A Middy in Command | Page 5

Thus, while they were running almost directly away
from us, they were also rapidly widening the distance between each
other, and it would therefore be very necessary for the skipper to make
up his mind quickly which of the two craft he would pursue--for it was
clear that, by this manoeuvre on their part, they had rendered it

impossible for us to chase them both.
I was in the act of reporting this matter to the skipper and the second
lieutenant, who were walking the quarter-deck together, when Mr
Fawcett--who, with the captain, had come to a halt at my
hail--suddenly reeled, staggered, and fell prone upon the deck with a
crash. The skipper instantly sprang to his assistance, as did young
Christy, a fellow mid of mine, who was pacing fore and aft on the
opposite side of the deck, and three or four men who were at work
about some job in the wake of the main rigging; and between them they
raised the poor fellow up and carried him below. I subsequently
learned--when I eventually descended from aloft--that the surgeon had
reported him to be suffering from sunstroke, which was complicated by
an injury to the skull sustained by his having struck his head upon a
ring-bolt in the deck as he fell.
Meanwhile, during the temporary confusion that ensued on deck in
consequence of this untoward incident, I employed myself in the
careful measurement of the angle made by the mast-heads of the two
strange sail with the now sharply defined horizon, and noting the result
upon the back of an envelope which I happened to have in my jacket
pocket. I had scarcely done this when the skipper hailed me, asking
whether we seemed to be gaining anything upon the strangers, or
whether I thought that they were running away from us. I replied that
the breeze had reached them too recently to enable me to judge, but that
I hoped to be in a position to let him know definitely in the course of
the next half-hour. I then explained to him what I had done, and he was
pleased to express his approval. Meanwhile we continued to steer a
course about midway between that of the two strangers, by which
means it was hoped that we should be able to keep both in sight, in
readiness to haul up for that one upon which we seemed to be most
decidedly gaining.
The breeze still continued to freshen upon us, to such an extent that
when my watch told me it was time to re-measure my angle, we were
bowling along at the rate of nearly twelve knots, and the sea was
beginning to rise, while our lighter studding-sail booms were buckling

rather ominously. I took my angle again, and, rather to my surprise,
found that we were slightly gaining upon the schooner, while the brig
was fully holding her own with us, if indeed she was not doing
something even better than that. I reported this to the skipper, who
seemed to have made up his mind already as to his course of action; for
upon hearing what I had to say he instantly gave orders for our helm to
be shifted in pursuit of the schooner. Then, seeming suddenly to
remember that it was my watch below, he hailed me, telling me that I
might come down.
Having reached the deck, I at once trotted below to make my
preparation for taking the sun's meridian altitude, for it was now
drawing on towards noon.
When, a little later, I again went on deck, I found that the wind had
continued to freshen, and was now blowing a really strong breeze,
while the sea had wrinkled under the scourging of it to a most beautiful
deep dark-blue tint, liberally dashed with snow-white patches of froth
as the surges curled over and broke in their chase after our flying hull.
Our canvas was now dragging at the spars and sheets like so many
teams of cart-horses, the delicate blue shadows coming and going upon
the cream- white surfaces as the ship rolled with the regularity of a
swinging pendulum. Every inch of our running gear was as taut as a
harp-string, and through it the wind piped and sang as though the whole
ship had been one gigantic musical instrument; while over all arched
the blue dome of an absolutely cloudless sky, in the very zenith of
which blazed the sun with a fierceness that made all of us eager to seek
out such small patches of fugitive shadow as were cast by the straining
canvas. The sun was so nearly vertical that our bulwarks, although they
were high, afforded us no protection whatever from his scorching rays.
The two strange sail were by this time