What belaying pins would do for soon appeared, when the skipper had the men mustered aft.
'Men,' he said, 'all the food which should have been divided is now on board the Cormorant, Captain Balaam, who is no gentleman——'
'He ain't no seaman neither, sir,' said Bill Waite. The others told him to dry up, and he subsided, blushing at his own audacity.
'And I propose to board his vessel and compel him to divide it.'
'Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!' said the crowd. 'Oh, ain't this somethin' like!'
'If there is any resistance,' went on Wood, 'it must be put down. For that purpose each of you will take a belaying pin, but you will leave your knives behind. In half an hour I shall shorten sail and man the boats. You will all keep silence. I shall go with you myself to see that no unnecessary violence is used. Mr. Hankin, you will remain on board with two of the boys.'
As there were three boys it is unnecessary to state that there was an almost immediate fight to see who were to stay. Both who did were much more damaged next morning than the victim who went.
At midnight the foresail was clewed up and a few more of the make-shift sails furled. The boats were lowered safely, and in ten minutes the Scanderbeg was only manned by a sorry second mate and two sore boys. The vessel moved off slowly into the starry darkness, looking like a huge house-boat converted into a laundry. To the westward the Cormorant loomed darkly. She grew slowly as they waited in perfect silence.
'This will be a lesson to Balaam,' said Captain Wood across the quiet sea to Boden. 'I hope, I sincerely hope, that he is not drunk, Mr. Boden!'
'Gosh, we're pirates of the deep,' said Waite, and the men in his boat chuckled.