The signal as received read thus:
"Surrend ers hip savey our lifs. Ifno tuues ink shipa ndnoq uarta."
"What's that fellow signalling?" asked Captain Blair. Faint with loss of blood he could only just discern the slow motion of the coloured hand-flags.
Burgoyne signified that the message was understood, and bent to speak to the wounded skipper.
"They've signalled, 'Surrender the ship and save your lives; if not we will sink you and give no quarter'."
The Old Man raised himself on one elbow. The pulse on his uninjured temple was working like a steam piston.
"Surrender the ship!" he exclaimed vehemently. "I'll see them to blazes first."