and on, hauling up her courses, and furling her topgallant-sails and hauling down all of her light sails, the jib excepted As for the Dawn, she kept steadily on, carrying everything she could bear.  We had top-mast and lower studding-sails, and not a tack or sheet had been touched when we got within a quarter of a mile of the frigate.  The Englishman now showed his colours, when we let him see the stars and stripes.  Still no sail was touched on board us.  As if surprised at our obstinacy, John Bull let fly a chase-gun, taking good care not to send the shot very near us.  I thought it time, now, to shorten sail and to pretend to see him.  We began to haul down our studding-sails, merchant-fashion, and were fairly alongside of the frigate before even this preliminary step to heaving-to was effected.  As we approached, the frigate bore up, and ran off in company with us, keeping a hundred fathoms distance from us, and watching us closely.  At this instant, I ordered the topgallant-sails settled on the caps, as a sign we intended to let him board us.

At length, having reduced the sail to the three top-sails, reefed, I hove-to the Dawn, and waited for a visit from the Englishman’s boat.  As soon as the frigate saw us fairly motionless, she shot up on our weather quarter, half a cable’s length distant, swung her long, saucy-looking yards, and lay-to herself.  At the same instant her lee-quarter boat dropped into the water, with the crew in it, a boy of a mid-shipman scrambled down the ship’s side and entered it also, a lieutenant followed, when away the cockle of a thing swept on the crest of a sea, and was soon pulling round under our stern.  I stood on the lee quarter, examining my visiters, as they struggled against the swell, in order to get a boat-hook into our main chains.  The men were like any other man-of-war’s men, neat, sturdy, and submissive in air.  The reefer was a well-dressed boy, evidently a gentleman’s son; but the lieutenant was one of those old weather-beaten sea-dogs, who are seldom employed in boats, unless something more than common is to be done.  He was a man of forty, hard-featured, pock-marked, red-faced, and scowling.  I afterwards ascertained he was the son of some underling about the Portsmouth dock-yard, who had worked his way up to a lieutenancy, and owed his advancement principally to his readiness in impressing seamen.  His name was Sennit.

We threw Mr. Sennit a rope, as a matter of course, and Marble met him at the gangway with the usual civilities.  I was amused with the meeting between these men, who had strictly that analogy to each other which is well described as “diamond cut diamond.”  Each was dogmatical, positive, and full of nautical conceit, in his own fashion; and each hated the other’s country as heartily as man could hate, while both despised Frenchmen.  But Sennit knew a mate from a master, at a glance; and, without noticing Marble’s sea-bow, a slight for which Marble did not soon forgive him, he walked directly aft to me, not well pleased, as I thought, that a ship-master had neglected to be at the gangway to meet a sea lieutenant.