"I thought you might know her by sight."
"I could hardly be expected to know all the ships in the United States navy by sight, Captain, for there are a great many of them by this time."
"All right; she looks like a pretty large vessel, and the bigger the better. I hope you won't get up a disappointment for yourself by expecting that you are going to get out of this scrape," said Captain Flanger, and there was a great deal of bitterness in his tones.
"I am taking things as they come, Captain."
"The Snapper is not a man-of-war, and she is engaged in a peaceful voyage. If that fellow thinks of capturing me, he is reckoning without his host. He has no more right to make a prize of me than he has to murder me," protested the captain, as he gave the order to hoist the British flag.
"Of course you know your business better than I do, Captain Flanger, and I don't propose to interfere with it," replied Christy.
The commander walked forward again, giving the order to the quartermaster to ring two bells, which presently brought the steamer to a full stop, quite near the rocks which were awash to the northward of her. As the captain moved forward he encountered the first officer in the waist, who addressed him, and they began a conversation, none of which Christy could hear. From the looks and gestures of the mate, he concluded that they were talking about him.
It was not difficult to imagine the subject of the conversation, and it was evident to Christy that the first officer had suggested an idea to his commander. While he was waiting impatiently to ascertain what the Chateaugay would do next, Percy Pierson came on deck looking very pale, for it had been reported at breakfast that he was very sea-sick.
"How are you, Christy?" asked the Southerner.
"I am very well, I thank you."