Chapter THIRTY-NINE

The momentary victory of the pirate was dearly bought. He was no longer maneuvring as easily as he had been doing. His craft had become very sluggish on the turns and was making them only with great difficulty, while the uneven whir of his propellers emphasized the trouble he was experiencing. The government forces quickly observed this and began to close in on it steadily, but somewhat cautiously.

Johnston, realizing the turn in favor of his enemies, began to climb, but his ship was no longer superior to the government craft in this respect, and they easily maintained their advantage by keeping well above him.

Throughout these tactics the antagonists kept up a desultory fire with their machine guns, but no material damage was effected on either side. The latest maneuvre had taken both forces to a considerable altitude, and the men ashore had some difficulty in following the progress of the battle against the brilliant sky.

For some time the fight continued in this manner without decisive action. Redmond was feeling easier because he realized now that the odds which were in favor of the pirate at the beginning of the battle had been neutralized by the heroic action of the pilot who sacrificed himself by deliberately running his ship across the pirate’s nose to fire upon him at close range.

Redmond looked seaward. The cruiser “New Orleans” had steamed in again and was moving around at high speed on an uneven course. He turned his gaze upward again, and as he did so an exclamation of surprise escaped his lips.

All of the aerial craft were lower, but one of the government ships was directly above and very close to the pirate, traveling at the same rate of speed while the others were concentrating a burst of fire upon the outlaw plane.

Suddenly a small black object fell from the particular government ship which was in such excellent position above the pirate. A blinding flash burst where the latter had been, followed by a thunderous crash which shook even those upon the ground by the intensity of its concussion.

A gasp of awe escaped them as they watched intently. Rapidly the flash merged into the sunlight, and out of it there fell a few blackened remnants of what had been the aerial scourge of the Pacific. Straight into the sea the wreckage plunged.

The pirate was conquered at last!

The suddenness of the ending left them spell-bound. As they watched they saw the ship which had struck the deathblow of the pirate spiralling down unevenly like a wounded bird, evidently in serious distress. The other machines were also descending.

“Good God!” was all that Lockwood could say, but his expression clearly indicated the relief he felt.

For several seconds they stood in amazed silence until all of the aircraft had descended upon the heaving surface of the ocean. By remarkable skill the pilot of the injured ship had succeeded in landing, pulling his craft out of its spin at the crucial moment, but it was indeed the roughest kind of a landing.

The other machines with their wings retracted taxied over to him as rapidly as they could go. They were none too soon, for by the time they reached him the damaged airplane, badly waterlogged, was being pounded by the heavy swell which surged over it. With great difficulty they succeeded in rescuing its crew just before the airplane disappeared below the waves.

While the rescue was being effected the cruiser steamed up to the scene, and the rest of the squadron went alongside her.

It was quite some time before Lieutenant Lockwood recovered from the amazement which had left him enthralled during the thrilling encounter in the skies. Moreover, he found it very difficult to realize that the pirate machine had been completely destroyed and its crew annihilated. After he had come back to realities he stood for a few minutes irresolute, then turning toward Redmond, he ejaculated:

“I wonder what we’d better do now?”

Before the latter could reply one of the landing party cried out:

“The cruiser’s signalling us, sir.”

All hands watched the semaphore arms above the bridge of the war-vessel as they moved up and down rapidly forming the words of the message.

Lockwood who had read it said:

“He’s instructing us to proceed across the island at once. The cruiser’s going to steam around. Let’s go.”