ver the side: my eyes caught
sight of an object looming through the darkness.

"A sail on the weather bow!" I sung out, with no little satisfaction.

We hauled up a little, and stood for her. She had seen us and shortened
sail.

"What vessel is that?" I inquired.

"A prize to his Majesty's ship _Harold_," answered the voice of Adam
Stallman.

"All right; we want your aid. Heave-to, and send your boat aboard, with
the people well-armed," I sung out.

In a few minutes Adam himself stood on our deck, with four well-armed
followers. The inconvenience of a lengthened quarantine, to which he
would be exposed, was not, under the circumstances, to be taken into
consideration. A plan of operations was soon settled on. We agreed to
have lanterns ready, and by swinging them down into the hold the moment
the hatches were off, we hoped to discover where the pirates were
stationed, and thus, if they attempted to fire, to be able to take
better aim at them in return. It was an anxious moment. At a signal
the hatches were in a moment thrown off. Delano stood like a lion at
bay, with a musket in his hand. He fired it at Stallman, and then
attempted to spring up on deck. Happily the ball missed its aim, and he
was knocked over by several stout fists, which his head encountered, and
fell like a log back into the hold. Several shots were exchanged, and
the four pirates fought desperately in their hopeless attempt to regain
their freedom. They were soon, however, overpowered, and borne down on
the deck, without loss of life to either party. The only people who did
not fight were the two traitors and the sick pirate, and he remained
bound as before, having refused to be liberated. Delano had been
stunned by his fall, and when he regained his senses, he found himself
again in irons, with additional chains round his arms. This showed him
probably that all that had passed was not a dream, as it might otherwise
have appeared to him. He growled out curses against his ill-luck, but
he had no other means of venting his rage and disappointment. The other
men took the matter very coolly. It appeared to me that their minds
were too dull and brutalised, and their hearts too callous, to
comprehend their awful position. Seared in their consciences, they were
truly given over to a reprobate mind. The two men who had been gained
over by Delano to assist him we sent on board the brig, exchanging them
for two who could be relied