ied. "It's a pity you don't think far enough ahead."

"How's that?"

"I suppose you'd have your pirate vessel chosen for speed?"

"Of course," the boy answered. "She'd have to be fast in order to make a
getaway."

"Here's where you're forgetting your ship-building," his friend warned
him. "Could she have speed if she were armed with heavy guns? Wouldn't
she necessarily have to be partly the build of a man-o'-war, say a
cruiser?"

"Perhaps she would," said the boy thoughtfully.

"And if she had the build of a cruiser, would she have the speed of an
Atlantic greyhound?"

"That's true," admitted Eric, "she wouldn't. Still that wouldn't matter,
if the only craft that could chase her was a craft without guns."

"Wouldn't it?" his friend queried. "Do you know how they chase wolves in
some parts of Western Canada?"

"No."

"They use a couple of greyhounds and two or three heavy dogs, like
bulldogs or Airedales or wolfhounds. The wolf can easily outrun the
heavy dogs, but when it comes to real speed he isn't in it with a
greyhound. The greyhounds overtake Mr. Wolf in less than no time, nip at
him, worry him, anger him until he turns on them. They won't even try to
fight and he hasn't a chance of catching them. Meantime, the heavy dogs,
following up the scent, come pounding along the trail. The wolf sees
them and lopes off again, the greyhounds after him. They badger and
worry him again, and again he turns. By the time this has happened three
or four times, the heavy dogs have caught up to their quarry, and the
fight is on. Two or three minutes and it's all over, and there's one
wolf the less to harry the flocks of sheep."

"Well?"

"That's just about what would happen to this pirate of yours. Suppose he
did stop an Atlantic steamer, suppose he did board her successfully,
suppose he got his coal bunkers full, suppose he carried a heap of
treasure to his own vessel flying the Jolly Roger and got away with it.
He'd have the other ships around, wouldn't he?"

"I suppose he would," Eric admitted.

"You can bet your last dollar he would. And their wireless would be
working overtime, wouldn't it?"

"Of course."

"Piracy is a matter that every maritime nation is interested in. The
newspapers of the world would have the story by wireless the next
morning, the governments of the world would know almost as quickly. By
noon the next day half a dozen warships would be steaming from different
directions in search of the