"Oh, I"m not pretending that I care for your rascally lives," Moore went on, vindictively. "I"d kill you all this moment if it lay in my power to do so. I"m thinking of my own safety."
"Well?" repeated Ned. "What is it?"
"The boat you are chasing has dynamite on board, and a tube gun. If you go nearer, she"ll blow you out of the water."
"That"s cheerful," Jimmie grinned. "Why didn"t she do it before?"
"Probably because she thought to get away. I"ve been watching her through the little port and I know that she is now waiting for you to come up and receive a dynamite ball."
"It strikes me," Ned replied, "that she is halting because her running gear is out of whack. She rammed us not long ago and got the worst of it."
Captain Moore thrust his head close to the little opening between the casing and the door and almost screamed:
"Do you mean that she is crippled so that she can"t get away from you?"
"I said that I thought she had injured herself in trying to destroy the Sea Lion," was the reply.
"Well, even if she can"t get away," the Captain went on, with a change of expression, "she can blow you out of the water."
"We"ll have to take our chances on that," Ned replied.
After some further talk, the boy entered the room where the prisoners were and closed the door, leaving Hans on guard outside. Captain Moore frowned as he seated himself by the port.
"It is bad enough to be confined here without being obliged to endure your company," he said.
"What a snake you would have made!" commented Ned. "I never saw a fellow loaded to the guards with venom as you are. Will you answer a few questions?"
"Depends on what they are," was the reply.
"If they will aid you, you will answer them, eh?"
"Of course."
"And if they will a.s.sist me, you won"t?"
The Captain nodded.
"All right," laughed Ned. "Suppose the correct answers would help us both? What then?"
"Oh, what"s the use of all this nagging?" demanded the son. "If you have anything to say, say it, and get out."
"And you"re a pretty good imitation of this other snake," Ned said, glancing at the young fellow. "If you interfere in the talk again I"ll put you in the dungeon and forget to feed you."
Captain Moore motioned to his son to remain quiet.
"This cheap Bowery boy has the upper hand now," he said. "Wait until conditions are reversed."
"Captain," began Ned, paying no attention to the venom of the other, "will you tell me what the packet that was rescued from the wreck by the pirates under your command contained?"
"What packet?" demanded the Captain, surprise showing on his drawn features. "What packet do you refer to?"
"The mysterious packet you came to this part of the world to obtain.
You know very well what I mean."
"We came, under contract, for the gold," was the reply.
"Yet your boat went away and left most of it on the bottom after the packet was discovered."
"She came to this harbor after supplies."
"And neglected to secure them!"
"Well, there was trouble with the trader."
"You met a Shark man, on the island?"
"Of course. I came here to meet him, to receive a report as to the success of the expedition."
"You received such a report?"
"Yes."
"You were told that the gold had been found intact?"
"That is not for discussion here."
"You were astonished when your son did not make his appearance?"
"Frankly, yes."
"You expected that he would bring you the report?"
"Yes; he was in charge of the Shark."
"If he had been in charge when the man landed, he would have given you the packet?"
"If he had had a packet, or anything else taken from the wreck, he would have turned it over to me."
"But the man you met refused to do so?"
"How do you know what took place?"
"That is immaterial, so long as I do know. Tell, me, what was the difficulty at the store--money?"
The Captain did not answer.
"Now," Ned went on, "you stated a moment ago that you came here under contract to get the gold. Who are your princ.i.p.als?"