Others, again, were carrying shot from the pyramids of missiles, piled up here and there in the courtyard.

None paid any attention to the English prisoners.
Presently a dull boom was heard.

There was a whistling sound; and with a thud, followed by a loud explosion, a bomb fell and burst in the open space.
This was the signal for action.

The pirates, in a moment, hurried down to the bastions overlooking the sea; and the Englishmen gathered, in a group, near the entrance to the magazine.

Besides their knives they had no arms, but each had picked up two or three heavy stones.
A minute after the explosion of the shell, the cannonade of the ships broke out.