A small dinghy-like boat was dispatched, and it returned with the man, a Japanese in lieutenant's uniform, whose beady eyes twinkled in alarm as Metcalf greeted him.
"Well, Saiksi, you perfected it, didn't you?—my invisible searchlight, that I hadn't money to go on with."
The Jap's eyes sought the deck, then resumed their Asiatic steadiness.
"Metcalf—this you," he said, "in command? I investigated and heard you had resigned to become a doctor."
"But I came back to the service, Saiksi. Thanks to you and your light—my light, rather—I am in command here in place of men you blinded. Saiksi, you deserve no consideration from me, in spite of our rooming together at Annapolis. You took—I don't say stole—my invention, and turned it against the country that educated you. You, or your confrères, did this before a declaration of war. You are a pirate, and I could string you up to my signal-yard and escape criticism."
"I was under orders from my superiors, Captain Metcalf."
"They shall answer to mine. You shall answer to me. How many boats have you equipped with my light?"
"There are but three. It is very expensive."
"One for our Philippine squadron, one for the Hawaiian, and one for the coast. You overdid things, Saiksi. If you hadn't set fire to that sealer the other day, I might not have found you. It was a senseless piece of work that did you no good. Oh, you are a sweet character! How do you get your ultraviolet rays—by filtration or prismatic dispersion?"
"By filtration."