fficulty.
Then he could with ease place the huge and unwieldy galleon at his
mercy. But the two Spanish ships stuck close together, too close indeed,
Morgan thought, for their own safety. They were both on the wind with
their larboard tacks aboard, the frigate slightly ahead of and to
windward of the galleon, on the side, that is, whence the _Mary Rose_
was approaching. So far as he could divine it, the Spanish plan, if they
had formulated any in their hurry, appeared to be for the frigate to
engage the _Mary Rose_, and while she had the latter ship under her
battery, the galleon would tack across the English vessel's bows, or
stern as might be, rake her, get her between the two ships, run her
aboard, and thus effect her ruin. The plan was simple, practicable, and
promised easy success, provided the Englishman did what was expected of
him.

Morgan was not to be caught napping that way. As he rushed down upon
them there came into his head one of the most daring ideas that has ever
flashed across a seaman's brain. Hastily summoning Braziliano he bade
him take a dozen of his men, descend to the after magazine, procure two
or three barrels of powder from the gunner, and stow them in the cabin
under the poop-deck. He charged him to do it as quietly as possible and
take only men for the purpose upon whom he could depend. While this was
being done young Teach was also summoned from the forecastle, his place
being taken by old Velsers, whose division in the battery was placed
under the command of Raveneau. There was a whispered colloquy between
the chieftain and his young subordinate, after which the latter nodded
his head, ran below, and concealed himself in one of the staterooms
under the quarter-deck. In a little space the Portuguese reappeared with
his men and announced that they had completed their task; whereupon they
were directed to return to their stations.

Meanwhile the crew had been recharging the battery and reloading the
small arms. Morgan addressed to them a few words of hearty approval of
their previous actions and predicted an easy victory over the two ships.
The Spanish captain naturally supposed--and indeed the courses upon
which the three ships were sailing if persisted in would have brought
about the result--that the _Mary Rose_ would pass along his larboard
side, and the two vessels would engage in the formal manner of the
period, yard-arm to yard-arm, until the galleon could get into action
and so settl