In two hours the lookout at
the head of the mast shouted down that he could perceive the
brigantine's topsail.
"She is sailing in towards the land on that side," he said. "She
has evidently made a tack out, and is now on the starboard tack
again."
"It will be a long leg and a short one with her, sir," the skipper
said. "I think that if we were in her place we could just manage to
lay our course along the coast, but with those square yards of
hers, she cannot go as close to the wind as we can. As it is, we
can lay our course to cut her off."
"It would be rather a close pinch to do so before she gets to the
head of the bay," Frank said.
"Yes, sir, and I don't suppose that we shall overhaul her before
that, but we certainly shan't be far behind her by the time she
gets there. I think that we shall cut her off if the wind holds as
it does now. At any rate, if she should get there first, we should
certainly lie between her and Cuba, and she will have either to run
back, or to round the cape, or to run east or south. I wish the
wind would freshen; but I fancy that it is more likely to die away.
Still, she is walking along well at present.
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