“She looks to me a very large schooner, sir,” said Dimchurch.
“Yes, she is larger than these pirates generally are, but there is very little doubt as to her character. How far are they off, do you think?”
“Ten miles, sir, I should say; but we have got the land-breeze while they are becalmed. By the look of the water I should say we should carry the wind with us until we are pretty close to them.”
Every sail the cutter could carry was hoisted, and she approached the two vessels rapidly. They were some four miles from them when the sails of the schooner filled and she began to move through the water.
“It will be a long chase now,” Will said; “but the cutter has light wings, so we have a good chance of overhauling her.”
“The sails of the ship are all anyhow, sir,” Harman said.
“So they are, Mr. Harman; foul play has been going on there, I have not the least doubt. The fact that the crew are not making any effort to haul in her sheets and come to meet us is in itself a proof of it. I think it is our duty to board her and see what has taken place. Even if we allow the schooner to escape we shall light upon her again some day, I have no doubt.”
“She is very low in the water,” he said, after examining the merchantman carefully through his telescope, “and either her cargo is of no value to the pirates, and they have allowed it to remain in her, or they have scuttled her.”
“I am afraid it is that, sir,” Dimchurch said, “for she is certainly lower in the water than when I first saw her.”
“You are right, Dimchurch, the scoundrels have scuttled her. Please God we shall get to her before she founders! Oh for a stronger wind! Do you think we could row there quicker than we sail?”