fles. He waited, however, to fire till
the canoes were launched. Then he immediately opened on them. The
canoes came on. Don Diogo was in one of them. He was eager probably to
secure his gold. Jack took a steady aim at him, down he sank to the
bottom of the canoe. Still that same canoe came on, and Jack fancied
that he could see the old man's arm lifted up and still pointing at the
brig. He could not bring himself to fire at him again, as he thus lay
wounded and almost helpless. Needham, however, had marked the canoe;
and, pointing his gun at her, let fly a whole shower of langrage about
the heads of the negroes paddling in her. Many were knocked over; and
the remainder, turning her round, made the best of their way to the
beach. The other canoes stopped and wavered. Jack plied them well with
bullets. The people on shore seemed to be beckoning them back. Jack
bethought him of taking a glance seaward to ascertain if assistance was
at hand, and there he saw the _Ranger_ under full sail, standing towards
him. His danger was not yet over. The pirates made another desperate
attempt to regain the brig, but were as gallantly repulsed as before,
the negroes not being able to withstand the hot fire kept up on them.
Jack and Needham set up as loud a cheer as their parched throats would
let them give, when, in a short time, they saw Hemming in a boat and
Adair in another, approaching the brig. Fortunately she had taken the
ground so softly that she was hove off that very evening. Adair,
however, in consequence of the exertions he had gone through, was too
ill to accompany Rogers in charge of her to Sierra Leone; and so Jack,
much to his regret, had to go by himself, not forgetting his faithful
rifle.

Meantime the _Ranger_ stood to the southward. Adair had got almost
well: he was on the lookout aloft, when his eye fell on a dark object
floating on the water. At first he thought it might be a rock, then a
dead whale. At length he felt convinced that it was a vessel, either
capsized or with all her canvas lowered. He descended below, and
reported the circumstance to Captain Lascelles. The ship was steered
towards the object, and his last conjecture was found to be the right
one. As they got close to the vessel, a small schooner, one person only
was seen walking the deck.

"That's a midshipman, sir," said Adair to Mr Hemming. "And I can't
make him out quite, but he looks very like Alick Murray."

The friga