Notwithstanding the fact that the Summer Shelter made very good time, that she had coaled at Nassau, and was therefore ready for an extended cruise, it was impossible for any of those on board of her to conceal[Pg 219] from themselves the very strong improbability of sighting the Dunkery Beacon after she had got out upon the wide Atlantic, and that she would pass the comparatively narrow channel south of Tobago Island before the yacht reached it, was almost a foregone conclusion.

Mr. Burke assured Mrs. Cliff and his passengers that although their chase after the steamer might reasonably suggest a needle and a haystack, still, if the Dunkery Beacon kept down the coast in as straight a line as she could for Cape St. Roque, and if the Summer Shelter also kept the same line, and if the yacht steamed a great deal faster than the other vessel, it stood to reason that it could not be very long before the Summer Shelter overhauled the Dunkery Beacon.

But those who consulted with Mr. Portman were not so well encouraged as those who pinned their faith upon the Captain. The sailing-master had very strong doubts about ever sighting the steamer that had sailed away two days before they left Kingston. The ocean being so very large, and any steamer being so very small comparatively, if they did not pass her miles out of sight, and if they never caught up to her, he would not be in the least surprised.

Four days had passed since they left Kingston, when Burke and Shirley stood together upon the deck, scanning the horizon with a glass. "Don\'t you think it begins to look like a wild goose chase?" said the latter.

Burke thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

"Yes," said he, "it does look like that! I did believe[Pg 220] that we were going to overhaul her before she got outside the Caribbees, but she must be a faster vessel than I thought she was."

"I don\'t believe she\'s fast at all," said Shirley. "She\'s had two days\' start, and that\'s enough to spoil our business, I\'m afraid!"

"But we\'ll keep on," said Burke. "We\'re not going to turn back until our coal bunkers tell us we\'ve got to do it!"

Steamers they saw, sometimes two in an hour,—sailing-vessels were sighted, near by or far away;—schooners, ships, or brigs, and these were steaming and sailing this way and that, but never did they see a steamer with a single funnel painted black and white, with the stripes running up and down.

It was very early next morning after the conversation between Burke and Shirley that the latter saw a long line of smoke just above the horizon which he thought might give him reason for looking out for the steamer of which they were in quest; but when he got his glass, and the masts appeared above the horizon, he saw that this vessel was heading eastward, perhaps a little northeast, and therefore was not likely to be the Dunkery Beacon. But in half an hour his glass showed him that there were stripes on the funnel of this steamer which ran up and down, and in a moment Burke was called, and was soon at his side.

"I believe that\'s the Dunkery!" cried the Captain, with the glass to his eye. "But she\'s on the wrong course! It won\'t take us long to overhaul her. We\'ll[Pg 221] head the yacht a few points to the east. Don\'t say anything to anybody,—we don\'t want to disappoint them."

"Oh, we can overhaul her," said Shirley, who now had the glass, "for it isn\'t a stern chase by any means."

In less than half an hour everybody on board the Summer Shelter knew that the large steamer, which they could plainly see on the rolling waves to the south, must be the Dunkery Beacon, unless, indeed, they should find that this was one of her sister ships coming north. There was great excitement on board the yacht. The breakfast, which was in course of preparation, was almost entirely forgotten by those who had it in charge, and everybody who could possibly leave duty crowded to the rail, peering across the waves to the southward. It was not long before Shirley, who had the best eyes on board, declared that he could read with his glass the name Dunkery Beacon on the port bow.

"That\'s not where we ought to see it," cried Burke; "we ought to see it on the stern! But we\'ve got her, boys!"—and then he remembered himself, and added,—"ladies; and now let\'s give three good cheers!"

Three rousing cheers were given by all on board with such good-will that they would have been heard on the other steamer had not the wind been pretty strong from the west.

The Summer Shelter gained upon the larger vessel, and Burke now ran up signals for her to lay to, as he wished to speak with her. To these signals, however, the Dunkery paid no immediate attention, keeping stead[Pg 222]ily on, although altering her course towards the south-east.

"What does that mean, Mr. Shirley?" asked Mrs. Cliff. "Mr. Burke wants her to stop, doesn\'t he?"

"Yes," said Shirley, "that is what the signal is for."

"But she doesn\'t stop!" said Mrs. Cliff. "Do you think there is any chance of her not stopping at all?"

"Can\'t say, madam," he answered. "But she\'s got good reason for keeping on her way; a vessel with all that treasure on board could hardly be expected to lay to because a strange vessel that she knows nothing about asked her to shut off steam."

"That seems to me very reasonable, indeed," said Mr. Litchfield, who was standing by. "But it would be very bad fortune, if, after all the trouble and anxiety you have had in overtaking this vessel, she should decline to stop and hear the news we have to tell."

There was a strong breeze and a good deal of sea, but Burke determined to get near enough to hail the Dunkery Beacon and speak to her. So he got round on her weather quarter, and easily overtaking her, he brought the Summer Shelter as near to the other vessel as he considered it safe to do. Then he hailed her, "Dunkery Beacon, ahoy! Is that Captain Hagar?"

The wind was too strong for the Captain of the other vessel to answer through his trumpet, but he signalled assent. Then Burke informed him that he wished him to lay to in order that he might send a boat on board; that he had very important orders to Captain Hagar from his owners, and that he had followed him from[Pg 223] Jamaica in order to deliver them. For some time there was no answer whatever to these loudly bellowed remarks, and the two vessels kept on side by side.

"Anyway," said Burke to Mr. Burdette, "she can see that we\'re a lot faster than she is, and that she can\'t get away from us!"

"It may be that she\'s afraid of us," said the mate, "and thinks we\'re one of the pirates."

"That can\'t be," said Burke, "for she doesn\'t know anything about the pirates! I\'ll hail her again, and tell her what we are, and what our business is. I think it won\'t be long before she lays to just to see what we want."

Sure enough, in less than fifteen minutes the Dunkery Beacon signalled that she would lay to, and before long the two vessels, their engines stopped and their heads to the wind, lay rising and falling on the waves, and near enough to speak to each other.

"Now, then, what do you want?" shouted the Captain of the Dunkery.

"I want to send a boat aboard with an important message from Blackburn!"

After a few minutes the answer came, "Send a boat!"

Orders were given to lo............