“Since you are the commander of this chebec,” said he to Hadji, with a bitter smile, “then I address you to have the sails put back, and have the long-boat which is in tow brought to the side of the vessel.”
“You are the captain here, Lord Erebus; order, without going contrary to the commands of Pog-Reis,—and I will be the first to haul the rigging or turn the helm.”
“A truce to words; then have the long-boat manned with four men.”
“Bring the chebec’s sails back? Nothing prevents that,” said Hadji. “Watch is kept as well standing still as moving about, and from time to time the sentinel stops. As to manning the long-boat, that will be done when I know your intention.”
Erebus stamped his foot impatiently.
“My intention is to conduct these two young girls back to land.”
“Throw back the pearl of the gulf on a savage coast!” cried the Bohemian, “when she is in your power, when you are loved, when—”
“Be silent and obey! That, I think, is my personal affair, and Pog-Reis shall not force me to abduct a woman, if I do not wish to do it.”
“That abduction is a personal affair to Pog-Reis also, Lord Erebus. I cannot order the long-boat to be manned.”
“What do you mean?” cried the young man, almost in fright.