m or not he could not tell, for a heavy blow on the
head was dealt him by the butt end of a pistol, the owner of which, one
of his Spanish friends, would certainly have shot him had it been
loaded, and he fell to the ground, stunned and helpless.

How long he thus lay he could not tell. It could not have been for any
length of time, for the battle was still raging when he came to his
senses. He instantly crawled to one of the embrasures, and looked out.
The English had suffered severely. One boat lay on the mud, disabled,
and the dead bodies of several men strewed the mudbank, which the
falling tide had left dry. Then he turned his head, for he heard loud
cheers and shouts, and cries and howls, on one side of the fort. A
fresh attack, he suspected, had just been made. It was resisted with
all the desperation of despair by most of the Spaniards and many of the
blacks. The British were forcing their way in. He caught sight of the
heads of the seamen surmounting the stockade, and then he saw that it
was Alick Murray leading them on. The spectacle gave him fresh life.
He jumped on his legs and gave a loud huzzah.

He had better have been silent. The old Spaniard, who had been flying
about in every direction with the most wonderful activity, encouraging
the people, pointing the guns, and showing himself the leading spirit of
the gang, caught sight of him. It had now become evident that the fort
would be taken; there was but one outlet by which the gang could escape;
the ruffians began to give way. Numbers were wounded; many lay dead on
the ground. Several of the fugitives passed him. He was hoping that
the moment of his deliverance was at hand, when he felt his shoulder
grasped by the little old Spaniard, and found himself dragged along by a
power he could not resist. He struggled, but struggled in vain. Small
as the old man was, he was all sinew and muscle; his clutch was like
that of a vice. There was a fierce rush, blacks, Spaniards, and
mulattoes were all mingled together; and good reason they had to run,
for at their heels came fast a body of English seamen, slashing away
with their cutlasses, and firing their pistols. Hemming, Murray, and
Adair were leading them, and Jack recognised some of the officers of his
own ship, the _Ranger_. He now knew how it was the expedition had been
strengthened. He sought to escape from his captor. "If you shout, I'll
shoot you!" said the old man, in English, grinnin