From the parapet of the old fort Captain Blood surveyed them through his telescope. At his elbow, with Macartney in attendance, stood the Captain–General perceiving at last that the Spanish menace was a reality.
Don Miguel commanded at the time the Virgen del Pilar, the finest and most powerful vessel in which he had yet sailed since Blood had sunk the Milagrosa some months before. She was a great black–hulled galleon of forty guns, including in her armament several heavy demi–cannon with a range of three thousand yards. Of the other three ships, two, if inferior, were still formidable thirty–gun frigates, whilst the last was really little better than a sloop of ten guns.
Blood closed his telescope and prepared for action in the old fort. The new one was for the moment left inactive.
Within a half–hour battle was joined. Don Miguel's advance had all the rashness which Blood knew of old.
He made no attempt to shorten sail until within two thousand yards. He conceived, no doubt, that he was taking the place entirely unawares, and that the antiquated guns of the fort would probably be inadequate. Nevertheless, he must dispose of them before attempting to enter the harbour. To be sure of making short work of it, he continued to advance until Blood computed him within a thousand yards.
«On my soul,» said Blood, «he'll be meaning to get within pistol–range, or else he thinks the fort of no account at all. Wake him up, Ogle. Let him have a salute.»
Ogle's crew had been carefully laying their guns, and they had followed the advance with the twelve sakers from the Atrevida. Others stood at hand with linstocks, rammers, and water–tubs, to serve the gunners.
Ogle gave the word, and the twelve guns were touched off as one, with a deafening roar. Within that easy range even the five–pound shot of these comparatively small cannon did some little damage to two of the Spanish ships. The moral effect of thus surprising those who came to surprise was even greater. The Admiral instantly signalled them to go about. In doing so they poured broadside after broadside into the fort, and for some minutes the place was a volcano, smoke and dust rising in a dense column above the flying stones and crumbling masonry. Blinded by it the buccaneers had no vision of what the Spaniards might be doing. But Blood guessed it, and cleared every man from the fort into shelter behind it during the brief respite before the second broadsides came. When that was over, he drove them back again into the battered fortress, which for a while now had nothing more to fear, and the original antiquated guns of Saint John's were brought into action. The faucons were fired at random through the cloud of dust that hid them merely as a display and to let the Spaniards know that the fort was still alive. Then, as the cloud lifted, the five–pounders spoke, in twos and threes, carefully aimed at the ships which were now beating to windward. They did little damage; but this was less important than to keep the Spaniards in play.
Meanwhile, the gun–crews were busy with the sakers from the Atrevida. Water–tubs had been emptied over them, and now with swabs and wads and rammers at work the reloading was proceeding.
The Captain–General, idle amid this terrific activity, required presently to know why powder was so ineffectively being wasted by these pop–guns, when in the earthworks there were cannon of long range which might be hammering the Spaniards with twenty–four and thirty–pound shot. When he was answered evasively, he passed from suggestion to command, whereupon he was invited not to interfere with carefully laid plans.