A Middy in Command

The first faint pallor of the coming dawn was insidiously extending along the horizon ahead as H.M. gun-brig Shark-the latest addition to the slave-squadron-slowly surged ahead over the almost oil-smooth sea, under the influence of a languid air breathing out from the south-east. She was heading in for the mouth of the Congo, which was about forty miles distant, according to the master's reckoning.