The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-01-11

= -
Put back the po,edcr," he cried. "Nota
shot must be fired"
Let go those spritsail braiis! Lay out
along the bolt spirit and cast the gas
kets off! Elatten in the starboard
sheet and cant her. head round. Hand
-somely, now. Topsails next! Work
with will, lads! Times precious!'
lost the next words through the
distance. and not wishing to slip too
far ahead haspiped my miZZen. brazil
ed my main course and so allowed Alec
TO creep up to me again.
He made sail With marvellous quick
ness and soon was within speaking
distance.
Are your guns all loaded, .Iack:''
AYE. and double shotted and the
lint stocks lighted and lying in the
;ubs beside them
'.Then make straight for that big
chap on your larboard bow as if you
meant to speak him. Fool him if you
can. Say I'm your prize. If he sus-
poets you, give him d broadside for his
sharpness. Only keep the wind of him,
and you can do what you like. I'll slip
across his bow and pepper that side
of him. And if that isn't enough do
what your mother wit suggests, but
mind it must be quickly done what
ever, it is or Wen have the other two
beating up to help him.
Now, had I acted on my opinion /
should have steered straight for the
open sea, dead before the fair wind.
in which case should inevitably have
aroused the suspicious Of all three
ships and SO have allowed them to con-
centrate on our course and cut us off.
Alec's plan was obviously the best,
for when they saw 1 was steering
plump for the southernnost one the
others held quietly to their places III
the mouth of the bay.
When I, got within a cables length.
an officer hailed me. | waited as long
as dared and then answered. but ap-
parently there was something wron.,,
with my Spanish, for he replied angi.il,
that | was drunk and an insolei.t
scoundrel for daring so to address him,
AT this juncture one OF my men, a soft.
hearted fellow, who knew enough Of
thes tongue to make out that the don
was using very free language to me, let
fly at him with his gun aud sent
three ounce ball straight into his
breastplate.
That effectually put an end to our di-
plomacy, SO | gave the order to fire as
each gun bore. had warned the gun
ners to aim high, and at the third shot
the Spaniard's maintopmast broke off
short like a carrot. His mainyard, too,
came down by the run, bringing the
sail with it, but as he was still under
command put up past him, reloading
the guns meanwhile and then hauling
my wind once more gave him n second
dose over either quarter.
Meanwhile Alec and his men had
been working like furies and tossing
their guns about like childs toys, rain
ing such a shower of broken shot into
his huh from their lesser elevation that
his lower deck must have been almost
untenable.
The Spaniard had been unprepared
for our attack and took some time to
beat his men to quarters. but they
served their guns well and fast when
they did get to them, and the Shot soon
came flying about our ears like hail
stones. His running rigging, however.
was pretty well cut to pieces, and as
we had half a dozen good bowmen sta
toned ready who sent clothyard
shaft through the ribs of every man
who set a foot on his ratlines he lay
pretty helplessly head to wind, with his
remaining sails in the most thorough
confusion. Had we been able to play
the game out at long bowls we could
either have sunk him or reduced the
number of his crew sufficiently to all
low US to carry him by boarding, but
the other two Spanish ships were beat
ing up to us, and on her next tack the
nearest would be within gunshot.
Alec therefore gave the word to run
away west by south, before the wind |
through the southern entrance of the
bay. The order did not come minute
too soon, though the majority of us
We're so worked up by the excitement
of the fight that we would never have
noticed that it was high time for US to
quit.
we held on this course for about two
hours, and then, as the sky had fortrl- |
nately clouded over, we hauled our
wind and stood due south to give our
pursuers chance of passing us in the
darkness. They would never expect US