By the time that I had regained the deck of the _Wasp_, and that craft was once more under way, the pirate schooner was hull-down on the north-western horizon, nearly ten miles away.  But light breezes and smooth water, such as we had at the moment, constituted absolutely ideal weather for the _Wasp_; it was under precisely such conditions that her marvellous sailing powers showed to the utmost advantage, and, smart as the other schooner had revealed herself to be, I had very little doubt as to our ability to overhaul her and bring her to account.  We therefore piled upon the little hooker every rag that we could find a spar or stay for, brought her to the wind, flattened-in her sheets until her mainboom was almost amidships, and generally made all our preparations for a long chase to windward.