The Yankee Champion — page 96: what you’re looking at

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

ae THE YANKEE CHAMPION. 89 ““T will. Success to you.”’ “Thank you.’’ With that the epauletted Englishman handed his speaking-trumpet to one of the quartermasters and > left the poop. Nixon shivered his main-topsail, and the frigate passed on ahead. Next came the trans- port, a fine looking ship of some six hundred tons. The compliments of the evening were passed, and she, too, ranged ahead. At the distance of a quarter of a mile from the frigate came the store-brig. She was heavily loaded, and lumbered through the water with her bobstay dipping. She could not have been less than three hundred tons burden, and she was loaded down with as much as she would bear. Just as the brig came abreast of the privateer, Walter had the main yard braced up, and as the topsail filled he began to sailagain. He was not over half a cable’s length from the Englishman, and though the sails of the latter took much of the wind from him, yet he found that his vessel would range ahead under full canvas, so he had the roe and topgaliant-sails taken in. The two brigs were near enough to hold quitea sociable conversation, and the Englishman com- menced it by asking about the same questions that had been propounded by the captain of the frigate, to all of which Walter cheerfully answered, and also giving a pretty clear account of how matters stood in Boston and vicinity. Before the Yankee Champion had dropped out of ear-shot, Walter had learned all that he desired to know about the English brig. She was loaded with provisions mostly, though she had eight tons of pow- der on board in copper tanks. She had only twenty men on board, all told, and of those only seventeen gs) €O Eomicboo