unexpected sight, I
jumped to the conclusion that the vessel was a prize; but almost
instantly I remembered that, in addition to the _Tiburon_, the pirates
owned a brig, by means of which they disposed of such captured booty as
they did not require for their own use, purchasing with the proceeds
other goods of which they stood in need; and I had very little doubt
that the craft before us was the brig in question. Be that as it might,
our first task was, obviously, to secure possession of the vessel; and
the felucca was accordingly at once headed for her.

So busily employed were the pirates aboard the brig in the task of
hoisting out cargo and striking it into the boats alongside that we were
quite half-way across the bay before they discovered our presence,
although the people ashore, who were unloading the boats, did their
utmost to warn their comrades, by hailing and pointing. But no sooner
was the felucca seen and recognised than the whole place was thrown into
a state of consternation. The alarm bell ashore was rung, the people
made a dash for their weapons, and then, tumbling the goods haphazard
out of the boats on to the sand, sprang in and pulled might and main for
the brig, while those on board her swarmed up out of the hold and down
over the side into the half-loaded or empty boats, and gave way for the
shore in a very panic of confusion.

But although the brig was moored well in, so that the boats passing to
and fro might have but a short distance to travel, we in the felucca
were alongside and had secured undisputed possession of the vessel
before the boats with their armed crews had traversed half the distance
between her and the shore; seeing which, the occupants paused and drew
together, as if to confer and to await further developments. Of this
brief pause we promptly availed ourselves by getting the brig under way
and working her and the felucca out toward the entrance, when, much to
our astonishment, the boats with one accord turned round and pulled back
to the beach. This unexpected action on their part was a great relief
to me, for I had fully expected that they would make a concerted effort
to recapture the brig, or the felucca, or both, by boarding, in which
case we should have had our hands full, and must almost certainly have
lost a few men. But probably they believed the felucca to be armed with
cannon, and fully expected to be received with liberal doses of grape
and canister, which wou