“Now, Capt. Bendig, you are released; and you may return to your vessel,” said the captain of the cutter. “If you are not satisfied with what I have done, you know where to look for me.” “You are rough on me, captain.” “Not so rough as you are on yourself. If you had not attempted to grasp more than your fair share of the plunder, and robbed that boy, you might have got out of it with more money in your pocket. You may go now.” “You won’t mention this little matter to the owner of the ‘Moonlight,’ will you, captain?” whined Capt. Bendig. “I am a poor man; and, if I lose my place as the sailing-master of the yacht, I don’t know what I shall do. I have a family to support; and I don’t want to be out of a job.” “I don’t know your owner; and I don’t make bargains of that sort with fellows like you.--Cast off the bow-line, Mr. Wilkins.” Capt. Bendig returned to the yacht; and his view of the case was so changed, that it is doubtful whether he even wished to “take it out of the hide” of Wade Brooks. “Where is the other boy?” asked the captain of the cutter; but no one had seen him. “Where is Matt?” asked Wade. “The captain wants him.” “He must be in the yacht: I have not seen him since I left her,” replied Lon. Mr. Wilkins was sent to look him up. It was found that he was locked into Capt. Bendig’s state-room. The skipper intended to make sure of him, if he could, so as to make some money by robbing him of what he had, and then making his father pay for restoring him. Matt was glad enough to get out of the “Moonlight;” for the captain had been rough on him during the absence of the cutter. As soon as he was on board, the revenue-steamer started for New York. Lon and Matt had a conference as soon as they could get by themselves. They talked about the future; and they were not quite ready to be sent back home with a good part of the money they had taken still unspent in their pockets. They had not had the “good time” they anticipated; but they could not see how they were to escape from the cutter. Some time in the night the cutter anchored off the Battery. CHAPTER XXXIII. THE WAY OF THE TRANSGRESSOR. Wade Brooks was hardly satisfied with the situation. He was in great danger of being sent back to live with Obed Swikes. He had plenty to eat on the cutter, and he had fared pretty well on board of the “Moonlight.” He could not endure the idea of returning to his former comfortless home, where he had been both starved and abused. He dreaded the cold of winter even more than the hunger of the summer, though it was both cold and hunger in the winter. He had tried to get work in New York without success; and he had not a cent of money to buy him a piece of bread.