"Land O!"

"Land, land!" repeated the gentle being by his side, "what land?"

"Africa," quietly responded the captain, without a token of
satisfaction.

"Africa? that is indeed an inhospitable shore; can we land there?"

"Yes, I shall make sure that you land safely, and can despatch you to
Sierra Leone, from whence you can take ship for England, but--"

"Sail O!" shouted the lookout.

"Whereaway?" asked the captain promptly, seizing a deck trumpet and
abruptly turning from her to whom he had been speaking, while his whole
manner changed at once.

"A couple of points on the larboard beam, sir," answered the seaman.

"All hands, Mr. Faulkner, and 'bout ship; that square rig and the heavy
lift of those topsails tell what there must be below to sustain them.
Lively, sir, the 'Sea Witch' must show her qualities."

Miss Huntington had watched with some amazement these orders, and the
result of the same, and as she saw the beautiful craft in which she was
put at once on the opposite tack and steer boldly away from the shore
which had just been made, she could not help for a moment remembering
the words of the mate in the boat, that pirates sometimes were found in
these latitudes!