whole of the
slaver's crew, who, with loud shouts and ferocious gestures, rushed aft,
fully hoping, as they saw that the pinnace had dropped astern, to make
us an easy prey.

The mainsheet of the schooner had been eased off, the foreyards had been
squared, and, with the now strengthening breeze, the schooner was
running fast through the water. Waller took one glance over his
shoulder, and that showed him that there was scarcely a chance of the
boat overtaking us. Our fate was sealed: no mercy could we expect from
the slaver's crew. One hope only remained,--Waller had thought of it.

"Knock down the man at the helm, and jam the tiller down hard!" he sung
out to Stretcher. "We will keep the other fellows at bay in the
meantime."

"Ay, ay, sir," answered Jack, as coolly as if he had been merely ordered
to give a pull at the main-brace.

There was a cry, and the next moment the body of the helmsman dropped on
the deck. Jack had literally cut his head off with a sweep of his
cutlass. The sight had the effect of making the Spaniards hang back for
a moment, when Jack, putting the helm hard down, made the sails all
shiver, and finally got her fore-topsail aback. Seeing what had
occurred, the crew of the pinnace cheered, and, giving way, were soon
clambering over the counter, while we made a dash at the Spaniards, few
of whom attempted to oppose us even for a moment; most of them, indeed,
throwing away their arms, made their escape to the forecastle. The rest
followed their example; and in two minutes the schooner _Zerlina_, with
a hundred and fifty slaves on board, was ours. Besides the captain, and
the other man who was killed, there were twenty stout fellows, two or
three only being out of fighting order with their wounds. We had
difficulty enough to keep the rest quiet. They were, in truth, very
sulky, and inclined to revolt, when they had recovered from their
fright, and saw to how few they had succumbed. Curses, loud and many,
escaped their lips, and showed that, if they had an opportunity, they
would murder us, and retake their vessel, without scruple. We therefore
kept four of our men as a watch over them, with loaded muskets, with
orders to shoot the first who showed signs of proving mutinous. Having
made these arrangements, we turned our attention to the living cargo
crowded between her decks. It was a sickening sight, as we got the
hatches off and looked down upon the mass of black faces which, wit