“Ay, ay, sir!” came heartily from the men; and as the doctor turned his eyes inquiringly upon Rodd, who was fiercely ramming the second bullet upon the small shot already in the two barrels of his gun, he saw a look in the lad’s face that he had never seen there before, and in spite of the pain of the situation, he felt a thrill of satisfaction running through his breast at the thought that, young as his nephew was, he was English to the core.
“Yes,” said the doctor, “we must fight; but with such odds against us we must bring cunning to bear.”
“Ay, ay, sir! That’s right,” cried Cross. “But perhaps, as we’ve got right on our side and only a set of mongrels before us, a good bold dash to board them will make us as strong as they. I say, sir, if you will let me lead, we will try and take our schooner, give them a broadside of bullets when we get close up, and then out steel and board her like men. Once over her side, there won’t be many of them left on deck at the end of five minutes; and as soon as we have got her and the use of her guns, if we don’t sink them other two pirates I have never been to sea.”
“That’s right, Joe,” came in chorus, as, standing in the bows with one hand upon his gun, the other upon his right hip, he looked the very perfection of a British man-of-war’s man, ready to lead or be led, wherever duty called.
Then, as if inspired by his appearance, the crew burst out into a ringing cheer, helped by the two lads, while the doctor took off and waved his straw hat as he joined in. Bang—thud!
A great grey puff of smoke started from the schooner’s deck and a ball came skipping in their direction over the smooth stream.
“Well, I do call that too bad,” cried Joe, as the men uttered a deep-toned “Yah–h–h!”
“Arter the way in which I cared for you and kept you clean, to go and behave like that!”
“Well, poor dumb beast,” growled Briggs, “she don’t know no better.”
“Do you call that dumb?” cried Joe, merrily enough. “Well, I s’pose she was obliged; but I don’t think much of their gunnery, messmates,” continued the man, as he made use of the glass again. “Oh, they’re all at work, sir, re-loading, and it will soon be our turn. I propose, sir, that we let them give us another shot, and then dash in before they have time to re-load. They won’t hit us; will they, boys?”