r that it was all Chris could do to hear it: "I repeat, be wary,
Christopher. He will do everything in his power--"

The voice faded away, and Chris with heavy gestures replaced the
shell, shut the lid of his sea chest, and unlocking the door, went
with dragging feet to tell Captain Blizzard of what awaited them.

[Illustration]

The wind was only moderately fair so that the _Mirabelle_ took some
time passing beyond the Yellow Sea. During those days Chris practised
his magic with more concentration than ever before. He rested and
slept, ate hugely, and exercised by climbing up the masts of the
_Mirabelle_, so that by the time a long dark line was sighted on
their starboard side on the Chinese coast and the approach to
Shanghai, Chris was fit and well as he had never been before.

Warned by Chris in time, Captain Blizzard, on hearing of the dangers
ahead, had determined to put into port at Shanghai, and there, with
much haggling and bargaining, bought four cannons and ammunition. He
also laid in a store of swords, daggers, and assorted weapons for all
on board.

[Illustration]

Believing that an ounce of prevention was better than a pound of cure,
the worthy captain drilled all hands on the _Mirabelle_ twice a day
thereafter. This, the weather being fair and the ship needing only the
helmsman and a lookout to care for her, the sailors were quite willing
to do. More especially when their captain, in whom they had unbounded
faith, told them he had good reason to believe they would have a
nasty, and perhaps disastrous, encounter with the pirate ship during
which they bid fair to be bested if they did not bestir themselves and
prepare for it.

The men entered into the training with gusto. They made dummies which
were hung on ropes and maneuvered by their friends, braced in the
rigging. The dummies were suddenly swung out and down in every
direction, in imitation of pirates boarding the ship, and were fallen
upon by the sailors of the _Mirabelle_ with roars of glee as if they
were at that very moment being tackled by the pirate crew. Then they
practised fast turning and tacking of the ship, and even in between
the regular hours set aside by the Captain for what he termed
"fighting time," several groups of men could always be seen on some
part of the deck practising dueling with sword and dagger. In short,
long before the _Mirabelle_ reached the East China Sea, its crew had
become proficient in all manner of hand-to-h