The young midshipman turned his pale mild countenance upwards as he said
firmly, "Never!" The miscreant fired, and he fell dead.

"Fire!" The whole broadside was poured in, and we could hear the shot
rattle and tear along the cutter's deck, and the shrieks and groans of
the wounded.

We now ranged alongside, and close action commenced; never do I expect
to see such an infernal scene again. Up to this moment all had been
coolness and order on board the pirate; but when the yards locked, the
crew broke loose from all control--they ceased to be men--they were
demons, for they threw their own dead and wounded indiscriminately down
the hatchways, to get clear of them. They had stripped themselves almost
naked; and although they fought with the most desperate courage, yelling
and cursing, each in his own tongue, yet their very numbers, pent up in
a small vessel, were against them. Amidst the fire and smoke we could
see that the deck had become a very shamble; and unless they soon
carried the cutter by boarding, it was clear that the coolness and
discipline of the service must prevail. The pirates seemed aware of this
themselves, for they now made a desperate attempt at boarding, led on by
the black captain. While the rush forward was being made, by a sudden
impulse, Splinter and I, followed by Peter, scrambled from our shelter,
and in our haste jumped down, knocking over the man at the wheel.

There was no time to be lost; if any of the crew came aft we were dead
men; so we tumbled down through the cabin skylight, and stowed ourselves
away in the side berths. The noise on deck soon ceased--the cannon were
again plied--gradually the fire slackened, and we could hear that the
pirate had scraped clear and escaped. Some time after this, the