That was precisely the purpose in the mind of Lyme Avery, and he did not intend any long delay, either.
CHAPTER V.
THE BRIG AND THE SCHOONER.
"Blaze away! Gun at a time!" shouted Captain Avery, as the Noank tacked across the harbor mouth. "We can afford a few blank cartridges for such news as this is."
"The whaleboat's goin' to beat us gettin' in," replied Sam Prentice. "The folks'll know it all before we git there."
"Don't care if they do," said the captain. "We'll only be in port ag'in a few hours, anyhow. Night's our time. We know, now, jest what the cruiser is, and there doesn't seem to be another 'round."
The Noank's sixes were, therefore, shouting to the forts and the town that good news of some kind was coming. The men at the batteries heard and wondered, and grew impatient. They thought they knew all there was to be known of the mere exchange of shots with the Boxer. Their friends had not been harmed; neither had the brig; the whaleboat had escaped; and that was all that they could understand. Now, however, they saw the Noank sending up every American flag she had on board.
What could it mean? Lyme Avery was not a man to have suddenly lost his balance of mind.
"Something's up," they said. "No matter what it is, we'll answer him."