One of the men at the helm of the brig fell, and as he did so, half a dozen more shots were fired; and as his companion dropped beside him, the brig, deprived of her helm, flew up into the wind.
Three men ran aft to the wheel, but the deadly rifles spoke out again.
Two of them fell.

The third dived under the bulwark, for shelter.
"Steady, men!" the captain shouted.

"Fetch her mainmast out of her!" As they swept along under the stern of the brig, each gun of their other broadside poured in its fire in succession, raking the crowded deck from end to end.

A moment later, the mainmast was seen to sway, and a tremendous cheer broke from the Madras as it went over the side, dragging with it the foretopmast, with all its gear.
"Down with the helm again!" the captain shouted.

"Bring her head to wind, and keep her there!" The first officer sprang forward, to see that the order was carried into effect, and a minute later the Indiaman lay, with her sails aback, at a distance of a hundred yards, on the quarter of the brig.
"Grape and canister!" the captain shouted, and broadside after broadside swept the decks of the brig, which, hampered by her wreckage, was lying almost motionless in the water.