guns, and they are heavier metal than most merchantmen have on
board. We are more than a match for either of them alone; and if we can
manage to cripple one, we can beat the other off.

"'At any rate we will try our best. Thank God we have no women on board,
and only ourselves to think of! Now, my lads, cast the guns loose and
get the ammunition on deck; run two of the guns aft and train them over
the stern. As soon as they come within range we will try and knock some
spars out of them. Now, boys, give three cheers for the old flag, and we
will swear together it shall never come down while there's one of us to
fight the ship.'

"The men gave three cheers and then went off to their quarters at the
guns. They were quiet and grave, and it was easy enough to see that they
did not like the prospect. An Englishman always goes into action, as
far as I have seen, with a light heart and a joke on his lips when he's
fighting against Frenchmen or Spaniards or any other foe, but it's a
different thing when it's a pirate he has to deal with. Every man knows
then that it's a case of life or death, and that he's got to win or die.
The enemy made no secret of what they were, for when they got within a
mile of us two black flags ran up to their mastheads.

"The captain he trained one of the stern chasers hisself, and the first
mate took the other. They fired at the same moment, both aiming at the
schooner, which was getting the nearest to us. They were good shots both
of them. The mate's ball struck the water some twenty yards in front
of her forefoot, and smashed her bow planking some three feet above the
waterline; while the captain's struck her bulwark, tore along her deck,
and went out astern, doing some damage by the way, I reckon.

"We could see there was some confusion on board. They hadn't reckoned
that we carried such heavy metal, and our luck in getting both shots on
board must have surprised them. Then her bow paid off, there was a puff
of smoke amidship, and a ball from the long swivel gun buzzed overhead,
passing through our mainsail without touching mast or stay.

"So far we had the best of it, and the men looked more cheerful than
they had done from the first moment when the pirates showed from among
the trees. After that we kept up a fire from the stern guns as fast as
we could load. I could not see myself what damage we were doing, for I
was kept hard at work carrying ammunition. Presently the broadside guns
began t