along the sand till he got hold of the porch and could hoist himself
again upon his crutch. Then he spat into the spring.
There! he cried. That s what I think of ye. Before an hour s out,
I ll stove in your old block house like a rum puncheon. Laugh, by
thunder, laugh! Before an hour s out, ye ll laugh upon the other side.
Them that die ll be the lucky ones.
And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed down the sand, was
helped across the stockade, after four or five failures, by the man with
the flag of truce, and disappeared in an instant afterwards among the
trees.
XXI
The Attack
As soon as Silver disappeared, the captain, who had been closely
watching him, turned towards the interior of the house and found not a
man of us at his post but Gray. It was the first time we had ever seen
him angry.
Quarters! he roared. And then, as we all slunk back to our places,
Gray, he said, I ll put your name in the log; you ve stood by your
duty like a seaman. Mr. Trelawney, I m surprised at you, sir. Doctor,
I thought you had worn the king s coat! If that was how you served at
Fontenoy, sir, you d have been better in your berth.
The doctor s watch were all back at their loopholes, the rest were busy
loading the spare muskets, and everyone with a red face, you may be
certain, and a flea in his ear, as the saying is.
The captain looked on for a while in silence. Then he spoke.
My lads, said he, I ve given Silver a broadside. I pitched it in
red-hot on purpose; and before the hour s out, as he said, we shall be
boarded. We re outnumbered, I needn t tell you that, but we fight in
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