"Hadn't you better call up the men, captain?" asked the mild voice. "It'll do 'em good, I'll warrant you."
"No," the captain replied, hotly. "This is a personal affair. Strip him and seize him up."
I heard nothing more for a few minutes, but I could see them moving about, and presently I distinguished Bill's bare back and arms as they spread-eagled him to the rigging.
Then the rope whistled in the air and Bill moaned.
Unable to endure the sight, I was turning away, when some one coming from the cabin broke in upon the scene.
"Well," said Roger Hamlin, "what's all this about?"
Roger's calm voice and composed manner were so characteristic of him that for the moment I could almost imagine myself at home in Salem and merely passing him on the street.
"I'll have you know, sir," said Captain Falk, "that I'm master here."
"Evidently, sir."
"Then what do you mean, sir, by challenging me like that?"