“Then we will bring this meeting to an end, Mr Herrick.”

“Yes, sir,” I said dolefully, for I was wishing intensely that I had not said a word. “Shall I go now?”

“If you please, Mr Herrick.”

“Good-night, sir.”

“Good-night, Mr Herrick; and the sooner you are in your berth the better.”

“Yes, sir,” I said; and then to myself, as I reached the door, “and I wish I had gone there at once, instead of stopping on deck.”

“Stop!”

I turned with the door-handle in my fingers.

“You had better not say anything about the communication you have made to me—I mean to your messmates.”

“No, sir, I will not,” I replied.