"Come on deck with me."
I followed the captain, but not without first casting a glance at the engineer, whose meditations upon the effects of Swedish punch were now at an end, and who, in desperation at the frightful results of his indulgence, cast a supplicating look at me.
"What was the matter?" the captain asked me.
I held it my duty to tell him the whole truth, accompanying it with an entreaty that the man might be forgiven.
"He has always been the soberest fellow in the world," said the captain. "This is the first time he has ever behaved so."
"Then I trust it is the last time," I replied.
"I cannot comprehend it," said the captain. He spoke with me as if I was his equal.
"You have done me a great service," he continued. "Who are you? It seems to me I must have seen you before; and the ladies on deck have the same fancy."
"Never mind about that, captain," I said.
This brief dialogue took place while we were going up the ladder. The captain could not any further indulge the curiosity that had visibly seized him; he had too much to do.