"That wanted no telling, my lad. It's plain enough. You were not thinking about me, but I was. Look here, my boy. Do you know what my setting you ashore means just now?" "Yes, sir," said the boy sharply. "Getting rid of a very troublesome passenger." "Oh, you think so, do you? Well, I'll tell you what I think. It would mean getting rid of one troublesome passenger, as you call yourself, and taking a dozen worse ones on board in the shape of a prize crew. Why, young Burnett, it would mean ruin to me and to my friends, whose money has been invested in this cargo." "Oh no, _no_, sir. I am alone out here, and my captain's vessel is far away. I couldn't go and betray you, even if I wanted to. You could set me ashore and sail away at once. That's all I want you to do." "Sweet innocency!" said the skipper mockingly. "But I won't set it down to artfulness. I think you are too much of a gentleman for that. But do you hear him, Poole? Nice ideas he has for a beardless young officer in Her Majesty's Navy. Why, do you mean to tell me, sir, you know nothing about international politics, and a peculiar little way that they have now-a-days of flashing a bit of news all round the world in a few minutes of time? Don't you think that after that bit of a turn up off Liverpool way, a full description of my schooner and her probable destination has been wired across the Atlantic, and that wherever I attempted to land you, it would be for the port officials to step on board and tap me on the shoulder with a kindly request to give an account of myself?" "I didn't think of that," said Fitz, slowly. "No," said the skipper. "You thought that I could hail the first ship I saw, or sail up to the side of a quay, pitch you ashore, and sail off again. Why, Fitz Burnett, as soon as I came in sight I should be overhauled, seized, delayed for certain, and in all probability end by losing schooner, cargo, and my liberty." "Surely it would not be so bad as that, sir?" "Surely it would be worse. No, my lad; I am sorry for you. I regret the ugly accident by which you were knocked over; but you are thinking, as we said before, about your position, your duty. I have got to think of mine. Now, here's yours; you came on board here, unasked and unseen until the next morning when we had put a good many knots between us and your gunboat. It was impossible to land you, and so we made the best of it and treated you as well as we could. Time is money to me now, and my coming up punctually means something much more valuable than hard cash to the people I have come to see. To be plain, I can't waste, even if I were so disposed, any time for sailing into port to put you ashore." "Never mind that, then, sir," cried Fitz excitedly. "Speak the first vessel you see, of any country, under any flag, and put me aboard there."