les; and the pirates ashore had not been on the move more
than half-an-hour before it became apparent that our presence had been
discovered. The indications that this was the case were clear and
unmistakable; the alarm bell clanged out its summons, and instantly all
work ceased and every man was seen to be hurrying toward the building in
which I had been interviewed by Fernandez upon my arrival in the
settlement. This could mean but one thing, namely, a speedy attack upon
the islet; and in anticipation of this we hastened the completion of our
preparations, so that we might be quite ready to meet that attack when
it came. Our first business was to get the remaining two guns into
position, and bring up to the battery our entire stock of ammunition.
This did not cost us more than half-an-hour's strenuous labour, at the
completion of which all hands went to work to tumble a sufficient
quantity of ballast into the felucca to enable her to stand up under
sail; and the moment that this was done I sent her out to sea, with a
midshipman and four hands on board--in order that she might not fall
into the hands of the pirates--with instructions to return only when the
British ensign should be displayed from the battery.

Scarcely was the felucca under way when the sentinel who had been left
in the battery, to keep watch upon the movements of the pirates ashore,
summoned us to our posts; and upon our arrival there we at once saw that
our preparations had not been completed a moment too soon. For, as we
topped the hill that obstructed the view of the Cove from the seaward
side of the islet, we saw the whole male population of the settlement,
numbering about one hundred and forty, marching down to the beach, with
the evident intention of embarking in their boats and pulling off to
attack us. With the aid of my telescope I could distinctly distinguish
the figure of Fernandez, who was assuming the direction of operations;
and I could not but admire the strictness of the discipline which he
appeared to exercise over his followers, for the fellows seemed amenable
to his briefest order. They possessed exactly twenty boats in all,
ranging in size from a craft capable of accommodating forty men down to
the little Norwegian dinghy in which I had made my escape, and it was
evident that every man of the party had been previously told off to some
particular boat; for upon their arrival at the beach the hitherto
compact body at once dissolv