He managed to get up to the butt of the bowsprit, and there, safe from the sea, he rested for a moment again. The two ships would crash together in a minute or so, he saw. He raised his head weakly, and took a deep breath, and then struggled to his feet, ready to spring down to the deck.
His hand went down to whip the sword of Zorro from its scabbard. The schooner yawed suddenly as her helmsman fought to get a position of advantage. The big jib swung back, whipped by the angry wind.
Señor Zorro was looking down at the deck, and he did not see his danger. Don Audre Ruiz turned at the instant, shrieked, and rubbed his eyes.
“Zorro!” he cried.
He was seen from the deck of the pirate craft, too.
Barbados and Sanchez caught sight of him. Sanchez crossed himself quickly, and the face of Barbados turned white.
And then the jib cracked against Señor Zorro’s body, knocked him from his precarious perch, and hurled him once more into the sea!
CHAPTER XV.
A SHOW OF GRATITUDE.
The schooner sailed on, and came against the pirate ship with a crash. But here was a battle unlike the usual one when honest men met pirates. As a usual thing, the pirates could be expected to board and slay without mercy, to loot, and then either to destroy the ill-fated vessel or take it away a prize. And the honest men could be expected only to offer what defense they could. But here was a case where the honest men were more than willing to carry the fight to the pirates. For Don Audre Ruiz and his caballero friends had seen Señor Zorro walk the plank, and also they fought to rescue a lady.