a succession of short, sharp whistles from the steamer pierced
the darkness. The first lieutenant of the _Miami_ was on the deck in a
few moments. Meantime, the officer of the watch had ordered the
searchlight thrown on the steamer.

The light revealed the deck a struggling mass of men. In the darkness
all the wreckers had gathered to board their victim, and at a given
signal not less than a hundred and fifty men had swarmed on to the
vessel's decks.

The crew was pinned back into two groups, fighting like wild-cats. Most
of them, powerfully built Scandinavians, were sweeping aside the natives
before them, but the odds were overpowering. The negroes shouted and
yelled as they tried to beat the sailors down. Already the main hatch
had been forced open and a stream of men was pouring down, for the
wreckers knew of valuables which formed a part of the cargo.

A few sharp orders, and the cutter's boats were off to the wreck, the
crews armed, their rifles loaded with ball. At the same time, one of the
six-pounders was let loose and sent a few shots whistling over the
steamer, illumined only by the patch of intense white light thrown by
the searchlight of the _Miami_.

The boats were half-way across to the steamer, where there was a sudden
cessation of the fighting, and over the side of the vessel the wreckers
came swarming like rats leaving a sinking ship. But the _Miami's_ men
had been too quick for all to escape and more than a dozen of the
natives were pinned on board.

As soon as the wreckers had heard the _Miami's_ guns and fled, the tide
of battle turned, and on the dozen which remained, the crew of the
steamer had taken a swift vengeance. None of them was seriously hurt,
but they had been beaten up in a way that they would remember to the end
of their days. Captain Jorgsen, who had been in the thick of the fight,
was to the front when the cutter boats landed.

"I wish you'd put a hole in every one of those thieving boats," he
growled.

"They deserve it, all right," the Coast Guard officer answered, "but I
doubt if the Department would approve."

"If I had a gun like yours," said Captain Jorgsen, grimly, "I'd fire at
'em an' keep firing until I didn't have a shot left in the locker."

"I'm afraid we can't very well send you over one of our six-pounders,"
said the other, "but it seems to me you have a right to protect yourself
from being boarded in this way. I'll send over some small-arms and
ammunition in th