In Search of an Unknown Race — page 223: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

VAN. 209 faces of the two sturdy sailors who rapidly shifted the spokes of the big wheel to meet the swerve and sway of the plunging prow, and as Van descended he heard Mr. Murray the second mate read aloud from the log dial plate. ‘< Thirteen and a half knots strong !” Little by little the distant vessel rose from the heaving horizon line, till with the aid of the glass it could be seen that she was painted while with a black siripe. Captain Peterson shut his binoculars with a sharp snap. ‘‘ That's the Rattler,” he said, quietly. ‘‘I should know the lines of her hulls and the set of her sails if she was coated with gold leaf.” ‘‘ But supposing the schooner has been sold to some innocent purchaser—you don’t propose taking her from him by force, do you?” asked Van, in considerable perplexity. ‘‘No ‘innocent purchaser’ would buy a vessel with- Out getting a clearer title than the fellows who stole her could give,” was the dry response. ‘‘ At any rate,” he added, with a glance at the bending spars and straining canvas, ‘‘I propose overhauling her and going aboard —after that, I shall know what further to do.” ‘*She’s setting a squares’ for’ard, sir,” said Van, who had taken possession of the captain’s glass. ‘‘ Looks like a guilty conscience,” grimly responded Captain Peterson, ‘‘for an ordinary trader would hardly try to run away from a ship that outsails her two to one, simply as a matter of pride.” ‘‘ Perhaps they think, from the Bellingham’s size and press of sail, that she’s a man o’ war,” suggested Mr. Mattox, the mate. Gomichbooks (E(0) im