"

By such words as these, but more by the threatening appearance of the
weapons pointed from the stern sheets, Morgan inspirited his men; and by
similar language and threats, the men in the other boats did the same.
After rowing a short distance the flotilla separated. Those approaching
from the farther side of the ship necessarily made a wide detour, for
which the others waited, so they would all arrive simultaneously. After
a suitable time the order was passed softly to give way again. In
perfect silence, broken only by the "cheep" of the oars in the locks,
the five boats swept down on the doomed frigate.

CHAPTER IV

WHICH TELLS HOW THE "MARY ROSE" FRIGATE CHANGED MASTERS AND FLAGS

[Illustration]

The _Mary Rose_ was a ship with a history. The battle roster of the
English navy had borne many of her name. In each instance she had been
found in the thickest of the fighting. The present vessel was an old
ship, having been built some thirty years before, but she was still
stanch and of a model which combined strength with speed. The most
conspicuous expedition she had participated in had been a desperate
defence of a convoy in the Mediterranean against seven Sallee rovers, in
which, after a hard engagement lasting four hours, the _Mary Rose_
triumphed decisively without losing a single sail of her convoy. A rude
song was made about the action, and the two lines of the ballad, summing
up the results, were painted around the wheel:

"Two we burnt, and two we sank, and two did run away,
And one we carried to Leghorn Roads, to show we'd won the day."

The commander of the ship on this memorable and heroic occasion had been
knighted on his return to England, and on the accession of James had
been sent to Jamaica with Lord Carlingford as Vice-Governor, to take
command of the naval station and supersede Morgan. Admiral Sir John
Kempthorne was an elderly man at this time, but his spirit was the same
that had enabled him to withstand so successfully the overwhelming
onslaught of the Algerine pirate ships.

The English navy, however, was then in a state of painful decay. The
famous Test Act, which excluded James from the naval service while he
was Duke of York, because he was a Roman Catholic, had deprived the navy
of its most influential and able friend. The greedy rapacity with which
Charles II. had devoted the money assigned by the Commons for the
support of the fleet to his own lustful and extravagan