The two Chinamen discussed the find and glanced significantly at the bound captives. To Raxworthy it seemed as if they were proposing to cut the prisoners’ throats, on the principle that dead men tell no tales. To employ dolls as hiding-places for smuggled arms had proved so successful that the pirates felt inclined to repeat the process. It would almost certainly work, provided there were no hostile witnesses. Then the big fellow, who was either the chief of the gang or someone in high authority amongst them, stepped up to the place where the midshipman lay.
Smiling horribly, he tapped his bare chest.
“Leetle boy’s bullet no makee hurt!” he declared. “Now you speakee. You Engleesh officer from shippee that fight?”
“I am,” admitted Raxworthy.
“Little boy big officer-man?” asked the pirate.
The midshipman guessed what that meant: although he was a mere youth he might be someone of importance and therefore a likely subject for ransom.
Raxworthy shook his head and regretted that he had done so. It made his skull throb agonisingly.
“Your fliends payee fifty t’ousand dollar, may be?”
“They’ll more likely send a warship and make finish with you!” declared the midshipman boldly.
The pirate leered and made a deprecatory movement with his hand.