Pirates aboard!

Cadet Bill Rowston, serving aboard the old tramp Mordred, was roused from his bunk one night by an emergency call - fire! Close by a strange vessel blazed, and Bill was faced with his first command, as officer in charge of one of the boats sent out to her aid. But the dangers of the rescue operation, which were great, were nothing compared with the desperate situation in which the officers and crew of the Mordred found themselves once the survivors were aboard.