"Did any one ever hear of a captain working his vessel while in the steerage?" retorted Mr. Lowington, impatiently, as he took a pen and wrote a few lines on a sheet of paper. "Was Captain Kendall respectful to you?"
"No, sir."
"What did he say that was disrespectful?"
"Disobedience is always disrespectful. He used no disrespectful words."
"I did not suppose he did. In a word, if Captain Kendall had gone on deck when the first messenger went to him, I should have justified and sustained him. I will go a step farther: he ought to have done so."
"Then I am to understand that I am a mere cipher on board of the Josephine," demanded Mr. Hamblin.
"You are to understand, sir, that the first duty of the captain of a ship is to his vessel and to those on board of her. Why, sir, I thought the young gentleman was insane, and I was intensely anxious, when I saw his vessel with all her light sails on while a squall, so clearly indicated as that of Saturday, was impending. I blamed him very much. The squall was as likely to come half an hour sooner as when it did come. If it had struck her with all sail set, it would have taken the masts out of her—perhaps foundered her. If several of the students had been lost, what satisfaction would it be to me or their friends to know that the disaster occurred because the professor of Greek refused to let the captain go on deck!"
"Perhaps I was wrong, sir."
"Perhaps you were! If you do not know that you were, you are not fit for the position to which I assigned you."
"I see that you fully sustain Mr. Kendall," groaned the professor.