sword, and encouraged them, both by voice and example, in the which he
was ably seconded by Douglas, who took upon himself the task of guarding
his captain's rear. Cut and thrust, cut and thrust, the little band
raged at the Peruvians; and for a few seconds it really seemed as though
their desperate valour would prevail. But, alas, they had all long
since emptied their revolvers, and only their blades remained to them,
many of which had been broken by the delivery and warding of furious
blows, so that many of the men were obliged to use their bare fists, or
their pistols held club-wise.

Such an unequal conflict could not long endure; the Chilians were
falling, man after man, but all fighting desperately to the very last.
Then, from somewhere up aloft, rifle-bullets began to hurtle among them,
and then the end was very near. Looking upward, Douglas saw that a
number of Peruvians, armed with rifles, had clambered up on the roof of
the turret, and up into the _Huascar's_ low fighting-tops, and were
firing directly downward into them.

It was one of these bullets that put an end to the career of the gallant
Chilian commander. He and Jim were fighting, shoulder to shoulder, and,
at the head of only five men, were endeavouring to cut a way through
their foes in order to regain their own ship. Indeed, their desperate
valour had nearly carried them through when Prat, suddenly dropping his
reeking sword, put both hands up to his face, and, after swaying on his
feet for a second, fell into Jim's arms. His face, as Douglas saw when
the dead hands fell away, was literally shot to pieces by at least half
a dozen bullets which must have struck simultaneously. Nothing could be
done for the gallant sailor, for he must have died instantaneously, so
Jim allowed him to sink gently to the deck, and took up his own defence
again. There were only two men now left, beside himself, and escape
seemed absolutely hopeless, when a volley of rifle-bullets plumped into
the circle of Peruvians, evidently fired by some of the few remaining
members of the sloop's crew. Taken by surprise, the Peruvians scattered
for a moment; and Jim, with the two Chilian seamen, took advantage of
the opening and dashed through the crowd, gaining the _Huascar's_ side
in safety. But to his horror he found that the two ships had drifted
apart, and that the _Esmeralda_ was even now steaming away, at a very
slow speed, certainly, but still far beyond the reach of