"Rascal! what do you mean?" ejaculated the other; "I am the surgeon, and in command of this vessel. Who are you? what do you require? Do you know that the pestilence is here?"
"We know all about it, sir," answered Long Bob.
Then, dropping his weapons, he sprang upon the surgeon, whom he threw upon the floor, and whose mouth he instantly closed with his iron hand.
The pirates then secured the surgeon in the same way as they had the boy above.
"Let's go forward now," cried Swot. "So far, all's well. One of you must stay down here to mind this chap."
The Lully Prig volunteered this service; and the other pirates repaired to the cabin forward.
They well knew that the plague-stricken invalids must be there; and when they reached the hatchway, there was a sudden hesitation—a simultaneous pause.
The idea of the pestilence was horrible.
"Well," said the foreman, "are we afraid?"
"No—not I, by God!" ejaculated the Resurrection Man; and he sprang down the ladder.