‘That for yer Chinese pireets, Davie M‘Phairson! Whaurs a’ their muskets an’ gingals an’ sic-like the noo? Gin they had ony, they were ower frichted to make use o’ them I expeck! But,’ growing serious, ‘my name’s nae Sandy M‘Cracken gin I dinna chairge Tam Wulson two pun ten shillin’—whilk is the price o’ her at cost—for lettin’ the wee bit cannonie gang overboord. I tellt him to keep her down wi’ his feet, and he wadna.’ * * * * * Swatow at last; and the _Sparrowhawk_ surrounded with a thousand _sampans_ whose occupants welcomed their returned friends and relatives by trying to emulate Babel. M‘Cracken was deified. His cabin could not hold the presents—mostly in kind—that he received. Also, his grateful passengers, having set apart a day for special rejoicing and thanksgiving, returned, and, willy nilly, decorated the _Sparrowhawk_ after the manner of their land with banners and lanterns, and had a high old time on board under the leadership of the convert, who bewailed his backsliding, and privately asked M‘Cracken to baptise him anew. The story of the fight ran all up and down the seaboard. Hongkong heard of it, or a version of it, and the _Gazette_ published a long story headed in big caps: ‘Another Piratical Outrage.—The _Sparrowhawk_ turns on her Pursuer—Conspicuous Bravery of the Captain and Crew—The Pirate Beaten off with Great Loss.’ Singapore heard it, and the _Straits Times_ followed suit with ‘Four Junks and Terrible Slaughter.’ This latter item, as we shall presently see, being pretty near the mark. * * * * * But what cripple is this that, in a couple of days, comes staggering up to the Swatow anchorage with her mat sails full of holes and her decks covered with scarcely dry blood, and whose crew dance and screech a wild defiance at the _Sparrowhawk_ as she passes on to the inner harbour? Presently off comes a mandarin and a guard of soldiers and hales M‘Cracken ashore, protesting and threatening. The British Consul is just dead of enteric fever. There is, however, a French one, and in his room the complaint of Sum Kum On, master of the _Delight of the Foaming Seas_, is heard. The tribunal is a mixed one, consisting of two mandarins and the Consul. The first witness called is Sum Kum On. He states that his vessel is a coaster, engaged mostly in the poultry trade. That, on the present trip, he left Kin Fo, a small port four days’ sail from Swatow, laden with a deck cargo of ducks for the Swatow and Chee Foo markets. Had on board one passenger, a wealthy tea-grower of Honan, who, carrying with him many dollars, was naturally nervous, and afraid of pirates. Sighting the big vessel, the tea-grower, now in court, and prepared to give evidence, prayed him (Sum Kum On) to keep close to it for protection from said pirates.