but when the Hawaiians
looked back a moment later, they saw Dan again in their wake.

The Battleship Boy's jaws were set. His fighting blood was up. He
would give no quarter now.

"I'll get those heathens at any cost," he growled.

He had forgotten all about the whaleboats that had been sent for the
men. Perhaps they had lost their quarry on the dark waters.

"I'm after you," shouted Dan. "This time I'm going to get you, you
miserable deserters! Things like you deserve to be drowned without the
formality of court-martial. Do you surrender?"

"No."

No sooner were the words out of the Hawaiian's mouth than Dan drove his
dinghy bow-on against the other boat. So sudden and unexpected had
been the movement that the islanders were taken wholly off their guard.
Black fell forward, nearly going into the sea, while White, who was at
the oars, lost his grip on them for the moment.

A crunching sound accompanied the collision. The bow of Dan's boat was
crushed in the thin planking of the other dinghy. The hurt was not
deep enough to sink the little craft, but it made an opening through
which the seas slopped persistently.

Dan sought to swing his boat alongside the other, when a sea
unexpectedly threw him off. A full minute of valuable time was thus
lost. Still Dan persisted. He was working at high speed now.

This time he drove his boat right up beside the other, so close that
the two boats smashed together with a force that threatened to break in
their gunwales.

Black, in the time that it took Dan to get closer, had recovered
himself and grasped an oar from his companion. Ere the Battleship Boy
could ship his oars the enemy had swung an oar. It caught Dan a
glancing blow on the forehead, the sharp edge of the oar cutting a deep
gash there. The blood was in the lad's eyes instantly. He brushed his
eyes clear with an exclamation of impatience.

The oar was raised for another blow. Davis did not stand still to wait
for it to land this time. With a bound he was in the other boat. He
had jumped from the seat of his own dinghy, measuring the distance well.

Black was taken by surprise. He had no time to dodge. Dan landed full
upon him, the two falling to the bottom of the boat with a crash and a
jolt that threatened to overturn the little craft.

For a few seconds the men struggled desperately, Black squirming and
twisting in his efforts to get his hands up.

"He's trying to get his knife," was