We hurried over our dinner to let Tom come down and take his, while Nettleship and I went on deck. The weather looked favourable, and Nettleship was in high spirits at finding himself in command of a fine ship. Should he take her to Port Royal in safety, he might reasonably expect to obtain his long waited-for promotion. Although the majority of the men sent with us were the least reliable of the crew, we had an old quartermaster, Ben Nash, and three other seamen, who were first-rate hands, and we took care to put two of them into each watch. Of course there was plenty of work to do in getting the ship to rights. As soon as the men knocked off we heard Larry's riddle going. Stepping forward, I found that he had set all the Frenchmen dancing, and some of our own men, too, who were enjoying themselves to their hearts' content. "Larry will take good care to keep the people in good temper," I thought to myself, as I turned aft. When night came on, Nettleship thought it prudent to shorten sail, as is the custom of careful merchant skippers, who can't perform that operation in a hurry. We lost nothing by so doing, as for some hours it was a stark calm. Tom and Ben Nash were in one watch, Nettleship and I in another. Night passed quickly away. Towards morning we got a breeze, and were once more standing on our course. We kept a bright look-out, not, as we should have liked, to watch for a prize, but to run away should a suspicious sail be sighted. We kept no colours flying, for should a Frenchman see us, we might have a better chance of avoiding an encounter. At daylight, as we had a fair breeze, all sail was again set, and we stood gaily on our course. "If this weather holds, we shall be safe at anchor in a couple of days in Port Royal," said Nettleship. "A sail ahead!" shouted the look-out, from aloft. "We must continue on our course till we see what she is," said Nettleship. Tom Pim, who went aloft to have a look at her, on his return said that she was a brig, standing to the westward, but too far off at the time to judge of her size. She appeared to be almost becalmed, while we, carrying the breeze along with us, rapidly neared her. At length we could see her clearly from the deck. "She has hoisted her colours," observed Nettleship. "Though from the cut of her canvas she's English, as far as I can make out, her flag is French." We had not yet hoisted our colours; indeed, as we were standing, the Frenchman could not have seen them even if we had. "There's no doubt about the flag," observed Tom, who had taken the glass; "that is French, though she's an English merchantman, if I ever saw one. The people on board her recognise this ship as one of their own cruisers, and take us for a friend." "I believe you're right, Tom," said Nettleship, "and we'll not undeceive them." The stranger, having now got a breeze, hove-to, apparently wishing to speak us. We had to luff up a little to reach her.