and. Come and see her, and then let us ask the
captain to decide what he will do. I advise that we should bring the
guns down to the mouth of the harbour and defend it to the last. If
those are the people I fear, they will give us no quarter; and if we
yield, it will be only to have our throats cut, or to be thrown to the
sharks."

On reaching the look-out place, Wenlock saw the ship of which the old
seaman spoke. She was yet a long way off, and, as far as he could
judge, was very like the vessel that had chased them.

The whole party were quickly astir. The captain determined to follow
the old sailor's advice, and even the Quakers among the passengers
agreed that they had no resource but to defend themselves, should the
stranger prove to be the pirate they dreaded. As she approached the
island, she must have discovered the English flag flying from the
_Amity's_ masthead; for instantly her own dark symbol was run up, and a
shot was fired from her side, as if in defiance.

Happily, the wind, which had been light, prevented her from entering the
harbour. As she passed by, however, the number of guns seen from her
sides showed that she would be a formidable antagonist, and that she
could scarcely be prevented, with a favourable breeze, from entering the
harbour. The whole of the morning the party were kept in anxious
expectation of what would occur, the pirate being seen to tack every now
and then to keep her position off the land. At length a breeze from the
sea set in, and once more she was seen approaching the harbour. Nearer
and nearer she drew. All eyes were kept turned towards the dreaded
object. In a brief time they might all be engaged in a deadly struggle,
while the fate of the poor women and children was dreadful to
contemplate. The captain and several of his officers were collected on
the mound, watching the progress of the pirate.

"See, sir! see!" exclaimed Wenlock. "What say you to that?" and he
pointed towards the sails of a lofty ship which at that instant appeared
rounding a distant point of the island.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

The pirate had descried the stranger; for now her yards were seen to be
braced up, and instead of standing towards the island, she tacked and
stood again out to sea, her pirate flag still flying from her peak. As
the stranger drew nearer, she was seen to be a much larger ship.
Wenlock at once declared her to be a man-of-war; and this was soon seen
to be the case,