when the vittorio showed that in veering away from the monterey she had done so only in order to make a sweep around to the west, and when she had headed south and the mattresses lowered along her starboard side showed plainly to captain horn that she was about to attack him and how she was going to do it, his first thought was to embarrass her by reversing his course and steering this way and that, but he instantly dismissed this idea. the pirate vessel was smaller and faster than his own, and probably much more easily managed, and apart from the danger of a collision fatal to his ship, he would only protract the conflict by trying to elude her. he was so sure that he had men enough to beat down the scoundrels when they tried to board that he thought the quicker the fight began, the better. if only he had shirley and burke with him, he thought;[pg 265] but although they were not here, he had edna to fight for, and that made three men of himself.

with most of his men crouching behind his port bulwarks, and others protected by deck houses, smokestack, and any other available devices against gunshots, captain horn awaited the coming of the pirate steamer, which was steaming towards him as if it intended to run him down. as she came near, the vittorio slowed up, and the monterey veered to starboard; but, notwithstanding this precaution and the fact that they sailed side by side for nearly a minute without touching, the two vessels came together with such force that the monterey, high out of water, rolled over as if a great wave had struck her. as she rolled back, grappling-irons were thrown over her rail, and cables and lines were made fast to every available place which could be reached by eager hands and active arms. some of the grappling-irons were immediately thrown off by the crew of the monterey, but the chains of others had been so tightened as the vessel rolled back to an even keel that it was impossible to move them.

the monterey's rail was considerably higher than that of the vittorio, and as none of the crew of the former vessel had shown themselves, no shots had yet been fired, but with the activity of apes the pirates tried to scramble over the side of the larger vessel. now followed a furious hand-to-hand combat. blows rained down on the heads and shoulders of the assailants, some of whom dropped back to the deck of their ship, while others drew their pistols and fired right[pg 266] and left at the heads and arms they saw over the rail of the monterey.

the pirate leaders were amazed at the resistance they met with. they had not imagined that captain horn had so large a crew, or that it was a crew which would fight. but these pirates had their blood up, and not one of them had any thought of giving up their enterprise on account of this unexpected resistance. dozens of them at a time sprang upon the rail of their own vessel, and, with cutlass or pistol in one hand, endeavored to scramble up the side of the monterey; but although the few who succeeded in crossing her bulwarks soon fell beneath the blows and shots of her crew, the attack was vigorously kept up, especially by pistol shots.

whenever there was a chance, a pirate hand would be raised above the rail of the monterey and a revolver discharged upon her rail, and every few minutes there would be a rush to one point or another and a desperate fight upon the rail. the engines of both vessels had been stopped, and the screaming and roaring of the escaping steam gave additional horror to this fearful battle. not a word could be heard from any one, no matter how loudly it might be shouted.

whatever firearms were possessed by the men on the monterey were used with good effect, but in this respect they were vastly inferior to the enemy. when they had fired their pistols and their guns, some of them had no more ammunition, and others had no opportunity to reload. the men of the vittorio had firearms in abundance and pockets full of cartridges. consequently it[pg 267] was not long before captain horn's men were obliged to rely upon their hatchets, their handspikes, their belaying-pins, and their numbers.

banker was in a very furious state of mind. he had expected to board the monterey without opposition, and now he had been fighting long and hard, and not a man of his crew was on board the other vessel. he had soon discovered that there were a great many men on board the monterey, but he believed that the real reason for the so far successful resistance was the fact that captain horn commanded them.

several times he mounted the upper deck of the vittorio, and with a rifle in hand endeavored to get a chance to aim at the tall figure of which he now and then caught sight, and who he saw was directing everything that was going on. but every time he stood out with his rifle a pistol ball whizzed by him, and made him jump back. whoever fired at him was not a good shot, but banker did not wish to expose himself to any kind of a shot. once he got a chance of taking aim at the captain from behind the smokestack, but at that moment the captain stepped back hurriedly out of view, as if somebody had been pulling him by the coat, and a ball rang against the funnel high above his own head. it was plain he was watched, and would not expose himself.

but that devil horn must be killed, and he swore between his grinding teeth that he himself would do it. his men, many of them with bloody heads, were still fighting, swearing, climbing, and firing. none of them[pg 268] had been killed except those who had gained the deck of the other vessel, but banker did not believe that they would be able to board the monterey until its captain had been disposed of. if he could put a ball into that fellow, the fight would be over.

banker now determined to lead a fresh attack instead of simply ordering one. if he could call to his men from the deck of the monterey, they would follow him. the vittorio lay so that her bow was somewhat forward of that of the monterey, and as the rails at the bows of the two vessels were some distance apart, there was no fighting forward. the long boom of the fore-mast of the vittorio stretched over her upper deck, and, crouching low, banker cut all the lines which secured it. then with a quick run he seized the long spar near its outer end, and thus swinging it out until it struck the shrouds, he found himself dangling over the forward deck of the monterey, upon which he quickly dropped.

it so happened that the fight was now raging aft, and for a moment banker stood alone looking about him. he believed his rapid transit through the air had not been noticed. he would not call upon his men to follow as he had intended. without much fear of detection he would slip quietly behind the crew of the monterey, and take a shot at captain horn the moment he laid eyes on him. then he could shout out to his men to some purpose.

banker moved on a few steps, not too cautiously, for he did not wish to provoke suspicion, when suddenly a hand was placed upon his chest. there was nobody in[pg 269] front of him, but there was the hand, and a very big one it was, and very black. like a flash banker turned, and beheld himself face to face with the man mok, the same chimpanzee-like negro who had been his slave, and with whom in the streets of paris he had once had a terrible struggle, which had resulted in his capture by the police and his imprisonment. here was that same black devil again, his arms about him as if they had been chain-cables on a windlass.

banker had two pistols, but he had put them in his pockets when he made his swing upon the boom, and he had not yet drawn them, and now his arms were held so tightly to his sides that he could not get at his weapons. there was no one near. banker was wise enough not to call out or even to swear an oath, and mok had apparently relapsed into the condition of the speechless savage beast. with a wrench which might have torn an ordinary limb from its socket, banker freed his left arm, but a black hand had grasped it before he could reach his pistol.

then there was a struggle—quick, hard, silent, and furious, as if two great cobras were writhing together, seeking each other's death. mok was not armed. banker could not use knife or pistol. they stumbled, they went down on their knees, they rose and fell together against the rail. instantly banker, with his left arm and the strength of his whole body, raised the negro to the rail and pushed him outward. the action was so sudden, the effort of the maddened pirate was so great, that mok could not resist it—he went[pg 270] over the side. but his hold upon banker did not relax even in the moment when he felt himself falling, and his weight was so great and the impetus was so tremendous that banker could not hold back, and followed him over the rail. still clutching each other tightly, the two disappeared with a splash into the sea.

banker could not hold back banker could not hold back

fears were beginning to steal into the valiant heart of captain horn. the pirates were so well armed, they kept up such a savage fire upon his decks, that although their shots were sent at random, several men had been killed, and others—he knew not how many—wounded, that he feared his crew, ordinary sailors and not accustomed to such savage work as this, might consider the contest too unequal, and so lose heart. if that should be the case, the affair would be finished.

but there was still one means of defence on which he thought he might rely to drive off the scoundrels. the monterey had been a cotton ship, and she was provided with hose by which steam could be thrown upon her cargo in case of fire, and captain hagar had undertaken to try to get this into condition to use upon the scoundrels who were endeavoring to board the vessel. by this time two heavy lines of hose had been rigged and attached to the boiler, and the other ends brought out on deck—one forward and the other amidships.

captain hagar was a quiet man, and in no way a fighter, but now he seemed imbued with a reckless courage; and without thinking of the danger of exposing himself to pistol or to rifle, he laid the nozzle of his hose over the rail and directed it down upon the deck[pg 271] below. as soon as the hot steam began to pour upon the astonished pirates there were yells and execrations, and when another scalding jet came in upon them over the forward bulwarks of the monterey, the confusion became greater on the pirate ship.

it was at this moment, as edna, her face pale and her bright eyes fixed upon the upper deck of the vittorio, stood with a revolver in her hand at the window of her cabin, which was on deck, that her swedish maid, trembling so much that she could scarcely stand, approached her and gave her notice that she must quit her service. edna did not hear what she said. "are you there?" she cried. "look out—tell me if you can see captain horn!"

the frightened girl, scarcely knowing what she did, rushed from the cabin to look for captain horn, not so much because her mistress wanted information of him as because she thought to throw herself upon his protection. she believed that the captain could do anything for anybody, and she ran madly along the deck on the other side from that on which the battle was raging, and meeting no one, did not stop until she had nearly reached the bow. then she stopped, looked about her, and in a moment was startled by hearing herself called by her name. there was no one near her; she looked up, she looked around.

then again she heard her name, "sophee! sophee!" now it seemed to come from the water, and looking over the low rail she beheld a black head on the surface of the sea. its owner was swimming about, endeavoring[pg 272] to find something on which he could lay hold, and he had seen the white cap of the maid above the ship's side. sophia and mok were very good friends, for the latter had always been glad to wait upon her in every way possible, and now she forgot her own danger in her solicitude for the poor black man.

"oh, mok! mok!" she cried, "can't you get out of the water? can i help you?"

mok shouted out one of his few english words. "rope! rope!" he said. but sophia could see no rope except those which were fast to something, and in her terror she ran aft to call for assistance.

there was now not so much noise and din. the steam was not escaping from the boilers of the monterey, for it was needed for the hose, and there were no more shots fired from the vittorio. the officers of the pirate ship were running here and there looking for banker, that they might ask for orders, while the men were crowding together behind every possible protection, and rushing below to escape the terrible streams of scalding steam.

now that they could work in safety, the monterey's men got their handspikes under the grappling-irons, and wrenched them from their holes, and leaning over the side they cut the ropes which held them to the pirate ship. the two vessels now swung apart, and captain horn was on the point of giving orders to start the engines and steam ahead, when the maid, sophia, seized him by the arm. "mrs. horn wants you," she said, "and mok's in the water!"

"mok!" exclaimed the captain.

"yes, here! here!" cried sophia, and running to the side, she pointed to where mok's black head and waving arms were still circling about on the surface of the sea.

when a rope had been cast to mok, and he had been hauled up the side, the captain gave orders to start ahead, and rushed to the cabin where he had left edna; but it was not during that brief interval of thankfulness that he heard how she had recognized the rackbird, banker, on the pirate ship, and how she had fired at him every time he had shown himself.

the monterey started southward towards the point where they had last seen the yacht and the dunkery beacon, and the pirate ship, veering off to the south-east, steamed slowly away. the people on board of her were looking everywhere for banker, for without him they knew not what they ought to do, but if their leader ever came up from the great depth to which he had sunk with mok's black hands upon his throat, his comrades were not near the spot where, dead or alive, he floated to the surface.