“Take that, curse you!” came from a man whose head showed for an instant above the schooner’s stern rail.
CHAPTER X.
FIGHTING SOUND PIRATES.
“Wow!” cried Herc from the conning-tower; “how the bees hummed.”
Luckily this was all the damage the bullet did, though they could hear it strike one of the after plates with a ringing sound. A grim look came over Lieutenant Parry’s face.
“See here, my man!” he hailed. “You’d better heave to, and look sharp about it.”
“Aw, run along and play,” came the derisive answer; “we ain’t got time to monkey with you little gasolene fellows.”
“They haven’t seen yet that we are a submarine,” whispered the officer to Mr. Lockyer; “let’s have some fun with them. They think we are only some cheeky little launch.”
The inventor was nothing averse to giving the rascals a good scare, and accordingly, amid a torrent of profanity from the schooner’s rail, the party that had occupied the deck crawled inside the conning-tower. The manhole was clamped down and everything prepared for a dive. The lieutenant took the wheel, as in case of any accident happening he felt that the responsibility should rest upon him. But he didn’t intend any accident to happen if he could help it.