Close to
them was the little dinghy, dipping and lifting over the shining swell.
"They are dead men!" cried the captain. "A shout all together, boys,
to warn them of their danger." But it was too late. At that very
moment the dinghy shot into the shadow of the fishing-boat. There were
two rapid pistol-shots, a scream, and then another pistol-shot, followed
by silence. The clustering fishermen had disappeared. And then,
suddenly, as the first puffs of a land-breeze came out from the Sussex
shore, the boom swung out, the mainsail filled, and the little craft
crept out with her nose to the Atlantic.
II
THE DEALINGS OF CAPTAIN SHARKEY WITH STEPHEN CRADDOCK
Careening was a very necessary operation for the old pirate. On his
superior speed he depended both for overhauling the trader and escaping
the man-of-war. But it was impossible to retain his sailing qualities
unless he periodically--once a year, at the least--cleared his vessel's
bottom from the long, trailing plants and crusting barnacles which
gather so rapidly in the tropical seas. For this purpose he lightened
his vessel, thrust her into some narrow inlet where she would be left
high and dry at low water, fastened blocks and tackles to her masts to
pull her over on to her bilge, and then scraped her thoroughly from
rudder-post to cut-water.
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