"No, you are not; the truth is not in you! Did you mean me no harm when you attempted to entice me on board of the Snapper? Did you mean me no harm when you engaged Flanger and his ruffians to make me a prisoner, and put me on board of his steamer? It was a flagrant outrage from beginning to end; for I had the same rights in Nassau that you and your father had, and both of you abused the hospitality of the place when you assaulted me."
"You were a prisoner of the Confederacy, and had escaped in a blockade-runner; and I thought it was no more than right that you should be returned to your prison," Percy explained.
"I had the right to escape if I could, and was willing to take the risk; and my capture in Nassau was a cowardly trick. But I did not escape from a Confederate prison."
"You told me you did."
"I did not; that was a conclusion to which you jumped with very little help from me."
"I thought I was doing my duty to my country."
"Then you were an idiot. You have done your best to compromise your country, as you call it, with the British government. If your father is not sent out of Nassau, I shall lose my guess as a Yankee."
"But my father would not allow Captain Flanger to do you any harm; for he was bent upon hanging you as soon as he got out of sight of land, and he sent me with you to see my mother in order to prevent him from carrying out his threat."
"You would have been a powerful preventive in the face of such a brutal ruffian as Captain Flanger," said Christy with a sneer. "You have lied to me before about your father, and I cannot believe anything you say."
"I am speaking the truth now; my father saved your life. I heard him tell Flanger that he would lose the command of the Snapper if any harm came to you."