d if you please. It was not my fault, but his,' continued he,
pointing to the captain.

'It is of little consequence whose fault it was, Mr. Hawkhurst,' replied
Cain; 'we will settle that point by and by; at present we have too much
on our hands. Out boats, men! as fast as you can, and let every man
provide himself with arms and ammunition. Be cool! the schooner is fixed
hard enough, and will not go down; we shall save everything by and by.'

The pirates obeyed the orders of the captain. The three boats were
hoisted out and lowered down. In the first were placed all the wounded
men and Clara d'Alfarez, who was assisted up by Francisco. As soon as
the men had provided themselves with arms, Francisco, to protect Clara,
offered to take charge of her, and the boat shoved off.

The men-of-war had seen the _Avenger_ strike on the rocks, and the
preparations of the crew to take to their boats. They immediately
hove-to, hoisted out and manned their own boats, with the hopes of
cutting them off before they could gain the island and prepare for a
vigorous defence; for, although the vessels could not approach the
reefs, there was sufficient water in many places for the boats to pass
over them. Shortly after Francisco, in the first boat, had shoved off
from the _Avenger_, the boats of the men-of-war were darting through the
surf to intercept them. The pirates perceived this, and hastened their
arrangements; a second boat soon left her, and into that Hawkhurst
leaped as it was shoving off. Cain remained on board, going round the
lower decks to ascertain if any of the wounded men were left; he then
quitted the schooner in the last boat and followed the others, being
about a quarter of a mile astern of the second, in which Hawkhurst had
secured his place.

At the time that Cain quitted the schooner, it was difficult to say
whether the men-of-war's boats would succeed in intercepting any of the
pirates' boats. Both parties exerted themselves to their utmost; and
when the first boat, with Francisco and Clara, landed, the headmost of
the assailants was not much more than half a mile from them; but shallow
water intervening there was a delay, which was favourable to the
pirates. Hawkhurst landed in his boat as the launch of the _Comus_ fired
her eighteen-pound carronade. The last boat was yet two hundred yards
from the beach, when another shot from the _Comus's_ launch, which had
been unable hitherto to find a passage through the reef,