"Oh, I say now," Wrenmarsh responded, with a sudden keen glance at Jack as if he were surprised at the quickness with which his remark had been met and turned against him; "of course you'll go to England. That was settled long ago, you know."
"Was it? I supposed that I, as captain of the Merle, had some voice in such a matter."
"Of course nothing was settled," broke in Jerry. "I made a conditional arrangement—entirely conditional, mind you—with Mr. Wrenmarsh that you would take him to England."
"Yes; that is what I said," the collector asserted imperturbably. "Only the price that you named"—
"Seems to me a very reasonable one," interpolated Jack.
"Not seriously?" Wrenmarsh said, evidently determined not to show that he was at all ruffled. "Only consider, if I go ashore here, I may get—I might become a national complication. And you wouldn't want to be mixed up in that sort of a thing," he added, with a chuckle. "An international complication," he murmured to himself, as if the idea appealed so strongly to his vanity that he was half tempted to be put on land at once to take up the part. Then he recalled his wandering thoughts, and looked Captain Castleport in the eye. "If you land me in any country except England, I am quite done for, as you Americans would say. It stands to reason if there is any paying to be done, you should pay me for keeping you out of a scrape; for of course if I go ashore it will be known that the Merle ran away from the carabinieri at Pæstum, and"—
"Rubbish!" interrupted Jack brusquely. "Don't talk that kind of poppy-cock! Even if there were any truth in it, it wouldn't be decent for you to say so after getting the Merle into the scrape."
"And giving me your word that the yacht was in no possible danger," put in Jerry indignantly.
"Oh, no real danger, of course," Wrenmarsh said hurriedly, "only it might be unpleasant for you, and you might not like to be detained."
"Why must you go to England?" asked Castleport. "Why not to Malta or Cyprus or Korfu even? They're protectorates and English ground."