"Well, well, if you do, we can't help it," said I--"but do take my advice and stand by to be off the moment there is a breath of wind from the land, _will ye_?" All hands were called. We piped belay with the repairs, secured the mast as well as we could, hoisted the mainsail, and made every thing ready for a start; and just as we had hove short, a nice light air came off the land, as if on purpose; but when in the very act of tripping the anchor, lo! it fell calm again. As to our attempting to tow the schooner out of the bay with such customers right ahead of us, it would have been stark staring madness. We had therefore to let go again, and began to re-occupy ourselves in peering into the night. The roar of the surf on the coast, now came louder, as it struck me, and hoarser, as if the ground-swell had begun to roll in more heavily. "We shall have the sea-breeze shortly, Lennox, take my word for it--it is blowing a merry capful of wind close to us out there," said I; but the _terral_ again sprung up, notwithstanding my prognostication, so we hove up the anchor, ran up the jib, and the Moonbeam, after canting with her head to the eastward, began gradually to slide towards the offing through the midnight sea. Presently sparkling bubbles rippled against the stem, and mixed with white foam, buzzed past the bows, as she gathered way. Accustomed now to the darkness, we could perceive the boats ahead separate, and take their stations one on each bow, keeping way with us, as if watching us. We had loaded the two carronades with musket-balls, and had our twelve muskets on deck. We continued gliding along, and presently the boats, as if by signal, lay on their oars, letting us shoot past them, then closed astern of us, pulling a stroke or two, as if they had an intention of coming up, on either side of us. "If you come nearer," said Lennox through the trumpet to the boat that was pulling on the starboard side, "so help me God, I will fire at you." No answer. The breeze at the instant took off, and they approached within pistol shot, one on each quarter, where they hung without coming any nearer. "They are only seeing us off, they don't mean to annoy us, Lennox, after all; so hold on steadily, and don't mind them," said I. But the zeal of Toby Tooraloo, who had by this time got much excited, and be hanged to him, had nearly got us all into a scrape. "You villains, _I_ will teach you," quoth the valiant Tobias, "to insult an armed vessel--so stand by there, men--give them two of the carronades"--as if there had been a whole broadside beside. And before Lennox could interfere, he had sung out "Fire!"