Free True Treasure: Real - Life History Mystery by Lisa Grace

spyglass. He could see the Spanish soldiers fighting for their lives against the boarding pirates.
    “Fire at the nearest skiff. Let us see if we can foil their escape.”
    The officer on command gave the orders to fire the cannons. Several volleys landed, one hitting the skiff sending it splintering into the waves.
    “At arms men, she is now on lock down,” he yelled to the steerage, “Bring us in on the leeward side!“ This would ensure if the current caught them the sails could use the wind to pull them away from the breakers. “Drop four! Lieutenant Kerry, take your muster of men, pistols at the ready, fire at will.”
    “Lieutenants Sedgwig, Taussant, and Gregory muster your men in the boats. Guns at the ready, fire at will, board, and secure. Signal when done. For God, King, and country!”
    The men all yelled in answer, “For God, King, and country!” They then went about their orders rushing to battle hand to hand.
    Bennett gave another order, once the men had left the ship, heading for the galleon now resting on the very breakers that had brought her to her doom. “Aim for the aft . Shoot the scull out of the water.”
    The sailor on lookout called the one behind the wheel to bring the Devonshire near the back end of the foundering vessel where the second pirate skiff was located. Bennett could see through his spyglass two pirates aboard yell up to their compatriots on the deck. One tipped a chest over the side raining gold and silver coins into the skiff. Two more pirates threw themselves over the rail of the galleon into the skiff, frantically rowing away as Bennett’s superior Armada class vessel fast approached.
    Bennett yelled out as they neared, “Ready—aim—fire!” The calls were relayed as if they were an echo, by the firing officers until the command reached the sailors manning the cannons below the decks.
    The pirates stopped rowing and grabbed handfuls of gold coins. stuffing them in their pockets as they frantically jumped over the side of the skiff into the shark infested waters panicking as they could see the Devonshire’s cannons in their bays lowered and aimed at their only means of escape.
    Randall came up to Bennett’s side. “I estimate sixty boarded, and a galleon her size would have two hundred men.”
    Bennett nodded. “So why do you surmise they were so easily taken?”
    “I believe from what I saw on deck through the glass sir, is the crew may have mutinied taking the King of Spain’s gold for themselves. Sailors would never have brought a ship in these calm seas into the breakers the way they did. I surmise they must have killed the captain and those loyal to him, the expert navigators being among the number.”
    Bennett nodded stiffly, “I concur.”
    Bennett looked out from the captain’s deck across the water to the badly listing galleon. The tide was moving in which would give the incoming surf more force to break the ship apart even faster. This was a headache he didn’t need. He spoke, “Two sets of pirates to hang, and a sinking ship heavy with gold which won’t last long on those breakers.”
    “Captain? What are your orders?”
    He thought briefly of leaving it to sink with the treasure still in its holds, and just get on with the survey. Bennett sighed. “We will take the treasure somewhere unknown, store it, and relay the information to the King. He must be the one to decide what to do with it. Until we hear back, we will finish our mission.”
    The echoes of his men firing on the pirates and them shooting back resounded over the rhythmic sound of the waves on the breakers.
    Two of Bennett’s skiffs laid down constant fire as the other two groups of men boarded, then the others followed suit. The sixty trained men onboard quickly dispatched the rest of the battle weary pirates. Prisoners soon lined the deck, and the call was given, followed by the signal. Captain Bennett rode over to the captured ship. After making a full inspection of the decks and