Looking up, the boys saw that the speaker was Captain Hill.
The captain’s face was of dull, brick-red, and it was clear that he had already been drinking, early as it was. Naturally the boys, on hearing his voice, put down the trunk in their surprise, but they maintained their position, one on each side of it. Of the two, Jack was the more impressed, having been one of the crew, and subject to the captain’s authority on shipboard. Harry, as a passenger, felt more independent. Indeed, he was indignant, and ready to resist what he thought uncalled-for interference on the part of the captain.
“This is Mr. Clinton’s trunk,” he said. “We are going to carry it to him.”
“Do you dare to dispute my authority?” roared the captain, his red face becoming still redder.
“I don’t see what you have to do with the trunk,” answered Harry, boldly.
“This to me!” shrieked the captain, looking as if he were going to have a fit of apoplexy. “Do you know who I am?”
“You were the captain of the Nantucket,” said Harry, quietly.
The captain, notwithstanding his inebriated condition, did not fail to notice that Harry used the past tense.
“I am still the captain of the Nantucket, as I mean to show you,” he retorted.
“Then, sir, you are captain of a wreck that has gone to pieces.”