The Ax Man hurled his weapon.  It struck the missile, cut it clean in half.  There was a horrendous explosion. The ax came out of the fireball and came back to The Ax Man.
   "Whoa!"  he cried, "Hot!"
   "They're launching another one!" The Ancient One cried, "No, two!"
   The Ax Man again hurled his weapon. Again it struck the first missile, came back around, and got the second one, but far too close.  The North Wind swayed with the effect of the explosion.  One of the crewmen tossed The Ax Man a leeather mit which he quickly donned before catching his ax again.
   "We're in range!"  The Ancient One cried. "Let Brunhilda sing!" 
   The big cannon raored.  You could almost see the cannon ball arching away.  It hit the stern of the Chinese vessel and most of it disappeared.
   "Reload with shot!" The Ancient One sreamed.  The gunners quickly began to obey.  Again the Chinese vessel launched another missile.     Again The Ax Man took it down. 
   "Reloaded!"  a crewman cried.
   "Fire!"  The Ancient One screamed.  The big cannon roared again, this time much of the middle of the Chinese vessel disappeared, its center mast splintered and came crashing down. Seamen leaped overboard.as the ship tilted awkwardly.  It went on for some distance and then there was a horrendous flash and what was left of the ship disappeared.  Debris splashed in the water mere feet from The North Wind!
   Durga came to The Ancient One.  "I don't think that ship was made of ectoplasma," she remarked, "not all of it, anyway. I think some of those seamen are flesh and blood.  We should rescue them.  They were obviously being used by those involved in this little scheme.  They probably had no idea what was really going on."
   "Agreed!"  The Ancient One answered.  "Slacken sail!  Make for the debris!"
As they went in to pick up the survivors The Ancient One took his glass and watched the battle behind him.  One of the Chinese ships had already been dispatched, a second one was burning.  One of the British ships was out of the fight, but the other was fighting on with determination.
   They quickly gathered up the Chinese sailors that were still alive.  They were lined up on the deck.  The Ancient One went and spoke to one of them. 
   "The men who brought the rockets," he asked, "did any of them survive?"
   "No," the man answered, "they were all amid ships.  The explosion killed them all."
   "Good!"  The Ancient One snapped.  "Behave. We'll make for one of the nearby islands and drop you off.  The people there can get you to the mainland."
   "You are not going to kill us?"  the man asked.
   "Not unless you give us reason to!"  The Ancient One answered.
   "What we came here to accomplish we accomplished.  Now, get them some water," The Ancient One ordered.  "They're probably hungry, too.  Give them some biscuits. They'll need a few day's provisions when we put them ashore."
   "Aye, captain!"  one of the hands snapped.
   The Ancient One took his glass and checked the battle again.  The last surviving Chinese ship was withdrawing.  The British ship was staying with the convoy not pursuing it.
   "Let's go!"  The Ancient One ordered.  "That British captain is bound to have recognized us!  Damaged or not, he'll try to engage us.  After all, we're the enemies of Britania!"
   The North Wind quickly spread her sails and sped away.  In a few hours they reached the island, dropped off the Chinese, and put back to sea. They were barely out of sight of land than Yahweh appeared again. He didn't say anything, just smiled.  The Ancient One and his friends felt themselves drifting away.  When they reappeared The Ancient One looked around. The Ax Man was standing there.  He was a large, heavy set man, impressive by anybody's standards.  Durga was a very attractive woman in a peasant dress.
   "Little John?"  The Ancient One muttered, "Ellen?"
   He looked around him.  They were in an encampment.  There were men in armor, and peasants everywhere.
   "Where are we?"  The Ax Man asked.
   The Ancient One spat the word almost in a curse.  "Runnymead!"  he answered, "We're at Runnymead!"