"Haven't you sweeps which we could work?" asked Fernando.
There was a pair of sweeps in the craft, and Terrence and Fernando manned them. Though Fernando was a little awkward at first, he soon came to use the sweep quite effectively and helped the little craft along.
"Do we gain on them?" asked Fernando.
"Not much, if any;" the helmsman answered.
At this moment, three or four muskets were fired from the boat, and the balls whistled among the sails or spattered in the water. Should they meet with one of those sudden calms which frequently overtook vessels off the bay, they knew they would be lost. The British marines were laying to their oars right lustily, and the boat flew over the waves.
"Have you no arms in the boat?" asked Fernando.
"Nothin' but a fowlin' piece and some goose shot."
"Just the thing for me!" declared Sukey. "I was always good at killin' geese on the wing."
Sukey hunted up the gun and loaded both barrels heavily with shot and slugs. Then he took up his post in the stern, ready to rake the long boat fore and aft, should it come within range of his formidable gun. The officer and three or four marines continued to load and fire, until the boat was out of the harbor, when a strong breeze struck her sails and sent her spinning over the water.
"Huzzah! huzzah! we are gainin' on' em now!" cried Sukey, flourishing his gun in the air.