MICHAEL SCOTT 87 



out the moisture from the massive folds in white 

 steam ; now the sails catch in earnest— they drop 

 in glowing flakes of tinder from the yards— there 

 the blue - and - white pennant and ensign are 

 scorched away, and blown off in tiny flashes ; 

 while in the lulls of the gale we distinctly hear the 

 roaring and crackling of the fire as it rages in the 

 hull of the doomed vessel below. 



" I say, Quacco, mind we don't get a hoist, my 

 man— see we be not too near— there ! Don't you 

 hear how the guns go off as the metal gets heated, 

 for there is not a soul on board ? " 



It never rains but it pours. " Hark ! An earth- 

 quake ! " And as if a volcano had burst forth 

 beneath our feet, at this instant of time the pirate 

 schooner under the cliff blew up with an explosion 

 that shook earth, air, and water — shooting the 

 pieces of burning wreck in every direction, that 

 hissed like meteors through the storm, and fell 

 thickly all around us. 



" The Midge / the Midge / she slides out of the 

 smoke I See I She gains the ofifing ! " 



But the avenger of blood is behind ; for the 

 Spider had now cleared the harbour's mouth and 

 was in hot pursuit. The felucca with her sails — a 

 whole constellation of shot-holes in them— double- 

 reefed, tearing and plunging through it ; her sharp 

 stem flashing up the water into smoke in a vain 

 attempt to weather the sandy point. 



