“Will you step in, sir?” said the planter. “You are heated with your walk in the hot sun, and your men must need refreshment.”
The lieutenant shrugged his shoulders and said gravely, “I am here, sir, to do my duty.”
“Yes, of course, sir,” said the planter; “and I beg you will not think that I am trying to bribe you in any way. I am not surprised at this visit. I have expected it for years. I am sorry, sir, but I must own it: I am not my own master.”
At this moment another figure appeared upon the scene in the shape of a little thin yellow-complexioned man, dressed like the planter in white cotton, and wearing a similar hat of Panama make. He stepped out of the French window where the late speaker had appeared, but with a quick, eager movement, and as he stood glancing sharply round the lieutenant and the midshipmen simultaneously gave a start which seemed to be communicated to the whole of the party, and with a thrill of excitement running through him Murray whispered sharply—
“Our friend the Yankee, Dick!”
“Yes,” whispered back that individual, “and we’re going to hold him tight.”
As for the lieutenant, he took a couple of steps forward, and exclaimed in a sarcastic tone of voice—
“How do, sir! I think we have met before.”