He looked out at the window; but he could not see Captain Pecklar, though he heard him shovelling coal a minute later.

The engine still appeared to be doing its best, and the tug was in a fair way to pass clear of the long-boat.
"Look out, up there, Christy!" shouted the engineer, a little later.
The pilot turned his attention to the boat again, and saw that the major and the lieutenant were loading their muskets again, and the two men not at the oars were doing the same.

The commandant evidently began to feel that he was to miss his prey if he depended upon the oars of the soldiers, and he was about to turn his attention again to the business of disabling the pilot of the tug.

Christy dropped down on the floor again, and steered by the compass, which was still where he had placed it before.
He could hear a rumbling sound on the forward deck, and he was curious to know what the captain was doing; but it was not prudent to look out at the window.

After a great deal of hard kicking and prying, he succeeded in removing a narrow board from the front of the pilot-house near the floor; and through this aperture he could see that the acting engineer had just finished reloading the gun, and was changing its position so as to bring it to bear on the long-boat.
The enemy were now a little forward of the beam of the tug, and not more than fifty yards from her; but Christy was satisfied that the Leopard would go clear of the long-boat if his craft was not disabled.