“O, now, I won’t stand it!” drawled Tom, who was so vexed and disappointed that it was all he could do to choke back his tears. “I am the highest officer in our society, and the first mate of this vessel, and you ought to make me captain. If you don’t give me that position, I’ll refuse to do duty.”
“It’s too late now!” replied one of the boys. “Harding is elected.”
“Then you may appoint another first mate,” said Tom, who was determined to “rule or ruin;” “and you needn’t ask me to perform any work, for I won’t do it.”
“You might as well appoint a second mate also, while you are about it,” said Miller, who thought it best to follow Tom’s example. “Rich and Newcombe are my friends, and I don’t care about serving under any one else. If you can’t trust them, you can’t trust any boy on board.”
“Do as you please, fellows,” said Harry. “We don’t want you to have any hard feelings about what we have done; but, if you don’t want any thing more to do with us, we can get along without you.”
“Can you?” exclaimed Tom, suddenly. “We’ll see whether you can or not. I’ve got an idea, and I’ll show you—”
Here Tom was interrupted by a significant look from Miller. He was about to say, “I’ll show you a trick you never thought of,” but he understood the look Miller gave him, and he left the sentence unfinished.
“What will you show us, Newcombe?” asked one of the crew.
“O, nothing,” was the answer. “I didn’t mean any thing.”