"McTee, I begin to see that you have brains."
The latter waved the sinister compliment aside.
"Suppose the little—er—experiment fails? Doesn't it occur to you that that message might be written out and sent to Campbell?"
The captain changed color, and his eyes shifted.
"I've told you—" he began.
"Nonsense," said McTee. "I'll write the thing, if you want, and all you'll have to do is to sign it."
"Would that make any difference?" asked Henshaw wistfully.
"Of course," said McTee. "Here we go. You've got to do something to tame Harrigan, captain, or there'll be the deuce to pay."
And as he spoke, he picked up pen and paper and began to write, Henshaw in the meantime walking to the door in an agony of apprehension as if he expected to see the dreaded figure of Sloan appear. McTee wrote:
_From Captain Henshaw to Chief Engineer Douglas Campbell