“She was a handsome craft and a witch at sailing. The _Cambrian Hills_ was accounted a fast vessel; but we weren’t in it with our pursuer. If we had had any doubt as to her intentions toward us till then she soon dispelled it. From her bow came a flash and a puff of smoke and a ball screamed through our rigging. It did no harm—wasn’t meant to, probably—but it showed us that they ‘meant business.’ “The _Cambrian Hills_ carried an old brass cannon, more for saluting purposes than anything else. But we had slugs on board and the piece of artillery was loaded up. But the enemy, as we now rightfully regarded her, was too far off for our carronade to be effective as yet. She, on the other hand, appeared to have a serviceable heavy gun. All this was not encouraging, but the prospect grew worse as we swept their decks with the glass. Fully forty men lined her bulwarks and we numbered only twenty, including the cook, who was not accounted a first class fighting man. Of him, however, more anon. “I was a young fellow then and had always thought of pirates as being chaps all covered with finery, gold lace and jewels and such. I was stricken with astonishment to see that no such men appeared on the brigantine. They were all filthy, wretched looking things, many of them being coal-black negroes. Among them were even one or two Chinese. Such a mixture of races I never saw before or since. “Suddenly Captain Munson, to my astonishment, snatched up his speaking trumpet and hailed the pirate, who was now almost alongside and to windward. “‘Ship ahoy!’ “His voice was as bold as if he had been skipper of a man-o’-war hailing a sea criminal. It was a bold move, but it was successful in producing some confusion among the pirates. All at once a giant of a man with a black beard stepped up on the pirate’s rail, holding on by the lee forestays. “‘Hullo!’ he hailed in a foreign accent. “‘What ship’s that?’ hailed Captain Munson again. “‘None of your business. Heave to. I want to board you,’ was the reply in an insolent voice. “‘You go plumb to blazes!’ came from Sterling, who was a hot-tempered chap and could contain himself no longer. “At that very instant a puff of wind blew the man’s black beard aside. He clutched at it desperately, but somehow he bungled the job, and to my utter astonishment—it came off! He stood revealed as a man of huge frame with a brutal bull-dog jaw and unmistakable Latin cast of features. But I had little time to notice this, for a strange cry had broken from Captain Munson’s lips as the man’s disguise blew off. He turned deathly pale and staggered like a drunken man. “Sterling and I rushed to his side. We thought for a minute that he was about to faint. But he rallied and stared at us for a moment wildly. “‘Good Lord!’ exclaimed Sterling, ‘it’s all come back to him!’