Frank.

"Well we just do mean it and I for one am awful glad!"

"So are all of us glad!" declared Tom. "I was worried for a while. It
looked as if you were going to stay out, Jack!"

The boys were capering about in glee over Jack's recovery though his
smile was still a trifle wan and drawn. Slowly, however, his strength
returned. He accepted and drank with eagerness the cup of steaming
coffee proffered by Arnold as a restorative.

"Thank you, Scout!" smiled Jack. You're a master hand at the cooking!
What hit me? I felt quite a blow."

"You were shot," declared Harry. "The pirate schooner shot at us, you
remember, and then they had to shoot you, but we can't find any hole
where the bullet went in. You're only bruised."

"Ha!" exclaimed Jack. "I see it now! The bullet hit the automatic I had
put in my breast pocket. I never carried it there before and don't know
why I should have put it there this time."

"Well, it's a lucky thing you varied from your habit!"

"Let's see if the bullet is in the pocket yet," Harry said.

A search of the jacket revealed a hole, in the outer cloth where the
bullet had entered. Inside the pocket were the automatic and several
slivers of lead, fragments of the shattered missile.

"Jack," Harry said with a shiver, as he grasped his chum's hand, "that
was a mighty close shave. I'm glad it terminated so well."

The silent grasp that Jack returned spoke louder than words of the bond
of friendship that existed between the boys.

"Come, come," bustled Harry, "Jack will be getting hungry. Whose watch
is it in the kitchenette? I was on last, I know!"

"Yes, you were!" declared Arnold in mock anger. "You are always just off
duty when there's work to do! We know you!"

It was decided that Harry must prepare supper, for the boys were all
famished after their hard day's work.

"You'll have to check down a little if I cook!" asserted Harry. "This
isn't a battleship, and the pirates are far astern."

"Good idea," Jack assented. "Check her down, Tom, and save fuel. After
that Madero's wasting of our gasoline, we'll need all we have. He didn't
seem to care for expense a little bit!"

The suggestion was followed, and shortly the Fortuna was traveling at a
more moderate gait, taking the seas easily without shipping water on her
forward deck. Frank was enthusiastic over the arrangements, declaring
that each feature was exactly as he would have wished for it himself.
The searchlight and cabin