noon
The usual devices for increasing our speed were resorted to . Every spar that could carry a sail was rigged , while the canvas almost swept the water on either side of us , but all to little purpose , it seemed . If we increased our speed , so did the chase , and not an inch was gained . As the day grew on , the breeze freshened , and at noon some on board asserted that we had begun to overhaul her . We were all of us on deck as often as we could , for she afforded far more subject of interest than the ordinary lumber-laden merchant craft it was our usual lot to chase . The clouds which had obscured the sky at sunrise rolled gradually away ; the sun shone down on the blue ocean with undimmed splendour , glittering on the long lines of foam which the two ships formed as they clove their way through it . I was , among others , watching the chase when McCallum came up to me .