"Bedad, sor, ye might have heard a pin dhrop if there'd bin wan there, but there wasn't; and we heard Black Mazzard's pishtol dhrop instead-- the big one being on the pavemint, where it went off bang and shot a corner off a big shtone. But nobody came from inside the magazine, and the owld gintleman grinned more and more, and seemed to rowl his oies; and I belave he wanted to hear the owld place go up. And there you could hear thim inside buzzing about like my mother's bees in the sthraw hive, when ye give it a larrup on the top wid a shtick." Dinny gave his head a nod, and went on. "That roused up the Captain, and he roars out--`Here, Dinny--Dick--Bart,' he says, `go in and fetch out these idiots.' And I shpat in me fist, and ran in wid the other two. `Now, Dinny, my lad,' I says to meself, `if ye're blown up it'll be bad for ye, but ye'll be blown up towards heaven, and that's a dale better than being blown down.' And avore I knew where I was, I was right in among the lads, about foive-and-twenty of them; and then talk about a foight, sor! Ah, musha, it was awful!" "Did they make such a desperate defence!" "Deshperate, sor! Oh, that don't describe it! Bedad, I nivver saw anything like it in me loife!" "Were there many killed? Were you wounded!" "Killed! Wounded! Did ye iver see a flock o' sheep when a big dog goes at 'em, sor?" "Often, in Devon." "Ah, then it's the same as it would be in Oireland. Bedad, sor, the name of the captain, and seeing Black Mazzard tuk, was enough. They all walked out and pitched their swords and pishtols down, in a hape before the shkipper and then stands in a row like sodgers; sure and it's meself that had some of the drilling of them. "`Come here, Bart,' says the shkipper then; and as Bart goes up, the captain gives Black Mazzard a shove like and throws him down. `Here,' he says, `put your foot on this dog's throat.' Bart had it there before ye knew where ye were, and thin if the skipper didn't go right up to the row of min and walks slowly along 'em, looking 'em wan by wan in the face wid his dark oi, sor. And he made 'em turn white and shiver, he did, sor, till he'd looked 'em all down, and then he shteps out, little shtiff fellow as he is, and he says: "`You fools, to be led away by a thing like that! How shall I punish 'em, Dinny?' he says, turning to me. "`Sure, captain,' I says, `they are all shtanding nate and handy, and if ye give me word, I'll shtand at wan ind and send a bullet through the lot, and there'll be no waste.' "`Pah!' he says, `I don't make war on the lads who've fought by my side. Go back to your quarthers,' he says, `and if ye turn again me once more I'll give ye such a punishment as ye disarve. You shall have your Captain Mazzard.' "`D'ye hear that, ye divils?' I says, for I couldn't stop meself, sor; and they give three cheers for the captain and wint off to quarthers; and that was all." "But Mazzard--what of him!"