two men in the crow's-nest had thirty loaded muskets besides a few
pistols, the muskets all stood round them leaning against the rail;
they picked them up and fired them one by one. Every shot told, but
still the Arabs came on. They were galloping now. It took some time to
load the guns in those days. Three hundred yards, two hundred and
fifty, men dropping all the way, two hundred yards; Old Frank for all
his one ear had terrible eyes; it was pistols now, they had fired all
their muskets; a hundred and fifty; Shard had marked the fifties with
little white stones. Old Frank and Bad Jack up aloft felt pretty
uneasy when they saw the Arabs had come to that little white stone,
they both missed their shots.

"All ready?" said Captain Shard.

"Aye, aye, sir," said Smerdrak.

"Right," said Captain Shard raising a finger.

A hundred and fifty yards is a bad range at which to be caught by
grape (or "case" as we call it now), the gunners can hardly miss and
the charge has time to spread. Shard estimated afterwards that he got
thirty Arabs by that broadside alone and as many horses.

There were close on two hundred of them still on their horses, yet the
broadside of grape had unsettled them, they surged round the ship but
seemed doubtful what to do. They carried swords and scimitars in their
hands, though most had strange long muskets slung behind them, a few
unslung them and began firing wildly. They could not reach Shard's
merry men with their swords. Had it not been for that broadside that
took them when it did they might have climbed up from their horses and