Starkey, mind the boat.

Take him dead or alive!" He leaped as he spoke, and simultaneously came the gay voice of Peter.
"Are you ready, boys ?" "Ay, ay," from various parts of the lagoon.
"Then lam into the pirates." The fight was short and sharp.

First to draw blood was John, who gallantly climbed into the boat and held Starkey.

There was fierce struggle, in which the cutlass was torn from the pirate's grasp.

He wriggled overboard and John leapt after him.