"All right, Captain!" returned Gray, as he hastened forward to the pilot-house.
"We are safe so far," continued Louis, as he retired from the window. "Gray is the most dangerous man with whom we have to deal, for he is a heavy fellow; he shares the profits of this smuggling enterprise; and I think he will fight as long as there is anything left of him."
"Then we must take him where the hair is short," replied Scott.
"About where on his carcass is the hair short?" asked Louis, amused in spite of himself at the manner of the pilot.
"About the neck, I should say," answered Scott.
"You speak in enigmas. Will you explain yourself?"
"With the greatest pleasure. I believe you have never been in South America, Captain Belgrave?"
"I have never been there," replied Louis; and from Scott's half-suppressed laugh, and his manner, he concluded that there must be a humorous element in the plan he had suggested.
"But of course you have heard of such an operation as lassoing horses and other animals. Certainly you know all about it. Well, Captain Belgrave, I propose to lasso Mr. Gray, just as you would lasso a wild bull if you were a ranchman in South America or Mexico."
"Lasso him!" exclaimed Louis; and his companions repeated the words. "That will be a dangerous operation."