As Zircon had predicted, one engine gave them enough speed to get clear, once the Moros had lost the advantage of a favorable wind. Scotty fired a few more shots at the vintas within range, then dropped to the deck. The fight was over. The four gathered in the pilothouse and the three boys stared at Zircon with mixed admiration and amusement. "It's nothing," the big physicist said modestly. "You see, in my lifetime I have been an avid reader. At one time, while at the university, I read of some round-the-world traveler using tacks in a signal gun. So I disclaim originality." "My 'Worrold Alm-in-ack' not saying about this," Chahda said, grinning. "Is pretty lucky you have good memory for other books, Professor!" Rick looked back at the vintas, rapidly falling astern. The pirates were well beyond gunshot now. "Victory at Sea," he proclaimed. "Thanks to the professor's college education!" CHAPTER XI The Dancing Pirates The _Swift Arrow_ rode at anchor in the gathering dusk, inside a snug bay formed by a U-shaped island of the Kinapusan Group. The island was very small, and uninhabited. It was surrounded by larger islands that formed a kind of screen. "Let's hope we can spend the night undisturbed," Zircon boomed as he finished the last of his coffee. "I could use a good night's sleep." "We all could," Rick agreed. He helped himself to more of the stew Scotty had concocted. "Funny about a fight. That one was over in a few minutes, but I feel as though I'd done a day's work at hard labor." "A perfectly normal reaction," Zircon replied. "Our minds and bodies are wonderful things. When we face danger our whole system goes into high gear, our endocrines pumping fluids that get our bodies ready for fast action, or for wounds. We operate at top physical efficiency. Then, when the danger is past and our minds signal that it's time to get back to normal, we show the effects of our overstimulation by a kind of lassitude." That was true, Rick knew from his own experience. It seemed that he was always scared stiff before a fight, cool as could be during it, and limp as boiled lettuce when it was over. Zircon changed the subject. "Scotty, when you first spotted the pirates, from what direction were they coming?" The boy thought it over. "From about due south," he said at last. "But when they spotted us the line shifted to the east, on an interception course. They came from south originally, though." "Not from southwest?" Zircon persisted. "No. If anything, it was a little east of south, not west." "Uhuh. That was my impression, but I wanted to be sure. Now, according to the chart, most of the scattered islands of the Tawi Tawi Group lie more westerly than south of here. If the pirates came from due south, it means they swung wide to miss the inhabited islands." Chahda asked, "What means this to you, sir?"