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"You had better hoist your royals and skyscrapers, Mr Mulroy; we shall have a light air off the land presently, and it will require all your canvas to carry the ship round the north point, so as to bring her guns to bear on the village of the savages." "The distance seems to me very short," replied the lieutenant, "and the Talisman sails faster than you may suppose with a light wind."
"I don't know that," said Mulroy, in an excited tone, for he could not easily forget the rough usage his vessel had received at the hands of the bold pirate. "I don't know that. No doubt Gascoyne's mate was against him; but the greater part of the crew were evidently in his favour, else why the secret manner in which he was deprived of his command? No, no.
The horrible noise and the dreadful slaughter in their ranks, seemed to render the affrighted creatures incapable of action, for they came to a dead halt. "Well done, Mulroy," shouted Montague, "forward, boys charge!" A true British cheer burst from the tars and white settlers, which served farther to strike terror into the hearts of the enemy.
"I don't like to be baffled in this way," said Mulroy to the second lieutenant, as they paced the quarterdeck together. "It is very unfortunate," returned the other. "Would it not be as well to examine the man called Surly Dick before leaving these waters? You know he let out that there is some island hereabouts at which the pirates are wont to rendezvous.
Mulroy observed the pirate's indecision, and although he knew not its cause to the full extent, he was sufficiently acquainted with human nature to know that now was the moment to overcome the man, if he was to be overcome at all. "Well, well," he said, carelessly, "I'm sorry to see you throw away your only chance. As for the information you refuse to give, I can do without it.
The horrible noise and the dreadful slaughter in their ranks seemed to render the affrighted creatures incapable of action, for they came to a dead halt. "Well done, Mulroy!" shouted Montague; "forward, boys, charge!" A true British cheer burst from the tars and white settlers, which served further to strike terror into the hearts of the enemy.
The fire burst through the hatchways, and in a short time began to leap up the rigging. It now became necessary to make arrangements for the saving of the crew. "Nothing more can be done, Mr. Mulroy," said Montague, in a calm voice, that accorded ill with the state of his mind. "Get the boats ready, and order the men to assemble on the quarter-deck."
"Port it is," answered the man at the wheel. "Steady." "Back the topsails, Mr. Mulroy." The sails were backed at once, and the ship became motionless, with her broadside to the village. "What are we to do now, Mr. Gascoyne?" inquired Montague, smiling in spite of himself at the strange position in which he found himself.
But Mr Mulroy was not a man to be easily baffled. He resolved to continue the chase, and, supposing that his commander must have got safely to the shore, he made up his mind to proceed southward for a short time, thinking it probable that the pirate would run for the shelter of those remote islands which he knew were seldom visited by merchant ships.
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