One of the Coast Guard men saluted, stepped forward and took the wheel. The vessel was hove to.
"Are you English?" the lieutenant asked, when this manœuver had been completed.
"Italiano!" the captain of the bark replied.
"Then what's that flag doing there?" the Coast Guard officer asked, pointing to the reversed British merchant flag which still hung at the gaff.
The other shrugged his shoulders.
"The only one I have. The mate he take the others," he answered.
"Where's the mate?"
An evil-looking fellow with rings in his ears and a long knife stuck in his belt slouched forward. He did not come alone. Half a dozen sailors, evidently part of a gang, came aft with him.
Thinking that a little example might be salutary, the lieutenant turned to the file of men who had come on board with him. The men had their rifles at the carry.
"'Tion! Order arms!"