standing, with hands lashed behind his back, scowling
heavily at his captors. They, on their side, had suffered almost as
severely as the pirates, having lost an enormous number of men.

The coming of the sailors from the _Tiger_ in the nick of time it was
that had saved the day, and turned the tide of battle in favour of the
English. Roger and Harry had both had their senses trampled out of them
by the headlong rush of the boarders from that ship; but, as the
circumstance undoubtedly saved their lives, they were not greatly
disposed to grumble at it. Both had soon recovered, and, after
examining themselves to discover whether they were badly wounded or not,
were now engaged in exchanging confidences and experiences, and relating
to each other all that had occurred since their parting prior to the
wreck on the sand-bank of Isla de Corsarios.

The captured pirate, having been bound securely, were now consigned to
the care of an armed guard, who conducted them below to the hold and
bade them make themselves as comfortable as they could on the ship's
ballast.

The commodore then called the roll of the three vessels of his squadron,
and found that he had lost no fewer than one hundred and eighty men,
killed and wounded, in the engagement. As for the ships, the _Tiger_
was untouched, and the flag-ship practically intact, but the _Elizabeth_
had been somewhat severely mauled. Captain Cavendish's first
instructions were that the vessels should at once proceed to execute
such repairs as were necessary, in order that they should not be at a
disadvantage in the event of a storm overtaking them. But before even
this business could be undertaken came the disposal of the dead.

With so many slain to deal with, this was necessarily a brief business,
and was accomplished by the simple process of tossing the lifeless
bodies over the side, to find a last resting-place on the sand below,
if, indeed, the multitude of sharks that were swimming round and round
the four vessels did not intervene and otherwise arrange matters.

This unpleasant duty ended, the decks were washed down with water pumped
up from alongside, and all sanguinary traces of the recent conflict
obliterated. Then Cavendish sent the men who had performed these duties
to aid their fellow-seamen in effecting the necessary repairs to those
vessels that required them, whilst he and his officers made a tour of
inspection of the _Black Pearl_, to acquaint themselves