a vain attempt
to hew a passage through it, and were either shot down or thrust back
with boarding-pikes; those who attempted to creep in at the ports
receiving similar treatment. And all the time the small-arm men were
playing briskly upon us with their muskets; so that at the end of five
minutes I found myself with all hands beaten back into the boat, and
every one of us, fore and aft, suffering from wounds more or less
severe.

"Come, lads!" I exclaimed; "take another slap at them; we _must_ get on
deck somehow. You Jones, give me a hoist up on your shoulders; I think
I can see a hole in the netting; here--a foot farther aft--so, that's
well. Now, _heave_."

And up I went, clear above the craft's gunwale and neatly in through the
hole which I had espied. I should have fallen on the deck on my head,
and probably dislocated my neck had not a brawny Spaniard happened to be
immediately beneath me. Taken by surprise at my abrupt appearance, he
had not time to get out of my way or even to strike at me, and before he
could recover himself my pistol was at his temple and he staggered
backward, shot through the head. In his fall, he forced back two or
three of those nearest him, creating a momentary confusion. One of the
gigs was at that instant struggling to get in through the open port near
me, and I bent down, seized him by the collar, and lugged him in on
deck, recovering myself just in time to ward off a savage cutlass-blow.

Jones--who happened to be the man I had dragged inboard--was on his feet
in an instant, and, placing himself alongside me, we both pressed a
little forward, so as to leave room for the rest of the gigs to follow
by the same entrance while we covered them.

At the same moment a ringing cheer was heard forward; there was a rush
of many feet, and Flinn with his party poured aft, having come quietly
in over the bows while the crew were engaged with us aft.

"Launches to the rescue!" he shouted; "Hurroo, me bhoys! lay it on thick
and heavy. Don't give them time to recover themselves; if the naygurs
won't go below or throw down their arrums, just haive them overboard."

The onslaught of the three other boats' crews--which, having stolen
quietly up in the confusion and slipped in over the bows without
molestation, were perfectly fresh--was irresistible. The brigantine's
crew were forced in a body right aft to the taffrail, when, to avoid
being cut down where they stood, or driven overboard,