nine o'clock
Likely enough they had work on hand more important than chasing a small lugger all day ; for at seven o'clock they gave up and stood away to the south-east , and left the _ Unity _ free to head back homeward on her old course . 'T was a surprising feat , to slip out of grasp in this way , and past two broadsides , any gun of which could have sent him to the bottom ; and Cap'n Dick was n't one to miss boasting over it . Even during the chase he could n't help carrying on in his usual loud and cheeky way , waving good-bye to the Mossoos , offering them a tow-rope , and the like ; but now the deck was n't big enough to hold his swagger , and in their joy of escaping a French prison , the men encouraged him , so that to hear them talk you 'd have thought he was Admiral Nelson and Sir Sidney Smith rolled into one . By nine o'clock they made out the Eddystone on their starboard bow ; and a little after -- the morning being bright and clear , with a nice steady breeze -- they saw a sail right ahead of them , making in for Plymouth Sound . And who should it be but the old _ Bean Pheasant _ , deep as a log ! Cap'n Dick cracked along after her , and a picture she was as he drew up close ! Six of her guns had gone ; her men were baling in two gangs , and still she was down a bit by the head , and her stern yawing like a terrier 's tail when his head 's in a rabbit-hole .