for their pursuers.
He knew the yacht had gone down the other side of the island, and he was
well aware of the fact that he ran some risk of being cut off, but he
had great confidence in the speed of his vessel, and held on his course,
hoping to beat the sloop in the race, and to pass through the narrows
before she came in sight. But in this he was disappointed. The Storm
King was directly in his path and coming toward him at a rate of speed
that made the skipper of the pirate craft extremely nervous.

"I say, Tommy," cried Sam, as soon as he had recovered from his
surprise, "there's them spooneys again."

"O, now, am I blind?" drawled the captain. "Don't I see them as plainly
as you do?"

"But how does it come that they are in front of us? That's what I want
to know. I thought they were a mile behind by this time. We can make up
our minds for a fight now, sartin."

"Why, they are boys," exclaimed one of the robbers. "We have nothing to
fear from them."

"Now, don't you fool yourself," replied the governor. "If they are boys,
there's lots of 'em, and they've got muskets, pikes, an' cutlasses, an'
they know how to use 'em, too. You'd better be gettin' them shootin'
irons of your'n ready."

For a few minutes there was a great commotion on the deck of the
Sweepstakes. The captain's orders were promptly obeyed, but the schooner
came about very slowly, while the Storm King continued to approach at
the top of her speed, and the governor could see that Harry was making
preparations to come to close quarters. While the little vessels were
rushing through the water, side by side, and so close together that an
active boy could almost jump from one to the other, the excitement on
board the Sweepstakes was intense, and it was increased when the yacht
began to fall off and swing toward the schooner. The Crusoe men had no
desire to face cold steel in the hands of twenty enraged students.

"All hands repel boarders," shouted the captain of the pirate craft,
flourishing his handspike about his head. "Crowd her, Xury. Jack
Spaniard, get an ax and stand by to cut us loose if they try to lash the
yacht fast to us."

But we know that Harry did not succeed in his attempt to lay his vessel
alongside the pirate. Her superior sailing qualities enabled her to
escape, and by the time the yacht was ready to fill away in pursuit, she
was almost out of sight in the darkness. There was no exultation on the
part of the officers of the Crus