In a moment or two, the clash of swords and report of pistols were heard in the garden.
“To the boat! to the boat! my merry men!” shouted old Bates. “We are discovered!”
“On to ’em, men! Cut and thrust! Spare none of them!” was the response of some one who now advanced at the head of a body of men, with links, torches, and the like. “On to ’em, they are all rogues and vagabonds!”
Shouts, and oaths, and cries were now heard on every side.
Captain Jack placed Ellen Harmer in the boat, and, with a furious countenance, he rushed into the thickest of the fray.
Blows were freely exchanged on both sides, and many were wounded.
“Are all the men safe?” said Captain Jack to Bates.
“Yes; they are all near by.”
“Then let them stand in a line, and face the enemy.”
“What, fight and fall back to the boats?”