We left Don Rafaele in a state of great excitement. After hesitating a moment, he stepped out on the locker, outside his berth, and so to the deck. All was confusion above, and even on the same deck, in the steerage; and feet were heard rushing to and fro, as if the whole crew had gone distracted. Stretching out one of his hands, he steadied himself against the table, and paused to consider what he should do. As he did so, the ship, without the least forewarning, returned the broadside of the galleon; and, by the rebound she made in the water, threw him fairly off his feet. Though his head fell with some violence against the locker, the excitement he laboured under, and the hurry and distraction of his thoughts, with the hundred terrors around, did not admit of his feeling any pain, or, if he were sensible of a slight aching, did not suffer him to give it heed. He sprang to his feet in an instant, and, stretching his hands out before him, so that he should not run against the table, made for the cabin-door. After a little time, he found the door, and succeeded in drawing it open. The steerage was full of smoke, here black, and there white, according as it was near to or removed from several prospective portfires; and, through the gloom, he distinguished the figures of a dozen men, darting towards the main-hatchway, about thirty feet for’ard. The stench of gunpowder, emitted by the discharged guns, with the dense smoke, was almost suffocating; but, as the hatchways were open, the fresh air rushed in from above, and soon made the atmosphere more supportable. Before the smoke was dispelled, however, the gunners, who were the men that had figured in it, had passed up the main hatchway; and Don Rafaele stood on the lower deck alone. A lighted lanthorn was standing on the deck, a few feet in his front; and, when he found himself alone, he sprang forward a pace, and caught it up. The din that now prevailed was quite stunning; and the report of fire-arms, the clashing of weapons, and the tramp of feet, mingled with loud hurrahs, shouts, and deep groans, made his heart quake, and seemed to rivet him to the spot. Nevertheless, he did not remain stationary. As the din grew more confounding, he sprang back to the cabin, and, with a trembling step, passed inward. Securing the lanthorn on the table, he sat down on the locker, and there resolved to await whatever was to betide.