“That proves her to be the _Sea Scourge_, or some other pirate! Clap on all the sail we can carry, and chase!—— Diamonds! Parson, it is your lead, and we are waiting for you. Miss Conyers, look sharp! We are playing for the odd trick,” said the captain, as he turned up the trump and sorted his cards. The young lieutenant went on deck with his orders. And soon the ship flew under the pressure of her sails. The captain went on with his game, and played well; and as none of his excited companions could give sufficient attention to the business in hand fairly to compete with him, he won the odd trick. “We’ve beat them in the rub, Miss Conyers. Shall we try to beat them in another one?” inquired the captain, as he gathered up the cards. “Oh, no! pray don’t! let us go up on deck and look after the chase!” eagerly urged Britomarte. “You!” exclaimed the captain, in laughing astonishment. “Yes, I!” answered Britomarte, as her eyes widened and brightened. “Lord bless my soul alive, here is a young lady as eager for the fray as any of us?” laughed the captain. “I’ll warrant you, when you get back to your native country, if the war is not over, to take an active part in it!” “That I shall!” answered Britomarte, emphatically. And all the while she looked her eager impatience to get upon the deck. “There is no necessity for haste, my dear young lady! We shall see nothing when we get there—except what we have seen for so many days and nights—an expanse of sea and sky!” laughed the captain. “But the strange sail?” eagerly questioned our amazon. “Ay, the strange sail! You’ll not see her, at all events! The men have made her out only through their glasses! She is miles away! and we shall not overhaul her before morning,” said the captain. And he set the watch and went below, and turned in for a short nap, leaving Lieutenant Ethel to manage the ship. Justin stayed on deck a little while longer, and then followed the captain’s example. But none of them, except the phlegmatic captain, rested very well that night. The thought that they were chasing a privateer, whom they would probably engage in battle next morning, was not likely to rock them to sleep. Britomarte certainly never closed her eyes; she was awake no less by her own excitement than by the “tireless tongue” of Judith, who talked of nothing but the coming fight and the share she would like to take in it. “Sure, meself hopes they’ll find something for me to do in it! Troth, if they’d put me to one iv the big guns, I could fire it off wid the best iv them. And if they’d not trust me to do that same, I could hand patridges as well as the powdy monkeys thimselves!” “Cartridges, Judith,” said Miss Conyers. “Sure, that’s what I’m maning! And, troth, I’ll find something to do in it, or me name’s not Judy Riordan!” “I am glad and proud to see so much spirit in a sister woman, Judith, whether you find an opportunity to exercising it or not,” said Miss Conyers.