“It ain’t fair,” whined Jack, in tearful tones. “It ain’t fair at all, Captain Gilsen. I think you ought to let us go.”
“I want to go home!” groaned Gif. “I want to go home!”
“We didn’t do anything to you,” said Spouter, mournfully.
“Some day you’ll catch it! You see if you don’t!” bewailed Ralph, and the seven boys retreated slowly to the forward deck of the Hildegarde, acting as if thoroughly cowed.
“I reckon they’ve learned their little lesson,” was Captain Gilsen’s comment. “I thought I could break ’em sooner or later. I’ll bet in another day they’ll be willing to eat out of my hand.”
“I’ve got another scheme,” said Ferguson, a few minutes later, when the boys were out of hearing. “Perhaps we can make a barrel of money out of this.”
“How so?”
“It looks to me as if those boys came from pretty wealthy families. They wear good clothes and they all had fine jewelry and plenty of spendin’ money. Don’t you think their folks would pay a good price to have the boys back home safe and sound?”
“You mean hold them for a ransom, Bill?”
“Why not? That has been done before, and folks have paid handsome, too.”