“I want you to open this door and have a talk.”
“You can talk where you are if you want to. I’m listening.”
“Yes, but I want to get out.”
“I have told you I’m not going to let you out.”
“If you don’t, it’ll be your funeral,” declared Hegan. “Listen here, we made up our minds that we weren’t going to hurt any one if we could help it.”
“Well, you’re not hurting any one,” retorted Jack, with a laugh.
“We will if we start shooting. We’ve got plenty of cartridges left and they’ll go clean through this door. One of you may get killed, so I’m giving you fair warning.”
“I’m willing to take a chance,” replied Jack, moving from the companionway door, and seeking safety on deck. “You blaze away if it amuses you.”
Immediately there came a muffled report from the interior of the cabin, and a bullet piercing the woodwork, sang its way over the stern of the sloop.