"
"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.
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