grape and canister, the discharge of which, at such close quarters,
seemed to have stunned and stupefied the Frenchmen, for not a hand was
raised to oppose me as I sprang down off the rail. I darted a quick
glance along the deck, noticed that the skipper was leading his party on
board, aft, and then made a cut at the Frenchman nearest me.

This woke him up. He hurriedly raised his cutlass to guard the blow,
and the next moment we were at it, cut, thrust, and parry, as hard as we
could go. Our attack being made upon the two extremities of the
brigantine's deck, we soon had her crew hemmed in between the skipper's
and my own party, and for the next ten minutes there was as pretty a
fight as one need wish to witness, the Frenchmen rallying gallantly to
the call of their captain. The hubbub was terrific, the clash of steel,
the popping of pistols, the shrieks, groans, and outcries of the
wounded, the execrations of the Frenchmen, the cheers of our own lads,
and the grinding of the ships together, creating a perfectly
indescribable medley of sound. The struggle threatened to be stubborn
and protracted, the Frenchmen at our end of the ship obstinately
disputing every inch of the deck with us. I therefore determined to
make a special effort, and see what the mere physical strength, of which
I possessed a goodly share, would do for us.

There was a handspike lying upon the deck, under my feet, which I had
tripped over and kicked aside twice or thrice, so, suddenly hitting out
with my left fist, I knocked down the man who happened to be at the
moment opposed to me, quickly stooped and seized the handspike, dropped
my sword, and, singing out to our own lads to give me room, I swung my
new weapon round my head and brought it down with a crash upon the two
or three Frenchmen nearest me. The force of the blow made my arm tingle
to the elbow, but it swept the Frenchmen down as though it had been a
scythe, and caused those behind to recoil in terror. Another flail-like
sweep proved equally effective, the cutlasses raised to guard the blows
being as useless as so many wands, and when I followed it up with a
third it proved too much for the Frenchmen, who, seeing their comrades
go down before me like ninepins, gave way with a yell of dismay,
retreating aft until they were all jammed and huddled together like
sheep, so closely that they had no room to fight effectively. The
French captain, as I took him to be, finding things goi