e girl," he shrugged his shoulders and
shook his head dubiously, "then old Sing no can flighten 'em 'way."

The girl shuddered, and crouching close behind Sing hurried below. A
moment later she heard the boom of the old brass six pounder which for
many years had graced the Ithaca's stern. In the bow Professor Maxon
had mounted a modern machine gun, but this was quite beyond Sing's
simple gunnery. The Chinaman had not taken the time to sight the
ancient weapon carefully, but a gleeful smile lit his wrinkled, yellow
face as he saw the splash of the ball where it struck the water almost
at the side of the prahu.

Sing realized that the boat might contain friendly natives, but he had
cruised these waters too many years to take chances. Better kill a
hundred friends, he thought, than be captured by a single pirate.

At the shot the prahu slowed up, and a volley of musketry from her crew
satisfied Sing that he had made no mistake in classifying her. Her
fire fell short as did the ball from the small cannon mounted in her
bow.

Virginia was watching the prahu from one of the cabin ports. She saw
the momentary hesitation and confusion which followed Sing's first
shot, and then to her dismay she saw the rowers bend to their oars
again and the prahu move swiftly in the direction of the Ithaca.

It was apparent that the pirates had perceived the almost defenseless
condition of the schooner. In a few minutes they would be swarming the
deck, for poor old Sing would be entirely helpless to repel them. If
Dr. von Horn were only there, thought the distracted girl. With the
machine gun alone he might keep them off.

At the thought of the machine gun a sudden resolve gripped her. Why
not man it herself? Von Horn had explained its mechanism to her in
detail, and on one occasion had allowed her to operate it on the voyage
from Singapore. With the thought came action. Running to the magazine
she snatched up a feed-belt, and in another moment was on deck beside
the astonished Sing.

The pirates were skimming rapidly across the smooth waters of the
harbor, answering Sing's harmless shots with yells of derision and
wild, savage war cries. There were, perhaps, fifty Dyaks and
Malays--fierce, barbaric men; mostly naked to the waist, or with
war-coats of brilliant colors. The savage headdress of the Dyaks, the
long, narrow, decorated shields, the flashing blades of parang and kris
sent a shudder through the girl, so close t