"Then you'll do it?"
"Immediately," said Hanson, rising, "if not sooner!"
So that was that. That night my relief came on duty, and I went down to the mess hall to eat whatever I could stomach of Slops' slumgullion. First person I met up with was Mr. Lancelot Biggs himself.
"Hello, Sparks," he said.
"Hello, yourself," I answered. "What are you doing at this mess? Thought you ate at the skipper's hour?"
"I did until now," he grinned. "Harkness was taken ill this afternoon, and the Skipper put me on emergency duty in his place."
"Is that so?" I said, looking as surprised as possible. "Well, that's quite a job. Lot of responsibility, you know. That cargo's valuable."
I had to grin at the way his lean face sobered.
"I realize that, Sparks. I'm devoting a lot of thought to the job, too. You know, I'm a bit of an experimenter, and it seems to me—"