Page:At the Fall of Port Arthur.djvu/115

Rh For fully two minutes he did not speak and then he drew a long breath and put down the glass.

"I'm afraid she's a warship," he exclaimed, and his voice sounded unnatural.

"A warship!" echoed Larry. "Will you let me look?"

He did so, and it was not long before he could make out the approaching craft quite clearly.

"Well?" demanded Grandon, who knew that Larry's eyes were unusually strong.

"I reckon the captain is right."

"A warship?"

"Yes, not a very large affair, but still a warship. I shouldn't be surprised if she was the converted vessel the Lord Duffield sighted."

"Just what I think," put in Captain Ponsberry. "We've got to do our best to show her a clean pair of heels."

"The mist may help us to run away," suggested Grandon.

"Let us hope so."

Necessary orders were given, and soon the Columbia swung around on another tack, so that she had the large vessel on her starboard quarter. But this movement was evidently noted by the stranger, and the latter headed directly for the schooner once more.