"Captain, if you'll agree, I'll tell you what we'll do. If this fellow will get out of Halifax and clear out of Canada immediately after he has fought me, we'll let it go at that, and it'll save you spoilin' your hands on him. Will you do it?"
Captain Allerson was not the only one who turned in surprise on Andy. But nobody said anything, and finally Captain Allerson said: "Well, if I can be a witness to the scrap, and afterward see that he leaves on the first train, I'll agree. I'll admit it ain't just the thing to do under the circumstances, but then it would be a shame to let the government spend its money in prosecuting such a skunk. Are you game fer that there proposal, which is a dern sight easier than you deserve, although I suspect yer going to get the deservin' lickin' of yer life?" he demanded, turning on Henryson.
"Oh, I guess the five of you could frame me up, all right," Henryson answered sullenly, seeking some way to agree to this comparatively easy way of escape without seeming to entirely admit his guilt.
"It ain't no frame-up," snapped Constabule Allerson sharply. "You can take yer choice, providin' you do it within the next sixty seconds. You can employ a lawyer and fight the charges, if you prefer to take yer chances there."
"Oh, I'm not afraid to fight," Henryson retorted, seeing the way opening for him to take that alternative. "I'll tell you what I'll do. Without disputing any of the points further I'll accept this challenge, with the idea that if I win I stay and there's nothing more said. If I'm licked I'll leave."
"Well, you brazen pup!" ejaculated Captain Allerson.
"Agreeable to me," Andy retorted, "for it amounts to the same thing after all. You're going to be licked, and licked so you won't forget it for some years to come; and then you're going to sneak out of here as rapidly and as quietly as you can. You can make your own explanations to the other crews if you want to. We won't discuss the matter after you're gone."
"Well, where's this here struggle to take place?" demanded the former whaling captain, much more favorably disposed to this method of solving the difficulty than by merely placing the meddling pilot under arrest.
"Why not here?" asked Don. "We'll roll the machine out, then close the door and start proceedings."