"Father! Mr. Pertell!" cried Alice. "Let us have this settled! Jack has made charges. They may be true or they may not be. But our lives surely are in danger if this vessel is sinking."
"And I say she isn't sinking! She's as sound as a bell below the water line!" cried the captain.
"And I say she has a hole stove in her, an' unless it's stopped we'll be at the bottom in a few hours!" cried Jack. "The mast knocked a hole in her and she's takin' water fast. The pumps are no good, but they can be fixed with a little work on 'em."
"Keep still!" the captain shouted. "You're under arrest as a mutineer."
"No he isn't!" exclaimed Mr. Pertell. "This is my vessel. I'm the chief owner of it, and I here and now depose you as captain, Mr. Brisco, and appoint Jack Jepson in your place!"
There was a gasp of baffled rage from the former commander.
"Jack, take charge," said Mr. Pertell. "Select as mates whoever you want. We'll go into this matter of the plot later. Just now we must save the ship if we can. Everything must give way to that. Do you accept?"
"What! Him captain?" cried Hen Lacomb, who was edging nearer and nearer to Jack all this while.
"Why not?" asked Mr. Pertell.
"He doesn't know how to navigate. He'll run us aground."