don't know how far it is to the
village which is the headquarters of the pirates. As far as I could
make out, from the Malays with whom we have been living, it is
about six hours' walking; but the boats will row twice as fast as a
man would walk through the forest. In that case you may be attacked
at two or three o'clock in the morning, and you won't get the
breeze till after sunrise."

"Are there any other channels through the reef?" the captain asked.

"I do not know," Will replied. "We have never explored it very far,
either way; but as I should think, from the action of the Malays,
that they did not know of this, they might not know of any other,
did it exist."

"Then," the captain said, "I will warp the brig out through the
channel again; and anchor her, stem and stern, across it outside.
They will find it as hard to attack us, there, as they did before.
Then, when the breeze comes, we will slip our cable and run for it.
She is a fast sailer; and can, I think, get away from the pirates,
even with their sails and oars. Besides, by shifting the long gun
and two of the others to her stern, we can give it them so hot
that, even if they are the fastest, we may sicken them."

"I do not know, sir," Will said. "They would be likely to hang
about you, until the breeze drops; and then to attack you on all
sides at once. If we could but keep them from coming through the
channel, in pursuit, we should be safe."

"Ah! But how on earth are we to do that?" the captain asked.

William Gale was silent for a minute or two.

"Have you plenty of powder on board the ship, sir?"

"Plenty--we use it for barter."

"It seems to me--" Will went on, "--that if, before sailing, you
could sink a couple of barrels of powder in the channel, with a
fuse to explode them, a few minutes after we had left; the Malays
would be so astonished, at the explosion, that they would not
venture to pass through."

"Your idea is a capital one," the captain said, warmly; "but how
about a fuse which would burn under water?

"What do you think, Tom? Could it be managed?"

"I should think so, sir," the mate answered. "Suppose we take one
of those empty 30-gallon beer casks, and fill that up with
powder--it will hold ten or twelve of the little barrels--and then
we might bung it up, and make a hole in its head. Over the hole we
might fix a wine bottle, with the bottom knocked out; and so
fastened, with tow and oakum, that the water won't get in. The