again the alerte hoisted a signal. it was to give the cap hoorn permission to proceed.

steering like a dray, since the destruction of the rudder-head had left her with only her twin screws to manoeuvre with, the german liner forged ahead, turned eight degrees to starboard and shaped a course for the invisible french coast.

the alerte, without waiting for her prey to disappear from sight, worked up to a speed of eight knots, steering in a northerly direction, or towards the shores of england.

"what happened?" asked captain cain.

"went through the ship's papers," replied the lieutenant. "found that she's eighteen million marks of specie in her strong-room. blighters swore they hadn't a key—trust fritz for bluffing or attempting to bluff. so we had to blow off the lock. then we had a round-up of the first-class passengers. by smoke! they shelled out like lambs. the proceeds are in that sack"—pointing to a well-filled canvas bag lying against the base of the conning-tower. "it was poor sport relieving a white-livered crowd like that. and the joke of the whole business is that the german skipper thought we were frenchmen. i told him that war had been declared between france and germany, and that he was to proceed straight for cherbourg. warned him that if he attempted to run for it, or to use his wireless, there'd be considerable trouble. i'd like to see what happens when the cap hoorn gives herself up to the naval authorities at cherbourg."

"unfortunately—or, perhaps, fortunately—we cannot be present," rejoined captain cain; then addressing the quartermaster, he ordered the ship to turn fifteen points to port, or nearly in a reverse direction to the course she had been following.

"why?" inquired pengelly. "there'll be half a dozen french torpedo craft on our track. wouldn't it be wiser to make ourselves scarce?"

"i am keeping the rendezvous in the chenal du four," replied the captain. being in a high good humour, he could afford to be affable to his querulous subordinate. "the news will be wirelessed everywhere within the next few hours that the cap hoorn was stopped and plundered by an unknown vessel masquerading as a french government auxiliary craft, which, when last sighted, was steering to the nor'ard. consequently, every one responsible for hunting us will reason much as you did—that we're off either to the english or irish coasts. they won't dream of looking for us in the neighbourhood of ushant. l'audace, pengelly, toujours l'audace: that's the winning card. all right; carry on. set the hands to work to remove our disguise. for the next day or so, the alerte will be the alerte. i'll interview those fellows we picked up this morning. tell marchant to bring one of them to my cabin. i won't see them together."

captain cain was on the point of descending the bridge-ladder, when he stopped and exclaimed in a voice loud enough for the watch on deck to hear:

"we'll make a partial division of the coin at one-bell, mr. pengelly. pass the word to the hands."

going below to his cabin, the skipper began to make preparations to receive his involuntary guests. they had come aboard of their own free will, it was true, but already they had discovered that getting away from the alerte was quite a different matter.

presently the gunner knocked at the door.

"mr. broadmayne, sir," he reported.

"take that chair, mr. broadmayne," said captain cain.

the sub did so. although giving away the slight advantage he possessed in height, he realised that it was decidedly uncomfortable having to be interviewed with his shoulders bent to prevent his head touching the sweating steel roof of the little cabin.

"i suppose," resumed the pirate, with a slight tone of irony, "that you are already acquainted with the nature of the craft that has given you shelter?"

"i'd be remarkably dense if i weren't," replied broadmayne.

"and what, might i ask, is the result of your investigations?" inquired captain cain suavely.

"to put it bluntly," rejoined the sub, "you're a filibuster—a pirate."

"that's putting the case rather strong," protested captain cain. "the vessel we intercepted was a hun. i was fighting germans in the high seas when you were a child in arms, i imagine. i saw enough to make me vow i'd go bald-headed for one whenever i had a chance. that chance i took to-day."

"i won't question your motives," remarked broadmayne imperturbably. "but i take it you have no admiralty warrant to act as a privateer in peacetime? then, as i said before, you must be a pirate. rather interesting, what? i was under the impression that gentlemen of that type were as extinct as the dodo."

"who and what are you, mr. broadmayne?" demanded captain cain.

"sub-lieutenant, royal navy."

"you are—or were?"

"am," declared broadmayne, with a tone that indicated he was proud of his profession.

a look of disappointment flitted across the face of the pirate captain.

"then what were you doing on a private yacht?"

the sub told him.

"vyse, did you say?" interrupted captain cain. "vyse? any relation to the north-country magnate of that name?"

"son," replied broadmayne. the next instant he felt angry with himself for having divulged that part.

"really!" exclaimed the other. "that's most interesting. well, mr. broadmayne, i'm afraid i must ask you and your friend to remain on board for the remainder of the cruise. it won't be a protracted one, i assure you. you can have the run of the ship, except at such times when it will be necessary to order you below. of course, considering we have saved your lives—your dinghy would have been swamped when the sea rose an hour after you were rescued—and that we have to feed you, a monetary payment is expected. but there is one alternative. i don't suppose you'll accept it first going off. that is, if you both care to join us in our enterprise—remember, we are not molesting a single british subject—then you will be entitled to a fair share of the proceeds, which i can assure you are far from being inconsiderable." broadmayne made no reply. he was puzzling his brains, but not on account of the pirate's seductive proposition. he had seen the man somewhere, but where? suddenly he remembered.

"i am more than surprised to find a former naval officer engaged on a stunt of this description," he remarked bluntly.

captain cain's features went a dusky red under his tan. the pulses of his temples were throbbing like steam-pistons.

"how do you know what i've been?" he inquired harshly. there was a dominant note in his voice. most men would have quailed before it. the sub showed no sign of trepidation. on the contrary, he felt considerably elated at having found a weak spot in his antagonist's armour.

"some years ago," resumed broadmayne, "i was one of a party of cadets who were taken round to devonport from dartmouth in a destroyer—the calder, lieutenant-commander sefton. it was one of the usual day instructional cruises, you know. on that occasion the cadets were shown over some of the submarines lying in the hamoaze. there was a two-and-a-half striper who did the showing round. some time later, he had to sever his connection with the service—kicked out, in fact. no need to mention names."

captain cain controlled his rage with an effort.

"quite correct," he rejoined. "however, mr. broadmayne, you will please remember that while you are on this craft you will keep that knowledge to yourself."

"i am not in the habit of trading on any one's past," replied the sub. "but i have a strong objection to attempted intimidation. if circumstances warrant my making use of the information bearing on your former career, i'll do so. and, let me add, i consider your offer that we should throw in our lot with your piratical crowd an insult. my answer, if an answer be required, is no!"

without another word, captain cain touched the bell-push.

"i'll make this young puppy feel sorry for himself before i've done with him," he said to himself.

the gunner answered the summons.

"take mr. broadmayne on deck," ordered the pirate captain, "and bring mr. vyse to me."

presently rollo vyse appeared. he was sorry he had missed an opportunity of speaking to his chum, as he was entirely in the dark as to what had occurred.

to him captain cain made a similar proposition, which he "turned down" even more forcibly than the sub had done.

"so that's your attitude, is it?" exclaimed the pirate, losing control of his temper. "very well. here are pens, ink and paper. you will write a letter to your wealthy parent, informing him that you are detained on board a certain ship and that you will be deprived of your liberty until the sum of one thousand pounds is paid to the person named therein. you will add that it is useless to set the police upon my agent. he knows nothing and is acting in all good faith. now then, one thousand pounds in bank of england notes, none of which is to exceed ten pounds."

lighting a cigarette and picking up a book, captain cain feigned to have lost interest in his victim.

for some moments rollo sat quietly thinking. "s'pose i'll have to humour the silly ass," he decided, and took up a pen.

for nearly twenty minutes vyse was engaged upon the demand for ransom. he was not writing all the time. there were intervals when the rapid movement of the scratchy pen ceased, causing the pirate captain to glance inquiringly over his book.

"how will that do?" asked rollo at last.

captain cain took the proffered paper and read:

"dear father,—this is a request to pay up. broadmayne and i were rescued from the ibex, which was burnt at sea. there's no need to worry. we're given every attention and are comfortable. but the captain of the ship we're on is going to detain us till our expenses are paid. this, he states, is one thousand pounds. sounds a preposterous sum, doesn't it? however, that is the extent of his demand, so i hope you'll settle and let us have our freedom. we're in for a rough time otherwise. the money is to be in five and ten pound notes, payable to the person named below.—your affectionate son,

"rollo vyse."

"is that your usual signature?" asked captain cain.

"certainly."

"very good," continued the pirate, folding the sheet, putting it in an envelope and placing it carefully between the leaves of a blotter. "i'll see that it's forwarded to its proper destination. you may go."

vyse went. in the alleyway he gave a grim chuckle. his letter had been carefully composed. several of the words were underlined. to a casual observer the lines would appear to be the lavish crossing of the letter "t" in the line below. captain cain had not spotted it. the underlined words read: "pay no attention to this preposterous demand." rollo had no doubt that when his father received the letter, his shrewdness would quickly enable him to read the camouflaged message.

he found broadmayne pacing the poop. for the present, none of the crew were aft. the alerte had resumed the features she possessed when she left falmouth. no outside observer would have recognised her as the vessel that had stopped the cap hoorn earlier in the day.

"gerald, old thing!" exclaimed rollo, after a brief exchange of their experiences, "we've got to get clear of this craft. if we don't, before very long we stand a hundred to one chance of being sent to davy jones's locker. the skipper gave me the impression that he's a hard case. i believe he'd sink her with all hands rather than surrender."

"from what i know of him, he is a hard case," agreed the sub. "but the question is, how can we part company with this vessel? i'd attempt it like a shot if there were a ghost of a chance. the hands seem to be up to their job. they'll keep a keen eye on us, i fancy. our only hope, i think, is to enlist the sympathies of some of the men. we'll have to sound them carefully. no doubt we'll find that one or two are fed-up already, and would do almost anything to save their precious necks."

"you mean to say we might be able to bribe them?"

"hardly," replied broadmayne. "they seem to be coining money on this game. i believe there's a share-out coming off very soon. no, it won't be the lure of financial reward. we'll have to play on their feelings a bit."

the thrilling notes of the bo'sun's pipe brought all hands to the waist. a partial division of the spoil was about to take place.

the crew fell in according to their respective watches. the gunner and the bo'sun were standing on either side of a small sack of gold coins placed upon an upturned cask. a short distance away stood captain cain, with pengelly at his elbow with a book in his hand.

"my lads!" began the pirate captain, "we have now made a rough calculation of the value of the loot from the german hooker. of course, when the stuff is disposed of ashore, it may be of considerable more value than we have estimated. on the other hand, it may be less. roughly, the share for each man before the mast is one hundred and ten pounds for this day's work."

he paused. a rousing cheer greeted the announcement. hitherto the crew had to be content with promises. now the sight of the bulging sack indicated that they believed in the old adage, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

captain cain held up his hand. instantly the boisterous cheering ceased.

"as your captain," he continued, "i naturally have your welfare at heart. here is the money. i would point out the disadvantages of keeping such an amount on board. some of you might: be tempted to risk the loss of their shares at cards. what you do in the fo'c'sle during your watch below is no affair of mine, but i should be sorry to learn that any man has had the ill-luck to lose his wealth—hard-earned or otherwise. therefore, i would suggest that, should any one wish to place his share in a place of absolute safety, i will be responsible for its keeping. in other words, i am sending the booty back to england in the fairy. all money entrusted to me will be judiciously invested, and a receipt given for the same. on the other hand, any one who wishes to hold his share can do so.... mr. barnard, call the roll!"

the bo's'un began his task. as each man's name was called, he stepped forward to a chalk-line drawn on the deck. here he stated what he wanted—either the actual coin or a receipt for the same. in the former case, marchant, the gunner, counted out the coins and handed them to the man. in the latter, pengelly wrote out a receipt.

about a dozen men took the cash. of the remainder, a few allotted their share, receiving pengelly's form of acknowledgment; the others compromised by drawing a few pounds on account and leaving the balance with the captain.

all this was done in full view of broadmayne and vyse. the captain knew they were looking on. perhaps he hoped that the sight of so much money might make the two men under detention alter their minds about signing-on.

the muster was about to be dismissed, when one of the men stepped forward.

"well?" inquired captain cain laconically.

"us of the fo'c'sle wants to know what's to be our attitude to'ards those blokes we picked up, sir," said the man. "seem' as 'ow they messes an' berths for'ard, 'ow are we to treat 'em? are they with us as part of the crew, sir?"

"what are you driving at, matthews?" asked the captain.

the man hesitated.

"'tes like this, sir," he continued, after a pause. "if they ain't hands, then why are they berthed along o' we? if they are, it ain't fair on the rest of us that they don't take part in the routine of the ship—slackin' about while we are a-workin' 'ard."

it was then that captain cain made a serious mistake. instead of "ticking the man off" for attempting to interfere with the captain's plans—a grave breach of discipline—he temporised with the delegate.

"the matter will receive my attention, matthews," he replied.

"very good, sir," rejoined the man.

he saluted, turned and went back to the others. his comrades saw what the pirate captain could not—a self-satisfied look upon the man's face at the thought that he had scored off the owner.

"pipe down!" ordered captain cain.

a minute or so later, he beckoned to his captives. the sub and his companion descended the poop ladder and approached the pirate skipper.

"i can't have idlers on board this craft," said captain cain abruptly. "from now you will form part of the starboard watch, and stand your tricks like the rest of the hands. understand that?"

"very good," replied the sub coldly. "in the circumstances, we have no option. we are willing, under compulsion, to do our part towards working the ship, but in no case will we bear a hand at any work of piracy."

"we'll see about that," retorted captain cain, with a sneering laugh. "now, go and report to mr. barnard, the bo'sun. tell him you're placed in the starboard watch."

without replying, the two chums turned and went to carry out the captain's orders. purposely they omitted the salute. they expected to be recalled and made to give it; but captain cain feigned to take no notice of the omission.

"i'll break their spirits yet!" he mused.

but broadmayne and vyse thought otherwise.