"Cap'n," put in Up-na-tan, almost respectfully, so strong was getting to be his warrior admiration for the cunning and courage of his commander, "s'pose we tell lobster ship, rebel enemy come. Rebel right here. Make 'em feel good. Fire gun!" "I guess that's about as sharp a thing as we could do," replied the captain. "Guert, pick out those white rockets. Hand 'em over." Guert was having the fireworks under his especial charge, for he was found able to read the somewhat roughly written tabs. "Here they are, sir," he said in half a minute. "There's plenty more of that kind." Vine Avery had the lanterns, and he had already made use of them in mocking replies to more than one swinging, dancing signal. Now, as the captain lighted the rockets, up into the gloom went fizzing and flashing the prescribed announcement of danger. Each rocket let out, as it exploded, a pretty large ball of red flame, as if to emphasize its message. War-ship after war-ship told her character by responding with a similar rocket, the merchantmen keeping quiet, and then from the flag-ship of the fleet came the boom of a heavy gun. "Heavens!" suddenly exclaimed Captain Avery, as he watched for those responses. "One o' their cruisers is nigher'n I'd counted on! Starboard your helm, Sanders! All ready to go about!" "Ship ahoy!" came out of the gloom beyond them. "_Amphitrite_! What ship's that? Where are the enemy? What is she?" "_Kr-g-h-um-n_, of Liverpool," sang out Captain Avery huskily, indistinctly, through his trumpet. "They won't make much out of that," Guert was thinking, but the British officer angrily shouted back:-- "_Kraken_, of Liverpool? You blockhead! What do I care for that? Where away's the Yankee?" "Armed schooner, sir! Pirate! Passed close by, westerly. Say 'bout two p'ints south." "Where away, now, stupid?" "On the lee bow, sir," trumpeted the captain. "Runnin' free. We was nigh 'nough to see her guns." "Blockhead!" came back. "Why didn't you signal sooner? You deserve a good rope's ending! Close up with the admiral!" "Ay, ay, sir! There she goes! They're gettin' hold of her," responded Captain Avery. For at that moment another gun from another man-of-war sounded well to leeward. It was accompanied by more rocket signals that went up to be read by all the fleet. "Captain," sang out Guert, as he tried to read them, "green rocket bursting into red. It means 'Pirate in chase of merchantman.'" "All right," said the captain, "it's some other feller. We're not in chase of anybody. Up-na-tan! Vine! swing out that biggest blue lantern. I'll send up a blue rocket burstin' yeller and green. Then douse the lanterns." "What does that mean, father?" inquired Vine, raising the blue lights. "Mean?" uproariously responded the captain. "Why! it means 'Mutiny on board ship. Send help to quell mutiny.'" The British admiral saw that rare and exceedingly annoying signal with intense indignation.