To MY WIFE

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.[ THE PARTNERS ]13
CHAPTER II.[ THE DEPARTURE OF THE "HAWK" ]21
CHAPTER III.[ MUTINY ]29
CHAPTER IV.[ THE CASTAWAYS ]36
CHAPTER V.[ DORA FLETCHER ]44
CHAPTER VI.[ MR. DYKES RECEIVES HIS LESSON ]53
CHAPTER VII.[ THE AGITATOR ]61
CHAPTER VIII.[ THE PRIZE ]69
CHAPTER IX.[ TRAGEDY ]78
CHAPTER X.[ THE CAPTAIN'S "APPEAL" ]86
CHAPTER XI.[ THE FIGHT ]95
CHAPTER XII.[ A DESPERATE VENTURE ]103
CHAPTER XIII.[ THE EBB TIDE ]114
CHAPTER XIV.[ THE ATTACK ]120
CHAPTER XV.[ MCPHULACH EXPLAINS ]129
CHAPTER XVI.[ CALAMITY KEEPS HIS WORD ]135
CHAPTER XVII.[ THE CONFESSION ]147
CHAPTER XVIII.[ DORA FLETCHER'S CHANCE ]155
CHAPTER XIX.[ AT THE WHEEL ]163
CHAPTER XX.[ IN COMMAND ]171
CHAPTER XXI.[ THE SIGNAL GUN ]179
CHAPTER XXII.[ MR. SMITH SEEKS A PARTNER ]185
CHAPTER XXIII.[ DORA FLETCHER ANSWERS "NO" ]194
CHAPTER XXIV.[ THE MACHINATIONS OF MR. SOLOMON ]201
CHAPTER XXV.[ THE ARREST ]209
CHAPTER XXVI.[ THE TRIAL ]217
CHAPTER XXVII.[ THE LETTER ]228
CHAPTER XXVIII.[ HOME ]239
CHAPTER XXIX.[ NOBLESSE OBLIGE ]248

CHAPTER I

THE PARTNERS

"Know all men that we do by these presents issue forth and grant Letters of Marque and reprisals to, and do license and authorise John Brighouse to set forth in a warlike manner the ship called the 'Hawk,' under his own command and therewith by force of arms to apprehend, seize and take the ships, vessels and goods belonging to the German Empire, wherefore it may and shall be lawful for the said John Brighouse to sell and dispose of such ships, vessels and goods adjudged and condemned in such sort and manner as by the course of Admiralty hath been adjudged."

The man who had been reading aloud from the closely written parchment laid it down on the table and glanced inquiringly at his companion. He was a man of between forty and fifty, a little over five feet in height, but so squarely built that, without exaggeration, he was well-nigh as broad as he was long. His head was small and bullet-shaped with a thatch of wiry black hair, and his face, bronzed to a copper-hue, was clean-shaven. A pair of thick, shaggy eyebrows brooded over eyes that usually produced a shock when first seen; for while one was steely-grey and possessed extraordinary mobility, the other was pale green and gazed upon the beholder with the fixed and stony stare of a dead fish. But this alarming optical phenomenon admitted of a simple explanation. At some period in his eventful career, Captain Calamity—for thus he was known throughout the length and breadth of the Pacific—had had the misfortune to lose an eye. After experiencing some difficulty in obtaining a glass substitute, he had at last managed to secure one second-hand from the relative of a gentleman who no longer required it.