ht to
bear upon the bunch, and simultaneously discharged. The result of these
two shots was scarcely as effective as that of the previous discharge--
possibly because the gun-captains had become a little flurried and
excited--nevertheless two of the boats aimed at were blown to pieces,
while two or three of the others showed signs of more or less serious
damage, and the occupants were thrown into such dire confusion that,
abandoning all further effort to save their comrades, they took to their
oars and seemed intent only upon getting apart as quickly as possible,
an example which was immediately followed by the remaining boats, the
crews of which opened out until there was at least a couple of fathoms
of clear water separating boat from boat.

For a few seconds I was under the impression that the havoc thus quickly
wrought by our guns had so far discouraged the pirates that they
intended to abandon the attack upon the islet--for there were several
very evident signs of hesitation among them--but presently, apparently
in response to the exhortations of Fernandez, who pulled along the line
in a fast gig, the oars dipped once more, and the remnant of the
flotilla most gallantly resumed its advance, amid cheers and yells of
encouragement and defiance that clearly reached us on the islet.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

THE EXTERMINATION OF THE PIRATES.

Nothing could possibly have been better, from our point of view, than
the foolhardy gallantry of the pirates in thus persistently pressing
home their attack upon the islet, for the advantage was all on our side,
and must remain so until the enemy had landed and come to hand-grips
with us; and it was imperative that, in order to ensure our own success,
as many as possible of our foes should be put _hors de combat_ before
the fight became a hand-to-hand melee. It certainly seemed, at the
first blush, to be rather cowardly to pelt the poor beggars with grape
while they were unable to strike a blow in return; but the feeling was,
after all, one of very weak, false sentimentality. Every man of them
was an outlaw and, even if not yet an actual murderer at least a
potential one, and a consorter with cruel, cowardly brutes in human
shape who would destroy without mercy if they were not themselves
destroyed--who were, in fact, worse than wild beasts; for whereas the
latter take life merely to satisfy the cravings of nature, the average
pirate slew for the sheer love of slaying, and