Perhaps I had heard a creak or seen his shadow moving with the tail of my eye ; perhaps it was an instinct like a cat 's ; but , sure enough , when I looked round , there was Hands , already half-way towards me , with the dirk in his right hand . We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met , but while mine was the shrill cry of terror , his was a roar of fury like a charging bully 's . At the same instant , he threw himself forward and I leapt sideways towards the bows . As I did so , I let go of the tiller , which sprang sharp to leeward , and I think this saved my life , for it struck Hands across the chest and stopped him , for the moment , dead . Before he could recover , I was safe out of the corner where he had me trapped , with all the deck to dodge about . Just forward of the main-mast I stopped , drew a pistol from my pocket , took a cool aim , though he had already turned and was once more coming directly after me , and drew the trigger . The hammer fell , but there followed neither flash nor sound ; the priming was useless with sea-water . I cursed myself for my neglect . Why had not I , long before , reprimed and reloaded my only weapons ? Then I should not have been as now , a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher . Wounded as he was , it was wonderful how fast he could move , his grizzled hair tumbling over his face , and his face itself as red as a red ensign with his haste and fury . I had no time to try my other pistol , nor indeed much inclination , for I was sure it would be useless . One thing I saw plainly : I must not simply retreat before him , or he would speedily hold me boxed into the bows , as a moment since he had so nearly boxed me in the stern . Once so caught , and nine or ten inches of the blood-stained dirk would be my last experience on this side of eternity . I placed my palms against the main-mast , which was of a goodish bigness , and waited , every nerve upon the stretch . Seeing that I meant to dodge , he also paused ; and a moment or two passed in feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine . It was such a game as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black Hill Cove , but never before , you may be sure , with such a wildly beating heart as now . Still , as I say , it was a boy 's game , and I thought I could hold my own at it against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh . Indeed my courage had begun to rise so high that I allowed myself a few darting thoughts on what would be the end of the affair , and while I saw certainly that I could spin it out for long , I saw no hope of any ultimate escape . Well , while things stood thus , suddenly the HISPANIOLA struck , staggered , ground for an instant in the sand , and then , swift as a blow , canted over to the port side till the deck stood at an angle of forty-five degrees and about a puncheon of water splashed into the scupper holes and lay , in a pool , between the deck and bulwark .
We were both of us capsized in a second , and both of us rolled , almost together , into the scuppers , the dead red-cap , with his arms still spread out , XXXXX stiffly after us .
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