"Then there was a rumbling of heavy guns being pulled about the decks, and after that the sound of hammering, and I knew they were changing the name plate.
"Fearing they would lock me in my stateroom I packed as much gold into my purse as it would hold, distributed the rest throughout my clothing, and stole out of the cabin to the little passageway, where I lay crouched behind the stair leading to the deck.
"All at once I heard a cry of 'Fire, fire,' and then a rush of feet towards the stern.
"Now was my chance. With a bound I rushed on deck, pulled the tarpaulin cover off the gig and sprang in. It dropped with a splash into the water. Fortunately the sea was comparatively calm, and the boat did not upset. I seized the oars and rowed away. I could see the flames shooting to a height of perhaps twenty feet, and judged from the space over which they spread that my fire must have crept through part of the hold. The powder was all loaded in the bow, and was in no great danger.
"Sharply outlined against the flames the men ran to and fro hauling water in buckets from the sea. I rowed on and on, thinking only of getting away from the pirates before they got the fire under control and missed me, but as I watched I saw that the fire was getting beyond them and soon I saw that nearly the whole ship was in flames. Suddenly there was a distant booming sound, and the flames shot into the sky in all directions, and when the black smoke had cleared away there were little dots of flame all over the sea, where pieces of the burning vessel were floating about.
"I was now about two miles away, and could not tell whether any of the crew had escaped or not. Indeed I do not care, as they had all murdered scores of innocent men and women in the years they had been scouring the seas. It seemed to me a fitting thing that they should have lost their lives by the very powder with which they intended to kill others.
"By and by all the flaming specks disappeared, and I was alone on the dark sea, for all I knew, miles away from land."
CHAPTER XII
"I kept on rowing until daylight, when ahead of me I saw a streak of land. It was a great way off, so I rested and ate before recommencing my rowing. I was afraid to stop for fear a storm should spring up and wreck my small craft.