y to his
feet, revolver in hand. He raised it quickly, and pointing it at Jack,
who was dashing forward closely followed by Williams, fired.

The distance was so close that a miss would have been impossible and
Jack would probably have been killed had it not been for Frank.

The latter sprang quickly forward and seized the German's arm even as
his finger pressed the trigger and the bullet went wild. With a muttered
imprecation, the German whirled on Frank, reversed his revolver quickly
and brought it down on the lad's head.

Frank fell to the deck without a groan and lay still.

At the same moment a shot from the helmsman struck Williams in the chest
as he and Edwards dashed toward him and the man fell to the deck,
mortally wounded.

Edwards, unarmed, dashed upon the other, but even as he would have
grappled with the man, the latter dodged and Edwards went staggering by.
Before he could recover himself, the German had clubbed him over the
head with his revolver butt.

Thus were three of the friends put hors de combat almost quicker than it
takes to tell it. There remained now only Jack, with two against him,
both armed.

Jack raised his revolver at the moment Frank fell unconscious to the
deck and the German whirled quickly to face him. Both fired at the same
moment and both stepped aside as they did so. Jack felt a bullet graze
his hand and his revolver fell clattering to the deck. The other, he
saw, had not been touched.

Jack sprang forward and grappled with the German even as the helmsman,
having disposed of Edwards, took a snap shot at him. The lad stepped
forward just in time to escape the bullet.

Realizing now that he had a foe behind as well as in front, Jack seized
the first German in a powerful embrace, the man's pistol hand going over
his shoulder; and at that moment the German pressed the trigger.

A howl of pain came from the helmsman. The bullet had struck the
latter's revolver on the barrel and the force of the shock had
momentarily numbed the man's hand.

Jack seized the first German's arm and by a quick twist sent the
revolver spinning across the deck, and it passed beneath the rail and
into the water.

Now the lad brought rushing tactics into play and pushed the first
German the length of the deck before the latter could brace himself.
There Jack's eye caught the gleam of the helmsman's pistol and with a
quick kick he sent it hurtling overboard also.

But Jack's antagonist was a stron