eze freshened, and the schooner darted through the
smooth water with the impetuosity of a dolphin after its prey. In an
hour the hull of the ship was plainly to be distinguished; but the sun
was near to the horizon, and before they could ascertain what their
force might be, daylight had disappeared. Whether the schooner had been
perceived or not, it was impossible to say; at all events, the course of
the ship had not been altered, and if she had seen the schooner, she
evidently treated her with contempt. On board the _Avenger_, they were
not idle; the long gun in the centre had been cleared from the
incumbrances which surrounded it, the other guns had been cast loose,
shot handed up, and everything prepared for action, with all the energy
and discipline of a man-of-war. The chase had not been lost sight of,
the eyes of the pirate-captain were fixed upon her through a
night-glass. In about an hour more the schooner was within a mile of
the ship, and now altered her course so as to range up within a cable's
length of her to leeward. Cain stood upon the gunwale and hailed. The
answer was in Portuguese.

"Heave to, or I'll sink you!" replied he in the same language.

A general discharge from a broadside of carronades, and a heavy volley
of muskets from the Portuguese, was the decided answer. The broadside,
too much elevated to hit the low hull of the schooner, was still not
without effect--the foretopmast fell, the jaws of the main-gaff were
severed, and a large proportion of the standing as well as the running
rigging came rattling down on her decks. The volley of musketry was
more fatal: thirteen of the pirates were wounded, some of them severely.

"Well done! John Portuguese," cried Hawkhurst: "by the holy poker! I
never gave you credit for so much pluck."

"Which they shall dearly pay for," was the cool reply of Cain, as he
still remained in his exposed situation.

"Blood for blood! if I drink it," observed the second mate, as he looked
at the crimson rivulet trickling down the fingers of his left hand from
a wound in his arm--"just tie my handkerchief round this, Bill."

In the interim, Cain had desired his crew to elevate their guns, and the
broadside was returned.

"That will do, my lads: starboard; ease off the boom-sheet; let her go
right round, Hawkhurst,--we cannot afford to lose our men."

The schooner wore round, and ran astern of her opponent.

The Portuguese on board the ship, imagining th