"Why, sir, I found and rescued the Americans after whom you sent me," Dave explained. "They were Cosetta's prisoners. There was not a shot fired on either side until after I had placed the released prisoners under the protection of my own men, and had started away with them. Then the Mexican bandits opened fire on us."
"Couldn't you have escaped without returning the fire?"
"We might have been able to do so, sir."
"Then why didn't you?" pressed the captain.
"Because, sir, I felt sure that we would lose most of our men if we tamely submitted, and ran, pursued by superior numbers, to our launch. Moreover, I was much afraid that some of the Americans we were trying to rescue would be hit."
"In your judgment, Ensign Darrin, there was no other course open save to return the fire?"
"That was my exact judgment of the situation, sir," replied the young ensign earnestly.
"And still is your best judgment?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Hm!" commented Captain Gales. "And yet you have returned to ship with your casualties amounting to thirty per cent of your command, and one-third of your casualties are fatalities."