"Hush, captain; don't speak aloud. The men of the Alert have got to the armory, and to-night are to mutiny!"
"How do you know?"
"Never mind now; but act at once, or it may be too late."
Captain Porter did not like being aroused out of his sleep.
Who does?
But Porter was a man of action, and was awake in an instant.
The captain was very strict about "fire drill," and was accustomed, so that his men might be ready for any emergency, to raise the cry of "Fire!" at all hours of the day or night, and often he caused a slight smoke to be created in the hold to try the nerves of his men.
At the cry of "Fire!" every man seized his cutlass and blanket and went to quarters as though the ship were about to go into action.
When he realized the import of Farragut's information, he ran on the deck and shouted:
"Fire! fire!"