Murray shut one eye, looked at George through the half-closed lids of the other, and spread his open hands before him as if he were smoothing out a table cloth.
"All right. I want you to be in earnest about what you do," said George, throwing all the emphasis he could into his words. "No half-way work, you understand. Walker must be told, in so many words, that you asked me to see if I could open the safe, that you gave me the key, and sat there on your stool and saw me work at it. You did, didn't you?"
Again the flashing eyes, which seemed to shoot forth angry sparks of fire, were turned full upon the clerk, who would no more have dared to deny it, than he would have dared to enter a powder magazine with an uncovered light.
"I don't want anybody to have so poor an opinion of me, and I can depend upon you to explain matters to him, can't I?" continued George. "Make sure work of it while you are about it, for if you don't, I give you fair warning that I shall broach the subject in the presence of witnesses the very first time I can catch you two together."
"George, you may depend upon me to the death," said Murray, solemnly. "You have been a true friend to me since you have been on this boat, and I am truly sorry that my unbounded confidence in you has been the means of bringing about this misunderstanding between you and Walker. Why couldn't he have kept out of the office until you got through?"
"Why couldn't I have let the safe alone?" said George, bitterly. "If I had done that, there would have been no trouble."
"Don't think about it. Go to bed now, and when you get up I shall be able to tell you that it is all right. By the way, George, don't say a word to anybody about it."
"I believe I'll go to Mr. Black and tell him the whole thing," replied the young pilot.
"My goodness, Ackerman, don't do that!" exclaimed Murray, in great alarm. "Can't you see how such a proceeding would injure me? It would get to Richardson's ears, of course, and he would sack me as soon as he heard of it. Just leave everything to me, and if I don't put you right with Walker, you can take the matter into your own hands."
George agreed to this with some reluctance, although on the face of it it appeared to be a very fair proposition. Acting upon the clerk's advice, he went up to his room and lay down in his bunk to make up for the sleep he had lost the night before while standing at the wheel, and Murray turned toward the office. He went in through the cabin, opened the door with his key and stepped across the threshold, whistling a lively tune; but he stopped very abruptly and looked inquiringly at the second clerk, who was sitting on the high stool, scowling fiercely.