"We may," replied Pillgrim, as he took the trumpet.
"Isn't she going to Mobile?"
"We'll talk of her during the forenoon watch," added the second lieutenant, as he turned on his heel and walked forward.
Somers went below. As he entered the ward-room, Mr. Hackleford came out of his state-room. This gentleman evidently intended to keep a sharp lookout for the officer of the deck during his watch. He asked the relieved officer if anything more had transpired, and the unimportant conversation which had just taken place was fully reported to him.
"Mr. Somers, I haven't slept an hour during the night. There are one or two points in your statement which were a little dark to me," said Mr. Hackleford.
"More than that of it is dark to me. I do not profess to understand the whole of it. I only state the facts from my own point of view."
"You listened to this talk between Coles and Langdon at the sailors' boarding-house in Front Street?"
"Yes, sir."
"If you saw Coles there, how could—"
"I didn't see him, sir; I only heard him."