Dickie to a place of safety. It was a fighting chance. That
was all.

Swinging the _Richard_ about, he drove straight for the _Florence_.

"Take the wheel, and stand by," he cried to the girl. "If the tank goes,
run."

He leaped from his seat as the _Richard_ breasted the blazing hull and
Dickie found herself gripping the big steering wheel before she could
utter a protest. Gregory was already in the stern of the _Richard_.
Grasping the stern-anchor chain of the speed-launch, he caught the
wire-stays of the _Florence_ and pulled himself aboard, dragging the
chain after him. For an instant he clung to the rail, shielding his face
with his arms. Then he scrambled on deck.

Holding the _Richard's_ stern close to the _Florence's_ bow, Dickie Lang
saw Gregory running across the deck. Saw his reeling figure silhouetted
against the white glare of the blazing cabin-house. Heard the rattle of
the heavy anchor chain of the alien fishing-boat. Keeping the _Richard_
in place with an effort against the wind and chop, she waited. He
expected her to stand by.

His hair singed by the heat, with blistering face and burning lungs,
Gregory dropped by the snubbing-post in the bow and tugged at the heavy
chain and knotted it about the block. Then he made the free end fast to
the chain of the _Richard_. Running to the rail he threw his body over
and hung by his hands, searching the air with his feet. Then he felt the
deck of the _Richard_ beneath him.

Dickie Lang had stood by.

The next instant he was again at the wheel and the _Richard_ lunged
forward.

"Steady," cautioned the girl. "Don't take the slack so fast. Hard a
port. Now kick your stern over. That's the stuff. Pay out. Now you've
got her."

For an instant the _Richard_ quivered with anger to find herself in
leash by the fiery incubus at her stern. Then she settled doggedly to
work and the two vessels began to gather way. To the right and left the
fishing-boats scattered before them. The tanks of the blazing tow might
explode at any minute. It was best to be in the clear. In the common
fear of the new danger the contending factions drew apart, friend and
foe uniting in the universal effort to gain a place of safety. The wind
caught the blaze and fanned it upward in a solid sheet of flame which
blistered the varnish of the _Richard's_ stern-deck.

"Get down," Gregory shouted above the roar of the speed-boat's exhaust.

Dickie started to protest when she felt herself j