Page:Stringer - Lonely O'Malley.djvu/348

 ship flying a skull and cross-bones,—a ship with eleven scowling men on her carefully sanded deck.

Old Brown, in fact, held a piece of cold boiled mutton in his hand, which he was in the very act of conveying to his mouth. Instead of this, he let it drop unnoticed on the deck floor of the Lone Star. For what man is going to be altogether self-possessed when he sees no less than seven key guns leveled at him?

"Stand by there an' surrender," cried a shrill and threatening young voice, "or we 'll blow you out of the water!"

The corpulent old engineer said nothing, but still looked at them with dazed and popping eyes. The next moment the teeth of the pirates' boarding-irons had fastened like wolf-fangs on the bulwarks of the helpless Lone Star.

It took but a second for the Captain, followed by his crew, to scramble aboard their prize.

"I told you it was easy enough," said the Captain, sotto voce over his shoulder, "if you only take 'em unexpected!"