“Captain Carter must know someone is aboard, if our boatman waited,” Jack reasoned. “He’ll find us here quickly enough.”
“He’ll make hash of us!”
“Relax!” Jack advised. “Captain Carter seems to be alone. There are four of us.”
“Anyway, he’s the one to do the explaining—not us,” Ken pointed out. “Our gear is aboard the Shark, or it’s supposed to be. We’ve got a right to be here.”
“He may be armed,” Jack warned. “We’ll have to be on the alert. Now let’s go on deck before he comes down here.”
Quickly, they all went up the companionway. As they emerged into the cool evening air, Captain Carter loomed in front of them.
“Well, blister my timbers!” he exclaimed wrathfully. “It didn’t take you long to get out here after you thought I was away! What were you doing in the hole?”
“Looking for our cargo,” Ken told him coldly.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay off this vessel?”
“You did,” Ken replied, “but I think we have a right to be here. Especially as you spent the day at a tavern instead of getting our stuff ashore.”