Clif stopped for a moment and then he turned.
"Think, for instance," he said, "of being at the mercy of that man."
He was pointing toward Ignacio, who lay near them, glowering in his hate, and the sailors looked and understood.
"It's better to drown, sir," said one.
And the rest thought so, too, and declared it promptly.
"Very well, then," was the cadet's quiet answer, "we will stay on board. We have faced death before."
That resolution made there was little else left to be determined.
"We can sink the ship, or wait and let them sink it," the cadet said. "Or else—there's one thing more. We are headed in the right direction. We can smash her upon the rocks of the Cuban coast."
And the sailors stared at him for a moment eagerly.
"And stand a chance of getting ashore in safety!" they cried.