Returning to the poop, the Captain saw Miss Halliburtt sitting quietly near the bulwarks. “Miss Jenny,” said he, “we shall probably be chased by that corvette you see to windward, and as she will speak to us with shot, I beg to offer you my arm to take you to your cabin again.” “Thank you, very much, Mr. Playfair,” replied the young girl, looking at him, “but I am not afraid of cannon-shots.” “However, miss, in spite of the distance, there may be some danger.” “Oh, I was not brought up to be fearful; they accustom us to everything in America, and I assure you that the shot from the ‘Iroquois’ will not make me lower my head.” “You are brave, Miss Jenny.” “Let us admit, then, that I am brave, and allow me to stay by you.” “I can refuse you nothing, Miss Halliburtt,” replied the Captain, looking at the young girl’s calm face. These words were hardly uttered when they saw a line of white smoke issue from the bulwarks of the corvette; before the report had reached the “Dolphin” a projectile whizzed through the air in the direction of the steamer. At about twenty fathoms from the “Dolphin” the shot, the speed of which had sensibly lessened, skimmed over the surface of the waves, marking its passage by a series of water-jets; then, with another burst, it rebounded to a certain height, passed over the “Dolphin,” grazing the mizen-yards on the starboard side, fell at thirty fathoms beyond, and was buried in the waves. “By Jove!” exclaimed James Playfair, “we must get along; another slap like that is not to be waited for.” “Oh!” exclaimed Mr. Mathew, “they will take some time to reload such pieces.” “Upon my honour, it is an interesting sight,” said Crockston, who, with arms crossed, stood perfectly at his ease looking at the scene, “and to say they are friends who send such brandy-balls!” “Ah! that’s you,” cried James Playfair, scanning the American from head to foot. “It is me, Captain,” replied the American, undisturbed. “I have come to see how these brave Federals fire; not badly, in truth, not badly.” The Captain was going to answer Crockston sharply, but at this moment a second shot struck the sea on the starboard side. “Good,” cried James Playfair, “we have already gained two cables on this ‘Iroquois.’ Your friends sail like a buoy; do you hear, Master Crockston?” “I will not say they don’t,” replied the American, “and for the first time in my life it does not fail to please me.” A third shot fell still farther astern, and in less than ten minutes the “Dolphin” was out of range of the corvette’s guns. “So much for patent-logs, Mr. Mathew,” said James Playfair; “thanks to those shot we know how to rate our speed. Now have the fires lowered; it is not worth while to waste our coal uselessly.” “It is a good ship that you command,” said Miss Halliburtt to the young Captain. “Yes, Miss Jenny, my good ‘Dolphin,’ makes her seventeen knots, and before the day is over, we shall have lost sight of that corvette.”