"I am not."
"That boat's in my charge, and you can't have her."
"I don't care whose charge she is in. The boat belongs to me, and I intend to have her."
"Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am; but I take it any one has a right to his own property, wherever he finds it."
"Can you prove that the boat is your property?" asked he, in a milder tone.
"I can, but I shall not take the trouble to do so," I replied, with more impudence than discretion.
"All I've got to say is, that you can't have that boat," added he, angrily; and he came down the steps, and took position by my side in the Splash.
"Come aboard, fellows!" I called to my companions.
"I suppose you claim these row-boats too—don't you?" said the lame man, with a sneer.