The skipper, who had gone to possess himself of his own weapon, and also to call the mate to his side, reappeared at the same instant; and Kane’s wife and her mother, having discovered that something out of the ordinary was happening, left their seats under the awning and added themselves to the group.
In the meantime the Shadow had drawn much nearer, and she had now changed her course so that she would lie directly across the bow of the Goalong, a maneuver which Kane remembered as one which was a favorite with her commander. And now, too, the sharp crack of a rifled gun came to their ears from the deck of the stranger, and a vaporlike smoke, which ascended from amidships, told them as plainly as words could have done that it proceeded from the turret, where they knew there had formerly been a machine gun located.
“What is it?” asked Mrs. Kane of her husband; but it was the skipper who replied.
“It’s the pirate, ma’am,” he said. “It’s the Shadow. Perhaps you’ll remember her, for this isn’t the first time we’ve been afoul of her. And that there gun from her amidships turret is an order for us to slow down and lay to. Now, Mr. Kane, what shall I do? Shall I obey it, or shall I go right along as if nothing had happened?”
Kane had entirely recovered his composure. He was thoroughly master of himself, now that he knew an emergency was at hand.
He turned coolly, and faced his skipper.
“You will keep going ahead at full speed, just as long as the wheel will turn,” he said. “And, Mr. Manning, I wish you would call down to the engine and fire rooms and give orders to crowd her to the limit. If that fellow gets aboard of me he will have to do it on the fly, I can tell you that.”
“It’s more than likely that his next cartridge won’t be a blank,” said Manning.
“I don’t care if it is loaded with dynamite; I won’t stop now till I’m obliged to,” was Kane’s reply.
Then he turned to his wife, who was standing beside him.