"Den come along," growled Billy Byrne, "an' quit dis
monkey business, or I'll sure twist yer flipper clean off'n yeh."
With an oath, Anthony Harding sprang forward to protect
his daughter; but the butt of Ward's pistol brought him
unconscious to the deck.
"Go easy there, Byrne," shouted Skipper Simms; "there
ain't no call to injure the hussy--a corpse won't be worth
nothing to us."
In mute terror the girl now permitted herself to be led to
the deck below. Quickly she was lowered into a waiting boat.
Then Skipper Simms ordered Ward to search the yacht and
remove all firearms, after which he was to engage himself to
navigate the vessel with her own crew under armed guard of
half a dozen of the Halfmoon's cutthroats.
These things attended to, Skipper Simms with the balance
of his own crew and six of the crew of the Lotus to take the
places upon the brigantine of those left as a prize crew aboard
the yacht returned with the girl to the Halfmoon.
The sailing vessel's sails were soon hoisted and trimmed,
and in half an hour, followed by the Lotus, she was scudding
briskly southward. For forty-eight hours this course was held
until Simms felt assured that they were well out of the lane of
regular trans-Pacific traffic.
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