"Run up just as close as you can safely for a hail."
Lieutenant Hal waited until much more of the distance had been covered. Then he raised the megaphone to his lips, shouting:
"Lay to, stranger! We are United States officers and must come aboard!"
"You can't!" bellowed a hoarse, defiant voice.
"We must and will! Lay to!"
"Take the consequences, then!" came the same hoarse bellow.
Bang! It came altogether, in one sharp, crashing volley, from the stranger's decks, and a tempest of bullets hit the "Restless."
"The pirates!" uttered Lieutenant Hal, at a white heat of indignation.