"Yes, sir; but I don't know what. He engaged to meet me here at four bells in the forenoon watch to-morrow, when he will tell me what he wants."
"Very well, Mr. Somers; meet him as agreed. You have played your part well. When you come together, you must yield the point; lead him along, and you will bag him,—and the vessel, I hope."
"The Ben Nevis will sail from St. John July 4, for Wilmington."
"Ah, then she is about even with the Chatauqua. I would give a year's pay for the privilege of catching her."
Until eleven o'clock the two officers consulted charts, and figured up the time of the Ben Nevis.
CHAPTER XI.
AFTER GENERAL QUARTERS.
At eleven o'clock, when the master-at-arms knocked at the door of the fourth lieutenant, to inform him that it was time to put out his light, the calculations in regard to the position of the Ben Nevis had been made and verified. Mr. Hackleford, after counselling prudence and precaution, retired to his state-room. Somers threw himself on his cot, and having eased his mind of the heavy burden which had rested upon it, he went to sleep. But there was only an hour of rest for him, for at twelve o'clock he was to take the deck.
When eight bells struck, he turned out, much refreshed by his short nap, to relieve Mr. Garboard. It was a beautiful night, with only a gentle breeze from the westward, and the ship was doing her ten knots without making any fuss about it. Somers took the trumpet, which the officer of the deck always carries as the emblem of his office, and commenced his walk on the weather side.