"Are they gaining on us?" Fernando asked.
"Not much, if any," was the response.
Again the officer in the bow, making a speaking trumpet of his hands,
shouted:
"Heave to, or I swear I'll fire on you!"
"To the divil with you," roared Terrence. "We've downed one redcoat in
fair light; what more do ye want, bad luck to ye?"
The officer spoke to some one behind him, and a musket was handed him.
Terrence sprang to the stern saying:
"Now look out! lay low, ye lubbers! the blackguard's goin' to shoot!"
The officer raised his musket, and a moment later a puff of smoke issued
from the muzzle.
"Down!" cried Terrence. All laid low, and the next second the report of
a musket came on the air, and a bullet dropped in the water, a little to
the larboard.
"They are coming agin," cried Terrence.
"Haven't you sweeps which we could work?" asked Fernando.
There was a pair of sweeps in the craft, and Terrence and Fernando
manned them. Though Fernando was a little awkward at first, he soon came
to use the sweep quite effectively and helped the little craft along.
"Do we gain on them?" asked Fernando.
"Not much, if any;" the helmsman answered.
At this moment, three or four muskets were fired from the boat, and the
balls whistled among the sails or spattered in the water. Should they
meet with one of those sudden calms which frequently overtook vessels
off the bay, they knew they would be lost.
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