This proposition suited the old man, and Jim's friend left the building at full speed, while I asked Darius to make certain the miller was trussed up in proper fashion.
"What'er you goin' to do with me?" Essek Harland cried with a whine. "I ain't to be blamed for what's been done this night! How can I help it if a crowd of Britishers take possession of my mill?"
"Talk that over with Elias Macomber; he's aboard the pungy," Darius replied in a matter-of-fact tone as he proceeded to bind the man with strips of bags provided by Jim.
CHAPTER V.
WITH THE FLEET.
The British sailors did not make any talk on returning to consciousness and finding themselves bound hand and foot. The officer, however, after recovering from the bewilderment which appeared to have come over him because of having been taken prisoner in such an unceremonious fashion, protested against being tied like a criminal.
"Will you give your word to make no attempt at escape?" Darius asked; but this did not suit the Britisher, for most likely he was reckoning on a rescue by those of the people who favored the king, and there were not a few of such vermin on the Patuxent river.
"I refuse to give my parole, save to an officer of the American army or navy," he said stiffly, and Darius replied cheerily: