The gaze of the lieutenant seemed bewildered, but he made no reply.  Indeed, but little time was given for deliberation or discourse.  The “Dolphin” rolled swiftly along her path, and each moment dissipated the mist in which distance had enveloped the lesser objects on board the stranger.  Guns, blocks, ropes, bolts, men, and even features, became plainly visible, in rapid succession, as the water that divided them was parted by the bows of the lawless ship.  In a few short minutes, the stranger, having secured most of his lighter canvas, came sweeping up to the wind; and then, as his after-sails, squared for the purpose, took the breeze on their outer surface, the mass of his hull became stationary.

The people of the “Dolphin” had so far imitated the confiding credulity of the deceived cruiser of the Crown, as to furl all their loftiest duck, each man employed in the service trusting implicitly to the discretion and daring of the singular being whose pleasure it was to bring their ship into so hazardous a proximity to a powerful enemy—­qualities that had been known to avail them in circumstances of even greater delicacy than those in which they were now placed.  With this air of audacious confidence, the dreaded Rover came gliding down upon her unsuspecting neighbour, until within a few hundred feet of her weather-beam, when she too, with a graceful curve in her course, bore up against the breeze, and came to a state of rest.  But Wilder, who regarded all the movements of his superior in silent amazement, was not slow in observing that the head of the “Dolphin” was laid a different way from that of the other, and that her progress had been arrested by the counteracting position of her head-yards; a circumstance that afforded the advantage of a quicker command of the ship, should need require a sudden recourse to the guns.

The “Dolphin” was still drifting slowly under the last influence of her recent motion, when the customary hoarse and nearly unintelligible summons came over the water, demanding her appellation and character.  The Rover applied his trumpet to his lips, with a meaning glance that was directed towards his lieutenant, and returned the name of a ship, in the service of the King, that was known to be of the size and force of his own vessel.

“Ay, ay,” returned a voice from out of the other ship, “’twas so I made out your signals.”

The hail was then reciprocated, and the name of the royal cruiser given in return, followed by an invitation from her Commander, to his brother in authority to visit his superior.

Thus far, no more had occurred than was usual between seamen in the same service; but the affair was rapidly arriving at a point that most men would have found too embarrassing for further deception.  Still the observant eye of Wilder detected no hesitation or doubt in the manner of his chief.  The beat of the drum was heard from the cruiser, announcing the “retreat from quarters;” and, with