Chapter 29

"--Thou shalt see me at Philippi."

Shakspeare.

The commander of Her Britannic Majesty's ship Coquette slept that night in
the hammock-cloths. Before the sun had set, the light and swift
brigantine, by following the gradual bend of the land, had disappeared in
the eastern board; and it was no longer a question of overtaking her by
speed. Still, sail was crowded on the royal cruiser; and, long ere the
period when Ludlow threw himself in his clothes between the ridge-ropes of
the quarter-deck, the vessel had gained the broadest part of the Sound,
and was already approaching the islands that form the 'Race.'

Throughout the whole of that long and anxious day, the young sailor had
held no communication with the inmates of the cabin. The servants of the
ship had passed to and fro; but, though the door seldom opened that he did
not bend his eyes feverishly in its direction, neither the Alderman, his
niece, the captive, nor even François or the negress, made their
appearance on the deck. If any there felt an interest in the result of the
chase, it was concealed in a profound and almost mysterious silence.
Determined not to be outdone in indifference, and goaded by feelings which
with all his pride he could not overcome, our young seaman took possession
of the place of rest we have mentioned, without using any measures to
resume the intercourse.

When the first watch of the night was come, sail, was shortened on the
ship, and from that moment till the day dawned again, her captain seemed
buried in sleep. With the appearance of the sun, however, he arose, and
commanded the canvas to be spread, once more, and every exertion made to
drive the vessel forward to her object.

The Coquette reached the Race early in the day, and, shooting through the
passage on an ebb-tide, she was off Montauk at noon. No sooner had the
ship drawn past the cape, and reached a point where she felt the breeze
and the waves of the Atlantic, than men were sent aloft, and twenty eyes
were curiously employed in examining the offing. Ludlow remembered the
promise of the Skimmer to meet him at that spot, and, notwithstanding the
motives which the latter might be supposed to have for avoiding the
interview, so great was the influence of the free-trader's manner and
character, that the young captain entertained secret expectations the
promise would be kept.

"The offing is clear!" said the young captain, in a tone of
disappointment, when he lowered his glass; "and yet that rover does not
seem a man to hide his head in fear----"

"Fear--that is to say, fear of a Frenchman--and a decent respect for Her
Majesty's cruisers, are very different sorts of things," returned the