ccasionally sending the splinters flying in all directions when the
shot happened to strike a stone. Yet, marvellous to relate, although
several of us were suffering from severe contusions caused by those
flying splinters of rock, not one of us was, thus far, actually
disabled, while, within ten minutes from the beginning of the firing,
that of the schooner slackened perceptibly, showing plainly how severe
was the punishment which we were inflicting upon her. This was further
exemplified by the fact that presently a man was seen to be hailing the
_Berwick Castle_, in response to which two boats were lowered, and,
crowded with men, pulled over to the schooner. Thus reinforced, the
_Tiburon's_ fire breezed up again for a few minutes; then it gradually
slackened again; and finally, when the action had been in progress some
twenty minutes, it died away altogether, the black flag being slowly and
reluctantly hauled down, a minute later, in token of surrender.

"Cease firing, lads," I cried; "the schooner has struck. Now, while the
guns' crews remain here, ready to open fire again, if need be, the rest
of us will go aboard and take possession." And, with a wild cheer, some
thirty of us leaped the ruins of our parapet and dashed headlong down
the steep slope to the little strip of beach where half-a-dozen boats
were drawn partly up out of the water.

To pounce upon those boats, rush them afloat, and then tumble
helter-skelter in over the gunwales was the work of seconds only; then,
throwing out the oars, away we went for the pirate schooner, keeping
well apart, in case of a treacherous resumption of firing on the part of
the pirates. But nothing occurred, everything remained silent--almost
ominously so--on board the schooner, one head only showing above the
torn and splintered bulwarks--that of a man who, apparently wounded,
clung to the main-topmast backstay, seeming to watch our approach. As
we drew nearer that head gradually assumed a recognisable appearance in
my eyes, until at length I felt convinced that it was that of Garcia
himself. Suddenly, as I watched, the fellow disappeared, not as though
he had sunk to the deck exhausted but rather as though he had gone
elsewhere at a run, and with his disappearance a strong suspicion of
some diabolical treachery on his part gripped me. I wrestled with it
for a few seconds--until in fact we were within half-a-dozen fathoms of
the schooner's side; then, influenced by some