When the vessel in which young Billings set sail started she had a fair wind, and was soon out in the open sea. Just as night began to set in, a small craft was observed approaching them, and being a much faster sailor than the larger and heavily ladened ship, she was soon along-side. When near enough to be heard, the commander of the smaller vessel desired the other to lay too, as he had important dispatches for him which had been forgotten. The commander of the ship not liking to stop his vessel while under full sail merely for the purpose of receiving dispatches, offered to send for them, and was about lowering a boat for that purpose, when the other captain, who was none other than Captain Flint, declared that he could only deliver them in person. The captain of the ship, though in no very good humor, finally consented to lay too, and the two vessels were soon lying along side of each other. Now although while lying at, or about the wharves of New York, the two men already introduced to the reader apparently constituted the whole crew of Captain Flint's vessel, such was by no means the fact, for there were times when the deck of the little craft would seem fairly to swarm with stout, able-bodied fellows. And the present instance, Captain Flint had no sooner set foot upon the deck of the ship, than six or eight men fully armed appeared on the deck of the schooner prepared to follow him. The first thing that Captain Flint did on reaching the deck of the ship was to strike the captain down with a blow from the butt of a large pistol he held in his hand. His men were soon at his side, and as the crew of the other vessel were unarmed, although defending themselves as well as they could, they were soon overpowered. Several of them were killed on the spot, and those who were not killed outright, were only reserved for a more cruel fate. The fight being over, the next thing was to secure the treasure. This was a task of but little difficulty, for Flint had succeeded in getting one of his men shipped as steward on the ill-fated vessel. One of those who had escaped the massacre was James Bradley. He had, by order of Captain Flint, been lashed to the mast at the commencement of the fight. He had not received a wound. All the others who were not killed were more or less badly hurt. These were unceremoniously compelled to walk the plank, and were drowned. When it came to Billings' turn, there seemed to be some hesitation among the pirates subjecting him to the same fate as the others. Jones Bradley, in a particular manner, was for sparing his life on condition that he would pledge himself to leave the country, never to return, and bind himself to eternal secrecy. But this advice was overruled by Captain Flint himself, who declared he would trust no one, and that the young man should walk the plank as the others had done. From this decision there was no appeal, and Henry Billings resigned himself to his fate.