it forward. "Clear
the way, lads!"

In a moment the little cannon was pointed to the centre of the mass of
men, and fired. One awful shriek of agony rose above the din of the
fight, as a wide gap was cut through the crowd; but this only seemed to
render the survivors more furious. With a savage yell they charged the
quarter-deck, but were hurled back again and again by the captain, and a
few chosen men who stood around him. At length one of the pirates, who
had been all along conspicuous for his strength and daring, stepped
deliberately up, and, pointing a pistol at the captain's breast, fired.
Captain Ellice fell, and at the same moment a ball laid the pirate low;
another charge was made; Fred rushed forward to protect his father, but
was thrown down and trodden under foot in the rush, and in two minutes
more the ship was in possession of the pirates.

Being filled with rage at the opposition they had met with, these
villains proceeded, as they said, to make short work of the crew, while
several of them sprang into the cabin, where they discovered Mrs Ellice
almost dead with terror. Dragging her violently on deck, they were
about to cast her into the sea, when Buzzby, who stood with his hands
bound, suddenly burst his bonds and sprang towards her. A blow from the
butt of a pistol, however, stretched him insensible on the deck.

"Where is my husband?--my boy?" screamed Mrs Ellice wildly.

"They've gone before you, or they'll soon follow," said a savage
fiercely, as he raised her in his powerful arms, and hurled her
overboard. A loud shriek was followed by a heavy plunge. At the same
moment two of the men raised the captain, intending to throw him
overboard also, when a loud boom arrested their attention, and a
cannon-shot ploughed up the sea close in front of their bows.

While the fight was raging, no one had observed the fact that the breeze
had freshened, and a large man-of-war, with American colours at her
peak, was now within gunshot of the ship. No sooner did the pirates
make this discovery than they rushed to their boats, with the intention
of pulling to their schooner, but those who had been left in charge,
seeing the approach of the man-of-war, and feeling that there was no
chance of escape for their comrades, or, as is more than probable, being
utterly indifferent about them, crowded all sail, and slipped away, and
it was now hull-down on the horizon to leeward. The men in the boats
rowed after