ind,"
replied Corny, as vigorously as though he had been the military equal
of the one he had called "major" by accident.

"Do you mean to be a traitor to your country, Neal?" demanded Mulgate
angrily.

"Neither to my country nor to my uncle."

"Your uncle is a Yankee, and is doing all he can to subjugate the free
South. He has no rights which we are bound to respect," said Mulgate
fiercely.

"This will never do," interposed Captain Carboneer; and this may or may
not have been his real name. "We are getting into a disagreement at the
very first step of our enterprise."

"I don't know you, Captain Carboneer, but I wish to be understood as
meaning every word I have said; and I will wreck this enterprise, if
I am shot for it, rather than allow my cousin to be carried off in
connection with it," protested Corny stoutly. "I will do my duty
faithfully; but I will not assist in robbing my uncle of his daughter."

"You are quite right, young man; and I would rather be sent to the fort
as a prisoner of war than take part in such an enterprise," added
Captain Carboneer, in mild but forcible tones.

"You astonish me, captain!" said Mulgate. "Why do you talk about an
outrage? I claim to be a gentleman, and to be above any such villainy as
you and Corny suggest. I do not propose to rob Captain Passford of his
daughter. What I may do depends--depends upon the consent of the lady.
If she is willing to go with me"--

"She is not willing to go with you; and she never will be willing to go
with you," Corny interposed. "I don't know what you are thinking about,
Mr. Mulgate; but Florry cares no more about you than she does about
Uncle Pedro, my father's house-servant. She saw you both at Glenfield,
and I can't tell which she likes best."

"We had better drop the subject," added Captain Carboneer.

"Drop it, then," replied Mulgate sullenly. "Get over the fence, Corny.
Nobody is using that sailboat, and we may as well take it for a while."

CHAPTER III

THE DIGNIFIED NAVAL OFFICER

Corny climbed over the high palisade fence, with the assistance of
Mulgate, and the party walked to the sailboat at the beach below. By
this time it was dark, though the gloom was not very dense under a clear
sky.

"Do you know anything about this boat, Corny?" asked Mulgate, as the
trio approached the handsome craft, for such she was beyond a doubt.

The crusty tones of the speaker indicated that he had not yet recovered
from the set-b