here. You have not said that you are here on duty. Therefore
I shall not recognize your authority."

"Trent," broke in the other savagely, "if you-----"

"I do," Lieutenant Trent retorted, stiffly. "Just that, in fact.
In other words, sir, I place you in arrest! Coxswain Riley,
I shall hold you responsible for this prisoner. Take two other
men, if you wish, to help you guard him. If Lieutenant Cantor
escapes, or attempts to escape, then you have my order to shoot
him, if necessary."

"Darrin," snarled Cantor, "this is all your doing!"

"Some of it, sir," Dave admitted, cheerfully. "I heard you and
another man talking in here, and I sent for Lieutenant Trent.
As it happens, I know this to be the home, or the hanging-out
place of Cosetta, and as I heard you talking just inside the door,
I reported that fact to Lieutenant Trent."

"You will find nothing in this house, and I have not been,
intentionally, in the house of a bandit, or in the house of any
other questionable character," snarled Cantor, turning his back
on Darrin. "And you are making a serious mistake in placing me
in arrest."

"If your companion had been a proper one he would not have run
away when American forces burst in here," Lieutenant Trent returned.
"Both on Ensign Darrin's report, and on my own observation and
suspicion, I will take the responsibility of placing you in arrest.
I shall report your arrest to the commanding officer on shore,
and will be guided by his instructions. You will have opportunity
to state your case to him."

"And he will order my instant release as soon as he hears why
I am on shore. Trent, you have made a serious mistake, and you
are continuing to make it by keeping me in arrest."

"Sorry, Cantor; sorry, indeed, if I am doing you an injustice,"
Lieutenant Trent answered, with more feeling. "Yet under the
circumstances, I cannot read my duty in any other way."

"You'll be sorry," cried Cantor, angrily.

"I don't know what to make of this, sir," Danny Grin reported,
a much puzzled look showing on his face. "That cellar door was
shut and bolted in our faces. We smashed the door instantly,
and rushed down the stairs. When we reached the cellar we found
it empty; whoever the man was he escaped in some way that is a
mystery to me."

"Have you thought of the probability of a secret passage from
the cellar?" inquired Trent.

"Yes, sir, and we've sounded the walls, but without any result."

"I'll go below