after both he and his commander had studied the appearance of the mist,
for a sufficient time. "That fellow is a mortal enemy of lofty sails; he
likes to see nothing but naked sticks, up in his neighbourhood!"

"I should think his appearance will force the brigantine to shorten sail;"
returned the Captain. "We will hold-on to the last, while he must begin to
take in soon, or the squall will come upon him too fast for a light-handed
vessel."

"'Tis a cruiser's advantage! And yet the rogue shows no signs of lowering
a single cloth!"

"We will look to our own spars;" said Ludlow, turning to the lieutenant of
the watch. "Call the people up, Sir, and see all ready, for yonder cloud."

The order was succeeded by the customary hoarse summons of the boatswain,
who prefaced the effort of his lungs by a long, shrill winding of his
call, above the hatchways of the ship. The cry of "all hands shorten sail,
ahoy!" soon brought the crew from the depths of the vessel to her upper
deck. Each trained seaman silently took his station; and after the ropes
were cleared, and the few necessary preparations made, all stood in
attentive silence, awaiting the sounds that might next proceed from the
trumpet, which the first-lieutenant had now assumed in person.

The superiority of sailing, which a ship fitted for war possesses over one
employed in commerce, proceeds from a variety of causes. The first is in
the construction of the hull, which in the one is as justly fitted, as the
art of naval architecture will allow, to the double purposes of speed and
buoyancy; while in the other, the desire of gain induces great sacrifices
of these important objects, in order that the vessel may be burthensome.