"Lads," he exclaimed, "we're in luck! We may not find the Impregnable, but yonder is the pirate Cervillo. I had my suspicions, but I managed to get a peep at his lovely features just in time."
"Then they've scuttled the cruiser, sir?"
"Goodness knows. If they've played any dirty tricks with my comrades it will go pretty badly with them. Call up the Cerberus, Stevens, and tell them to pile on speed. We'll keep the yacht under observation until the ship arrives."
"Officer commanding acknowledges, sir," replied the wireless man. "Asks for course."
"Tell him nor'-nor'-east, roughly ninety miles; that's good enough," replied Drake. "The Gnat will pick us up before long, and give the Cerberus our position. By Jove! The Serena is actually trying to run away. All right, my hearties, you're only provoking the fun. Rig out the planes, Blake. We'll dance round her a bit."
Rising obliquely, the Mosquito attained an attitude of 500 ft., and, circling swiftly over the doomed yacht, soon showed the pirates the sheer uselessness of seeking safety in flight. Four or five rifle-shots came from the Serena's decks, but unaccustomed to firing at a swiftly moving object immediately overhead, and at an unknown height, the men's aim was erratic. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, Drake gave orders for the aero-hydroplane to ascend another thousand feet.
If ever a man was tempted to use the potential weapons at his command Lieutenant Drake was. He knew that the pirates fully now expected an attack from the sky, and since they had not reverted to their former tactics of displaying their prisoners as a human screen, he naturally and rightly concluded that Fielding, Cardyke, and Coxswain Hardy were no longer in the hands of the desperate ruffians. But although the desire to drop a charge of explosives upon the yacht's deck, and blow the miscreants to a quick and horrible fate, was well-nigh irresistible, Drake could not go against his definite orders. He could only wait, hoping that he might be able to take an active part in the attack upon the pirate yacht as soon as the Cerberus arrived upon the scene.
"Gnat coming up, sir," announced one of the men.
Flying at a tremendous speed and at a great height came the Mosquito's consort, but as soon as she spotted Drake's command she turned and flew southwards in order to get into visible communication with the scout. Meanwhile the Serena, her funnel emitting dense columns of flame-tinted smoke, was steaming north-eastwards as hard as she could pelt.
It was a forlorn business, for within forty or fifty miles of her the avenging Cerberus was tearing in her direction at at least fifteen knots more than this yacht; while overhead, like a gigantic hawk, the Mosquito was turning in ever-varying circles above her, so that nothing short of a dense fog could save the pirates at this juncture.