“Shoot to hit,” said Uncle Dick. “If those Malays gain a footing on our deck, our voyage will be ended sure enough.”
“All ready, sir,” said Frank.
“Let them have it, then,” commanded Uncle Dick.
The twenty-pounder roared, and the shrapnel, true to its aim, struck the crowded canoe amidships, cutting it completely in two and sending all her crew into the water. The destruction that followed an instant afterwards must have been great. The missile exploded in the very midst of the natives, of whom Uncle Dick said there were at least three hundred, and created a wonderful panic among them. They had not looked for such a reception from a vessel that was little better than a wreck. The whole crowd turned and made for the shore, those in the uninjured canoes being in such haste to seek a place of safety that they left their companions who were struggling in the water to take care of themselves as best they could. As the fleet separated a little, Uncle Dick surveyed the scene with his glass, and announced that the shot had been well-directed, four boatloads of natives having been emptied out into the bay.
“Perhaps they will let us alone now,” said Frank.
“It will not be safe to relax our vigilance as long as we stay here, simply because they have been once repulsed,” returned Uncle Dick. “I know what those fellows are, for I have had some experience with them. They have been thrashed repeatedly by our own and English vessels of war, but they soon forget it and act as badly as ever. A man who falls into their hands never escapes to tell how he was treated. Now, Frank, load that gun and secure it; and Mr. Baldwin, have a sentry kept on that quarter-deck night and day, with orders to watch that shore as closely as ever—Eh? What’s the matter?”
The officer in reply pointed seaward. Uncle Dick and the boys looked, and were horrified to see a large ship in the offing, drifting helplessly before the gale.
CHAPTER IV.
A CHANGE OF PROGRAMME.
“That’s the same ship we saw at the beginning of the cyclone,” said Frank. “I know her by her white hull and the black stripe above her water-line.”
“Heaven help her,” said Uncle Dick, “for we can’t.”