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I looked again, and made out the royals and part of the topgallant-sails of a square-rigged vessel. I shut up my glass quickly, however, as I saw the captain looking somewhat angrily towards me. "You had better go below," said Senhor Silva, coming up to me. "Ask no questions, and do not say what you have seen.
He believed it quite impossible that the Southern Cross could now cross the line in less than three days, at least, after himself; and the way in which the Flying Cloud, against a fair amount of head sea and on a taut bowline, was steadily reeling off her eight, nine, and sometime even ten knots per hour, with her really extraordinary weatherliness, quite convinced him that he could beat his antagonist in any weather which would permit him to show his topgallant-sails to it.
She had much sail on, and after passing us, set all she had; but not long afterwards a small breeze blowing off shore, she was compelled to begin to take in her topgallant-sails and upperstay-sails. This was scarcely half done when her maintop-mast and mizzentop-mast went by the board, and remained hanging on the side of the ship. The man who was taking in the topgallant-sail fell overboard.
The strange sail was about ten miles dead to windward of us; and that she had sharp eyes on board her was manifest from the fact that, before we had time to acknowledge the admiral's signal, she had shaken the reefs out of her topsails and had set topgallant-sails. Every ship in the squadron of course at once did the same, and forthwith a most animated chase commenced.
At length, however, with the assistance of the lookout, he managed to get both craft, one after the other, into his field of vision, and after a good long look he reported: "We are raising the strangers very fast, sir; I can see the royals and half-way down the topgallant-sails of both.
Nevertheless, his voice went out in a snarl aloft to the men on the royal-yards to make all fast again. Then it was clewlines and buntlines and lowering of yards as the topgallant-sails were stripped off. The crojack was taken in, and some of the outer fore-and-aft handsails, whose order of names I can never remember. A breeze set in from the south-west, blowing briskly under a clear sky.
We remained in tow until the tug had dragged us down abreast the South Foreland, where she left us, taking the pilot with her; and half an hour later we were heading down Channel under all plain sail to our topgallant-sails. When I went on deck to get my after-dinner smoke the prospect was as dreary and dismal as it could well be.
As there is a good steady breeze blowing I shall work her under topsails, topgallant-sails, jibs, and spanker, with the courses in the brails ready for an emergency, but not set; as presently, when we get into the narrowest part of the passage, our boards will be so short that the men would not be able to get down the tacks and sheets before it will be time to heave in stays again.
A single glance at her was sufficient to assure us that she was a man-o'-war a frigate on her cruising-ground; and that her people were broad awake was speedily made manifest, for we had scarcely made her out when she shifted her helm and bore up for us, letting fall her courses and setting her topgallant-sails and royals as she did so.
At midnight, as arranged by me prior to leaving the galleon, both craft hauled up to the northward for Jamaica, and we then found that so slow was the galleon, with the wind anywhere but on her quarter the schooner, under mainsail, stay foresail, and jib, was quite able to keep pace with her even when she was carrying topgallant-sails, above which the galleon set nothing.
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