“You?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Who are your owners?” demanded Captain Hampton, much astonished by Tom’s quiet assurance.
“I’m captain and half-owner of the ‘Restless,’ sir,” Halstead continued, still smiling at the other captain’s very evident astonishment. “The other owner is the engineer, Joe Dawson, my chum.”
Captain Hampton swallowed something very hard. Several of the passengers were smiling. A man who has followed the sea for years knows the capacity and efficiency that boys often display 28 on shipboard, but it is unusual to find a boy acting as master of a yacht.
However, there was the “Restless,” and there was Tom Halstead in the captain’s uniform. These were facts that could not be disputed.
“You have a passenger, a Mr. Clodis, that you want to have me take off?” resumed Tom.
“Yes; you have come for him, then?”
“Not only that, but Mr. Seaton, the gentleman who has our boat in charter, has very urgently ordered us to bring Mr. Clodis ashore; also his baggage complete, and any and all papers that he may have brought aboard.”
“You have a comfortable berth on your boat?”