of their wounded, and answered by the fierce cries of the
pirates, as they threw themselves on the _Zodiac's_ deck--next was heard
above their heads the loud trampling of the feet of those engaged in
mortal struggle. Sometimes Ada fancied that her friends were
victorious, and that the pirates were driven back; then again, by the
more frequent sound of the stamping of feet, and the cries and
exclamations in a strange language, she felt too sure that the enemy had
poured still greater numbers on board. For a few moments the noise of
feet increased; there were next some heavy, dull sounds, as of persons
falling, and then arose the loud triumphant shout of victory; but the
sounds were strange--it was that of the enemy; all, then, for a time was
silent--what had become of her uncle and the brave crew? With her heart
palpitating, and her mind in a chaos of confusion, she could not resolve
what to do. She could just discern the footsteps of persons descending
the companion-ladder--they entered the main cabin. The door of the one
in which she with Marianna sat was violently opened, and she beheld the
countenance of the pirate Zappa. Too truly all then was lost. The
excess of her horror and alarm overcame her and she fainted.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

When the first glimmerings of consciousness revisited the mind of Ada
Garden, she felt that some dreadful calamity had befallen her, without
being able to comprehend its nature or extent. An undefined terror, an
insupportable oppression at the heart made her feel that death must soon
release her from her sufferings. She had neither the power nor the will
to stir a limb, or to open her eyes to discover her real state. The
noise of the engagement and the thunder of the guns, the shrieks and
cries of the combatants, still rung with fearful clearness in her ears,
yet without enabling her to remember the causes which had produced them.
She felt that she had been deprived of her only guardian--that she was
alone in the world without friends to protect or counsel her; but how
her uncle had died she could not comprehend. Then she thought she saw
him sinking down into the deep blue sea, and his countenance was turned
towards her with the smile it wore when he was pleased, and down, down
he sunk till he reached the yellow sand at the bottom, where, through
the clear water, she could see him resting, and beckoning her to raise
him up; and then there seemed to pass a vessel full of st