"I'm not anxious to tell you anything; but, if I were Cantwell, I should rather hope that the principal would grant the request, and make the change."
"Do you think he could ever be elected to any office?"
"Perhaps not under ordinary circumstances; but if you cabin nobs will only persecute him a little, only try to keep him out of his rights by De Forrest's plan, he can be elected captain the very next month. You see we fellows throw seventy-two votes in the steerage, and forty-five is a majority of the whole ship's company. If any fourth-rate politician on shore can only get himself persecuted, he can be elected to Congress, for sympathy will do more than merit."
"You needn't tell me that the fellows in the steerage are going to elect Cantwell to any office. He couldn't be chosen fourth lieutenant, to say nothing of captain," protested Beckwith. "I believe you have lost your wits, Scott."
"Perhaps I have; but you haven't found them. If you get the plan adopted, we will try it on a little."
"What do you mean by that?"
"If De Forrest's plan is adopted, either Cantwell or I will be elected captain."
"You! You would not even be a candidate under the new rule."
"Say Cantwell, then."