to close up to the _Sea-horse__. The sea was very calm and they were able
to lie alongside, and as soon as they did so the troops began to be
transferred to them. In a quarter of an hour the operation was completed,
Major Harrison taking his place on board the lugger; half the men were
ordered below, and the prize sheered off from the _Sea-horse__.

"The Frenchman is bearing down straight for us," he said to O'Driscol;
"she is bringing a breeze down with her, and in an hour she will be
alongside. I shall wait another half-hour, and then we must leave the
_Sea-horse__ to her fate; except for our stores she is worthless. Well,
Terence, have you any suggestion to offer? You got us out of the last
scrape, and though this is not quite so bad as that, it is unpleasant
enough. The frigate when she comes near will see that the _Sea-horse__ is
a slow sailer, and will probably leave her to be picked up at her leisure,
and will go off in chase either of the brig or us. The brig is to make for
the north-west and we shall steer south-east, so that she will have to
make a choice between us. When we get the breeze we shall either of us
give her a good dance before she catches us--that is, if the breeze is not
too strong; if it is, her weight would soon bring her up to us."

"Yes, Major, but perhaps she may not trouble about us at all. She would
see at once that the lugger and brig are French, and if they were both to
hoist French colours, and the _Sea-horse__ were to fly French colours over
English, she would naturally suppose that she had been captured by us, and
would go straight on her course without troubling herself further about
it."

"So she might, Terence. At any rate the scheme is worth trying. If they
have anything like good glasses on board they could make out our colours
miles away. If she held on towards us after that, there would be plenty of