.”

“We will wait till we see what sort of craft is likely to hail us.  A tale may be good enough, for the skipper of a coaster, that might not pass muster with the captain of a gunboat.”

“What are the coasters likely to be laden with?”

“There is never any saying.  Mostly fruit and wine, grain and olives.  Then some of them would be taking goods, from the large ports, to the small towns and villages along the coast.  Some of the coasters are well worth picking up; but of course, the craft we shall be chiefly on the lookout for will be those from abroad.  Some of these have very valuable cargoes.  They bring copper and lead, and sometimes silver from the mines of Mexico and South America.  Some of them carry a good lot of silver, but it is too much to hope that we should run across such a prize as that.  They bring over hides, too; they are worth money.  Then, of course, there are ships that have been trading up the Mediterranean with France and Italy or the Levant.

“So, you see, there is a considerable variety in the chances of what we may light upon.  Coasters are, of course, the staple, so to speak.  If we have anything like luck, we shall not do badly, with them.  The others we must look upon as the prizes in the lottery.”

Before the sun set the breeze came up to them, and the brig was at once headed for the land.  At ten o’clock the lights of Malaga were made out on the port beam, and the brig bore away a little to the east.  Two hours later the land was looming, not far ahead.

Sail was got off her, and a man placed in the chains, and soundings taken.  This was continued until the water shoaled to eight fathoms, when the brig was brought up, head to wind, and the anchor let go.  Then an anchor watch of four men was set, and the rest of the crew allowed to turn in.

At daybreak the officers were out again, and it was found that the brig was lying within a quarter of a mile of the land, in a slight indentation of the coast.  The wind had died away, and the sails were loosed, and suffered to fall against the masts.

“It could not be better,” Captain Lockett said.  “We look, now, as if we had been trying to make up or down the coast, and had been forced to come to anchor here.  Fortunately there don’t seem to be any villages near, so we are not likely to have anyone coming out to us.”

“How far do you think we are from Malaga, captain?”

“About ten miles, I should say, Bob.  Why do you ask?”

“I was only thinking whether it would be possible for me to make my way there, and find out what vessels there are in harbour, and whether any of them are likely to be coming this way.  But if it is ten miles, I am afraid it is too far.  I should have to pass through villages; and I might be questioned where I came from, and where I was going.  I don’t know that my Spanish would pass muster, if I were questioned like that.

“I should be all right, if I were once in a seaport.  No one would be likely to ask me any questions.  Then I could stroll about, and listen to what was said and, certainly, I could talk quite well enough to go in and get a meal, and all that sort of thing.”

“I couldn’t let you do that, Bob,” the captain said.  “It is a very plucky idea, but it wouldn’t be right to let you carry it out.  You would get hung as a spy, if you were detected.”

“I don’t think there is the least fear in the world of my being detected, in a seaport,” Bob said, “and I should think it great fun; but I shouldn’t like to try to cross the country.  Perhaps we may have a better chance, later on.”

The captain shook his head.

“You might go on board some ship, if one brings up at anchor anywhere near us, Bob.  If you got detected, there, we would take her and rescue you.  But that is a different thing to letting you go ashore.”

Presently the sails of two fishing boats were seen, coming out from beyond a low point, three miles to the east.

“I suppose there is a fishing village, there,” the mate said.  “I am glad they are no nearer.”

He examined the boats with a glass.

“They are working out with sweeps.  I expect they hope to get a little wind, when they are in the offing.”

Just as they were at breakfast the second mate, who was on deck, called down the skylight: 

“There are three craft to the west, sir.  They have just come out from behind the point there.  They are bringing a little breeze with them.”

“What are they like, Mr. Crofts?”

“One is a polacre, another a xebec, and the third looks like a full-rigged craft; but as she is end on, I can’t say for certain.”

“All right, Mr. Crofts!  I will be up in five minutes.  We can do nothing until we get the wind, anyhow.”

Breakfast was speedily finished, and they went on deck.  The Spanish flag was already flying from the peak.  The three craft were about two miles away.

“How are they sailing, Mr. Crofts?”

“I fancy the xebec is the fastest, sir.  She was astern just now, and she is abreast of the polacre now, as near as I can make out.  The ship, or brig ­whichever it is ­seems to me to be dropping astern.”

“Heave away at the anchor, Joe.  Get in all the slack, so as to be ready to hoist, as soon as the breeze reaches us.  I don’t want them to come up to us.  The line they are taking, now, will carry them nearly half a mile outside us, which is fortunate.  Run in six of the guns, and throw a tarpaulin over the eighteen pounder.  Three guns, on each side, are about enough for us to show.”

The breeze caught them when the three Spanish craft were nearly abeam.

“They have more wind, out there, than we shall have here,” the captain said; “which is an advantage, for I don’t want to run away from them.

“Now, get up the anchor, Joe.  Don’t take too many hands.”

The watch below had already been ordered to sit down on the deck, and half the other watch were now told to do the same.

“Twelve or fourteen hands are quite enough to show,” the captain said.

“The anchor’s up, sir,” Joe shouted.

“Let it hang there.  We will get it aboard, presently.

“Now haul that fore-staysail across, ease off the spanker sheet.

“Now, as she comes round, haul on the braces and sheets, one by one.  Do it in as lubberly a way as you can.”

The brig, which had been riding with her head to the west, came slowly round; the yards being squared in a slow fashion, in strong contrast to the active way in which they were generally handled.  The captain watched the other craft, carefully.

“The xebec and polacre are gaining on us, but we are going as fast through the water as the three master.  When we get the wind a little more, we shall have the heels of them all.

“Get a sail overboard, Joe, and tow it under her port quarter.  Don’t give her too much rope, or they might catch sight of it, on board the ship.  That will bring us down to her rate of sailing.

“I want to keep a bit astern of them.  We dare not attack them in the daylight; they mount too many guns for us, altogether.  That big fellow has got twelve on a side, the polacre has eight, and the xebec six, so between them they have fifty-two guns.  We might try it, if they were well out at sea; but it would never do, here.  There may be galleys or gunboats within hearing, so we must bide our time.

“I think we are in luck, this time, Joe.  That ship must have come foreign; at least, I should say so by her appearance, though she may be from Cadiz.  As to the other two, they may be anything.  The xebec, no doubt, is a coast trader.  The polacre may be one thing, or another, but I should hardly think she has come across the Atlantic.  Likely enough she is from Bilbao or Santander.  The ship is the fellow to get hold of, if we get a chance.  I shall be quite content to leave the others alone.”

“I should think so,” Joe agreed.  “The ship ought to be a valuable prize, wherever she comes from.  If she is sound, and pretty new, she would fetch a good sum, if we can get her into an English port.”

The wind continued to hold light, and the four vessels made but slow progress through the water.  The two leaders, however, gradually improved their position.  They were nearly matched, in point of sailing; and their captains were evidently making a race of it, hoisting every stitch of canvas they were able to show.  By the afternoon they were fully two miles ahead of the ship, which was half a mile on the starboard bow of the brig.

The wind died away to nothing, as the sun set.  The three Spanish vessels had all been edging in towards shore, and the polacre anchored just before sunset.  The ship held on for another hour, but was a mile astern of the other two when she, also, dropped her anchor.

The sail, that had been towing overboard from the brig, had been got on board again when the wind began to drop; and she had come up to within little more than a quarter of a mile of the ship.  The anchor was let go, as soon as it was seen that the crew of the ship were preparing to anchor, so that the brig should be first to do so.  Whether there had been any suspicions, on board the Spaniards, as to the character of the brig, they could not tell but, watching her closely, Captain Lockett saw that the order to anchor was countermanded, as soon as it was seen that the brig had done so.

A few minutes after the men again went forward, and the anchor was dropped; for the vessel was making no way whatever, through the water.

“Well, Joe, there we are, close to her, now.  The question is, what are we to do next?  If there was any wind, it would be simple enough.  We would drop alongside, in the middle watch; and carry her by boarding, before the Dons had time to get out of their hammocks.  But as it is, that is out of the question and, of course, we can’t think of towing her up.  On such a still night as this will be, they would hear the slightest noise.”

“We might attack her in the boats,” the mate said.

“Yes, that would be possible; but their watch would hear the oars, the instant we began to row.  You see, by the number of guns she carries, she must be strongly manned.”

“I expect most of them are small,” Joe said, “and meant for show, rather than use.  It is likely enough she may have taken half of them on board at Cadiz, or Malaga, so as to give her a formidable appearance, in case she should fall in with any craft of our description.  If she has come across the Atlantic, she would never have carried anything like that number of guns, for Spain was not at war with anyone.”

“No; but craft flying the black flag are still to be found in those waters, Joe, and she might carry her guns for defence against them.  But it is not a question of guns, at present, it is a question of the crew.  It isn’t likely that she carries many more than we do and, if we could but get alongside her, there would be no fear about it, at all; but I own I don’t like the risk of losing half my men, in an attack on a craft like that, unless we can have the advantage of a surprise.”

“What do you say to my swimming off to her, as soon as it gets quite dark, captain?” Bob said.  “I am a very good swimmer.  We used to bathe regularly at Putney, where I was at school; and I have swum across the Thames and back, lots of times.  There is sure to be a little mist on the water, presently, and they won’t be keeping a very sharp lookout till it gets later.  I can get hold of a cable and climb up; and get in over the bow, if there is no lookout there, and see what is going on.  There is no danger in the thing for, if I am discovered, I have only got to dive and swim back again.  There is no current to speak of, here; and there wouldn’t be the least chance of their hitting me, in the dark.  I should certainly be able to learn something, by listening to their talk.”

“It would be a very risky thing, Bob,” Captain Lockett said, shaking his head.  “I shouldn’t like to let you do it; though of course it would be a great thing, if we could learn something about her.  I own I don’t like her appearance, though I can’t say why.  Somehow or other, I don’t think she is all right.  Either all those guns are a mere pretence, and she is weak handed, or she must carry a very big crew.”

“Well, I don’t see there can be any possible harm in my trying to get on board her, captain.  Of course, if I am hailed as I approach her, I shall turn and come back again.  The night will be dark, but I shall have no difficulty in finding her, from the talking and noise on board.

“Well, Joe, what do you think?” the captain said, doubtfully.

“I think you might let Bob try,” Joe said.  “I should not mind trying at all but, as I can’t speak Spanish, I should be able to learn nothing.  They are not likely to be setting a watch, and keeping a sharp lookout, for some time; and I should think that he might, possibly, get on board unobserved.  If they do make him out, he has only to keep on diving and, in the dark, there would be little chance of their hitting him.  Besides, they certainly couldn’t make out that it was a swimmer.  If they noticed a ripple in the water, they would be sure to think it was a fish of some sort.”

Bob continued to urge that he should be allowed to try it and, at last, Captain Lockett agreed to his doing so.  It was already almost dark enough for the attempt to be made, and Bob prepared at once for the swim.  He took off his coat, waistcoat, and shirt; and put on a dark knitted jersey, fastened a belt tightly round his waist, over his breeches, and took off his shoes.

“If I am seen,” he said, “you are sure to hear them hailing, or shouting; and then please show a lantern over the stern,” for, slight as the current was, it sufficed to make the vessel swing head to west.

A rope was lowered over the side and, by this, he slipped down quietly into the water, which was perfectly warm.  Then he struck off noiselessly, in the direction of the ship.  He kept the two masts of the brig in one, as long as he could make them out but, owing to the mist on the water, he soon lost sight of her; but he had no difficulty in keeping a straight course, as he could plainly hear the sound of voices, ahead of him.  Taking the greatest pains to avoid making the slightest splash, and often pausing to listen, Bob swam on until he saw a dark mass looming up in front of him.

He now did little more than float, giving a gentle stroke, occasionally, and drifting towards it until he grasped the cable.

He now listened intently.  There were voices on the fo’castle, above him; and he determined, before trying to climb up there, to swim round the vessel ­keeping close to her side, so that he could not be seen, unless someone leaned far over the bulwark.  Halfway along he came upon a projection and, looking up, saw that slabs of wood, three inches wide, were fixed against the side, at intervals of a foot apart; so as to form an accommodation ladder, when it was not considered necessary to lower a gangway.  Two hand ropes hung by the side of it.

His way was now easy.  He drew himself out of the water by the ropes, and ascended the ladder; then crawled along outside the bulwark until he came to a porthole, from which a gun projected; then he crawled in there, and lay under the cannon.

Two or three lanterns were suspended above the deck and, by their light, Bob could at once see that he was on board a ship of war.  Groups of sailors were sitting on the deck, among the guns; and he saw that most of these were run in, and that they were of heavy calibre, several of them being 32-pounders.

As the captain and Joe had both agreed that the guns were only 14-pounders, Bob had no difficulty in arriving at the fact that these must have been mere dummies, thrust out of the portholes to deceive any stranger as to her armament.  He lay listening, for some time, to the talk of the sailors; and gathered that the ship had been purposely disguised, before putting out from Malaga, in order to deceive any English privateers she might come across as to her strength.  He learned also that considerable doubts were entertained, as to the brig; and that the xebec and polacre had been signalled to go on ahead, so as to induce the brig ­if she should be an enemy ­to make an attack.

The reason why she had not been overhauled, during the day, was that the captain feared she might escape him in a light wind; for the watch had been vigilant, and had made out that she was towing something, to deaden her way.  It was considered likely that, taking the ship for a merchantman, an attack would be made in boats during the night; and the men joked as to the surprise their assailants would get.  Boarding pikes were piled in readiness; shot had been placed in the racks, ready to throw down into the boats as they came alongside; and the ship’s boats had been swung out, in readiness for lowering ­as it was intended to carry the brig, by boarding, after the repulse and destruction of her boats.

“We have had a narrow escape of catching a tartar,” Bob said, to himself.  “It is very lucky I came on board to reconnoitre.  The Spaniards are not such duffers as we thought them.  We fancied we were taking them in, and very nearly fell into a trap, ourselves.”

Very quietly he crawled back under the porthole, made his way along outside the bulwark until his hand touched the rope, and then slid down by it into the water.  As he knew there was more chance of a sharp watch being kept, in the eyes of the ship, than elsewhere, he swam straight out from her side until she became indistinct, and then headed for the brig.  The lights on board the Spaniard served as a guide to him, for some time; but the distance seemed longer to him than it had before, and he was beginning to fancy he must have missed the brig, when he saw her looming up on his right.  In three or four minutes he was alongside.

“The brig there!” he hailed.  “Drop me a rope overboard.”

There was a stir overhead, at once.

“Where are you, Bob?” Captain Lockett asked, leaning over the side.

“Just below you, sir.”

A rope was dropped.  Bob grasped it, and was hauled up.

“Thank God you are back again!” the captain said.  “I have been blaming myself, ever since you started; though, as all was quiet, we felt pretty sure they hadn’t made you out.  Well, have you any news?  Did you get on board?”

“You will get no prize money this time, captain.  The Spaniard is a ship of war, mounting twenty-four guns; none of them smaller than eighteens, and ten of them thirty-twos.”

“Impossible, Bob!  We could not have been so mistaken.  Joe and I were both certain that they were fourteens.”

“Yes, sir; but those things you saw were dummies.  The guns, themselves, are almost all drawn in.  All the thirty-twos are, and most of the eighteens.  She has been specially disguised, at Malaga, in hopes of tempting a craft like yours to attack her and, what is more, she has a shrewd suspicion of what you are;” and he related the whole of the conversation he had heard, and described the preparations for repulsing a boat attack and, in turn, carrying the brig in the ship’s boats.

Captain Lockett was thunderstruck.

“The Spanish officer who commands her must be a smart fellow,” he said, “and we have had a narrow escape of running our head into a noose ­thanks to you, Bob; for Joe and I had quite made up our minds to attack her, in the middle watch.

“Well, the only thing for us to do is to get away from here, as soon as we can.  If she finds we don’t attack her, tonight, she is sure to send a boat to us, in the morning; and then, if we have an engagement, we could hardly hope to get off without losing some of our spars ­even if we were not sunk ­with such heavy metal as she carries.  We should have the other two craft down on us, too, and our chances of getting away would be worth nothing.

“Well, I suppose, Joe, our best plan will be to tow her away?”

“I should think so, sir.  When they hear us at it, they may send their boats out after us, but we can beat them off; and I should hardly think that they would try it, for they will be sure that, if we are a privateer, we have been playing the same game as they have, and hiding our guns, and will guess that we carry a strong crew.”

“Send the crew aft, Joe.  I will tell them how matters stand.

“We have had a narrow escape of catching a tartar, my lads,” he said, when the men went aft.  “You all know Mr. Repton swam off, an hour ago, to try and find out what the ship was like.  Well, he has been on board, and brings back news that she is no trader, but a ship of war, disguised; and that she carries twenty-four guns ­eighteen-pounders and thirty-twos.  If we met while out at sea, we might make a fight of it; but it would never do, here, especially as her two consorts would be down upon us.  She suspects what we are, although she is not certain; and everything is in readiness to repel a boat attack ­her captain’s intention being, if we tried, to sink or cripple the boats, and then to attack us with her guns.

“So you may thank Mr. Repton that you have had a narrow escape of seeing the inside of a Spanish prison.

“Now, what I propose to do is to tow her out.  Get the four boats in the water, as quietly as you can.  We have greased the falls, already.  We will tow her straight ahead, at any rate for a bit.  That craft won’t be able to bring any guns to bear upon us, except perhaps a couple of bow chasers; and as she won’t be able to see us, there is not much chance of our being hit.  Pass the hawser along, from boat to boat, and row in a line ahead of her.  The hull will shelter you.  Then lay out heartily; but be ready, if you are hailed, to throw off the hawser and get back on board again, as soon as you can, for they may send their boats out after us.  We shall get a start anyhow for, when they hear you rowing, they will think you are putting off to attack them; and it will be some minutes before they will find out their mistake.

“Joe, do you go in charge of the boats.  I will take the helm.  You must cut the cable.  They would hear the clank of the windlass.”

The operation of lowering boats was conducted very silently.  Bob had taken his place at the taffrail, and stood listening for any sound that would show that the Spaniards had heard what was doing.  The oars were scarcely dipped in the water, when he heard a sudden lull in the distant talking.  A minute later, it broke out again.

“They have orders to pay no attention to the noises,” Captain Lockett said, “so as to lead us to think that we shall take them unawares.

“There, she is moving now,” he added, as he looked down into the water.

Four or five minutes elapsed; and then, in the stillness of the evening, they could hear a loud hail, in Spanish: 

“What ship is that?  Cease rowing, or we will sink you!”

“Don’t answer,” Captain Lockett said.  “They have nothing but the confused sound of the oars to tell them where we are.”

The hail was repeated and, a minute later, there was the flash of a gun in the darkness, and a shot hummed through the air.

“Fire away!” the captain muttered.  “You are only wasting ammunition.”

For some minutes the Spaniard continued to fire her two bow guns.  Then, after a pause, there was a crash; and twelve guns were discharged, together.

“We are getting farther off, every minute,” the captain said, “and unless an unlucky shot should strike one of her spars, we are safe.”

The broadside was repeated four times, and then all was silent.

“We are a mile away from them now, Bob; and though, I daresay, they can hear the sound of the oars, it must be mere guesswork as to our position.”

He went forward to the bows, and hailed the boats.

“Take it easy now, Mr. Lockett.  I don’t think she will fire any more.  When the men have got their wind, row on again.  I shall head her out, now.  We must give her a good three miles offing, before we stop.”

The men in the four boats had been exerting themselves to their utmost, and it was five minutes before they began rowing again.  For an hour and a half they continued their work, and then Captain Lockett said to the second mate: 

“You can go forward, and hail them to come on board.  I think we have been moving through the water about two knots an hour, so we must be three miles seaward of him.”

As soon as the men came on board, a tot of grog was served out, all round.  Then the watch below turned in.

“You won’t anchor, I suppose, captain?”

“No, there is a considerable depth of water here, and a rocky bottom.  I don’t want to lose another anchor, and it would take us something like half an hour to get it up again; besides, what current there is will drift us eastward.

“There is more of it, here, than we had inshore.  I should say there must be nearly a knot an hour, which will take us a good distance away from those gentlemen, before morning.

“Now, Bob, you had better have a glass of grog, and then turn in.  Joe will excuse you keeping watch, tonight.”

“Oh, I feel all right!” Bob said.  “The water was quite warm, and I slipped down and changed my clothes, directly they left off firing.”

“Never mind, you turn in as you are told.  You have done us good service, tonight; and have earned your keep on board the brig, if you were to stop here till she fell to pieces of old age.”

When Bob went up in the morning, at five o’clock, the three Spanish vessels were still lying at anchor under the land, seven or eight miles away.

“There is a breeze coming,” Joe said, “and it is from the south, so we shall get it long before they do.  We shall see no more of them.”

As soon as the breeze reached them, the sails were braced aft; and the brig kept as close to the wind as she would sail, lying almost directly off from the land.

“I want them to think that we are frightened,” Captain Lockett said, in answer to a question from Bob as to the course, “and that we have decided to get away from their neighbourhood, altogether.  I expect they are only going as far as Alicante.  We will run on till we are well out of sight, then hold on for the rest of the day east and, in the night, head for land again, beyond Alicante.  It would never do to risk those fellows coming upon us, again, when we are quietly at anchor.  We might not be so lucky, next time.”

An hour later the lookout in the top hailed the deck, and said that there was a sail in sight.

“What does she look like, Halkett?” Joe Lockett shouted, for the captain was below.

“As far as I can make out she is a two master ­I should say, a brig.”

“How is she heading?”

“About northeast, sir.  I should say, if we both hold on our courses, she will pass ahead of us.”

The captain was now on deck, and he and the first mate went up to the top.

“Starboard your helm a bit!” the captain shouted, after examining the distant sail through his telescope.  “Keep her about east.”

“What do you think she is, captain?” Bob asked, when the two officers came down again to the poop.

“I should say that she was a craft about our own size, Bob; and I fancy she has come through the Straits, keeping well over the other side, so as to avoid our cruisers from Gib; and is now heading for Alicante.  Now we are on our course again, parallel to the coast, there is no reason why she should suspect us of being anything but a trader.  If she doesn’t take the alarm, I hope we shall be alongside her in a few hours.”