ecked,
and declared that from his certain knowledge her captain was a most
atrocious villain, and that as the schooner was well armed, and he had a
very strong crew, he was not likely to give in without fighting hard to
get away.

The drum now beat to quarters--the guns were cast loose; shot and powder
were handed up; the men buckled on their cutlasses, and stuck their
pistols in their belts. It was an interesting sight to observe the
ship's company as they stood grouped round their guns, ready to commence
the battle at a signal from their commander. At length we got the
schooner within range of our guns. We fired a shot past her, but she
showed no colours, nor did she heave to. We therefore fired two more at
her; one of the shots glanced against her side, and one of the
midshipmen declared that he could see the white splinters flying off it.
We waited a few minutes that we might get still nearer, so that our
shot might tell with more effect. The schooner did not fire in return.

"Now," cried Captain Armstrong, who was fully convinced of the character
of the stranger, "give it them, but aim high at the _rigging_. Fire!"

We yawed, so that our guns could be brought to bear on the stranger.
Every shot seemed to tell, and several of her spars were seen to come
tumbling down on deck. Then once more we were after her, and again,
when a little nearer, another broadside was fired. This produced almost
as great an effect as the former one, but I suspect that some of the
guns were trained low, for I saw distinctly masses of white splinters
flying off from her quarters. Notwithstanding this, she would not give
in. Perhaps those on board her dared not. They fought with halters
round their necks. Captain Armstrong seemed to hesitate about
continuing to fire on a vessel which did not return it. He was a humane
man, and he probably felt that he might be destroying unnecessarily the
lives of the unfortunate beings on board. Still he could not tell what
trick they might be intending. The guns were again loaded and run out.
We had now got within musket range. We could, however, only see a
couple of men at the helm, and another walking the deck, yet there was
no sign that the pirate ever thought of giving in.

"Shall we give him another broadside, sir? Nothing else will make him
heave to," said the first lieutenant.

"No, do; stay. He will probably lower his sails when we range up
alongside, and ask why we fired at