nearly ten to one
The _ Henry _ was moving slowly off the bar . On the black sloop there was a silence as of death . Stede Bonnet , late gentleman of the island of Barbadoes , honorably discharged as major from the army of his Majesty , since turned sea-rover for no apparent cause , and now one of the most notorious plunderers of the coast , faced his last fight . Outnumbered nearly ten to one , his ship a stranded hulk , his cannon useless , surely he read his doom . His men read it and turned sullenly to haul down the tattered rag of black that still hung from the masthead . But a last blaze of the old mad courage flared up in the Captain , as he faced them , dishevelled and bloody , from behind cocked pistols . Above the tumult of the fusillade his voice , usually so clear , rose hoarse with anger .