"Confound the fellow's impudence!" exclaimed Milsom, as he dashed at the bridge telegraph and signalled to stop the engines. "It would rightly serve him if we were to return his fire. But perhaps the wisest plan and the most dignified will be to stop and let him come aboard. But give it him hot for firing upon the British flag. Make him sit up! I only wish that I could jabber Spanish as fluently as you do; I'd scare him out of his skin!" As the yacht, with the way that she had on her, gradually drifted down toward the gunboat, it was seen that the latter was preparing to lower a boat; and presently a gig, manned by six oarsmen and a coxswain, was hauled up to her gangway, down the ladder of which an officer in lieutenant's uniform presently descended, stepping into the boat, which then pushed off and headed toward the _Thetis_. Meanwhile, Milsom having said a few hasty words to Perkins, the yacht's gangway had been thrown open and her accommodation ladder lowered, and when presently the Spanish boat dashed alongside and hooked on, Jack and Milsom were standing just inside the gangway, waiting to receive the officer. He was a rather good-looking man, somewhere about thirty years of age, and as he sprang up the ladder and in on deck he touched the peak of his uniform cap by way of salute: and Milsom saw his eyebrows go up as his eyes fell upon the two quick-firers that graced the yacht's after deck. "Good afternoon, gentlemen!" he said, in almost perfect English; "what ship is this?" "Leave him to me, Jack," whispered Milsom, upon discovering the welcome fact that he could make himself understood; and without waiting for Jack's consent he stepped forward and answered: "This is the English yacht _Thetis_, of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, as you may see by looking at that ensign. And what ship is that, sir; and what does the captain of her mean by firing upon us?" "That ship, Senor, is His Spanish Majesty's gunboat _Tiburon_, sent out especially to look for your vessel," answered the officer. "My Government has received positive intelligence from a reliable source that you have on board a large consignment of arms and ammunition destined for the use of the Cuban insurgents; and our instructions are to seize your vessel and take her into Havana. We fired upon you because you were somewhat slow in obeying our summons to stop." "Oh!" said Milsom, "so that is how matters stand, is it? And do you suppose, sir, that Great Britain will allow her flag to be fired on without having something to say about it?" "Great Britain will scarcely be willing to protect a vessel which, under the shelter of her flag, is engaged in succouring those who are rebelling against the rule of a friendly nation!" remarked the officer. "And, in any case, we are prepared to take the consequences of our acts. We know this so-called yacht to be a smuggler of contraband of war, and we intend to seize her."