half a mile astern when we dropped anchor—­anchors, I should say—­for the night, some way below Diamond Harbor.  But to us white men the way o’ these Moors is always a bag o’ mystery, and as seamen they en’t anyway of much account.  Well, it might be about seven bells, and my watch below, when I was woke by a most tremenjous bangin’ and hullabaloo.  We tumbles up mighty sharp, and well we did, for there was one of these country fellows board and board with us, and another foulin’ our hawser.  Their grapnels came whizzin’ aboard; but the first lot couldn’t take a hold nohow, and she dropped downstream.  That gave us a chance to be ready for the other.  She got a grip of us and held on like a shark what grabs you by the legs.  But pistols and pikes had been sarved out, and when they came bundlin’ over into the foc’sle, we bundled ’em back into the Hugli, and you may be sure they wasn’t exactly seaworthy when they got there.  They was a mixed lot; that we soon found out by their manner o’ swearin’ as they slipped by the board, for although there was Moors among ’em, most of ’em was Frenchies or Dutchmen, and considerin’ they wasn’t Englishmen they made a good fight of it.  But over they went, until only a few was left; and we was just about to finish ’em off, when another country ship dropped alongside, and before we knew where we was a score of yellin’ ruffians was into the waist and rushin’ us in the stern sheets, as you might say.  We had to fight then, by thunder! we did.

“The odds was against us now, and we was catchin’ it from two sides.  But our blood was up, and we knew what to expect if they beat us.  ’Twas the Hugli for every man Jack of us, and no mistake.  There was no orders, every man for himself, with just enough room and no more to see the mounseers in front of him.  Some of us—­I was one of ’em—­fixed the flints of the pirates for’ard, while the rest faced round and kept the others off.  Then we went at ’em, and as they couldn’t all get at us at the same time, owing to the deck being narrow, the odds was not so bad arter all.  ’Twas now hand to hand, fist to fist, one for you and one for me; you found a Frenchman and stuck to him till you finished him off, or he finished you, as the case might be, in a manner of speakin’.  Well, I found one lanky chap—­he was number four that night—­and all in ten minutes, as it were, I jabbed a pike at him, and missed, for it was hard to keep footin’ on the wet deck, though the wet was not Hugli water; thick as it is, this was thicker—­and he fired a pistol at me by way of thank you.  I saw his figurehead in the flash, and I shan’t forget it either, for he left me this to remember him by, though I didn’t know it at the time.”

Here Bulger held up the iron hook that did duty for his left forearm.  Then glancing cautiously around, he added in a whisper: 

“‘Twas Diggle—­or I’m a Dutchman.  That was my fust meetin’ with him.  Of course, I’m in a way helpless now, being on the ship’s books, and he in a manner of speakin’ an orficer; but one of these days there’ll be a reckonin’, or my name en’t Bulger.”