"Do I not? Have I not a brother who maimed himself for life rather than fight under your flag?"
"You are wrong. The Stars and Stripes float from the peak of this ship."
"Since when?" she asked, contemptuously, and, before he could answer: "Since when have you learned to lie and cheat for your captain's sake?"
"I am captain."
Bertha turned her back on the captain for a moment. She was trying to quell the anger rising in her breast, for she fully believed that Vernon had been sent as an emissary from Carter.
"I have already given my answer to the captain," she said. "Now leave me to my misery."
"What is the captain's name?" asked Vernon.
"Carter; if you insist on your catechetical insults."
"He is dead."
"Dead?"