“How dare you!” cried the Englishman. “How dare you talk so against the king’s government while in the king’s country!” “I have not stopped at words against the king’s government,” said Ethan proudly. “No; I’ve heard of the doings of your pirate ship in the channel. But she’ll soon meet her fate. British ships and British tars are in search of her.” Ethan laughed amusedly. “You saw what happened to a British ship less than a half hour ago, did you not? The Ranger will not be so easily taken.” Danvers was a man of violent temper; he could not answer this in the calm manner that he desired; so he turned away without a reply, and gave an order to his men in a low tone. In a few moments the young American and the Irishman were deposited in the bottom of a large skiff, still trussed up with the ropes, and were being rowed toward the Dee, where a small schooner-rigged tender lay. They were lifted on board of this vessel, which toward night made sail out of the harbor and down the coast. Ethan and Longsword were eased of the ropes, but were at once ironed in the tender’s hold. It was dark there, not a ray of light penetrated anywhere; but they lay and listened to the beat of the channel waters against the sides, and talked in low tones. “It looks,” said Longsword, gloomily, “as though we two were laid up for the rest of the war. Wid British irons upon our legs and arms things don’t seem very bright, me lad.” “Don’t say that,” cried Ethan in a sharp, pained voice. “I can’t stand it, Shamus; the thought that we may be chained up in an English ship or a prison of some sort when our country needs every pair of hands that can oppose her foes, makes me desperate. It’s like despair itself!” About an hour after the schooner had got well under way, Danvers came down into the hold with a lantern. He stood over them and stared coldly from one to the other. “Ironed like thieves,” he said with a sneer. “It would delight the heart of your grandfather, old Clarette, boy, or your English father, to see you so, wouldn’t it?” “They would be glad to think that I have suffered something for my country.” “Your country!” snarled Danvers. “Bah, that nest of rats which you call a Congress will be broken up before long; the arch-traitor, Washington, will dangle from the end of a rope, while his tatterdemalions will be hunted through the woods like foxes.” “That was said long ago,” replied Ethan. “But it is all as far from accomplishment as ever. The American people will never bow the knee to a king’s will again.” Danvers had not yet overcome his anger of the day, and now he seemed upon the point of bursting into a blaze of fury. But with an effort he calmed himself; flashing the rays of the lantern into Ethan’s face, he said: