92 SOME ACCOUNT OF A CAPTIVITY. 



To make the matter still less doubtful, a voice, not the most 

 musical, sung out from the lugger " Hillo there, you dam Anglish 

 tief back your fore-topsail, and heave to." I never saw such an 

 instantaneous change come over any man as the metamorphosis of 

 our captain. He was a jolly-looking, portly, north countryman, and 

 he suddenly became as pale as a ghost. Without bestowing a thought 

 on the defence of the vessel, he disappeared through the companion 

 hatchway as though he had been shot. Sauve qui pent seemed 

 instantly the order of the day. The Portuguese left the helm, and 

 dived into the forecastle the mate disappeared in a twinkling and 

 before we could actually look round us, the deck was left to poor 

 Ward and myself. The transformation was so sudden, that I could 

 hardly believe my eyes. Jem looked around him at first with 

 bewilderment, and then with indignation. 



" By the powers!" he exclaimed, with an oath tacked to it that 

 would have astonished even a privateer-man., " but that's as clane a 

 thing as ever I seed the cowardly varmint ! niver mind, my boy, 

 but we have a bit a fun all to ourselves we'll give 'em one broadside 

 for the honour of ould Ireland." How the broadside was to be 

 accomplished by two pair of hands I left to my friend's superior 

 Irish management, but I run forward to the cuboose or cook-house 

 for a lighted match, while Jem prepared a gun. The crew of the 

 privateer saw our manoeuvres, and were shouting to us to desist, but 

 we did not comprehend a word of their lingo, although we guessed 

 its import. Meantime our vessel, without a steersman, was yowing 

 about at the mercy of the wind ; an advancing enemy seemed to be 

 first on one quarter and then on the other. Ward at length made his 

 dispositions, and bang went the carronade. Wherever the shot went 

 our enemy was untouched ; for on she came foaming along, her crew 

 yelling like a thousand devils, blaspheming and swearing vengeance. 

 We neither understood nor cared; but another match and bang 

 went another gun. This was the last of our broadsides ; for poor 

 Ward, Irishman like, forgetting the swivel of the gun, had seated 

 himself directly behind it to take a surer aim ; and the consequence 

 was that over he went, and with such force that there is no knowing 

 where he might have stopped had he not been brought up by the 

 bulwarks of the vessel on the other side. I was rather confounded ; 

 and a volley of musket-balls from the privateer, which was then 

 within a length of us, added to my embarrassment ; one whistled so 

 close to my ear, that I hardly knew whether I was shot or not. Ward 

 was scrambling about the deck, half stunned with the shock he had 

 received, and the shouting and firing of the privateer quite bewildered 

 me, and I had but little time to recover myself, for the lugger was 

 now alongside. She had thrown a grapnal into our main-chains, and 

 hauling herself along made fast to our fore-chains, while a boarding 

 party threw their cutlasses and pistols through our shattered bulwarks, 

 and the next moment were on our decks. The first awakening I 

 received was half-a-dozen heavy knocks from the flat side of a 

 cutlass over my back and shoulders. Ward they accosted in the 

 same manner, and after much diabolical swearing and beating, handed 

 us over the ship's-side as prisoners into the lugger. Here they 



