"Tell this lady how Harrigan came aboard," ordered the captain, and he fastened a keen eye upon the bos'n.
"Made it on the jump while we was pullin' out of dock," said the sailor. "Just managed to get his feet on the gangplank—came within an ace of falling into the sea."
"That's all."
The bos'n retreated and McTee turned back to Kate Malone.
"He had asked me to sign him up for this trip," he explained. "If I'd set him ashore, he'd probably have been in the police court the next morning. So I let him stay. To be perfectly frank with you, I had a vague hope that gratitude might make a decent sailor out of him for a few days. But the very first night he started his work he began to talk discontent among the men in the forecastle, and such fellows are always ready to listen. Of course I could throw Harrigan in irons and feed him on bread and water; my authority is absolute at sea. But I don't want to do that if I can help it. Instead, I have been trying to discipline him with hard work. He knows that he can come to me at any time and speak three words which will release him from his troubles. But he won't say them—yet!"
"Really?" she breathed.
She began to feel deeply honored that such a man as McTee would make so long an explanation to her.
"Shall I call him up here and ask him to say them now?"
"Would you do that? Captain McTee, I'm afraid that I've been very foolish to bother you in this matter, but—"
He silenced her with a wave of the hand, and pulled the cord.