Dodd had ordered the crew out of the rigging, armed them with cutlasses,
and laid them flat on the forecastle. He also compelled Kenealy and
Fullalove to come down out of harm's way, no wiser on the smooth bore
question than they went up.
The great patient ship ran environed by her foes; one destroyer right in
her course, another in her wake, following her with yells of vengeance,
and pounding away at her--but no reply.
Suddenly the yells of the pirates on both sides ceased, and there was a
moment of dead silence on the sea.
Yet nothing fresh had happened.
Yes, this had happened: the pirates to windward and the pirates to
leeward of the _Agra_ had found out, at one and the same moment, that the
merchant captain they had lashed, and bullied, and tortured was a patient
but tremendous man. It was not only to rake the fresh schooner he had put
his ship before the wind, but also by a double, daring, masterstroke to
hurl his monster ship bodily on the other. Without a foresail she could
never get out of her way. The pirate crew had stopped the leak, and cut
away and unshipped the broken foremast, and were stepping a new one, when
they saw the huge ship bearing down in full sail.
Pages:
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315