The Monster Men | Page 7

and astounding action.
"Klick! Klick!" he cried, running toward Virginia. "Go b'low, klick."
"Why should I go below, Sing?" queried the girl, amazed by the
demeanor of the cook.
"Klick! Klick!" he urged grasping her by the arm--half leading, half
dragging her toward the companion-way. "Plilates! Mlalay
plilates--Dyak plilates."
"Pirates!" gasped Virginia. "Oh Sing, what can we do?"
"You go b'low. Mebbyso Sing flighten 'em. Shoot cannon. Bling help.
Maxon come klick. Bling men. Chase'm 'way," explained the
Chinaman. "But plilates see 'em pletty white girl," he shrugged his
shoulders and shook his head dubiously, "then old Sing no can flighten
'em 'way."
The girl shuddered, and crouching close behind Sing hurried below. A
moment later she heard the boom of the old brass six pounder which

for many years had graced the Ithaca's stern. In the bow Professor
Maxon had mounted a modern machine gun, but this was quite beyond
Sing's simple gunnery. The Chinaman had not taken the time to sight
the ancient weapon carefully, but a gleeful smile lit his wrinkled,
yellow face as he saw the splash of the ball where it struck the water
almost at the side of the prahu.
Sing realized that the boat might contain friendly natives, but he had
cruised these waters too many years to take chances. Better kill a
hundred friends, he thought, than be captured by a single pirate.
At the shot the prahu slowed up, and a volley of musketry from her
crew satisfied Sing that he had made no mistake in classifying her. Her
fire fell short as did the ball from the small cannon mounted in her
bow.
Virginia was watching the prahu from one of the cabin ports. She saw
the momentary hesitation and confusion which followed Sing's first
shot, and then to her dismay she saw the rowers bend to their oars again
and the prahu move swiftly in the direction of the Ithaca.
It was apparent that the pirates had perceived the almost defenseless
condition of the schooner. In a few minutes they would be swarming
the deck, for poor old Sing would be entirely helpless to repel them. If
Dr. von Horn were only there, thought the distracted girl. With the
machine gun alone he might keep them off.
At the thought of the machine gun a sudden resolve gripped her. Why
not man it herself? Von Horn had explained its mechanism to her in
detail, and on one occasion had allowed her to operate it on the voyage
from Singapore. With the thought came action. Running to the
magazine she snatched up a feed-belt, and in another moment was on
deck beside the astonished Sing.
The pirates were skimming rapidly across the smooth waters of the
harbor, answering Sing's harmless shots with yells of derision and wild,
savage war cries. There were, perhaps, fifty Dyaks and Malays--fierce,
barbaric men; mostly naked to the waist, or with war- coats of brilliant

colors. The savage headdress of the Dyaks, the long, narrow, decorated
shields, the flashing blades of parang and kris sent a shudder through
the girl, so close they seemed beneath the schooner's side.
"What do? What do?" cried Sing in consternation. "Go b'low. Klick!"
But before he had finished his exhortation Virginia was racing toward
the bow where the machine gun was mounted. Tearing the cover from
it she swung the muzzle toward the pirate prahu, which by now was
nearly within range above the vessel's side-- a moment more and she
would be too close to use the weapon upon the pirates.
Virginia was quick to perceive the necessity for haste, while the pirates
at the same instant realized the menace of the new danger which
confronted them. A score of muskets belched forth their missiles at the
fearless girl behind the scant shield of the machine gun. Leaden pellets
rained heavily upon her protection, or whizzed threateningly about her
head-- and then she got the gun into action.
At the rate of fifty a minute, a stream of projectiles tore into the bow of
the prahu when suddenly a richly garbed Malay in the stern rose to his
feet waving a white cloth upon the point of his kris. It was the Rajah
Muda Saffir--he had seen the girl's face and at the sight of it the blood
lust in his breast had been supplanted by another.
At sight of the emblem of peace Virginia ceased firing. She saw the tall
Malay issue a few commands, the oarsmen bent to their work, the
prahu came about, making off toward the harbor's entrance. At the
same moment there was a shot from the shore followed by loud yelling,
and the girl turned to see her father and von Horn pulling rapidly
toward the Ithaca.

2
THE HEAVY CHEST
Virginia and