"Yes, but who believes a man's word in such a case?"
"How do you know all this? Who are you?"
"Captain Vernon, of the good privateer Lively Bee."
"Yes, but how did you know——"
"Let me finish. Your captain agreed to give up the sailor, whose name was——"
Vernon hesitated as though he would have liked Tempest to have finished the sentence.
Tempest remained silent, and his captain continued:
"His name was Vincent Decatur."
"You are right, captain, though that was not the name in the ship's books."
"No, he was known on board as James Vincent. He had good reasons for changing his name: Decatur went below to get his kit. The British officer and squad of marines waited him on deck.