Gordon Young

“ As the saying goes, one could count the scales on the belly of a shark.
The schooner was met by a swarm of natives. Ordinarily Captain McSpadden would not have dropped anchor in a strange bay where the savages were not to be trusted, but now he let go the anchor; for there was no wind to go about with, and if the schooner were left to drift she might go on the rocks and have to hang through low-tide even after the evening breeze came up.
The savages, in many little canoes and one big one, would not at first paddle closer than fifty yards. ”

“ From the poop Captain McSpadden and the others saw the hand-to-hand fighting of Old Billy and Dick, but between poop and deck-house the deck was alive with cannibals. The native sailors, from deck house, yards and poop, were comparatively safe and shot fast, so that the scuppers ran blood.
Wounded savages fling themselves overboard and those unwounded fight fiercely only when it is easy to win. If victory be in doubt, they run. ”

“ Her father would forgive a brave man anything—even having stolen the heart of his daughter. Moreover, the forward deck-house would be safe for her with Old Billy on guard there, and although her father might see her he could not order her below—not after the cannibals had boarded.
The big war-canoe continued to circle the schooner. The savages seemed to be considering whether or not to come closer. The chief of the chiefs, or king—in the villages there are often many chiefs and the greatest of these is king—sat in the stern. ”

“ That she was not instantly cut down was due to the fact that she had backed herself against the deck-house and coolly shot down the first savage that came at her. Another thing that saved her and perhaps the others was that savages, when they succeed in boarding a ship, are much more intent on plundering in it than in getting rid of the crew. Those who broke into the trade-room and deck houses were safely out of the fire zone and searched busily for loot.
Dick had been standing at the edge of the deck-house when Nina’s rifle went off just below him. ”

“ Besides, she was seventeen and had followed her father over the seas for ten years; she could shoot straight and she—well, she had no intention of doing what he told her, but she knew better than to argue with him. ”