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But no match was to be found! Some one had thrown both overboard. By this time the brig's jib-boom was over our quarter, and the English were actually coming on board of us. The enemy were now all round us. The Wolfe, herself, was within hail, and still firing. The last I saw of any of our people, was Mallet passing forward, and I sat down on the slide of the thirty-two, myself, sullen as a bear.
"When these questions were put the man looked round to the fellow who stood at the brig's little wheel. It was certain he was not a sailor, and it was possible he sought for counsel from the helmsman, who was probably a forecastle hand.
But though all the rest of the populace of the seaport had turned out with their greetings that day, there was one little body there who, so far from hurrying down to shore or sea-wall with a waving handkerchief, ran crying into a corner; and it was there that Andrew Traverse, the person of only secondary importance in the river scene, rated as a boy on the brig's books, but grown into a man since the long voyage began, it was there he found her when the crowd had let him alone and left him free to follow his own devices.
True Blue and his party had been equally successful forward, and now not a Frenchman remained on the brig's deck. In another moment, he with his companions had leaped down on that of the lugger, and, though the French far outnumbered the British, drove them all abaft the foremast, where they found themselves attacked by another portion of the brig's crew, headed by two of her officers.
Away to the left, over our port beam, I could see land in the distance, which Jorrocks told me was the North Foreland near Margate a place that I knew by name of course, although this information did not give me any accurate idea of the brig's whereabouts; but, later on in the day, when the vessel had run some fifteen or twenty miles further, steering to the north-east, with the wind to the southward of west, we passed through a lot of brackish mud-coloured water, close to a light-ship, that my friend the boatswain said was the Kentish Knock, midway between the mouth of the Thames and wash of the Humber, and it was only then that I realised the fact, that we were running up the eastern coast of England and were well on our way to Newcastle, for which port, as I've intimated before, we were bound.
Every eye turned to him and there was silence on the deck as he began to speak. "Dollars louis d'ors doubloons?" said he. "There was one man got 'em. Solomon Brig got 'em. All the rest was babes to him babes an' beggars. Billy Kidd was thought a great devil in his day, but when he met Brig's six-gun sloop off Malabar, he turned tail, him an' his two great galleons, an' ran in under the forts.
Any reply that might have been attempted was choked out by the dive of the brig's head into a sea, which furiously flooded her forecastle and came washing aft like milk in the darkness till it was up to our knees. "See there!" suddenly roared the carpenter. "Where, man, where?" bawled the captain.
"Hark at him! I don't want to cheat. I'll pay my share of all expenses." "No, you won't, sir, for I won't have your money. This brig's let to these two gentlemen for as long as they like. You've played me a dirty trick after being told that I was engaged, and you've got to go ashore. I see through your tricks now. You inveigled my second mate ashore to dinner with you."
It was very evident that the intention of the pirates was completely to surround the brig. After a time, the last-named division began once more to creep slowly on, and, the circle being formed, the whole advanced, decreasing it by degrees, till they got within range of the brig's guns.
I therefore determined that my next task should be to search for these bales; which, being composed of rather valuable goods, and destined moreover to be discharged at the brig's first port of call, I thought would probably be found on top of the rest of the cargo and near to one of the hatches.
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