"That's cheerful," Jimmie grinned. "Why didn't she do it before?"
"Probably because she thought to get away. I've been watching her through the little port and I know that she is now waiting for you to come up and receive a dynamite ball."
"It strikes me," Ned replied, "that she is halting because her running gear is out of whack. She rammed us not long ago and got the worst of it."
Captain Moore thrust his head close to the little opening between the casing and the door and almost screamed:
"Do you mean that she is crippled so that she can't get away from you?"
"I said that I thought she had injured herself in trying to destroy the Sea Lion," was the reply.
"Well, even if she can't get away," the Captain went on, with a change of expression, "she can blow you out of the water."
"We'll have to take our chances on that," Ned replied.
After some further talk, the boy entered the room where the prisoners were and closed the door, leaving Hans on guard outside. Captain Moore frowned as he seated himself by the port.
"It is bad enough to be confined here without being obliged to endure your company," he said.