s of the
pirates, and they vowed to follow their leader wherever he might take
them.

The buccaneers found Porto Bello a very hard nut to crack; they landed
and marched upon the town, which was defended by several forts or
castles. Even when one of these had been taken by assault, and after it
had been blown up with all its garrison, who had been taken prisoners,
still the town was not intimidated, and the Governor vowed he would
never surrender, but would die fighting to the last. The pirates raged
like demons; they shot down every man they could see at the cannon or
upon the walls, and they made desperate efforts to capture the principal
fort, but they did not succeed, and after a long time Morgan began to
despair. The garrison was strong and well commanded, and whenever the
pirates attempted to scale the wall they were shot down, while fire-pots
full of powder, with stones and other missiles, were hurled upon them.

At last the wily Morgan had an idea. He set his men to work to make some
ladders high enough to reach to the top of the walls, and wide enough to
allow three or four men to go up abreast. If he could get these properly
set up, his crew of desperate tiger-cats could make a combined rush and
get over the walls. But to carry the ladders and place them would be
almost impossible, for the men who bore them would surely be shot down
before they could finish the work. But it was not Morgan's plan that his
men should carry these ladders. He had captured some convents in the
suburbs of the town, with a number of nuns and monks, known as
"religious people," and he now ordered these poor creatures, the women
as well as the men, to take up the ladders and place them against the
walls, believing that the Spanish Governor would not allow his soldiers
to fire at these innocent persons whom the pirates had forced to do
their will.

But the Governor was determined to defend the town no matter who had to
suffer, and so the soldiers fired at the nuns and monks just as though
they were buccaneers or any other enemies. The "religious people" cried
out in terror, and screamed to their friends not to fire upon them; but
the soldiers obeyed the commands of the Governor, while the pirates were
swearing terribly behind them and threatening them with their pistols,
and so the poor nuns and monks had to press forward, many of them
dropping dead or wounded. They continued their work until the ladders
were placed, and then over the