"Do you mean this, Captain Gregg?"
"I do, sir, emphatically."
"Then you shall live to repent ever having pronounced my doom. Henceforth I shall not consider my oath of allegiance obligatory, as I have hitherto done. I'll show you what harm I can do your vile organization."
"But you shall have no chance. Jim Hovel and his brother have already consented to sink you to the bottom of the Atlantic for a stated sum, and thus rid us of you effectually. They are waiting below for you, as it is a safe night for such work. If you have any prayers to make, you had better make the best use of your time."
"I'll suit myself about that, you villain!"
"Numbers two and three, take the prisoner down-stairs!" the captain ordered.
Two of the smugglers seized hold of poor Hartly, and led him from the room.
Up in the attic. Fritz was in a predicament. The majority of the smugglers yet remained in the room below, and he could not get out of the house in that way, as was his desire, to make an attempt if possible to rescue Hal Hartly.
The only course left for him was to escape through a trap-door onto the roof, and trust to luck in getting to the ground from there.
"Dot veller vas von big fool for not acceptin' my advice," he mused, as he fumbled cautiously around in the darkness. "Yoost like ash not dey vil pe gone off mit him, ven I git down dere, und den he vil pe a goner, sure ash der dickens."