"Stop her!" yelled the major.
"Not yet!" replied the acting captain.
"Stop, or I will fire into you!"
"I'm not going to stand here and be shot down!" exclaimed Percy. "My brother don't
know that I am at the wheel, and I shall be the first one to get hit."
Christy could not blame Percy for not wishing to be shot by the party under his brother's command; and he had no more relish for being shot himself, quite in sight of his father's steamer. But to abandon the helm was to abandon the control of the tug, and the major could recover possession of her and of his prisoner within a few minutes.
"Go below, Percy, and put yourself in the fire-room, for you will be safe there," said Christy.
At that moment the crack of a musket was heard, and a bullet crashed through the pine boards of the pilot-house. It was the first evidence of actual war which Christy had seen, and it impressed him strongly.
"It isn't safe for me to show myself," said Percy, as his companion took the wheel from him.
"You must be your own judge of that," replied Christy, as he dropped down on the floor, with the compass in his hand.