The _Mermaid_ yawed off her course, swirling us round in her wake as our tow-rope slackened and then grew taut again, all in an instant; and, then, bang belched out one of our big hundred-pounder quick-firing guns that we carried on the upper deck fore and aft, pitching a shell that burst right over the rearmost dhow. This made them quicken their movements if possible; while `old Hankey Pankey,' seeing we were a trifle short in our range, steamed on after them so that they might have the full benefit of all our battery--the water now churning up over the gunwale of the cutter as she dragged us on astern of her, the bow of the boat high in air, while we were all the more depressed aft from having the other boats behind us. On flew the dhows, on raced the _Mermaid_, flopping her tail as represented by the boats in tow, for we did wag about pretty considerably, as one of our men who was half a Yankee said; until, presently, on the water showing signs of shoaling, the _Mermaid_ brought up broadside on and began pitching shot and shell as fast as the men could work her batteries at the dhows, which were now well inshore and almost on the rocks--which latter seemed to jut out from this coast in the most shapeless, uncanny fashion, like the solitary tusk or two still possessed by some nearly toothless old hag. `Bang, smash, boom!' went our guns, the fire bursting forth from the ship's side in the centre of puff-balls of smoke, accompanied by the hurtling sound of the shot through the air, and the dull intonation the shell gave out after the first report, when these missiles discharged their contents around their target. `Bang, smash, boom!' It must have been pretty lively for the Arabs: too warm after a bit to be pleasant! So `old Hankey Pankey' appeared to think; and, when our guns had fired about a couple of rounds each all round, the bugle sounded the `cease fire,' and he came aft and hailed us. "Mr Dabchick," he called out, "I'm going to cast you off, and you will pull straight for the shore and capture those dhows as best you can, while I will cover your advance with the guns of the ship. Recollect, you are in command of the expedition and that Mr Doyle in the cutter, and Mr Chisholm in the whaler, are under your orders; so, you can do as you think best when you get alongside them. I would divide my forces, Dabchick, if I were you; but, you must exercise your own judgment when the time comes!" "Aye, aye, sir," replied the lieutenant, as heartily as if he had just been told he was made `first luff' of the flagship--for, though sleepy sometimes when on watch of a night, he was a plucky little chap, with a lot of go in him; and then, as our painter was sent adrift and the slack hauled in by the bowmen, he sang out to us, "Oars! Off we go, my lads!"