The young man never moved!
He raised his pistol and leveling it at the head of the officer said:
"Give me your sword."
The man meekly obeyed.
With a sword in one hand, a pistol in the other, he faced the drunken gunners.
"The first man who attempts to touch me, dies. Lay down your weapons on the deck."
"By St. George, hark to the child!" said one of the men. "Are you afraid? See, I'll take his plaything from him."
The man stepped forward, but Tempest was too quick for him, and a well-aimed thrust with the sword placed the man hors de combat.
"Lay down your weapons," he shouted, as he drew his sword from the dead man's body.
The men obeyed sullenly.