"One word more, boys," said the old man, just as the pirate came round under the stern.
"Now watch every movement I make, and be ready to jump the moment I speak."
As Captain Spinnet ceased speaking, the pirate luffed under the fisherman's lee-quarter, and, in a moment more, the latter's deck was graced with the presence of a dozen as savage-looking mortals as eyes ever rested upon.
"Are you the captain of this vessel," demanded the leader of the boarders, as he approached the old man.
"Yes sir."
"What is your cargo?"
"Machinery for ingines."
"Nothing else?" asked the pirate with a searching look.
At this moment, Captain Spinnet's eye caught what looked like a sail off to the southward and eastward, but no sign betrayed the discovery, and, while a brilliant idea shot through his mind, he hesitatingly replied:
"Well, there is a leetle something else."