The skipper of the submersible laughed good-naturedly.
“Oh! my company will be only too glad to settle your bill, Mr. Anstey,” he said. “I remember you now, and also that once on a time we were both working for the Hecla people. I was sorry to have to smash into you like that, but it was unavoidable. When two old filibusters like Badger and me get to swapping blows, it’s going to be a case of ‘dog eat dog.’ You had it in for me, and I played you a trick worth two of yours, that’s all.”
“But it’s a nice situation of affairs,” blustered the other, as though trying to make the most of a bad situation, “when a peaceable man can’t travel on the high seas, and minding his own business at that, without having a reckless pirate run him down, and nearly drown his crew.”
“Oh! tell that to the marines, Mr. Anstey,” laughed the skipper. “You were minding some other people’s business all the time you hid there on that Key, and watched what we were doing. And you meant to carry the news to Badger, sure you did, only my young friends here happened to go ashore, and saw you starting off. So since it would ruin some little plans of ours if you ever got back to Badger, I made up my mind you’d stay with me as my guests until we’d sucked the orange dry.”
“Then you have found something, have you?” asked the other quickly.
“Take it out in guessing,” he was drily advised by Captain Shooks, who saw no reason for telling all he knew.
“And you’re going to keep us aboard your old tub, are you?” continued the other, as he glanced at the homely looking undersea boat, which, when compared with the jaunty steam yacht on which he served, might be compared to a canal-boat.
“Tub or not,” said the skipper grimly, “it’s built for the sort of work we’re doing right now. And what’s best of all, when we don’t want any spies to take a look in on us we just give a kick, and go down fifty or a hundred feet below, to stay there as snug as you please for hours and hours.”
“Well, you’ve got us, all right, and I suppose we’ll have to make the best of a bad bargain, Captain Shooks. But I give you fair warning that I mean to escape the first chance I get.”
“Thank you for telling me,” laughed the other; “I’ll make sure that your chance doesn’t arrive until we’re all through here. I reckon now your craft is hiding over behind yon Key to the northeast of us?”