"Will you just make that a little clearer, general?"
"I will," softly put in the senator—"by your leave, general?"
With limp majesty the general waved permission.
"All for peace, however," said the senator smilingly to the clerk. "There's been enough strife."
"Never saw so much aboard boat," said the clerk.
"Well,"—statesman and clerk laid elbows on the shelf and dropped their voices while the actor and the general drew a step aside,—"this thing can be settled only by the right friends and it's now or never." The two exchanged a look but the clerk was mute and the senator spoke on: "You've heard of Dan Hayle—and the girl Phyllis, hmm?"
"I was first clerk on the Quakeress when she burned."
"Why, so you was. These twins believe, bitterly, that in that mysterious disaster all due search for their uncle was neglected to save the captain's son and that the girl and Dan Hayle were never fully accounted for."
"Shucks! Why—Dan—it was I found Dan's body."
"Yes, but they call it an outrage for him to have been there at all; to give him the wheel and take her aboard on the same trip."