from now it will be
too late to move the vessel," said Captain Stopfoot, with every
appearance of sincerity in his manner.

"I will see you, Captain, as soon as I have looked the steamer over,"
replied Christy, as he left the commander of the Reindeer at the door of
his cabin, and went forward to examine the vessel.

He found the steam up; and the engineer bowed to him as he looked into
his room. There was nothing to be seen but cotton, piled high on the
deck, and stuffed into the hold; and he returned to the cabin.

CHAPTER XXIX

BRINGING OUT THE PRIZE

It seemed to Christy, after he had completed his examination of the
Reindeer, that she carried an enormous deck-load for a steamer of her
size, and that the bales were piled altogether too high for a vessel
that was liable to encounter a heavy sea. But the cotton was where it
could be readily thrown overboard if the safety of the steamer was
threatened by its presence. He found only the six men mentioned by
Stopfoot, though he had looked in every part of the vessel, even to the
fire-room and the quarters of the crew and firemen.

"I find everything as you stated, Captain Stopfoot; but I should say
that you were proposing to go to sea short-handed. I did not even see a
person whom I took for the mate. Is it possible that you could get along
without one?" said Christy, when he met the commander at the door of the
cabin.

"The truth is, that my men deserted me when they saw the two men-of-war
come into the bay, for they knew I had no adequate means of making a
defence. In fact, the Reindeer was as good as captured as soon as your
two steamers came into the bay, for you were morally sure to find her,"
replied the captain.

"But where are your men? How could they get away?" asked Christy.

"They have not got away a great distance. You could see the gangway to
the shore; and all they had to do was to land, without even the trouble
of taking to a boat. They are all on the long key; and without some sort
of a craft they will not be able to leave it. If you desire to spend
your time in hunting them down, I have no doubt you could find them
all."

"How many of them are there on the island, Captain Stopfoot?"

"The mate, four deck-hands, and two firemen. It would not be a difficult
task for you to capture them all, for I did not look upon them as
fighting material; they have crowded about all the men of that sort into
the army."

"I have no desire to find t