my crew had many of them hardly attained the maturity which is
the gift of ten long summers--and the whole thing was so sudden
that I had no time to invent a reinforcement of riper years. It
was not surprising, therefore, that my dauntless boarding-
party, axe in hand and cutlass between teeth, fought their way to
the pirates' deck only to be repulsed again and yet again, and
that our planks were soon slippery with our own ungrudged and
inexhaustible blood. At this critical point in the conflict, the
bo'sun, grasping me by the arm, drew my attention to a
magnificent British man-of-war, just hove to in the offing, while
the signalman, his glass at his eye, reported that she was
inquiring whether we wanted any assistance or preferred to go
through with the little job ourselves.

This veiled attempt to share our laurels with us, courteously as
it was worded, put me on my mettle. Wiping the blood out of my
eyes, I ordered the signalman to reply instantly, with the half-
dozen or so of flags that he had at his disposal, that much as we
appreciated the valour of the regular service, and the delicacy
of spirit that animated its commanders, still this was an
orthodox case of the young gentleman-adventurer versus the
unshaved pirate, and Her Majesty's Marine had nothing to do but
to form the usual admiring and applauding background. Then,
rallying round me the remnant of my faithful crew, I selected a
fresh cutlass (I had worn out three already) and plunged once
more into the pleasing carnage.

The result was not long doubtful. Indeed, I could not allow it
to be, as I was already getting somewhat bored with the pirate
business, and was wanting to get on to something more southern