rd, but the brig
immediately afterwards changed her course for the same direction. The
captain on this called the crew aft, and told us that he intended to try
and make his escape, but that if he did not succeed, we must fight for
our lives, for if overcome we should all have our throats cut. Charley
and I, and La Motte, gave a shrill cheer, in which we were joined by two
or three of the other men, but the old hands merely growled out, "Never
fear; no man wants to get his throat cut, so we'll fight." I was
surprised at their want of enthusiasm; but when men have been much
knocked about in the world, and have all their finer feelings blunted,
that, among other sentiments, is completely battered out of them.

When Captain Tooke saw the brig change her course, he hauled the
schooner close on a wind, but the brig instantly hauled her wind also,
and we very soon saw that she was rapidly overhauling us. The truth is,
that English merchantmen of those days were mere tubs compared to those
of foreign nations; and even the _Kite_, though a fast vessel of her
class, was very inferior to the craft of the present day of the same
rig. Thus we saw that there was little chance of escaping a fight
should the stranger prove to be a pirate, unless a man-of-war or large
merchantman, able to help us, might heave in sight.

While we were trying the speed of our heels, every possible preparation
was made for fighting; boarding nettings were triced up; our two guns
were carefully loaded; the small arms were got up and distributed among
the people, who fastened on the cutlasses round their waists and stuck
the pistols in their belts. Charley and I had got hold of a pistol
a-piece, and purposed committing great execution with them, but I was
condemned to help La Motte to hand up powder and shot from below,
greatly to Master Charley's amusement, who looked down and asked how I
liked being a powder-monkey. As I every now and then shoved my head
through the hatchway, I saw that the brig was coming up rapidly after
us. I had been down some little time, when just as I came up and was
looking about me, my ears were saluted with a loud hissing whirl, and I
saw our main gaff shot away at the jaws and come tumbling down on deck.
This made the schooner fall off the wind somewhat.

"Fire, my lads! fire!" shouted Captain Tooke, "and see if we can't repay
them in kind."

Our lee-gun had been run over to the weather side, and both guns were
fired