th wild cries, the
trampling of heavy feet, the thud of contact of wood meeting wood and
flesh meeting flesh. From the center of the struggling mass of men and
boats came a sudden flare of light which dispelled the dark shadows cast
athwart the vessels and brought into bold relief the struggling figures
of the men who battled on the decks.

"Fire!"

The cry was taken up by every throat and echoed down the line. It came
to Kenneth Gregory on the extreme end of the left wing where he had
been directing the defense of his weakened quarter, by a
counter-flanking movement. A boat afire! And right in the center of his
fleet! When the tank exploded hundreds of gallons of burning distillate
would flood the waters. But he dared not think that far. Whirling the
_Richard_ about, and circling behind his line of boats he dashed away to
face the new peril.

The crew of the _Florence_ abandoned the attack at the first cry and
surged to the hold to fight the conflagration. A gasoline stove,
carelessly left burning by one of that vessel's drunken crew, had been
overturned by the shock of collision, and had fired the bilge. Fanned by
the rising winds, the flames were licking at the oil-soaked timbers and
spreading rapidly toward the tanks in the bow.

The alien crew of the _Florence_ fled in a panic of fear. Leaping to the
rail they flung themselves to the deck of a neighboring craft which was
already backing away from the ill-fated vessel. From all sides, friend
and foe alike drew away from the blazing fishing craft. For the time
being the sound of conflict gave place to the rasp of reverse levers,
hoarse cries of warning and the labored chug of heavy-duty motors going
full astern. In the ever-widening cleared space about the ill-fated
derelict the lurid waters were churned into a roseate foam by the
frenzied lashing of the heavy propellers of the fishing craft as their
masters sought to clear the dangerous area.

As the _Richard_ sped on in the direction of the ever-brightening
glare, Gregory's mind kept pace with the rapid pulsing of the high-speed
motor. He must tow the blazing vessel clear of the fleet before the
tanks exploded.

Dodging among the retreating fishermen he grazed the _Curlew's_ hull and
plunged into the open space. Warning cries sounded above the roar of the
flames but he did not hear them. His plan, formed on the instant, must
be put into execution at once. If it failed, the speed of the _Richard_
would carry