So this motley crew, under Fortunatus Wright, cheered onward by the dauntless navigator, fought as they had never fought before. Arab and German strove as well as Englishman and Italian to battle strenuously beneath the eye of the famous privateersman. They had never been together before, but, animated by the presence of this fearless “cock-of-the-Mediterranean,” they now sailed into the Frenchman as if the zebeque were a vessel of equal strength and armament. Cheer after cheer welled into the air as the two antagonists drew near each other, while the puff of white smoke from the sides of the French vessel was followed by the chug! chug! of solid shot, as it cut up the waves near the body of the staunch, little Saint George.
“It’s three to one against us, Boys!” shouted the battle-scarred Captain Wright. “Fire for the enemy’s rigging and bring down one of her masts, if you can. If you fight hard we can lick her!”
The screech of a shell cut his words short, for a piece of iron passed dangerously near his lips, striking a stout Italian in the neck, and rendering him useless for further conflict.
Around and around in a wide circle floated the two sea-warriors, for the wind was light and just drove them along at the rate of a snail’s pace. The rag-tag-and-bob-tail crew on the Saint George stood to their guns like veterans and poured in such a hot fire that the French captain speedily realized that his only chance for victory was to board and overwhelm the English by superior numbers.
“Bring the vessel up on her starboard side!” he commanded. “And get out the boarding-pikes! Now we’ll finish Captain Wright!”
The zebeque soon ranged alongside the battered Saint George, threw her grappling hooks into the rigging, and her men were in a hand-to-hand struggle with the motley crew who battled for the veteran Fortunatus. Slash! Slash! Crack! The cutlasses cut and parried, the pistols spat, and the boarding-pikes thrust and struck. Cheering wildly the Frenchmen attempted to climb upon the deck of the privateer, but the followers of old Wright fought like demons. They parried and thrust like fiends; and such was the ferocity of their struggle that the boarders were repulsed with great slaughter.
“THE BOARDERS WERE REPULSED WITH GREAT SLAUGHTER.”
“Thees Wright ees a very hornet for a fight!” sighed the French captain, as he ordered the grappling hooks cast off, and floated his vessel away.