“Send for him then. We’ll give him any information we can.”
“I think I see myself sending for him! I’ll have to take you on board.”
“But we won’t go,” answered Larry, with eyes snapping.
“You’ll have to go.”
“But we won’t. We are American citizens, attending to our honest business. If your lieutenant or any other officer of the Government wishes to ask us any legitimate question, we’re ready to answer. But we will not endure insult or wrong. If you have a warrant for our arrest we’ll not resist, but we’ll not submit to arrest without authority.”
“We don’t have to bother about warrants when we’ve got smugglers dead to rights.”
“But we are not smugglers.”
“That’s for you to settle with the lieutenant. It’s my business to arrest all of you and take you on board the cutter.”
In a low voice, before the boatswain had finished his sentence, Larry said to his comrades: