"You need not be afraid of me, Mr Brail," here chimed in the poor skipper himself, as he seated himself in the stern sheets with forced composure. "It is over now, sir, and I am quite cool; but get up if you please, and I will follow you--you are quite right, sir, the people of this ship _may_ be able to give us some information." I clambered up the high side of the vessel, and was immediately followed by Hause and three of the negroes belonging to the canoe. "I am sorry Captain Batten is not on board, gentlemen," quoth the mate; "but is there any thing I can do for you?" My companion was still unable to speak for himself. He had sitten down on a carronade, resting his head on his hand, the very picture of despondency. "Why, it is a strange story altogether," said I; "but did you notice when the brig, that anchored close to you yesterday afternoon, got under weigh this morning?" "I did, sir. I was on deck at the time." The captain lifted up his head at this for a moment, but presently fell back into his former state of apparent stupor. "I noticed two boats," continued the mate, "I suppose from the shore, full of people, go to her from the other side of the bay, and smart chaps they were apparently--they loosed sails, and set them in regular man-of-war fashion, and all the time you could have heard a pin drop. I will do them or the crew the credit to say that I never saw a brig got under weigh more handsomely in my life. I had no conception they could have got the anchor up so speedily." "Anchor up!" groaned Hause; "why, _there--there_ is the anchor, cable and all," pointing to the buoy. "The brig is run away with by some piratical rascals, sir," cried he, increasing his exclamation to a roar--"the cable has been slipped--oh, I am ruined, I am ruined--for ever ruined--the sweet little Ballahoo has been cut out by pirates--as sure as fate, the bloody pirates are off with her," and he burst into a passion of tears, and wept like the veriest child. "I really cannot say," rejoined the mate of the timber-ship, most distressingly cool and composed; "but she was in sight within this half hour from the deck. Here, steward, hand me the captain's glass--I think I shall be able to make her out from the maintop still." This seemed to rouse poor Hause, who had relapsed into his mute fit; and he was in the top in an instant. "Hand me up the glass, my good fellow," cried he impatiently to the mate, who was ascending the rigging leisurely, with the glass slung at his back by a leather strap--"the glass, if you please, the glass--here I see her down to leeward there--there, see--just over the Point." And the poor fellow took a long, anxious look towards the offing, steadying the telescope against one of the topmast shrouds, and speaking very quickly all the time, as I have seen one do in a fever, to the mate, who stood by him in the top. "Well, captain," I sung out, "what do you see?"