e course of the ship had
not been altered, and if she had seen the schooner, she evidently
treated her with contempt. On board the _Avenger_, they were not idle;
the long gun in the centre had been cleared from the incumbrances which
surrounded it, the other guns had been cast loose, shot handed up, and
everything prepared for action, with all the energy and discipline of a
man-of-war. The chase had not been lost sight of, and the eyes of the
pirate captain were fixed upon her through a night-glass. In about an
hour more the schooner was within a mile of the ship, and now altered
her course so as to range up within a cable's length of her to leeward.
Cain stood upon the gunwale and hailed. The answer was in Portuguese.

'Heave to, or I'll sink you!' replied he in the same language.

A general discharge from a broadside of carronades, and a heavy volley
of muskets from the Portuguese, was the decided answer. The broadside,
too much elevated to hit the low hull of the schooner, was still not
without effect--the foretopmast fell, the jaws of the main-gaff were
severed, and a large proportion of the standing as well as the running
rigging came rattling down on her decks. The volley of musketry was more
fatal: thirteen of the pirates were wounded, some of them severely.

[Illustration: _A general discharge from a broadside of carronades, and
a heavy volley of muskets, was the decided answer._]

'Well done, John Portuguese!' cried Hawkhurst; 'by the holy poker! I
never gave you credit for so much pluck.'

'Which they shall pay dearly for,' was the cool reply of Cain, as he
still remained in his exposed situation.

'Blood for blood! if I drink it,' observed the second mate, as he looked
at the crimson rivulet trickling down the fingers of his left hand from
a wound in his arm--'just tie my handkerchief round this, Bill.'

In the interim, Cain had desired his crew to elevate their guns, and the
broadside was returned.

'That will do, my lads: starboard; ease off the boomsheet; let her go
right round, Hawkhurst--we cannot afford to lose our men.'

The schooner wore round, and ran astern of her opponent.

The Portuguese on board the ship, imagining that the schooner, finding
she had met with unexpected resistance, had sheered off, gave a loud
cheer.

'The last you will ever give, my fine fellows!' observed Cain, with a
sneer.

In a few moments the schooner had run a mile astern of the ship.

'Now then, Hawkhurst, l