Without pausing to answer the excited query Carl threw after him, Dick rushed for the hatchway leading into the 'tween-decks. He was out of sight for several minutes, and when he came up again he had a couple of the Krag-Jorgensens, and his pockets were sagging with cartridges.
"Vat you going to do mit dose t'ings?" demanded Carl.
"I'm going to make Sixty keep a good offing until he tells us what his lay is," answered Dick, decidedly.
"Oof dis is his poat den he's got a pedder righdt on her as ve haf."
"Possession is nine points of the law, and we have possession. There's something crooked about this craft. The manifest says nothing about firearms and she carries enough for a regiment. We'll hold that boat off for a while and make sure of square treatment for ourselves, whatever else we do. Take one of the guns and fill the magazine, Carl. After that, get down behind the rail."
The boat was quite close, by that time, and the boys finished their preparations hurriedly and dropped to their knees behind the bulwarks.
"Halt!" shouted Dick. "Stay right where you are till we have a bit of a palaver."
The man in the bow was Captain Sixty. There was now not the least doubt of it. The boys heard him mutter something very much like an oath and saw him get to his feet. The three men at the oars ceased pulling and held the boat steady.
"You're the two kids that was with Motor Matt on the Santa Maria," shouted Sixty. "What you doin' on that brig?"
"Trying to get somebody to pick us off," Dick answered.