fight as long as we can
raise a hand in self-defence," answered George; "and my advice to you is
to do the same. Alone, we three men cannot hope to do much; but with
your aid I certainly should not despair of beating off yonder schooner,
even though she be full of men. And if the worst comes to the worst and
we find that we _must_ die, it will be far better to do so with swords
in our hands, than to be slaughtered in cold blood."

"Yes, yes; that's true; none o' that for me, thank'ee," and sundry other
exclamations of concurrence followed the conclusion of the skipper's
speech; then came another very brief consultation; and finally Ned once
more stepped forward and said--

"We've agreed, sir, as you're in the rights of it about the fightin';
and we're quite ready to stand by yer--all hands of us--and do our
best."

"Very well," said George. "Then we will lose no time in making ready
for our defence. Mr Bowen, we will have up that brass long
nine-pounder which is down below; I provided it for just such an
emergency as this."

"Ay, ay, sir," answered the mate, in a cheery tone of voice which spoke
volumes as to his confidence in their ability to beat off the pirate, if
such the schooner should prove to be. Then, turning to the men, he
continued--

"Now then, some of you, whip the tarpaulin off this after hatchway, and
lift off the hatches. Mr Ritson, will you be good enough to rouse out
a couple of fourfold tackles and get them made fast aloft? We shall
require a chain strop also. That's right, lads; off with those hatches;
we'll soon have the old barkie in fighting trim."

Inspired by the mate's cheery manner, the men worked with hearty
good-will; and in less than an hour they had the long nine-pounder on
deck, mounted on its carriage, its tackles hooked on, the gun loaded,
cutlasses and pistols distributed, boarding-pikes cast loose, and
everything ready for a stubborn resistance.

These preliminaries arranged, George and the chief mate made their way
aloft as far as the main-top to watch the approach of the suspected
schooner, which had by this time crept up to within about nine miles of
the _Aurora_. She was still heading straight for the barque; and the
telescope enabled them to see that her six sweeps were being vigorously
plied; their long steady swing and the perfect time which was maintained
in the working of them conclusively showing that they were being handled
by a strong gang of men.

"Why