Commodore Junk — page 165: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

158 COMMODORE JUNK. and the sail was rapidly hoisted, the wind caught it at once, and by the time another flash of lightning enabled the patrol to make out where the boat lay, it was a hundred yards from shore, and running rapidly along the coast. A volley was fired as vainly as the first, and as the bullets splashed up the water, Bart laughed. “They may fire now,” he said. ‘We shall be a hundred yards farther before they’re ready again.” They sailed on into the darkness for quite two hours, during which the lightning ceased, and the mutterings of the thunder were heard no more. But though a careful look-out was kept —and Bart felt that they had pretty well calculated the position of the schooner—they could not find her, and the sail was lowered down. “We've gone quite far enough,” growled Bart. ‘‘ Where’s that light that Dinny was to show?” There was no answer, and no light visible from where they lay for the next three hours, waiting patiently till the first faint streak of dawn should show them the waiting vessel, and their ghastly burden could be carried aboard ready for a sailor’s grave. “Tt is a trick, Bart,” said Jack at last, as he glanced at their freight lying forward beneath a spare sail. | “ Ay, I felt it, my lad,” said Bart, frowning. “I felt it last night. Black Mazzard bain’t the man to leave alone ; and what’s a couple o’ bottles o’ rum to such as he?” ‘‘The villain—the coward!” cried Jack, bitterly. “Ata time like this !” “ Ay, it’s a bad time, my lad,” said Bart, “but we’ve done our work, poor chap; and the sea’s the sea, whether it’s off a boat or a schooner. You mean that, don’t you, now?” ‘‘No,” said Jack, fiercely, as he pointed to the back-fins of a couple of sharks. Gomichbooksneo