"As well as she knows her way into Spithead," replied the other, laughing. "Do you think I've cruised among these islands for the last twenty years, off and on, for nothing?"
Meanwhile the men who had accompanied Touchstone were gathered on the fo'c'sle, surrounded by a group of eager listeners, all anxious to hear the story of the pursuit; and at the same time the master gunner was relating the tale to the bos'n, the quartermaster, and myself.
"We covered the path through the forest in double-quick time," said he; "and directly we gained the crossroads that Captain Miles had hit upon we turned to the right. A mile farther on this road forked, the larger or left-hand path apparently making towards the pirates' settlement. As I thought 'twould be better to set an ambush as far from that place as possible, I took our men by the right-hand path, and finished up at a little cove, where three small boats were hauled up, quite deserted."
"There we took cover, for there were rocks in plenty, the seaside path running betwixt the boulders and a low cliff. We had not been there more than a couple of hours ere Jonas Cook, who had been sent off to keep a look-out, came running back with the news that the buccaneers were close at hand."
"On they came, quite unsuspectingly, straggling over a quarter of a mile of ground. This was bad for us, for our ambush would not allow every man of them to be surprised; so we let the head of the column pass, and then I gave the word to fire."
"We bowled a lot of them over like skittles those who had already passed broke and fled, but those in the rear, instead of running away, dashed towards us with pistol and cutlass. Although we gave them another volley, they still came on, till, being outnumbered, most of them were cut down. The remnant, escaping our fire, broke through our ambush and followed those who had gone on ahead."
"Wouldn't they have done better if they had run back and taken cover in the woods?" asked the quartermaster.
"I am right glad they didn't, or we should have had our work cut out to run them down," replied Touchstone. "They feared that a party was at their heels to complete the trap, and therefore they chose to run the gauntlet of our fire. But 'twas all the better for us."
"How so?"
"Why, we had them all in front of us. We pursued them for close on a mile, till from the top of a hill we saw a harbour larger than this, with a group of houses surrounded by a stockade on one side of it. And in the middle of the harbour were two large ships. Before the rascally villains could reach this fort a body of men rushed out. 'This is too many for us,' I thought, and I was about to beat a retreat when I saw the new-comers open fire on the runaways, who straightway laid down their arms and were instantly secured."