take the recusants on board the enemy, swore that I would stand by the
Esperanza with my unaided crew in spite of the _dastards_!

The offensive word with which I closed the harangue seemed to touch
the right string of the Spanish guitar, and in an instant I saw the
dogged heads spring up with a jerk of mortified pride, while the
steward and cabin-boy poured in a fresh supply of wine, and a shout of
union went up from both divisions. I lost no time in confirming my
converts; and, ramming down my eloquence with a wad of doubloons,
ordered every man to his post, for the enemy was again in motion.

But he did not come alone. New actors had appeared on the scene during
my engagement with the crew. The sound of the cannonade had been heard,
it seems, by a consort of his Britannic Majesty's brig * * * *;[E]
and, although the battle was not within her field of vision, she
despatched another squadron of boats under the guidance of the reports
that boomed through the silent air.

The first division of my old assailants was considerably in advance of
the reinforcement; and, in perfect order, approached us in a solid
body, with the apparent determination of boarding on the same side.
Accordingly, I brought all my weapons and hands to that quarter, and
told both gunners and musketeers not to fire without orders. Waiting
their discharge I allowed them to get close; but the commander of the
launch seemed to anticipate my plan by the reservation of his fire
till he could draw mine, in order to throw his other boat-loads on
board under the smoke of his swivel and small arms. It was odd to
witness our mutual forbearance, nor could I help laughing, even in the
midst of danger, at the mutual checkmate we were trying to prepare.
However, my Britons did not avoid pulling, though they omitted firing,
so that they were already rather perilously close when I thought it
best to give them the contents of my pivot, which I had crammed almost
to the muzzle with bolts and bullets. The discharge paralyzed the
advance, while my carronades flung a quantity of grape into the
companion boats. In turn, however, they plied us so deftly with balls
from swivels and musketry, that five of our most valuable defenders
writhed in death on the deck.

The rage of battle at closer quarters than heretofore, and the screams
of bleeding comrades beneath their feet, roused to its fullest extent
the ardent nature of my Spanish crew. They tore their garments;
strip