To this Joseph Bumstead made no reply.
"I'd like to know why you told me that you could qualify as a pilot," put in Captain Carter, and his voice had anything but a pleasant ring to it.
"I can qualify."
"I don't believe it."
"He is no pilot, and never was," said Nat. "He has done very little steering."
"You don't know what I've done," growled the mate.
"Yes, I do know!" exclaimed the boy quickly. "I know a good bit more than you think I do."
"Ha! What do you mean by that?"
"You'll find out later. We'll settle one question at a time."
"See here, Bumstead, you might as well own up that you were responsible," said Mr. Weatherby. "If you try to stick it out you'll only make matters worse. To my way of thinking, you ran into us on purpose."