Chapter 18

"Thus guided on their course they bore,
Until they near'd the mainland shore;
When frequent on the hollow blast,
Wild shouts of merriment were cast."
_Lord of the Isles_.

The joyful shouts and hearty cheers of the Ariel's crew continued for
some time after her commander had reached her deck. Barnstable answered
the congratulations of his officers by cordial shakes of the hand; and
after waiting for the ebullition of delight among the seamen to subside
a little, he beckoned with an air of authority for silence.

"I thank you, my lads, for your good-will," he said, when all were
gathered around him in deep attention; "they have given us a tough
chase, and if you had left us another mile to go, we had been lost. That
fellow is a king's cutter; and though his disposition to run to leeward
is a good deal mollified, yet he shows signs of fight. At any rate, he
is stripping off some of his clothes, which looks as if he were game.
Luckily for us, Captain Manual has taken all the marines ashore with
him, (though what he has done with them, or himself, is a mystery,) or
we should have had our decks lumbered with live cattle; but, as it is,
we have a good working breeze, tolerably smooth water, and a dead match!
There is a sort of national obligation on us to whip that fellow; and
therefore, without more words about the matter, let us turn to and do
it, that we may get our breakfasts."

To this specimen of marine eloquence the crew cheered as usual, the
young men burning for the combat, and the few old sailors who belonged
to the schooner shaking their heads with infinite satisfaction, and
swearing by sundry strange oaths that their captain "could talk, when
there was need of such thing, like the best dictionary that ever was
launched."

During this short harangue and the subsequent comments, the Ariel had
been kept, under a cloud of canvas, as near to the wind as she could
lie; and as this was her best sailing, she had stretched swiftly out
from the land, to a distance whence the cliffs and the soldiers, who
were spread along their summits, became plainly visible. Barnstable
turned his glass repeatedly from the cutter to the shore, as different
feelings predominated in his breast, before he again spoke.

"If Mr. Griffith is stowed away among those rocks," he at length said,
"he shall see as pretty an argument discussed, in as few words, as he
ever listened to, provided the gentlemen in yonder cutter have not
changed their minds as to the road they intend to journey--what think
you, Mr. Merry?"

"I wish with all my heart and soul, sir," returned the fearless boy,
"that Mr. Griffith was safe aboard us; it seems