"Not against her will, as you and Corny will have it," protested Mulgate.
"Do you renounce that plan or that idea, whatever it may be?"
"I do not renounce it. If the lady is willing to go with me, as I believe she will be, I know of no reason why she should not go as a passenger," argued Mulgate.
"I think we had better abandon the enterprise in the beginning, for I think we can be of more service to our country at liberty than within the walls of Fort Lafayette," added the captain, with not a little disgust mingled with his indignation.
Whatever his object in visiting this locality, he was clearly a high-toned gentleman, and the idea of prosecuting a love adventure in connection with what he regarded as a highly patriotic duty was repulsive to his nature. He found by trial that the Florence was not grounded very hard on the beach, for the tide was rising, and he drew the boat farther up from the water, as he turned to walk away from the spot.
"Am I to understand that you retire from this enterprise, Captain Carboneer?" asked Mulgate.
"Am I to understand that you renounce your scheme to carry off a woman as a part of the enterprise?" demanded the captain.
"I do not renounce it, though I have no intention to carry off a woman, as you put it. The most I have asked is that she be permitted to go as a passenger of her own free will," replied Mulgate.
"She never will go with him of her own free will," interposed Corny.
"I will not have a woman on board of the vessel, whether she goes willingly or otherwise. Do you renounce that scheme entirely?"