"Tom Topover!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "You are a pretty captain!"
"What's the matter, Bent?" asked Tom, straightening himself up in his berth.
"Nothing yet, but something will soon be the matter. Is this the way you sail the schooner? You are a pretty captain, to turn in and leave the Lily to take care of herself!" raved Bent, indignant at the conduct of the captain.
"Hold your jaw, Bent Fillwing, or I will bat you over the head!" returned Tom, as soon as he came to the consciousness that he was the captain of the schooner, and that one of the crew was scolding at him. "Go on deck, and lower the sails!"
"Lower the sails! Are you going to stay here all day? It is sunrise now, and we ought to be down to Plattsburgh by this time," replied Bent.
"I am captain of this craft, and you will obey orders," added Tom, as he turned over in his berth, as if he intended to go to sleep again.
The racket on board had aroused Pell Sankland and Kidd Digfield. Bent told them to follow him, and he went on deck. They were surprised, as Bent had been, to find the schooner at anchor under the lee of Cannon's Point. Without losing any time, and without regard to the orders of the sleepy captain, they got up the anchor, hoisted the jib, and the Lily stood away from her anchorage.
Bent put Kidd Digfield at the wheel, and then went into the cabin to "have it out" with the captain. Though he had learned all about nautical obedience on board of the Sylph, he was not inclined to practise it on the present occasion. In fact, he was disposed to be a rebel, and to bring the captain to a sense of duty. He went to Tom's berth. The chief Topover was fast asleep.
The skipper had settled on his back, with his arms spread out. Bent was on the point of taking him by the collar, to bring him to a sense of duty,—for he had lost all his respect for the dignity of the office, since the incumbent had abandoned his post,—when he saw something protruding from the vest-pocket of the sleeper.
It looked like a roll of bank-bills. Without disturbing the unconscious skipper, he laid hands upon it, and adroitly secured possession of it. He did not wait to have it out with Tom. As he had supposed when he first saw it, the object was a roll of bills. With his prize, Bent went on deck again.