"Ah, poor thing, these are not her brothers and sisters," returned the
captain in a gentler tone.

"Kathy is only an adopted child, and an orphan. Her name, Kathleen, is
not a Dutch one. She came to these islands in a somewhat curious way.
Sit down here and I'll tell 'ee the little I know about her."

Father and son sat down on a mass of coral rock that had been washed up
on the beach during some heavy gale, and for a few minutes gazed in
silence on the beautiful lagoon, in which not only the islets, but the
brilliant moon and even the starry hosts were mirrored faithfully.

"About thirteen years ago," said the captain, "two pirate junks in the
Sunda Straits attacked a British barque, and, after a fight, captured
her. Some o' the crew were killed in action, some were taken on board
the junks to be held to ransom I s'pose, and some, jumping into the sea
to escape if possible by swimming, were probably drowned, for they were
a considerable distance from land. It was one o' these fellows, however,
who took to the water that managed to land on the Java shore, more dead
than alive. He gave information about the affair, and was the cause of a
gun-boat, that was in these waters at the time, bein' sent off in chase
o' the pirate junks.

"This man who swam ashore was a Lascar. He said that the chief o' the
pirates, who seemed to own both junks, was a big ferocious Malay with
only one eye--he might have added with no heart at all, if what he said
o' the scoundrel was true, for he behaved with horrible cruelty to the
crew o' the barque. After takin' all he wanted out of his prize he
scuttled her, and then divided the people that were saved alive between
the two junks. There were several passengers in the vessel; among them a