[CHAPTER XV.]
AN ULTIMATUM.
"That will do, Jim Sixty!" shouted Captain Nemo, Jr., the moment he had got head and shoulders over the rim of the tower.
With a burst of profanity, Sixty leveled the rifle at the captain.
"What's to hinder me from puttin' a bullet through you, right where you are, you meddlin' hound?" he shouted.
"Several things, Sixty," was the calm response. "In the first place, I don't think you're a good enough marksman; and, in the second place, I don't think you'll do anything rash when I tell you that we're ready to put a torpedo into the brig and blow you and the wreck out of water."
That was a blow in the face for Sixty. He staggered back, dropped his rifle, and cast longing eyes at the two boats moored to the brig's side.
"You wouldn't dare do a thing like that!" he cried.
"Why wouldn't I?" asked the captain, casually.