rn seized the first opportunity which came to him to ask the
question, "What's the matter with your yacht? You seem to have had a
smash-up forward."

"Yes," said Burke, "there's been a collision. Those beastly hounds tried
to run us down, but we caught her squarely on her bow."

At this moment the conversation was interrupted by a shout from Captain
Hagar, who had taken notice of nobody on the yacht, but stood looking
over the water at his old ship. "What's the matter," he cried, "with the
_Dunkery Beacon_? Has she sprung a leak? Are those the pirates still on
board?"

Captain Horn and the others quickly joined him. "Sprung a leak!" cried
Shirley. "She's got a hole in her bow as big as a barrel. I've been on
board of her, but I can't tell you about that now. There's no use to
think of doing anything. Those are bloody pirates that are lowering the
boats, and we can't go near them. Besides, you can see for yourself that
that steamer is settling down by the head as fast as she can."

Captain Horn was now almost as much excited as the unfortunate commander
of the _Dunkery Beacon_. "Where's that gold?" he cried. "Where is it
stowed?"

"It is in the forward hold, with a lot of cargo on top of it!" groaned
Captain Hagar.

Shirley now spoke again. "Don't think about the gold!" he said. "I kept
my eyes opened and my ears sharpened when I was on board, and although I
didn't understand all their lingo, I knew what they were at. When they
found there was no use pumping or trying to stop the leak, they tried to
get at that gold, but they couldn't do it. The water was coming in right
there, and the men would not rig up the tackle to move the cargo. They
were all wild when I left."

Captain Horn said no more, but stood with the others, gazing at the
_Dunkery Beacon_. But Captain Hagar beat his hands upon the rail and
declared over and over again that he would rather never have seen the
ship again than to see her sink there before his eyes, with all that
treasure on board. The yacht lay near enough to the _Dunkery Beacon_ for
Captain Hagar to see plainly what was going on on his old ship, without
the aid of a glass. With eyes glaring madly over the water, he stood
leaning upon the rail, his face pale, his whole form shaking as if he
had a chill. Every one on the deck of the yacht gathered around him,
but no one said anything. This was no time for asking questions, or
making explanations.

The men on the _Dunkery Beacon_ were