"Except yourself. Somers, this is child's play. You have made me your enemy, but let us fight it out like men."
"I will do so with pleasure when you take your place on the deck of a rebel vessel, where you belong."
"A truce to child's play, I say again. We must settle this matter here and now."
"It can't be done."
"It must be done, or I will inform Captain Cascabel who and what you are before the first watch is out. Probably he will wish to see your Confederate commission and your letter of instructions."
"When he does, I have something else to show him," replied Somers, whose answer was sufficiently indefinite to make the traitor look very stormy and anxious.
"Can you show him a Confederate oath of allegiance signed by me?"
"No."
"Then he will be more likely to hear me than you," added the lieutenant, whose countenance now looked as malignant as that of a demon. "You have subscribed to that oath; I have not."
"It is false!"