"At 'em, men! At 'em! Pull, you sons of the devil, pull!"

Suddenly, in the brief silence that followed the two thunderous reports, a pistol shot rang out sharply, and I saw Captain Whidden spin round and fall.

We helped him pile his belongings into his chest … and gave him a hand on deck.

"Sign that statement, Lathrop," said Captain Falk.

He cut from the melon-rind a roughly shaped model of a ship and stuck in it, to represent masts, three slivers of bamboo.

[Illustration: "At 'em, men! At 'em! Pull, you sons of the devil, pull!"]