By their dress we saw
that most of those aft were officers.

"Where is the captain of this ship?" asked Lieutenant Worthy.

One of them pointed to a body which lay between two of the guns, with
part of the chest and one of the arms carried away.

"Poor wretch!" observed the lieutenant. "He will not then have to
answer to us for his misdeeds. And are you the officer in command?"

The man to whom he spoke bowed his head, and, advancing, presented his
sword.

"Take his weapon," said the lieutenant, turning to one of the men; "and
disarm all the rest. I shall not receive the sword of a pirate, as if
he were a naval officer."

The whole of the party were quickly disarmed, and by the lieutenant's
orders our men then lashed their arms behind them. Peter Mudge with his
boat's crew had, in the meantime, made their way along the slippery deck
forward, when he treated the men collected there in the same fashion.
Mr Worthy then hailed the corvette, and begged that the surgeons might
be sent on board to attend to the wounded; and those who appeared to be
officers were lowered into the boat which brought them, to be conveyed
to the ship for safe keeping.

While the surgeons were hurriedly binding up the limbs of the wounded
men, we were engaged in collecting the dead bodies, that they might be
hove overboard. On counting them, we found that five-and-twenty had
been killed outright; and one by one, after the surgeon had examined
them, they were thrown into the water through the ports.

"Here's another fellow, sir, who seemed just now as dead as a door-nail;
but as I was dragging him along the deck he began to sing out, and to
swear by all the saints that he was alive and kicking; and, faith, that
same he was, for I had a hard matter to keep hold of his legs. He's
quiet enough now, though; and for the life of me I can't tell whether he
was after speaking the truth or not."

This address was made by Paddy Doyle, an Irish top-man, to the surgeon
who was examining the bodies before they were hove overboard. The
surgeon, thus appealed to, went to the man. "He seems to be unhurt, and
is still breathing," he remarked. "By his dress he appears to be an
officer. Throw some water in his face; and keep a watch over him,
Doyle, when he comes to, as I have no doubt that he soon will. I must
look after the other wretches."

The dead having been disposed of, and the unwounded prisoners placed
under a guard, the wounded were