I heard, above all the other noises, a
tremendous cry of women's voices. I also saw Miss Maryon, with quite a
new face, suddenly clap her two hands over Mrs. Fisher's eyes. I looked
towards the silver-house, and saw Mrs. Venning--standing upright on the
top of the steps of the trench, with her gray hair and her dark eyes--hide
her daughter's child behind her, among the folds of her dress, strike a
pirate with her other hand, and fall, shot by his pistol.

The cry arose again, and there was a terrible and confusing rush of the
women into the midst of the struggle. In another moment, something came
tumbling down upon me that I thought was the wall. It was a heap of
Sambos who had come over the wall; and of four men who clung to my legs
like serpents, one who clung to my right leg was Christian George King.

"Yup, So-Jeer," says he, "Christian George King sar berry glad So-Jeer a
prisoner. Christian George King been waiting for So-Jeer sech long time.
Yup, yup!"

What could I do, with five-and-twenty of them on me, but be tied hand and
foot? So, I was tied hand and foot. It was all over now--boats not come
back--all lost! When I was fast bound and was put up against the wall,
the one-eyed English convict came up with the Portuguese Captain, to have
a look at me.

"See!" says he. "Here's the determined man! If you had slept sounder,
last night, you'd have slept your soundest last night, my determined
man."

The Portuguese Captain laughed in a cool way, and with the flat of his
cutlass, hit me crosswise, as if I was the bough of a tree that he played
with: first on the face, and then across the chest and the wounded arm. I
looked him steady in the face without tumbling while he looked at me, I
am happy to say; but, when they went away, I fell, and lay there.

The sun was up, when I was roused and told to come down to the beach and
be embarked. I was full of aches and pains, and could not at first
remember; but, I remembered quite soon enough. The killed were lying
about all over the place, and the Pirates were burying their dead, and
taking away their wounded on hastily-made litters, to the back of the
Island. As for us prisoners, some of their boats had come round to the
usual harbour, to carry us off. We looked a wretched few, I thought,
when I got down there; still, it was another sign that we had fought
well, and made the enemy suffer.

The Portuguese Captain had all the women already embarked in th