"That is her," Bob said, after a minute's examination. "I could swear to her, anywhere;" and he then pointed out, to the captain, the peculiarities he had noticed.
"I can make out her figurehead, too," he said. "It is a saint, though I don't know what saint; but if you notice, sir, you will see that, instead of standing nearly upright, he leans much more forward than usual. I remember the captain saying he looked as if he was going to take a header. So with that, and the stern gallery, there is no possibility of mistaking her."
The captain again examined the barque through his glass.
"Yes, I notice both the points you mention. Well, I am much obliged to you for the news. It is very important. I was thinking of cutting her out, tonight; and should have fallen into the same error you so nearly did, in the privateer."
Bob bowed and retired.
"We should have caught a tartar, Mr. Lyons, if we had sent the force we were talking about to cut her out; but I think we must have her, somehow."
"I hope so, sir. We have had a very dull time of it; with nothing to do but to exchange shots, occasionally, with those gunboats; and to get under sail, now and then, to escort some craft or other into port. The navy hasn't done much to boast of, during this siege; and it has been very hard on us, being cooped up there in Gibraltar, while the fleet all over the world are picking up prizes, and fighting the French and Spanish. Why, we haven't made enough prize money, in the last two years, to pay for pipe clay and powder."
"Yes, we all feel that, Mr. Lyons. We have certainly been terribly out of luck. That privateer Mr. Repton was on board did more, in her week's cruise, than all His Majesty's ships in Gibraltar have done, in the last two years.
"We must take that craft, inshore, if we can. There is no doubt she is ably commanded, for she is so well disguised that we never suspected her for a moment; therefore there is not the least chance of our catching her napping. She is a formidable craft to cut out with the boats, even if she hadn't the aid of the battery."
"There is no doubt about that, sir. I think Mr. Repton reported, before, that she carried twenty-four guns, and all heavy metal. As far as I can make out, with the glass, the battery mounts twelve guns."