According to the manœuvres of the pirates, the boarding would take place on the right, and all the crew of the yacht precipitated themselves from this side.
The gunners seized the cords which operated the pan-covers of the carronades.
I covered the man with the black cowl perfectly with the muzzle of my carbine.
At the moment when I pressed the trigger, Williams shouted, "Fire all!"
I fired, but was unable to see the effect of my ball.
A great explosion shook the yacht. It was the four starboard carronades loaded with grape-shot, which were fired almost at short range on the mystic pirate, without doubt at the moment when they boarded the yacht, for the latter received so violent a shock that I was almost thrown down.
Several balls whistled around my head.
A heavy body fell behind me, and I heard Falmouth call to me, in a feeble voice:
"Take care of yourself."
I turned anxiously towards him, when a man, wearing the Catalan bonnet, leaped upon the deck, caught me with one hand by my cravat, and with the other fired a shot from a pistol so near me that the priming burned my hair and beard.