"I don't know about that," interposed the commander. "The Salihé is mixed up with smugglers over on the other side of the bay, and the customs officers may want her." "Which it is with smugglers, sir!" exclaimed the owner of the Salihé. "Precisely so; and your friend Gray, and your other friend Captain Diego Velazquez, of the Schooner Golondrina, are in prison over there, and their vessel will be forfeited for smuggling, with her valuable cargo," added the captain; and he related what had happened to the big four on their cruise. "But I don't believe your boat can be held. We shall know more about it this afternoon." He held the steamer till the matter was decided. CHAPTER XIII WHAT IS WORTH KNOWING ABOUT GIBRALTAR Louis was willing to pay for the use of the Salihé; but the customs officers on the other side of the bay had some suspicions in regard to her, and the commander would not permit him to pay anything; besides, the little steamer was wanted to convey the witnesses to Algeciras. Chickworth received the report that Gray and his associates had actually captured the boat with consternation. He was invited to go over with the witnesses in the afternoon; but he declined to do so. The captain thought it more than probable that he had been concerned in contraband operation with Gray. Chickworth departed with something worse than a flea in his ear, and the commander and Louis went down to breakfast. The moonlight excursion and the conflict with the outlaws were the subjects of conversation at the table. Louis took a great deal of pains to set forth that Sir Scott, as he called him in retaliation for the application of the title to himself, was the hero of the occasion. The process of lassoing the stout smuggler excited a great deal of interest, and was unanimously regarded as a brilliant operation, both in its conception and execution. "I am confident that we should have been utterly defeated if Sir Scott had not solved the difficult problem of how to overcome Gray," said Louis with enthusiasm. "His achievement with the hand-saw was not altogether lacking in brilliancy," added Dr. Hawkes. "That was not original, like the lasso," replied Louis. "It was original in its application to this particular case, and he is entitled to none the less credit," suggested Uncle Moses. "I wish to do something for Sir Scott in response to the high commendation of Captain Belgrave," said the commander. Uncle Moses threw himself back in his chair, and shook his two hundred and twenty-six and a half of avoirdupois with laughter when he heard his ward dubbed as a captain. His mother laughed too, and so did most of the party. "Has my son become the commander of the Guardian-Mother?" asked Mrs. Belgrave.