398 THE PIRATES AGAIN. [Cuar. XXI. 
get up, ill as I was; and when I got on deck I 
could see, by the aid of my telescope, six junks 
coming out from amongst the islands under the 
main land, and evidently bearing down towards 
us. This time I was not so sceptical as the last. 
After having once seen these rascally vessels, there 
was no mistaking others of the same class, as they 
came sneaking out of the bays. Their clipper- 
built hulls, the cut of their sails, their raking masts, 
and the crowd of fellows who lined their decks, all 
told the business they were after. It was there- 
fore evident that we must prepare for another 
encounter. 
It now struck me that perhaps I might be able 
to deceive the pirates with regard to our strength, 
as I was afraid that | might not again be so suc- 
cessful with them, particularly if they found out 
that there was only one foreigner on board: knowing 
that they have a great dread of foreigners and 
their guns, my object was to make them believe 
that there were a number of us, and that we were 
well armed. For this purpose I got up all the 
spare clothes I had, and put them on the least 
Chinese-looking Chinamen on board. At the same 
time I desired them to collect all the short levers 
which they use for hoisting their sails, and which 
at a distance would look not unlike fire-arms, par- 
ticularly if the deception was assisted by the report 
of a double-barreled gun. Every thing looked 
promising, and I thought my recruits were likely 
to be of some service to me; but when the nearest 
