them. If you
will fix a fair price on the things, we will pay for them. But you
must in any case submit to be bound and gagged till morning; when,
on going on deck, you will find no difficulty in attracting the
attention of some of your comrades, who will at once release you.

"Keep your hands on the table while my friends take away your
knives. If one of you moves a hand, he is as good as a dead man."

His companions removed the knives from the belts of the two men
sitting outside, and then Fergus said to the third man:

"Now, hand over your knife. That will do.

"Now, which of you is the captain?"

"I am," the man sitting farthest from the door said.

"Very well. Now, have you spare clothes on board?"

"Yes, my lord," he replied, in a tone that showed that he had not
yet recovered from his first stupefaction, "we have our Sunday
suits."

"We don't want them," Fergus said. "We want the three suits that
you have on. What do you value them at?"

"Anything you like, my lord."

"No, I want to know how much they cost when new."

The man asked his two comrades, and then mentioned the total.

"Very well, we will give you that. Then you will have no reason for
grumbling, for you will get three new suits for three old ones.

"Now do you--" and he touched the man nearest to him "--take off
your coat, waistcoat, breeches, neck handkerchief, and boots, and
then get into that bunk."

The man did as he was ordered, as did the other two, in succession.
As they did so, Captain Ritzer had gone up on deck and returned
with a coil of thin rope that he had cut off. With this they tied
the men securely.

"There is no occasion to gag them, I think," Fergus said. "They
might shout as loud as they liked and, with this wind blowing, no
one would hear them; or if anyone did hear them, he would take it
for the shouting of a drunken man.

"Now, look here, my men. Here is the money to buy the new clothes.
We have not ill treated you in any way, have we?"

"No, sir, we are quite satisfied."

"Now, I should advise you, in the morning, to manage to untie each
other. We shall fasten the door up as we go out, but you will have
no difficulty in bursting that open, when you are once untied.

"Now I ask you, as you are satisfied, to say nothing about this
affair to anyone. It would only make you a joke among your
comrades, and could do you no good. The best thing that you can do,
when you get free, will be to dress yourselves in