"Faix, you didn't tell me which was the captain's watch," replied Felix with a blank look. "I'll figure it out, and I may be able to tell you by the time we are ready to sail."
"You are not a fool, Flix!"
"Wait till I argue the matter with myself. The mate has the port watch, and the captain has the other," replied Felix, scratching his head as if to stimulate his ideas. "Begorra! it just shoots through my mind, like an electric light in a dark street when it is touched off! The captain's watch must be the starboard."
"Right; but I wonder your long head hasn't exploded in working out the problem. When there is a second mate"—
"That's metaphysics, for we have no second mate," protested Felix.
"For that reason the captain has to keep his own watch, which the second mate would keep for him if there were one," continued the captain. "Just as soon as the ship gets into deep water the crew are divided into watches."
"Do you think the water is deep enough in here to divide the crew into watches?" asked Felix, still struggling to be funny.
"It is two hundred fathoms deep in the middle of the bay, and it will do. Each officer chooses a man in turn."
"It won't take long in this case, as the crew consists of only two."
"The captain makes the first choice, and I choose you, Flix."