“I am not quite sure that we shall overhaul them anyhow, sir.  Look at those clouds coming over the hills.  They are travelling fast, and I should say that we are likely to have a squall.  No doubt they get them here pretty often with such high land all round.”

“Well, we must chance that, Hawkins.  If one does come you must pick us up as we come along.  I agree with you; it does look as if we should have a squall.  It may not be anything very serious, but anyhow, if it comes it will take her along a great deal faster than we can row.

“Purvis, I suppose that the dinghy will carry seven?”

“Yes, she will do that easily.”

“Very well, we can but try; that will give sixteen of us, which is about their strength.  You must remain on board.  Purvis shall command the dinghy; Lechmere will go with me.  Pick out thirteen hands.  You and Perry can manage with seven and the five negroes, but keep a sharp lookout for that squall.  Remember that you will have very short warning.  We are only a mile from the shore, and as it is coming down from the hills you may not see it on the water until it is quite close to you.”

The boats were lowered, and the men, armed with musket and cutlass, took their places.  Frank and George Lechmere each had a cutlass and a revolver buckled to the waist.

“Now give way, lads,” Frank said.  “She is about two miles ahead of us, and we ought to overtake her in half an hour.”

It was now getting dusk, the light fading out suddenly as the clouds spread over the sky.  Frank’s last orders to the skipper before leaving were: 

“Edge her in, Hawkins, until you are dead astern of the brigantine.  Then if the squall comes down before we reach her, we shall be right in your track.”

“I have put a lighted lantern into the stern sheets of each boat, sir, and have thrown a bit of sail cloth over them, so that if she leaves you behind, and you hold it up, there won’t be any fear of our missing you.”

The men rowed hard, but the gig had to stop frequently to let the dinghy come up.  They gained, however, fast upon the brig, and in half an hour were but a few hundred yards astern.  Then came a hail from the brigantine in French: 

“Keep off or we will sink you!”

No reply was made.  They were but two hundred yards away when there were two bright flashes from the stern of the brigantine, and a shower of bullets splashed round the boats.  There were two or three cries of pain, and George Lechmere felt Frank give a sudden start.

“Are you hit, sir?”

“I have got a bullet in my left shoulder, George, but it is of no consequence.

“Row on, lads,” he shouted.  “We shall be alongside before they have time to load again.

“I never thought of their having guns, though,” he went on, as the men recovered from their surprise, and dashed on again with a cheer.  “By the sharp crack they must be brass.  I suppose he picked up a couple of small guns at Ostend, thinking that they might be useful to him in these waters.”