me together with such force that the _Monterey_, high out of
water, rolled over as if a great wave had struck her. As she rolled
back, grappling-irons were thrown over her rail, and cables and lines
were made fast to every available place which could be reached by eager
hands and active arms. Some of the grappling-irons were immediately
thrown off by the crew of the Monterey, but the chains of others had
been so tightened as the vessel rolled back to an even keel that it was
impossible to move them.

The _Monterey's_ rail was considerably higher than that of the
_Vittorio_, and as none of the crew of the former vessel had shown
themselves, no shots had yet been fired, but with the activity of apes
the pirates tried to scramble over the side of the larger vessel. Now
followed a furious hand-to-hand combat. Blows rained down on the heads
and shoulders of the assailants, some of whom dropped back to the deck
of their ship, while others drew their pistols and fired right and left
at the heads and arms they saw over the rail of the _Monterey_.

The pirate leaders were amazed at the resistance they met with. They had
not imagined that Captain Horn had so large a crew, or that it was a
crew which would fight. But these pirates had their blood up, and not
one of them had any thought of giving up their enterprise on account of
this unexpected resistance. Dozens of them at a time sprang upon the
rail of their own vessel, and, with cutlass or pistol in one hand,
endeavored to scramble up the side of the _Monterey_; but although the
few who succeeded in crossing her bulwarks soon fell beneath the blows
and shots of her crew, the attack was vigorously kept up, especially by
pistol shots.

Whenever there was a chance, a pirate hand would be raised above the
rail of the _Monterey_ and a revolver discharged upon her rail, and
every few minutes there would be a rush to one point or another and a
desperate fight upon the rail. The engines of both vessels had been
stopped, and the screaming and roaring of the escaping steam gave
additional horror to this fearful battle. Not a word could be heard from
any one, no matter how loudly it might be shouted.

Whatever firearms were possessed by the men on the _Monterey_ were used
with good effect, but in this respect they were vastly inferior to the
enemy. When they had fired their pistols and their guns, some of them
had no more ammunition, and others had no opportunity to reload. The men
of