Part 28 (2/2)
A fire-lock aimed at Jerry's head was the only answer made by the pirate chief Fortunately the bullet merely cut off one of his love-locks, and the junk, already close to the shore, stood on In another un, set the exaan to wade up the beach, surrounded by his men, towards the fort
The British boats followed theot to the other side of the junk they were exposed to a hot fire from the fort This, however, did not stop the to capture the pirate chief, and thus quickly put an end to the contest Jull, however, had a very fast pair of legs, and he and his un-boats ceased firing and two rockets rose together, the signal agreed on to show that the party on shore were about to attack the fort
In the mean time Captain Adair, with the marines, Lieutenant Norman, Desmond, and Gordon, had landed in a little sheltered bay, which had been discovered near the fort, and had pushed on without being perceived by the ene their way, in case of an a been placed to atteoing on sounded in their ears
Mr Norman had told Captain Adair that he had seen a nu from the junks, as well as others outside the fort, and that it would, therefore, be but prudent to be prepared for a surprise
None, however, was made The pirates had apparently assembled in their fort, determined to hold out to the last They must have seen, however, that their case was desperate, when junk after junk was taken or destroyed, and that unless they possessed abundance of ammunition and provisions they must very soon have to surrender
CHAPTER NINE
TOM IN THE HANDS OF THE PIRATES--ABOUT TO BE KILLED WHEN RESCUED BY JULL'S YOUNG WIFE--TOM WITNESSES THE FIGHT FROM THE ROCK--THE FORT TAKEN AND JULL KILLED--FUGITIVES BRING THE NEWS--THE YOUNG WIDOW'S PHILOSOPHY--SHE MAKES TOM AN OFFER, WHO SAYS HE MUST ASK HIS CAPTAIN-- TOM ESCORTS THE WIDOW ON BOARD THE GNAT--JACK FORBIDS THE BANNS--BOOTY REMOVED--THE WIDOW ENGAGED BY PO-HO--THE SQUADRON REACHES YOKOHAMA-- CURIOUS SIGHTS ON Shore--EXPECTED ATTACK ON PRINCE SATSUMA--SQUADRON SAILS--THE PRINCE'S TOWN BOMBARDED AND HIS FLEET CAPTURED, PROCEEDINGS WHICH BRING HIM TO REASON AND ESTABLISH FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES
Wehi but instant death His uniforot hold of an officer, and always having an eye to business, they probably considered that they h ransom for hie in their hands, and co the shouts of his companions in the rear, he made several desperate efforts to escape, but, on calht of a sword-blade held to the level of his throatfroed hiht, when the party were joined by the fugitives of the other two junks which had been destroyed They calish officer in the power of their co Malay, whouessed was their captain, drew his sword and was about to cut him dohen another party who had co, so it seereater safety than the fort, which, although the pirates ht be victorious, would they knew be exposed to showers of shot and shell To Malay wife of Jonathan Jull, their guest on board the _Bellona_ As he had no desire to die, he i her protection, and letting her knoho he was In another e Malay would have cloven his head in two, had not the Malay girl, answering to his appeal, sprung forward and placed herself in front of hi veheh he supposed she was insisting that his life should be spared
”Thank you, thank you!” he said, taking her hand, and putting it to his lips ”You have saved my life this once, and I will do ether”
The effect of the Malay girl's speech had been to appease the savage old captain, who at length stalked away at the head of his irl and the party escorting her, and some of the men who had captured him Still Tom felt his position very insecure At any e, put hiht his protectress ainst hiratiate himself with her
As by this ti pretty thickly into the fort, so unpleasantly near the guard attending the Malay girl, they hurried her on, taking Too, as he would avoid the unnecessary danger he would otherwise have run had he been carried into the fort The guard consisted only of about a dozenhis escape
What they intended ultimately to do with him he could not ascertain, but he felt tolerably safe while with the Malay girl, who had already shown her willingness to befriend hih, as he could not speak a word of Malay and very few of Chinese, and she understood a very slish phrases, he found it a hard ratitude?” he thought; and he considered what present he could make her He felt in his pockets; he could only find a few Chinese coins, a clasp knife, and a pencil-case--the latter being merely plated, and somewhat battered, was not very valuable He then recollected there was a gold seal attached to his watch-chain This he offered to her, but she sold orna by her side;--how come by, Tom did not ask
Their conversation, such as it as interrupted by the increased roar of the guns, by which he guessed that the _Gnat_ and the boats were hotly engaged with the fort and the fleet of junks To up to the top of a rock, fro forward He naturally felt very anxious to do the sairl for her permission She nodded her consent, and the piratestheht and saw junk after junk blow up, and others toay by the boats, their countenances assumed a still deeper scowl than usual, while their hands ominously clutched their swords; still, they did not uards to reth he observed the large junk attacked by the boats, and, after a hot fight, run on shore Shortly afterwards he caught sight of thefrom under the shelter which had concealed the a desperate assault on the rear of the fort towards the right hand Slight preparations only had been made for its defence, and but scarcely a minute had elapsed before he saw the red-coats, flanked by the blue-jackets, cli like red and blue balls over the parapet
At first the pirates gave way, allowing the entrance of the whole force, and fro forward in the inside Before the victorious party had got half-way across they werecaptain, who quickly rallied the fugitives The pirate chief, for such Toreatest desperation, but he and hiswithstand the points of the British bayonets, and the sharp edges of their cutlasses Tom no the chief fall, with a dozen of hisway, ate, and were seen sca away in hot haste across the country
Tom, as he saw this, felt himself in no very enviable position The villains into whose hands he had fallenhim, but he maintained as indifferent a manner as he could assu hi that instead of thinking of killing him, they themselves were evidently much alarmed
They were, indeed, coitive pirates, and should they leave their cover, they would to a certainty be discovered by the victors, who now had possession of the fort, as they and To run up to the su-staff on the fort He was somewhat anxious to see what effect this would produce on the Malay girl and the rest of the party Would any one venture to tell her that her husband was killed, or should he break the intelligence to her? She soon, however, apparently guessed from the exclaht have suspected hat was her husband's fate If such was the case, it did not appear to have any great effect upon her She sat on the fallen trunk of a tree below the rock, an to fear that the English would blow up the fort and e to look for him ”Sooner than they should do that I must try and make a run for it,” he said to himself ”These fellows look so cowed that they will not dare to stopsaved, and ask her assistance”
Having formed this resolution, he descended the rock and approached the Malay girl
”Things appear to have gone against my friends,” she observed ”It was their lish have possession of the fort, and have captured all the junks, so that I would advise your friends here to yield the their lives I will intercede for theirl ”If you will go at once I will accolad of your society,” answered Tom; ”but ill these fellows do? They may try to stop us”
”I will order thelish coet aithout being discovered, even if they wish it”