"You'll find we can, if we have to."
"Come along, then!"
"Do you realize, my man, that we are United States Naval officers?"
"Not when I can't see your uniform," laughed the mutineer, roughly.
"I'm not going to argue with you any more. I've given you my orders.
Do you intend to submit, or will you fight?"
"We'll fight!" roared the mutineer. A hoarse cheer went up from his comrades.
"They don't estimate our fighting power very highly," muttered Ennerling, in a low tone. "If they knew the whole truth they'd be still less afraid of us."
From the mutineer at the rail came another hoarse hail:
"Shove off and get away, or we'll rush the crowd aft and wind up the women! You start a fight if you think you can. If you know you can't, then get away. We're not afraid until we're killed."
Now, eight mutineers, in all, lined across the deck, each man showing a revolver.