“Go away! Go away!” screamed Ralph, in an agony of fright. “The crew has mutinied. They’ll kill us all. Oh, dear!”
“You coward!” said the girl, with flashing eyes, drawing her figure up to its full height. “Have you got a pistol?”
“Yes, there’s one in the drawer there,” stuttered Ralph.
With cool, firm hands, the girl took out the weapon.
“What are you going to do?” mewed Ralph fearfully.
“Help my uncle. You know what danger is on his track. Those men must go back to the furnaces.”
“Oh, we’ll all be killed,” repeated Ralph tremulously; “or, if we’re not killed, we’ll be caught by a war ship. The air is full of messages about us. Scout cruisers from Vera Cruz, and war craft from other places are closing in all around us.”
The girl bit her lip and turned a trifle pale.
“What are they saying?” she demanded.
“I can’t tell. The messages are all in code, but I can catch the name of this yacht all the time.”