woman, or child was
taken on board immediately afterwards to be slain by the murderous
bullets of the Spaniards. Even at the distance we had already gained,
several bullets reached us. Two or three of the _Falcon's_ men, and
some of those we had rescued, were struck. Now we saw the Spaniards
hurrying along the banks, evidently hoping to get possession of some
boats in which to pursue us.

"Were we not overloaded, they would find us rough customers to deal with
on our own element," observed Captain Radford. "As it is, if they come
near us, we will give them a warmer reception than they expect." In
vain the Spaniards shouted to the people on board some of the boats,
which had as yet got to no great distance, to return. They, happily,
would not trust themselves to their tender mercies. We meantime
continued to row away towards the _Falcon_. The mate, who had been left
on board, seeing us coming, had already loosened sails, ready to get
under weigh directly we should reach her. There was no time to be lost,
for several Spanish horsemen, each taking a foot soldier behind him, had
galloped along the banks till they reached some boats which had been
moored there. Unfortunately, as it appeared, the crews of several were
in the neighbourhood, and at the sword's point were forced to man them.
This I heard afterwards. With the musketeers on board, they rowed
rapidly down the Scheld in pursuit of the fugitives. Although the
latter had a considerable start, some of the boats were heavy, and the
crews of others were severely wounded, so that they could make but slow
progress. Our hearts burned with sorrow and indignation as we saw one
after another taken, and the unfortunate people in them mercilessly
butchered. The delay, however, enabled us to keep ahead of them, as it
allowed also other boats to escape.

Close to the _Falcon_ lay two vessels which had been prepared for the
reception of the fugitives. Their crews, with arms in their hands,
received on board all who could reach them; and, waiting till the last
boat-load of the survivors had got alongside, they cut their cables and
made sail just at the time that we did.

There was, happily, a strong and favourable breeze. The Spaniards
continued pursuing us, firing their muskets as long as we remained
within their reach. No one was hit on board our vessel, although the
others more or less suffered. We returned their fire, every now and
then sending a shot from