Page:Last Cruise of the Spitfire.djvu/141

Rh call in a louder tone, and presently the boatswain came hurrying down the stairs.

"What's up, Captain?"

"I've found him," replied Captain Hannock grimly. "Prying through my private papers!"

"What?"

"Jest so! Come, get some rope. We'll teach him a lesson he won't forget."

Lowell left the cabin at once. I wondered what the skipper of the Spitfire intended to do next. Was he going to flog me?

I was not prepared for what was to follow. In a moment Lowell returned with a quantity of stout rope.

"Now bind him well from head to foot," said the captain.

"No, you don't!" I cried.

"Yes, we do, my hearty," returned Lowell, and Captain Hannock shook the belaying pin in my face.

"Stand still, unless you want your head split open," he commanded. "I'll have you to understand your days of fooling are over. You've discovered our secret, but it sha'n't do you any good."

The boatswain sprang upon me, and the skipper of the Spitfire assisted him. I struggled, but soon found it of little use. The two were too many for me, and in a moment I was securely bound.