I ran back to my station.  The word was passed round to fire high and spare the slaves. All along the main deck there were groups of men standing in almost total darkness, waiting at the gun tackles for the signal to run out the guns.  The feeble glimmer of the fighting-lanterns shone on the glistening arms and bodies of half-naked seamen, who stood in almost deathlike silence listening to the shouts of their unseen foes.