minutes they would be swarming the deck, for poor old
Sing would be entirely helpless to repel them. If Dr.
von Horn were only there, thought the distracted girl.
With the machine gun alone he might keep them off.

At the thought of the machine gun a sudden resolve
gripped her. Why not man it herself? Von Horn had
explained its mechanism to her in detail, and on one
occasion had allowed her to operate it on the voyage
from Singapore. With the thought came action. Running
to the magazine she snatched up a feed-belt, and in
another moment was on deck beside the astonished Sing.

The pirates were skimming rapidly across the smooth
waters of the harbor, answering Sing's harmless shots
with yells of derision and wild, savage war cries.
There were, perhaps, fifty Dyaks and Malays--fierce,
barbaric men; mostly naked to the waist, or with war-
coats of brilliant colors. The savage headdress of the
Dyaks, the long, narrow, decorated shields, the
flashing blades of parang and kris sent a shudder
through the girl, so close they seemed beneath the
schooner's side.

"What do? What do?" cried Sing in consternation.
"Go b'low. Klick!" But before he had finished his
exhortation Virginia was racing toward the bow where
the machine gun was mounted. Tearing the cover from it
she swung the muzzle toward the pirate prahu, which by
now was nearly within range above the vessel's side--