"Then I'm to understand, Scott, that you have sold out to Cantwell."
"Did any of you cabin swells think you owned me?" laughed Scott.
"I saw you talking with Cantwell."
"Very likely Cantwell saw me talking with you. What does that prove?" retorted Scott.
"But he's a very unpopular fellow. There isn't a fellow in the ship that likes him."
"I don't, for one," added Scott, with refreshing candor.
"And yet you have got up this opposition, and nearly, if not quite, defeated our plan. He ought to be very grateful to you."
"I don't think he ought to be thrown overboard, or deprived of his rights, because he is not popular. When I saw that his brother officers were down upon him, I was rather inclined to stand by him, for, as I told you, I generally go in for the bottom dog. I believe in fair play for every fellow, whether he is popular or not. I wouldn't kick a dog because he didn't belong to anybody."
"You are on the committee, Scott."
"I have the honor; and I shall see that Cantwell has fair play before the principal."