d ship by the troops of a civilized power when she
was seeking the lowest form of hospitality. No wonder if the
bull-necked skipper foamed at the mouth and used words forbidden by the
catechism; no wonder if he tried to express his helpless fury in one
last act of defiance.

He rummaged the lockers for a Union Jack and the four flags that showed
the ship's name in signal letters. The red ensign was already
fluttering from a staff at the stern, and the house flag of David
Verity & Co. was at the fore, but these emblems did not satisfy Coke's
fighting mettle. The _Andromeda_ would probably crack like an eggshell
the instant she touched the reef towards which she was hurrying; he
determined that she would go down with colors flying if he were not put
out of action by a bullet before he could reach the main halyard.

The swerve in the ship's course as she passed the island gave him an
opportunity. In justice to Coke it should be said that he recked
naught of this, but it would have been humanly impossible otherwise for
the soldiers to have missed him. And now, while the vessel lay with
straight keel in the set of the current, the national emblem of
Britain, with the _Andromeda's_ code flags beneath, fluttered up the
mainmast.

There are many imaginable conditions under which Coke's deed would be
regarded as sublime; there are none which could deny his splendid
audacity. The soldiers, who seemed to be actuated by the utmost
malevolence, redoubled their efforts to hit the squat Hercules who had
bellowed at them and their fellow artillerists from the bridge.
Bullets struck the deck, lodged in the masts, splintered the roof and
panels of the upper structure, but not one touched Coke. He coolly
made fast each flag in its turn, and hauled away till the Union Jack
had reached the truck; then, drawn forrard by a hoarse cheer that came
from the forecastle, he turned his back on the enemy and swung himself
down to the fore-deck.

He was still wearing the heavy garments demanded by the gale; his
recent exertions, joined to the fact that the normal temperature of a
sub-tropical island was making itself felt, had induced a violent
perspiration. As he lumbered along the deck he mopped his face
vigorously with a pocket handkerchief, and this homely action helped to
convince Iris that she was mistaken in thinking him mad. His words,
too, when he caught sight of her, were not those of a maniac.

"Well, missy," he cried, "wot'