hen the cable was got on board it was knotted to their own
strongest hawser.

"That will keep them a good bit astern," Will said; "otherwise, if the
wind were to drop at night, they might haul their own vessel up to us, and
carry out their plan of blowing us up."

"It is wise to take every precaution, sir," Harman said; "but I don't
think any trick of that sort would be likely to succeed. You may be sure
we should keep too sharp a watch on them."

While the hawsers were being spliced, Will shouted to the pirates to cut
away the wreckage from their ship, and when this was done he started with
his prize in tow. As soon as they were fairly under weigh he hailed the
prisoners through his speaking-trumpet and questioned them about their
casualties. They replied that at the beginning of the engagement they had
had one hundred and twenty men on board. The captain had been killed by
the first volley of grape, and the slaughter among the crew had been
terrible, all the officers being killed and eighty of the men. The
remainder had run down into the hold, and remained there until, after a
consultation, one of them crawled up on deck and hoisted and lowered the
black flag.

"I suppose," Will said, "your intention was to blow the ship and
yourselves and us into the air as soon as we came on board."

"That is just what we did mean," one of them shouted savagely; "if we
could but have paid you out we would not have minded what became of
ourselves."

"It is well, indeed, Dimchurch, that you suggested the possibility of
their doing this to us. But for that we should certainly have lost nearly
all our number, for, not knowing how many of the crew survived, I could
not have ventured to go on board without pretty nearly every man. It will
be a lesson to me in future, when I am fighting pirates, to act as if they
were wild beasts."

"Well, sir, I don't know that they are altogether to be blamed; it is only
human nature to pay back a blow for a blow, and with savages like these,
especially when they know that they are bound to be hanged, you could
hardly expect anything else."

"I suppose not, Dimchurch, and certainly for myself I would rather be
blown up than hanged. I suppose the reason why they did not blow up the
ship when they found their plan had failed was that they clung to life
even for a few days."

"I expect it is that, sir; besides, you know, each man may think that
although no doubt the rest will be hanged, he himsel