Whether it had been seen or not was difficult to say, for nothing in particular followed upon its exhibition, unless the discharge of another gun from the pursuing ship might be taken as a reply. And this time the shot went home to its mark; for as the observers turned their glasses upon the chase, her mainmast was seen to totter and fall by the board, cut short off by the deck. Luckily the spar did not go over the side, but lay, fore-and-aft, inboard; otherwise the rigging might have fouled the propeller and brought the ship to a standstill. As it was, she continued her flight as though nothing had happened. "This matter has gone quite far enough," exclaimed Mildmay, sharply, as he saw the liner's mast fall. "Come inside, all of you, if you please. We may be under fire in another minute or two. Perhaps the ladies had better go below until this affair is settled--if you will be so kind," he added, with a bow to Lady Olivia as she passed in through the pilot-house door, outside which he was standing. When all the rest had entered, he followed, closing the door behind him, and at once ascended to the working chamber of the pilot-house, whither Sir Reginald and Lethbridge had preceded him. His first act was to increase the speed of the _Flying Fish_ to thirty knots; and as he moved the lever forward, admitting a larger flow of vapour to the engine-cylinders, Lethbridge, who was standing at one of the windows, with his binoculars to his eyes, turned and said-- "What do you think of that, Mildmay?" "What do I think of what?" retorted Mildmay, stepping to his side. "That!" answered Lethbridge, pointing to the pursuing ship and handing over his glasses for the other to use. "The unknown has just hoisted to her masthead a black flag with a white skull and cross-bones in its centre. Is not that--?" "Nonsense!" exclaimed Mildmay. "You surely do not mean it. Let me have a look." He raised the glasses to his eyes for a moment and stared through them as though he felt that he could scarcely credit the evidence of his own senses. Then, as he thrust the glasses back into his friend's hand, he exclaimed-- "The `Jolly Roger,' as I am a living sinner! Well, that `takes the cake,' and no mistake! Yes; the fellow is undoubtedly a genuine, up-to-date, twentieth-century pirate. If it had not been for that last shot I might have been inclined to believe the whole affair an elaborate joke in the very worst taste; but a man does not shoot another fellow's mast away as a joke. No; that chap means business--and so do _I_! Ah, another shot! and--yes, here it comes--he is firing at us! Not at all badly aimed, either."