"Again," laughed Ted, "you're crediting me with finer eyesight than I possess."
"I am the captain," Tom replied, struggling against an inclination to like this boy. Ted was so brimming over with good humor, that it seemed almost wicked to suspect him of anything worse than being hungry.
"You're the captain?" demanded Ted, taken aback, and staring hard. Then, as he took in the details of Halstead's uniform, and noted the looks on the faces of the others about him, he became convinced.
"Captain——" began Ted.
"Halstead," supplied Tom.
"Captain Halstead, as I'll have to dead-beat my passage back to San Francisco, I shall be mighty glad if you'll assign me to some work to do."
"On your word of honor you didn't come off the 'Victor'?" insisted the young skipper, still looking hard at the new arrival on board.
"On my honor I didn't. Why? Is it a crime to come on board from the 'Victor'?"
"Very nearly," Halstead replied, dryly. "We've got one fellow in the brig on board, charged with that very offense."
"Whew!" muttered Ted, looking grave. "Then what's the sentence for coming on board from a dory?"