Down went the pirate leader. Jay's lightning-like tackle cut both feet from under him. Before he could shoot again Dick leaped upon him and wrested the revolver from his hand. Against the infuriated dog and the combined attack of two such sturdy youths as Jay Thacker and Dick Monaghan he was outclassed. The struggle was short and in the end the prowling visitor lay panting and helpless.
Outside came the tramp of many feet and then the face of Captain Austin, Larry Seymour and others of the crew who had heard the shot and had been attracted by the commotion.
"What have we here?" demanded Austin heatedly as he bent over the confused mass of dog and men. It took only a glance to show what had happened. Some one had come slyly aboard the Jules Verne and had been trapped in the stateroom of the Brighton boys.
Jay and Dick struggled to their feet, relaxing their hold now that help had arrived in overwhelming numbers. But not so the dog. Fismes held on as though his life depended on it. With difficulty his masters succeeded in getting him to let go the figure on the floor.
"Quick, captain," shouted Jay. "The pirate ship over there is making ready to get away. This chap came aboard here to see who we were and to pay his compliments with a bomb before he left. Quick! notify the Marblehead."
Like a flash Larry was away to the wireless to call the revenue cutter. Order followed order as other members of the crew sprang to the searchlight and turned its blazing rays on the pirate craft. Others manned the machine gun and stood by awaiting the order to fire in case the ship so close by attempted to move.
"Zzz-t-t-ttt!" the wireless snapped out its radio call. Then the key was closed awaiting the answer.
"Marblehead half a mile away only," reported Larry as he came dashing back to the stateroom. "She has seen our light and knows right where we are. She has two boatloads of armed men on the way now to take the pirates in tow."
The figure on the floor stirred uneasily, torn between the hurt of the wound where the dog had sunk his sharp teeth into the flesh and the despair of knowing that the game was all up.
"Get up until we can take a look at you," commanded Captain Austin as he turned to the prisoner.