“I see nothing but the light.  It is so dark that our own sails are scarcely visible—­and yet I think here are his yards, a little forward of our lee beam.”

“’Tis our own lower boom.  I got it out, in readiness for the other tack, in case the knave should ware.  Are we not running too full?”

“Luff you may, a little,—­luff, or we shall crush him!”

As this order was given, Ludlow passed swiftly forward.  He found the hoarders ready for a spring, and he rapidly gave his orders.  The men were told to carry the brigantine at every hazard, but not to offer violence, unless serious resistance was made.  They were thrice enjoined not to enter the cabins, and the young man expressed a generous wish that, in every case, the ‘Skimmer of the Seas’ might be taken alive.  By the time these directions were given, the light was so near that the malign countenance of the sea-green lady was seen in every lineament.  Ludlow looked, in vain, for the spars, in order to ascertain in which direction the head of the brigantine lay; but, trusting to luck, he saw that the decisive moment was come.

“Starboard, and run him aboard!—­Away there, you boarders, away!  Heave with your grapnels; heave, men, with a long swing, heave!  Meet her, with the helm—­hard down—­meet her—­steady!”—­was shouted in a clear, full, and steady voice, that seemed to deepen at each mandate which issued from the lips of the young captain.

The boarders cheered heartily, and leaped into the rigging.  The Coquette readily and rapidly yielded to the power of her rudder.  First inclining to the light, and then sweeping up towards the wind again, in another instant she was close upon the chase.  The irons were thrown, the men once more shouted, and all on board held their breaths in expectation of the crash of the meeting hulls.  At that moment of high excitement, the woman’s face rose a short distance in the air, seemed to smile in derision of their attempt, and suddenly disappeared.  The ship passed steadily ahead, while no noise but the sullen wash of the waters was audible.  The boarding-irons were heard falling heavily into the sea; and the Coquette rapidly overrun the spot where the light had been seen, without sustaining any shock.  Though the clouds lifted a little, and the eye might embrace a circuit of a few hundred feet, there certainly was nothing to be seen, within its range, but the unquiet element, and the stately cruiser of Queen Anne floating on its bosom.

Though its effects were different on the differently-constituted minds of those who witnessed the singular incident, the disappointment was general.  The common impression was certainly unfavorable to the earthly character of the brigantine; and when opinions of this nature once get possession of the ignorant, they are not easily removed.  Even Trysail, though experienced in the arts of those who trifle with the revenue-laws, was much inclined to believe that this was no vulgar