"
The eye of Ludlow had never quitted the stranger. He saw that the moment
for serious action was not distant; and, bidding Trysail keep the vessel
on her course, he descended to the quarter-deck. For a angle instant, the
young commander paused with big hand on the door of the cabin, and then,
overcoming his reluctance, he entered the apartment.
The Coquette was built after a fashion much in vogue a century since, and
which, by a fickleness that influences marine architecture as well as less
important things, is again coming into use, for vessels of her force. The
accommodations of the commander were on the same deck with the batteries
of the ship, and they were frequently made to contain two or even four
guns of the armament. When Ludlow entered his cabin, therefore, he found a
crew stationed around the gun which was placed on the side next the enemy,
and all the customary arrangements made which precede a combat. The
state-rooms abaft, however, as well as the little apartment which lay
between them, were closed. Glancing his eye about him, and observing the
carpenters in readiness, he made a signal for them to knock away the
bulk-heads, and lay the whole of the fighting part of the ship in common.
While this duty was going on, he entered the after-cabin.
Alderman Van Beverout and his companions were found together and evidently
in expectation of the visit they now received. Passing coolly by the
former, Ludlow approached his niece, and, taking her hand, he led her to
the quarter-deck, making a sign for her female attendant to follow.
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