“What’s going on here?” he demanded, in a tone of authority. “Hustle those skins along lively, men!” Then, turning to Phil and Serge, he demanded, roughly, “Well, who are you, and what do you want here?”
“Supposing you answer my question first,” replied Phil, hotly. “Who are you, and by what authority are you stealing our seal-skins?”
“Oh, they are yours, are they?” retorted the other, surveying the irate lad from head to foot with an amused smile. “Very well, if you claim them, the best thing you can do is to go off to the ship and present your claim to the captain. He is only too glad of a chance to settle all such matters. Coxswain, take these chaps aboard ship, present them to the captain with my compliments, and tell him that they are desirous of a settlement in connection with these seal-skins, which they claim as their property.”
“I don’t know that we care to go aboard your ship,” said Phil. “Supposing your captain comes ashore and settles with us right here. We didn’t invite him to this island, or ask him to take our seal-skins.”
“Oh, I guess you’d better go,” responded the other, with a peculiar smile. “You’ll be apt to get better terms if you do. Besides, our captain makes a point of never going ashore before breakfast.”
Phil was about to make some angry reply to this, when Serge nudged him, and said, in a low tone, “Be careful, old man, or you’ll get us into trouble. Don’t you see she’s a cutter?”
A startled glance at the anchored vessel, to which, in his excitement, he had not paid particular attention before, satisfied Phil that she was, indeed, what Serge claimed. Another look at the young man in authority showed his uniform, though faded and bearing evidences of long service, to be that of the United States Revenue Marine.
“I don’t care if she is,” he answered, stoutly. “We’ll go and see her captain, though, and find out by what authority he seizes the property of honest citizens. Come on, Serge.”
A few minutes later the boat was run alongside the cutter’s port gangway, and its cockswain was reporting to the first lieutenant: “Here are two men, sir, that Mr. Ramey ordered me to bring off. They say as them seal-skins are theirs and want to see the captain about ’em.”