The Tomahawk., 1917-05-31


All! The strangers deck swarms
black with men.
| His sham ports fell as If by magic,
his guns grinned through the gaps
like black teeth; his huge foresail rose
and filled, and out he came in chase.
The breeze was a kiss from heaven,
the sky vaulted sapphire, the sea a
million dimples of liquid lucid, gold.
"Sharpe," said Dodd, in a tone that
conveyed no suspicion Of the newcom-
err, "set the royals, and flying jib.-
Port!"
"Port it u.s." cried the man at the
helm.
"Steer due SOUTH" And, with these
words in his mouth Dodd dived to
the gun deck.
By this time elastic Sharpe had re-
covered the first shock; and the order
to crowd sail on the ship CALLED his
pride and his manhood; he muttered,
Indignantly, "The white feather !" This
eased his mind, and he Obeyed orders
brlskly as ever. While he and his
hands were setting every rag the ship
could carry on that tack, the other
officers having unluckily no orders to
execute, stood gloomy and helpless,
with their eyes glued, by sort Of
somber fascination, on that coming
fate.
But now the captain came bustling
on deck, eyed the 1oftier sails, saw
they were drawing well, appointed
four midshipmen staff to convey MS
orders; gave Bayliss charge OF the
carronades, Grey Of the cutlasses, ana
directed Mr.. Tickell to break the bad
news gently to Mrs. Beresford, and to
take her below to the orlop deck; Or
dered the purser to serve out beer,
biscuit, and grog to all hands, saying
"Men can't work on an empty stom-
ach, and fighting is hard work." Then
| becllOned the officers to come rOund
him. "Gentlemen," said he, confiden-
TALLY, Gin crowding sail on this ship,
I had no hope of escaping that fellow
on this tack, but I was, and am,
most anxious to gain the open sea,
where can square my yards and run
for it. If I see chance. At present 1
shall carry on till he comes up within
range; and then, to keep the COM
pany's canvas from being shot to rags,
I shall shorten sail; and to save ship
and cargo and all our hves L snail
fight while plank Of her swims. Bet
ter to be killed in hot blood than
walk the plank in cold"
The officers cheered family the cap
tain's logged resolution stirred up
theirs. ..
"Shorten sail to the taupsles and
lib, get the colors ready on the hal
yards, and then send the men aft. :"
Sail was no sooner shortened, and
the crew ranged, than the captain
came briskly on desk, saluted, jumped
on a carronade, and stood erect. He
was not the man to show the crew his
forebodings.
(Pipe) "Silence fore and aft"
INV men, the schooner coming up
on our weather quarter Is a Portu-
guese pirate. His character Is known;
he scuttles all the ships he boards,
dishOnors the women, and murders
the crew. We cracked on to get out
of the narrows, and now we have
shortened sail to fight this blackguard.
and teach him not to modest a British
ship. T promise, in the company
name, twenty pounds prize money to
every man before the mast If we beat
him off or outmaneuver him; thirty
If we sink him; and forty If we tow
him astern into friendly port.
Eight guns are clear below, three on
| the weather side, five on the lee;
for, if he knows his business, he will
come up on the lee quarter; If he
doesn't that Is no fault Of yours nor
mine. The muskets are all loaded,
the cutlasses ground like razors-"
The reply was a fierce "hurrah!'
from q hundred throats, so loud, so
deep, so full Of volume, it made the
ship vibrate, and rang In the creeping
on pirates ears. Fierce, but cunning,
he saw mischief in those shortened
sails, and that Union Jack, the terror
Of his tribe, rising to British cheer;
he lowered his mainsail, and crawled
up on the weather quarter. Arrived
within a cables length, he double
reefed his foresail to reduce his rate Of
| SdllluS uCuIlF " tuuL Va tAS SAAAPS sAAA~e
the next moment tongue Of flame,
and then a cash of smoke, issued from
his lee bow, and the ball flew scream
ing like seagull over the Agra's
mizzen top. He then put his helm
up, and fired his other bow-chaser,
and sent the shot kissing and skipping
on the water past the ship. This pro-
logue made the novices vince. Bay
liss wanted to reply with carronade;
but Dodd forbade him sternly, saying:
IF we keep him aloof we are done
for"
The pirate drew nearer, and fired
both guns in succession, hulled the
Agra amidships, and sent an 1S-pound
ball through her foresail. Most OF
the faces were pale on the quarter
deck; it was very trying to be shot
at, and hit, and make no return. The
next double discharge sent one short