And at the moment in which our amazon, cutlass in hand, boarded the _Sea Scourge_, these two met; and Justin’s other assailants fell back at a signal from their captain. And now, between the two, stroke followed stroke in rapid succession, each very adroitly parried. At length Mulligan lost his temper, and with that his presence of mind, and made a fierce lunge at his adversary’s heart, which was quickly parried, and before he could come to his guard again, Justin brought down a crushing stroke upon his head that felled him to the deck. But as he was in the act of leveling this fatal blow, he caught a glimpse of a seaman with a cocked pistol pointed close to his head. He thought that his time had come; he mentally prayed that his soul might be received in heaven; he heard the report of the pistol, felt the ball whizz through his hair, and thanking the Lord for his preservation, he turned and saw—what? The seaman’s pistol arm resting on the cutlass with which Britomarte had struck it up! To her, then, he owed his life. But there was not an instant of time to think of that now. Quick as lightning his arm flew up and his steel fell, crunching through the brain of the seaman, who dropped lifeless to the deck. Every act in this passage of arms passed with the rapidity of thought. There was not more than a minute occupied in the felling of Mulligan, the aiming of the pistol, the striking it up by Britomarte, and the braining of the assassin by Justin. Now heedless of the battle storm that raged around them, Justin dropped upon one knee, as a knight before his queen, and, seizing the hand of his beloved, he exclaimed with deep emotion: “I owe my life to you!” “I have owed mine many times to you. Thank Heaven that you are saved!” After the fall of their captain was known to them, the pirate crew submitted, crying for quarter. The _Sea Scourge_ was now the prize of the _Xyphias_. And down came the Stars and Bars, and up ran the glorious old flag! CHAPTER XXXVII. VICTORY. As soon as the crew of the _Sea Scourge_ had surrendered, Captain Yetsom ordered them below and closed the hatches. Then he detailed a small party of his own men and placed them under the command of Midshipman Bestor, to take charge of the prize, and ordered the others to their own ship. As soon as he regained the deck of the _Xyphias_ he sent for Lieutenant Ethel, and passed down into his cabin. A strange weakness, dizziness and dimness of sight was creeping over him. “Why, what is this?” he said to himself. “It cannot be from that scratch! Bosh! I must get a glass of brandy.” But in the act of crossing to his locker, he turned giddy, reeled, grasped at the nearest object for support, and then fell forward upon his face to the cabin floor in a deep swoon. At that very moment Lieutenant Ethel was in the act of coming down the companion ladder. He instantly ran to his assistance, exclaiming anxiously: