"Captain, will you look about for the oil, and pour it over all the beds, but don't set them on fire until I give the order.
"Now, lads, two of you run below, and get the cushions off the starboard sofa.
"Purvis, get the skylight open on the port side, and wheel the two guns round, and point them down into the cabin. I will train them myself on the same spot just at the back of that seat. They might come off and extinguish the fire, though I don't think they will; but we will make sure by blowing a hole through her side under the water line."
Five minutes were sufficient to make the preparations, and the captain came up and reported that all was ready.
"I have heaped up all the bedding on the floor, sir, and poured plenty of oil over it," he said.
"Very well, then, take two men aft, and begin there and work your way forward, and finish with the fo'c'sle hammocks. You can begin at once."
In a minute there was a glare of light through the stern cabin skylight, while almost at the same moment a dense cloud of smoke poured up the companion. Then the light shone up through the bull's-eyes on deck of the other staterooms. Then the captain and the two hands ran through the saloon forward. Frank went to the fo'castle hatch, and stooping down saw the captain apply the fire to a great heap of bedding.
"That will do, Hawkins," he said. "Come up at once with the men, or you will be suffocated down there."
They ran up on deck, and a minute later a volume of flame burst out through the hatch. Frank went to the guns, and lighting two matches gave one to Hawkins.
"Now," he said, "both together."