"Me teach you!" hissed the pirate captain. "You dogs!—when I done, den ober de side I put you!"
Turning to his men he gave a lengthy order. Mukyima was borne away for'ard, the other captives, including the coxswain, were unceremoniously bundled below, and placed in the same cabin from which they had before escaped.
It did not take the sub. and his comrades long to free themselves of the straps that bound them. Fielding's first act, in recovering the use of his limbs, was to hasten to the scuttle. The pirates had taken due precautions this time. The glass had been removed, and a massive iron bar, placed across the frame of the scuttle, was secured by means of the lock-nut, the thread of which had been bent and burred so that it was impossible, without the aid of a file or hack-saw, to remove the bar from its position.
"Well, we can look out, and see what's going on; that's one comfort," exclaimed Fielding, optimistically. "What have you found, Cardyke?" For the midshipman, rummaging in a locker, had discovered a loaf of bread, some ship's biscuits, a jar of water, and a tin pannikin.
"We won't starve just yet, in any case," observed the mid.
The pangs of hunger had rounded off the unappetising appearance of the stale loaf and the "hard tack," and the water, though not particularly fresh, tasted sweet to the parched mouths of the hostages.
"Poison?" asked Oki, interrogatively.
"I think not," replied Fielding. "If they wanted to choke us off they would have done so before now; besides, the food doesn't look tempting enough. A sumptuous repast would be more suspicious."
About four o'clock the cruiser eased down. Knowing that something was about to happen, the captives took turns at looking through the scuttle. For some time nothing beyond sky and sea was visible, but when the Independencia described a half circle Cardyke announced that she had compelled a huge liner to heave-to.
"A Frenchman, by Jove!" exclaimed Fielding. "Now what's the game—more scuttling?"