He hastily mounted to the top.
"There is no mistake about it," he said after looking intently for a
short time; "it is one of the Barbary corsairs, and she is making out
towards us. The holy saints preserve us from these bloodthirsty
infidels."
"The saints will do their work if we do ours," Gerald remarked; "and we
had best do as large a share as possible. What is the number of your
crew, captain?"
"Nineteen men altogether."
"And there are thirty soldiers, and six male passengers in the cabin,"
Gerald said; "so we muster fifty-four. That ought to be enough to beat
off the corsair."
On returning to the deck the captain informed the officer in charge of
the troops on board that a Moorish pirate was putting off towards them,
and that unless the wind came to their aid there was no chance of
escaping a conflict with her.
"Then we must fight her, captain," the officer, who was still a youth,
said cheerfully. "I have thirty men, of whom at least half are
veterans. You have four cannon on board, and there are the crew and
passengers.
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