This latter remark was addressed to Serena, whom I tried to grasp as she lightly sprang down. We all followed, save Schillie and the two invalids. The pirates shouted with great deafening shouts, and ran towards us, rudely grasping hold of us as we each descended. We shuddered and shrieked with horror. The pirate king ran and brought Schillie down in spite of her struggles. The captain was instantly seized, and would have been roughly treated, but the sailors, unable to hear our cries and not help us, shot round the corner like a flash of lightning, and, ere the pirates were aware of their presence, mixed in the mêlée, cutlass in hand.
Though at first the sailors gained an instantaneous advantage, the numbers against them were so great and the pirates so desperate, that much blood must have been shed and a fierce battle fought, but another boat appeared round the rock, most vigorously propelled, another, and again another. Now we were saved, God be praised! No more doubts, no more fears. We withdrew to a sheltered place on the cliffs, thankful, oh, how thankful God alone can tell. The pirates fled in every direction, but not before our captain, raising his gun, sent a shot after the pirate king that put an end to his reign and his love for ever.
CHAPTER XLV.
An officer was sent to take our wishes, while the other sailors, with their captain and lieutenants, proceeded to pursue and exterminate the pirates. The fresh boats' crews being so eager in the chase that they knew nothing more about us than that some prisoners had been found. The captain, therefore, politely sent an officer to attend to us, with a message to say he was too busy to do so himself. We learnt from this officer that our captain's conjecture was quite true about the pirate vessel having been chased; and they knew well enough that, once seeing them, Capt. Bute would scour the sea in search of them.
They made for "Yr Ynys Unyg" as a last chance, knowing that few but themselves were aware that the great Anaconda was dead, and they trusted that the fear of it would prevent any one from landing on the island.
Their intentions were all frustrated by finding us all perched upon the rock, and it became a matter of policy to get rid of us somehow. They were unwilling to harm us at first, wishing to reap a golden harvest by claiming the rewards for our recovery; but our obstinacy in refusing to come down drove the pirate captain much beyond his own wishes. Had Capt. Bute's boats been half an hour later there would have been but little of our sad remains left. To his eagerness and skill in following the pirate vessel, and anchoring the Turtle side of the island under cover of the night, we, humanly speaking, owed our lives. May God be praised for all his mercies.
Madame and Smart were first to be considered. It was agreed they must both be taken on board the man-of-war for medical advice. I was to go with them, and Felix was to accompany me to attend on Smart. The rest were to be employed in making preparations for our final departure, besides getting La Luna ready for our once more taking possession of her.