"Is that how you have been in the habit of addressing your Captain?"
"Sir," growled the man.
"Remember that the next time you speak. Now then, what is your excuse for being on the after-deck when, as you know, no men are allowed there after sunset unless by express command?"
Something akin to hope arose in the ex-bos'n's breast. Could it be possible, he thought, that the Captain was unaware of his real intention and thought that he had merely disobeyed one of the ship's regulations? And, being wholly ignorant of the extraordinary methods of the terrible skipper of the Hawk, Jasper Skelt permitted himself the luxury of a little secret contempt.
"I didn't know anything about the orders, sir," he answered.
"Indeed? Do you know the penalty for disobedience on board a privateer?"
"No, sir."
"Death."
The man started nervously and turned a shade paler. Things were not going quite so well as he had thought, after all.
"I've never been aboard a privateer before, sir," he replied humbly.