Captain Nugent's face was suffused with wrath at the pleasantry, and he
regarded him with a fixed stare. On board the _Conqueror_ there was a
witchery in that glance more potent than the spoken word, but in his own
parlour the new captain met it calmly.

"I didn't come here to listen to your foolery," said Nugent; "I came to
tell you to punish that boy of yours."

"And I sha'n't do it," replied the other. "I have got something better
to do than interfere in children's quarrels. I haven't got your spare
time, you know."

Captain Nugent turned purple. Such language from his late first officer
was a revelation to him.

"I also came to warn you," he said, furiously, "that I shall take the law
into my own hands if you refuse."

"Aye, aye," said Hardy, with careless contempt; "I'll tell him to keep
out of your way. But I should advise you to wait until I have sailed."

Captain Nugent, who was moving towards the door, swung round and
confronted him savagely.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"What I say," retorted Captain Hardy. "I don't want to indulge Sunwich
with the spectacle of two middle-aged ship-masters at fisticuffs, but
that's what'll happen if you touch my boy. It would probably please the
spectators more than it would us."