"These guns were meant for business!" remarked the captain of the revenue cutter, as he and another officer stood by superintending the work of four sailors.
"Why, I thought the days of piracy had gone by," remarked Harriet.
"Pi—" gasped Tommy, and turned pale.
"Pirates!" echoed Margery Brown in consternation. "Why, we might have been killed and no one would have known what became of us!"
"Who said anything about pirates!" retorted the revenue captain, smiling.
"Why, you thaid—" began Tommy wonderingly.
"I spoke of 'business,'" came the answer of the man in uniform, "and that was what I meant to say. In these days, in Latin-American countries, revolution appears to be one of the leading forms of business."
"Revolution?" echoed Margery, quickly reviving, while Tommy listened in amazement. "Why, revolutions are romantic; there's nothing awful about 'em."
"Nothing awful," laughed Captain Rupert. "In the countries to the south of us most of the revolutions are very tame affairs, so far as actual fighting goes. The crowd that makes the most noise, whether government or insurgent, usually wins the day. For that matter, I never could understand why blank cartridges wouldn't do as well as the real ammunition in these Latin-American revolutions."
"Yet if these rifles and cartridges were intended for use in a revolution," Harriet broke in, "doesn't it seem odd to land them on this short strip of New Hampshire coast?"