"Then why don't you handcuff them again, the rats!"
"We are no rats, and I'll trouble you to be civil," returned Dick firmly.
"Ha! I'll show you!" howled Arnold Baxter, and would have rushed at
Dick had not the captain interposed.
"Hold on, sir," were the words of the ship's owner. "We have called a truce. They have promised to behave themselves if we treat them squarely, and so there are to be no more back-bitings."
"But—er—" Arnold Baxter was so astonished he could scarcely speak.
"You are not going to put them in the hold?"
"Not for the present."
"They will run away."
"How can they, when we are out of sight of land?"
"They ought to be chained down."
"Supposing you let me be the judge of that, Mr. Baxter. I promised to do certain things for you. If I do them, you'll have no cause to complain."