The Long-Lost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Pirate by Tim Collins

Author:Tim Collins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure / Pirates / Historical /
Publisher: North Star Editions
Published: 2017-02-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

-

We Head Into

Battle Again

Sunday, March 26th

Today should have been my most glorious day ever as a pirate. But it doesn’t feel very glorious.

We made good progress all morning, and we soon reached one of the trade routes marked on the captain’s map. It turned out to be accurate. Within an hour, we’d caught sight of a merchant ship.

We went through our usual routine, with George, Captain Bartholomew, and me on deck pleading for help while the others hid below. But this time the ship didn’t fall for it at all. A distant figure on the deck looked at us through a spyglass, then sped away in the opposite direction.

Captain Bartholomew called the crew up right away and we pursued them. Our sails were in better condition than theirs, and we were soon able to get right alongside them.

The crew gathered around one of the cannons on the port side.

“Run out!” shouted the captain.

Samuel emerged from the lower deck with a cloth bag of gunpowder. Ed and Ollie and four of the others hauled the cannon over to the gunport in the side of the ship. Samuel shoved the gunpowder into the muzzle, followed by some rags and the cannonball. Ollie picked up the long wooden stick and pressed it all down.

Captain Bartholomew placed a spike down the touchhole to pierce the bag of explosive.

The crew hauled the ropes until the end of the cannon was sticking through the gunport. Captain Bartholomew stuck a lit taper into the touchhole, and there was a deafening crack. The cannon shot backward, straining at its ropes.

I found myself cowering behind my hands, but I don’t think anyone saw. They were all looking at the other ship and cheering. The cannon had smashed right through their hull.

We fired three more times, and hit them each time. Samuel added to the attack by lobbing grenades.

The merchant ship was now listing to starboard. Captain Bartholomew slammed down a wooden plank from our deck to theirs and charged across it. The others cheered and followed.

I felt someone tapping me on the shoulder. George was holding out a cutlass for me. I grabbed it with my trembling hand.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.