'Good night, sir,' said the second officer.
And Bertie stood for half an hour by the rail looking into the sea.
'Damn!' said Bertie, 'I don't know——'
But Arizona said there were hopes of him.
CAPTAIN BALAAM OF THE CORMORANT
Captain Balaam of the Cormorant was an ignorant old fool. Captain Benjamin Wood of the Scanderbeg said so. He was also obstinate, ferocious, blatant, bigoted, and given to liquor. Captain Benjamin Wood said this too. The crew of the Cormorant agreed with the crowd in the Scanderbeg that their skipper was a disagreeable personality: they phrased it differently, they said he was an adjectival 'blighter.' And yet for all that there was jealousy between the crews of the two ships, just as there was jealousy between the two skippers. The only difference between them was that the Scanderbegs believed in their ship and their skipper and the Cormorants believed in the Cormorant only. Both vessels hailed from the same port of registry; they both traded to Australia, and mostly to Melbourne; they were owned by related rivals, and manned for the most part by men who knew each others' home affairs. It was no wonder that when the Cormorant was re-masted, as she had been previously under-sparred, the Scanderbeg's crew was very greatly excited. Up to the present time their ship had made the best passages, and now Balaam had announced that he meant to lick the Scanderbeg by a ruddy ensanguined crimson month.
'You're an ignorant old ass, and can't do it,' said Captain Wood.
'I'm an ignorant old ass, am I?' retorted Balaam, who was slow at repartee. 'I'll show you!'
'I expect you will,' said Wood. 'I know you, Balaam.'