Although the words of warning uttered by the pirate were deliberate and emphatic, there was not a sound while he was speaking them to denote that they were true. Nevertheless, he had spoken the truth; and he had gaged the moment of interruption so exactly that even as he ceased speaking the door which communicated with the outer cabin was burst open, and three men, followed by several others, leaped in upon them.

But short as was the warning, short as was the time of preparation on the part of the detective and his companions, they were none the less prepared.

The foremost of the men who entered the cabin thus unceremoniously was a giant in stature, and Nick saw at a glance that he could not be one of the members of the regular crew, since no mention had been made to him of a person of such gigantic proportions. And here it was that the detective gained a momentary advantage, by reason of the fact that he had arrayed himself in the costume of the pirate chieftain; and it was that moment of time which brought about the final result.

When the giant burst into the room he beheld two individuals who seemed to him to be his chief. One was seated upon a chair, to which he was tightly bound; the other was almost directly in front of him.

[107]

For one instant he halted, dismayed, not knowing what to do.

But Captain Sparkle cried out to him from his chair—a quick command in French, which was as serviceable to the giant as a full and complete explanation could have been. Nevertheless, that instant of hesitation worked his ruin, for, although it was only instantaneous, it still afforded the detective time to gather himself for the attack.

As the giant sprang toward him. Nick stooped and darted past his guard, under his extended arms, and he seized him around his massive body in a grip as powerful as the giant himself could have exerted. They were oddly matched, these two. The giant towered over the detective like a Goliath over a David. The scene had the appearance of a full-grown man fighting with a half-grown boy.

But the giant was, nevertheless, lifted bodily from his feet, and he hung there, struggling vainly to touch his toes or his heels to the deck, for, like certain animals we know about, his defensive powers were fruitless if he could not get his feet to the ground.

He bellowed like a bull at first, until the pressure of Nick’s powerful arms squeezed him into silence. He swung his arms about him like the blades of a windmill, and he kicked frantically with his feet in an effort to bring the detective down. His huge, animallike face turned red, then purple, then black. Blood oozed from his nostrils and mouth; and then, like the snapping of a[108] whip in the distance, his ribs cracked under the awful pressure which Nick put upon them.

Instantly his hold upon the detective relaxed; his flaying arms dropped to his sides, useless; he gasped, and then, as Nick released him, he fell in a heap to the floor of the cabin, uttering howl after howl of rage and anguish. Like all brutes of gigantic strength, once conquered, he could fight no more, and he remained where he had fallen, moaning, helpless, whipped—and whipped into a bleeding mass of flesh by the mere pressure of the great detective’s muscular arms.

Then Nick turned like a flash toward the others.

Five of the attacking party were down and out, laid where they were by the hammering fists of Maxwell Kane and Chick, for there had been no time or opportunity to make use of their revolvers, which happened to be inside their pockets when the onslaught occurred. Four more men were pressing the two fighters into one corner of the cabin, and were almost at the point of getting the upper hand of them, when Nick rushed to their assistance.

But the fighting powers of the pirates was short-lived after that happened.

Nick Carter’s fist caught one of them under the ear; another went down from a blow against the side of his jaw; a third was knocked squarely into Chic............