d away from the
island, as the current caught her, and, as I looked out I saw Thirkle and
Buckrow in the forward boat, lowering away.

"There they go!" I yelled, and we dashed below, hoping that we would have
a shot at them as they got clear of the vessel, but, as the ship was
swinging outward, and our ports were so far forward, we were kept
swinging away from them, and all we had was a bare glimpse of the two
boats pulling away from the ship, one of them being towed.

The island was close at hand, a half-mile or more, although it seemed
almost within reach, but we lost sight of that in a minute as the head of
the _Kut Sang_ stood toward the open sea, and her stern began to settle.

"They had to get out of her when Pedro cut her engines out and
lowered her boilers. It rushed their game, because he wanted to hide
her in behind the island, but it won't make much difference now, Mr.
Trenholm--hear that? She's filling rapidly."

We were drifting broadside in the current now, sweeping down the coast
and sinking at the same time.

I ran up the companion and began to struggle with the scuttle-board
again, hoping that the Chinaman who was seeking shelter from the pirates'
bullets had made it possible for us to escape. The board was looser, and
I slipped it to one side nearly an inch, and then it jammed again.

"Trenholm! Trenholm!" yelled Riggs frantically from below.

"What is it?" I called, hating to lose a second in my efforts to get the
board free.

He did not answer, and I called to him again. Before the words were out
of my mouth I was sprawling on all fours on the deck below.

CHAPTER XIII

WE PLAN AN EXPEDITION

I had been thrown down the companion by an appalling crash and a sudden
lurch of the steamer as she careened to port. It seemed to me that the
bottom plates were being ripped out of her and she was settling on her
side with a succession of thumps which I took to be her last effort to
keep afloat. The sea was almost to the open ports on the port side; and,
as I tried to gain my feet on the tilted deck of the forecastle, I fell
against the outboards of the line of bunks.

"She's aground!" screamed Captain Riggs at me. "She's gone smash flat
into a bed of coral! See that green streak running away from us to
seaward? That's a reef running out from the mainland and we've piled up
on it, and if we don't slip off we're safe until it comes on to blow."

He ran to the starboard side and climbed the