"Of course I do."
"And yet when Buller was reviling him at the Battery you did not defend him."
"No! It would have been an impertinence for a privateer captain to defend a naval officer."
"But young Farragut did not know——"
"Bertha Decatur, no; but I do, and she sang your praises so often that I wanted to find you. Farragut quietly pointed you out in the crowd at the Battery, and—well, here you are."
"A man before the mast."
"No. You were ensign in the navy, where promotion is slow; you shall be first officer on the Lively Bee. Will you accept?"
"How can I thank you?"
"By doing your duty. I am proud to have you, Tempest, and I don't think you will ever rue the day you became first officer on the Lively Bee."
"I accept your generous offer."