The Angamos had, by about midnight on the next night, traversed close upon half the distance to the Islands, and Jim was almost beginning to despair of ever catching the elusive corvette, when a hail came down from one of the men who were still stationed at the masthead: “Light ahead! bearing about a point on our port bow!”
Douglas’s heart jumped. Here, surely, must be the craft of which he was in search. He had to wait a few seconds to control his excitement, and then he replied: “How far distant is the light, and what does it look like?”
“It’s about eight miles distant,” replied the seaman, “and looks like the light at a ship’s masthead; but I can now see two red lights, one over the other, arranged just below the white one; and I should say that the three of them, shown together as they are, mean a signal of some sort; for I can see neither port nor starboard lights showing in their usual places.”
“Aha!” thought Jim, “this is not so bad, after all; this approaching craft can hardly be our friend the Union, I should think; it is more likely that she will prove to be one of the gun-running steamers, and if so—well, her career as a gun-runner will close somewhat abruptly, I think.—Masthead ahoy, what is it now?” he continued aloud, as the seaman aloft gave an excited yell, which he immediately suppressed.
“Why, sir,” the fellow answered, “I have just sighted a second set of lights, almost dead astern of the first lot; we have just this moment opened them. There are certainly two steamers approaching, sir; and—ah! one of them has just sent up a rocket—I expect it is because she has sighted us.”
“Then, by jingo!” soliloquised the Englishman, “they will be the gun-runners, and no mistake about it. How I wish I knew what lights it has been arranged for the Union to show as a signal to them. However, I don’t; so that cannot be helped.” Aloud, he went on, addressing the excited Chilian at the masthead, “Keep your eye on those ships, Pedro; and report any change to me at once.”
“Ay, ay, sir!” replied the man, “they are still coming this way.” Then Jim called up his lieutenant, a young fellow named Manuel, and instructed him to get the ship immediately cleared for action, and to douse every single one of the lights on board at once. He then went back to the bridge, and, as soon as every light on board had been extinguished, ordered the quartermaster at the wheel to turn the ship’s head eight points to starboard; thus, a few minutes later, the Angamos was running at full speed, on a course at right angles to her previous one, and was leaving the gun-runners on her port quarter.
Douglas still continued to watch their lights intently, and soon perceived that his failure to give them a signal of some sort had occasioned quick suspicion to their skippers, for they gradually slowed up; and presently the lights drew close together, by which Jim could guess that the steamers had run alongside each other to permit of a conference between the two captains.
A few minutes later Jim turned the Angamos eight points to port, bringing her back to her old course, but at a distance of about four miles from the supposed gun-runners. He held on in this direction until he was well astern of them, and then circled right round and headed straight after them, immediately in their wake, at full speed. After a pause of about a quarter of an hour the Peruvian skippers again went ahead on their old course, doubtless much perturbed in their minds at the sudden and extraordinary disappearance of the craft which, a short time before, had seemed to be coming directly toward them. And so simple were they that they did not suspect Jim’s subsequent move, but went straight ahead, keeping all their lights burning as before; thus he was able to keep them in full view, although they could not see him. Probably it never occurred to either of them to cast a single glance astern!
Jim had reckoned on the suspected steamers being slower than his own cruiser, and he soon saw that he was steaming about three knots to their two, and overhauling them fast. The lieutenant had some time ago reported the ship as cleared for action; and the look-out aloft stated that there was no other sail in sight; consequently, Jim reckoned on bringing the enemy to book in about half an hour’s time, and dealing summarily with him before the Union could complicate matters by putting in an appearance; a prospect which caused him no little satisfaction, as he felt that he might have had all his work cut out to deal effectively with the three, had the corvette been opposed to him at the same time.