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“Me see, me see,” answered the negro, in a tone as joyful as if he had found a pearl of great price; and so he had, for he had found Gospel truth.

“God knows better than we,” was his constant remark after this when he heard others complaining of the misfortunes and ills of life.

The ship had now been nearly her full time in commission, and her captain was in daily expectation of receiving orders to return home. Poor Orlo’s heart sank within him. He must either quit his kind master and his still kinder lieutenant, or, by leaving the coast, abandon all hopes of ever again seeing his beloved Era. To be sure, he knew that she might long ere this have been carried off to the Brazils or Cuba; and faint indeed was the expectation that they ever should meet in this world. Then, again, another feeling arose: “I am now a Christian and she is still a heathen. How can God receive her in heaven?” But after a time he thought–“Ah, but I can pray that she may become a Christian. God’s ways are not our ways. He will hear my prayers–that I know. He can bring about by some of His ways what I cannot accomplish.” And Orlo prayed as he had never prayed before. Captain Fisher treated Orlo with unusual kindness, and, under the circumstances, he could not have been happier on board any ship in the navy.

Captain Fisher was not a man to relax in his efforts, as long as he remained on the station, to suppress the abominable traffic in human beings by all the means in his power. The Sea Sprite continued cruising, accordingly, along the coast, looking in at the different stations, till one morning, at daybreak, a suspicious schooner was seen at anchor, close in with the shore. The increasing light revealed the corvette to those on board. The schooner instantly slipped her cable and stood along the coast, while the Sea Sprite made all sail in chase. Of the character of the vessel there could be no doubt, or she would not have attempted to run from the man-of-war. The Sea Sprite stood as close in as the depth of water would allow; farther in she dare not go. There was still a possibility of the chase escaping. Orlo, as usual, was the most eager on board. He delighted in seeing his countrymen freed from slavery, and he never abandoned the hope of meeting with Era. “I pray I meet her. I know God hear prayer,” said Orlo.

The wind fell. “Out boats,” was the order. Captain Fisher went himself. The chase was a large schooner. A boat was seen to put off from her and pull towards the surf: whether or not she could get through it seemed a question. The English seamen bent to their oars; they were resolved to reach the chase before she could again get the breeze. They clashed alongside, and soon sprang over her bulwarks. No resistance was made. Poor Orlo, glancing round, discovered, to his disappointment, that she had no slaves on board. The master, it was found, had landed with the specie for the purchase of slaves. One of the slave crew–a mate, he looked like–appeared to have a peculiar thickness under his knees; Orlo detected it, and pointed it out to the captain. The master-at-arms was ordered to examine him. Most unwillingly the fellow tucked up his trousers–grinning horribly at Orlo all the time–when he was found to have on a pair of garters, out of each of which rolled thirty doubloons.

The schooner’s head being put off-shore, the boats took her in tow, till, a breeze springing up, sail was made on her for Sierra Leone. The next morning commenced with a thick mist and rain. Orlo, from his quickness of vision, was now constantly employed as one of the look-outs. He was on the watch to go aloft directly it gave signs of clearing. His impatience, however, did not allow him to remain till the mist dispersed. Away aloft he went, observing, “It must fine soon; den I see sip.” He had not been many minutes at the masthead when he shouted, “Sip in-shore!” He had discovered her royals above the mist. Sail was instantly made in chase. Some time elapsed before the Sea Sprite was discovered. Suddenly the mist cleared, and there appeared close in-shore a large American slave ship. There was no doubt about her, with her great beam and wide spread of canvas.