368 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



invisible power, shot, with the swiftness of an arrow, 

 into the centre of the stream. 



" 'Tis the Mexican ! " exclaimed the pirate, gnash- 

 ing his teeth with fury, and firing a brace of pistols 

 at the boat. A hollow laugh replied to the shots. 

 The pirates looked around them, saw that their boats 

 had disappeared, and for a moment stood thunder- 

 struck, but speedily recovering themselves, they re- 

 loaded their muskets, and, firm as rocks, awaited a 

 fresh assault. They had not long to wait. A volley 

 from the river warned them of the proximity of a 

 new foe ; a second, still better directed, stretched a 

 third of them upon the ground. And now once 

 more the terrible war-cry resounded along the shore, 

 and the Indians,- roused to madness by their previous 

 repulses, rushed for a third time upon their enemy. 

 Another volley from the boats, and then the Mexican 

 and his companions sprang like tigers upon the ter- 

 rified pirates. The struggle was short. Unable, to 

 resist the furious attack upon their front and rear, 

 the pirates threw away their weapons, and flung 

 themselves headlong into the river to escape the 

 tomahawks of their raging foes. 



Lafitte was the only one who stood firm, and 

 seemed determined to sell his life dearly. His back 

 against the bank, his sabre in his right hand, a pistol 

 in his left, he parried a blow dealt him by an Oconee, 

 who fell, the next instant, with his head nearly severed 

 from his shoulders. A bullet finished another of his 



