nded Spaniards, thus taken unexpectedly
in the rear, went down like ninepins, while their yells of anguish and
dismay quickly threw the entire crew into complete disorder. So
violent, indeed, was the commotion that the attention of the Spaniards
was momentarily distracted from what may be termed the frontal attack,
and of this distraction Marshall instantly availed himself to dash in on
deck, where, with a few sweeps of his sword, he soon cleared standing
room, not only for himself but also for half a dozen of his immediate
followers. These in turn cleared the way for others, and thus in the
course of a couple of breathless minutes every man of the _Adventure's_
crew had gained the deck of the Spaniard, after which the capture of the
ship was a foregone conclusion. The rush of Marshall and his party on
the one hand, and the onslaught of Dick Chichester with his whirling
handspike on the other so utterly distracted and demoralised the
Spaniards that they presently broke and fled, flinging away their
weapons, and crying out that their foes were a crew of demons who had
assumed for the nonce the outward semblance of Englishmen! The hatches
were promptly clapped on over the fugitive Spaniards, then Marshall and
his followers paused to recover their breath and look about them.

The first thing to claim their attention was the ships themselves.
These, being lashed together by means of the grapnels, were grinding and
rasping each other's sides so alarmingly, as they rolled and plunged in
the sea that was running, that they had already inflicted upon each
other an appreciable amount of damage, and threatened to do a great deal
more if prompt preventive measures were not taken. Marshall therefore
called upon Winter, one of his lieutenants, to take a party of twenty
men, and with them return to the _Adventure_, cast her adrift from the
prize, and lie off within easy hailing-distance of the latter. This was
done at once, Dick Chichester being one of those called upon by Winter
to follow him aboard the _Adventure_, and as soon as the two ships were
parted an investigation was made into the extent of the damage incurred
by each ship. The result of this investigation was the discovery that
the _Adventure_ was much the greater sufferer of the two, her larboard
main channel piece having been wrenched off, and the seams in the
immediate neighbourhood opened, while three of the channel plates were
broken, thus leaving the mainmast