"Go in there, and don't stop to talk!" repeated Tom, stamping his foot and pointing to the door that led from the galley. The students obeyed without any further remarks, and as soon as they had disappeared in the hold, the door was closed and fastened.
Tom was captain of the Storm King at last!
CHAPTER XIX.
CRUSOE AFLOAT.
So thought Tom Newcombe, as he held the door that opened from the galley into the hold, while Friday locked and further secured it, by bracing two of the captured muskets against it. Hardly had this been done, when the noise of a furious struggle came from the cabin, mingled with shouts and yells; and, at the same time, some one in the hold threw himself against the door, and tried to burst it open.
"Stand firm, men!" exclaimed a voice, which Tom knew belonged to Harry Green. "Remember the motto, on our flag, and 'Don't give up the ship!'"
Then came the governor's battle-cry: "Down with the 'cademy swells! Drive 'em in the hold, an' shut 'em up!"
Tom waited to hear no more. The chief was in trouble, and perhaps needed assistance. He sprang up the ladder that led to the deck, and rushed to the companion-way, just in time to see the governor and his band falling back before a crowd of students, who poured out of the hold like bees from a hive. The first-lieutenant of the yacht led the way, flourishing a piece of a chair, with which he defended himself from the savage thrusts Sam aimed at him with his spear. Close behind him came a tall, active student, armed with a pillow, which he used with considerable effect; for, just as Tom reached the top of the companion-ladder, where he could look down into the cabin, he saw Xury knocked head overheels by a blow from this novel weapon. Immediately afterward another of the students disabled Will Atkins by throwing a quilt over his head, which he had snatched from a bunk in one of the state-rooms. The muskets of the guard were stacked in the after end of the cabin, and Tom saw that the students were fighting their way toward them. If they succeeded in reaching them, the battle would be speedily ended, and Harry would be able to fulfill his threat of taking Tom and his band to the academy, as prisoners of war.