“Guns!” said Pitt, who stood with Blood upon the quarter-deck.  Blood nodded, listening.

“Ten miles away, perhaps fifteen — somewhere off Port Royal, I should judge,” Pitt added.  Then he looked at his captain.  “Does it concern us?” he asked.

“Guns off Port Royal... that should argue Colonel Bishop at work.  And against whom should he be in action but against friends of ours I think it may concern us.  Anyway, we’ll stand in to investigate.  Bid them put the helm over.”

Close-hauled they tacked aweather, guided by the sound of combat, which grew in volume and definition as they approached it.  Thus for an hour, perhaps.  Then, as, telescope to his eye, Blood raked the haze, expecting at any moment to behold the battling ships, the guns abruptly ceased.

They held to their course, nevertheless, with all hands on deck, eagerly, anxiously scanning the sea ahead.  And presently an object loomed into view, which soon defined itself for a great ship on fire.  As the Arabella with the Elizabeth following closely raced nearer on their north-westerly tack, the outlines of the blazing vessel grew clearer.  Presently her masts stood out sharp and black above the smoke and flames, and through his telescope Blood made out plainly the pennon of St. George fluttering from her maintop.

“An English ship!” he cried.

He scanned the seas for the conqueror in the battle of which this grim evidence was added to that of the sounds they had heard, and when at last, as they drew closer to the doomed vessel, they made out the shadowy outlines of three tall ships, some three or four miles away, standing in toward Port Royal, the first and natural assumption was that these ships must belong to the Jamaica fleet, and that the burning vessel was a defeated buccaneer, and because of this they sped on to pick up the three boats that were standing away from the blazing hulk.  But Pitt, who through the telescope was examining the receding squadron, observed things apparent only to the eye of the trained mariner, and made the incredible announcement that the largest of these three vessels was Rivarol’s Victorieuse.

They took in sail and hove to as they came up with the drifting boats, laden to capacity with survivors.  And there were others adrift on some of the spars and wreckage with which the sea was strewn, who must be rescued.

CHARTER XXIX

THE SERVICE OF KING WILLIAM

One of the boats bumped alongside the Arabella, and up the entrance ladder came first a slight, spruce little gentleman in a coat of mulberry satin laced with gold, whose wizened, yellow, rather peevish face was framed in a heavy black periwig.  His modish and costly apparel had nowise suffered by the adventure through which he had passed, and he carried himself with the easy assurance of a man of rank.  Here, quite clearly, was no buccaneer.  He was closely followed by one who in every particular, save that of age, was his physical opposite, corpulent in a brawny, vigorous way, with a full, round, weather-beaten face whose mouth was humourous and whose eyes were blue and twinkling.  He was well dressed without fripperies, and bore with him an air of vigorous authority.