She made a gallant spectacle.

But whose ship was she?
I examined her colors anxiously enough.

I caught the import of her ensign.

She flew the British Union Jack! England had won the race by sea! Something in the ship's outline seemed to me familiar.

I knew the set of her short masts, the pitch of her smokestacks, the number of her guns.
Yes, she was the _Modeste_ of the English Navy--the same ship which more than a year before I had seen at anchor off Montreal! News travels fast in wild countries, and it took us little time to learn the destination of the _Modeste_.