He paused, and Magnus responded, "Yes, sir."
"You are in danger," Upright went on. "You are taking risks no wise man will shoulder."
"What have I done, sir?" Magnus demanded, stiffening slightly.
"Nothing special, to my knowledge," said the first captain, "But I see you in slippery places, where sooner or later a man must go down. And the mud often sticks for a good while to come, even after—and even if—he picks himself up and gets away."
"I don't see, sir," Magnus began—"what risks are you talking of, Mr. Upright?"
"The risk of being false to yourself, and to your Christian pledge and name; the risk of (practically) forgetting your mother and your mother's words."
But now Magnus burst forth.
"Forgetting my mother!" he said. Then checking himself:
"Oh, well, sir, that proves you never saw her, Mr. Upright."
Upright laughed, and his eyes shone.